Health and safety Act remains fit for purpose

More than four in five people who responded to an IOSH online poll believe that the Act remains relevant – 50 years on from its publication.

Wednesday 31 July marks half a century since the Act received Royal Assent. It has been widely credited with helping to reduce the number of fatalities in UK workplaces – from 651 in the year it was published to 138 last year. However, the fall in numbers has plateaued in the past decade, with the annual number of deaths remaining broadly similar every year.

In its manifesto, published before the UK’s General Election, IOSH called on the new Government to be proactive on laws and regulation to ensure a continued drive to prevent harm at work.

Ruth Wilkinson, IOSH’s Head of Policy and Public Affairs, said: “The Act has certainly played a significant role in making workplaces safer and healthier since 1974 due to the goal setting legislation and it being risk-based. And it’s clear from our poll that the consensus is it remains relevant today.

“But 138 people died in workplace accidents last year. And the most recent figures from the Health and Safety Executive showed 1.8 million reported they were suffering from work-related ill health, half of them saying they had stress, depression or anxiety. This is costing the economy many billions of pounds and, crucially, impacting on people’s lives.

“That’s why we are calling on the Government to ensure laws and regulation – and their application and enforcement – reflect modern working practices and a changing world of work, to ensure new and emerging hazards and risks being created by new technologies and climate change are managed and people are protected.”

Your views

The poll, posted on IOSH’s LinkedIn channel, received 1,137 votes, many of them from health and safety professionals. In all, 82 per cent of people said they felt the Act remains fit for purpose.

A number of professionals made suggestions on how the Act could be updated.

One response said: “Needs reviewing, updating and to include additional occupational health and mental health into the review.”

One commenter added: “As with a lot of legislation, there are some parts that will undoubtedly require updating to continue to be relevant. [The Act] has, and continues, to underpin how we operate as professionals.”

Another said: “[The Act] is still as relevant today as it was back in 1974. One area I would update is to include wellbeing as a theme within the legislation.”