by Steve Pointer, Head of Health and Safety Policy
5. August 2010 17:22
Almost all parts of government are being required to make very substantial spending cuts - ministers have until the autumn to identify how they will contribute to an overall reduction of 25%. When you remember that a few areas of government have ring-fenced budgets, some will be required to reach deeper still. So what lies in wait for health and safety?
Well, I'm afraid I don't have a crystal ball. I understand that negotiations are ongoing and nothing is yet decided, but clearly the impact is going to be very signficant. The Health and Safety Executive has already made some fairly large savings, moving all but a few of its staff out of London and at the same time taking the opportunity to reduce the size of its policy function. I'm sure that some further savings can be found, but there will come a point when reducing the budget will start to have an impact on front line resources.
I would argue that if the budget for health and safety is to be reduced, it must be looked at in the round. Interventions should be targeted on the basis of risk; in times of tight resources this is even more true. At present HSE does a pretty good job of targetting, as do a significant proportion of local authorities - but there is a discontinuity between the two because each is allowed to carry out their own prioritisation. As a result in 2008 the Better Regulation Executive found that an office was just as likely to receive an inspection as a construction site; whilst a warehouse was more than twice as likely to be visited as a factory.
The budget for all regulation, whether by HSE or by local authorities should be added together; the necessary saving made and then resources prioritised across the piece on the basis of risk. Interventions can then be allocated to the people best placed to deliver.
It is also vital that the temptation is avoided to shift all remaining resources to inspection and enforcement - or indeed to education and advice. Experience and research shows that it is a mix of interventions that works best: supporting those who want to do the right thing, whilst taking a tough line with the unwilling who seek to gain short-term advantage by exposing their employees to serious risks.
We're living in tough times, but an approach to health and safety that targets risk can still weather the storm.