A view from the regulator business-to-business health and safety rules (blue tape)

Transcription

1 Health and and Safety Executive A view from the regulator business-to-business health and safety rules (blue tape) Health and Safety Scotland, SEC 12 th September 2018

2 The context for our work FSB 2017 Regulation Returned: what small firms want from Brexit Burdensome? BEIS Business Perceptions Survey 2016 Years of Red Tape Challenge and other initiatives (reviews by Lord Young & Professor Löfstedt) haven t shifted the dial on perceptions of burdens So is the underlying issue red tape (Government) or private sector rules?

3 Good for business? Yes, but Successful organisations understand that sensible and proportionate risk management is integral to delivering their business supports growth, enables innovation and protects an organisation s most vital asset, its people. Our strategy aim on proportionality: a common understanding of what proportionate health and safety looks like. Source: Helping Great Britain Work Well, HSE (2016)

4 Health and safety rules a map of the territory About Burdens arising when health and safety rules are disproportionate (and in some cases deliver under-compliance) Can lead to ineffective risk control and a lack of risk ownership Landscape full of well-intentioned initiatives - and unintended consequences Not about Getting in the way of businesses seeking to innovate to drive up standards HSE stamping out best in class as informed risk management choice

5 Exploring the territory - our evidence base Workshops with HSE and LA inspectors Omnibus survey of 2000 businesses - supported by online focus groups and telephone interviews Economist s analysis of the 3 rd party advice market (size, trends) Extensive stakeholder engagement (standards/accreditation bodies, trade associations, consultants, businesses, insurers, OGDs Examples of burdensome health and safety rules submitted by HSE staff Extensive desk-based research - scrutiny of over 80 reports Large pieces of insight research into rules/smes interface

6 Who and what influences duty holder action? YouGov survey findings Driver for action As primary As secondary Health and safety rules 22% 37% Regulation/enforcement 19% 21% Improving standards 14% 17% However: these get thrown together in the minds of business people - so getting all of them right matters!

7 Scale of the issue? Health and safety burden isn t a problem for the majority of businesses, but A significant proportion of SMEs say it is (% varies by survey) Business insight research tells us that up to: 39% of SMEs report feeling that their policies & practices are excessive and disproportionate to the risks in their business 35% of SMEs report feeling no real link between what they have to do for health & safety and what they need to do to keep employees safe at work

8 Impact of H&S rules on policies and procedures by source and sector Our insight work tells us: Fear of civil litigation appears to the be a large and systemic driver of health and safety rules across businesses of all sizes; and Legislation (what Government does) can seem somewhat beside the point. Compliance with the legislation can seem insufficient

9 Civil law and insurance Risk assessment for holes in fields and more where that came from! Insurance settlements/court claims pursued on back of a (single) missing piece of paperwork regardless of its relevance Quotes from the research: Processes are adopted as insurance against liability, even when they feel excessive and fail to offer real safety improvements. [The litigation climate] influences the lengths [businesses] go to in ensuring all the paperwork is in place. The aim is to ensure that they are not the one held to account.

10 Procurement and the accreditation market One SME, five completely overlapping accreditation schemes 15k/year LA office products supplier subject to SafeContractor accreditation requirement proportionate to the risk? Quotes from the research: No real improvements to h&s management systems no value in signing up to multiple schemes or refreshing each year. Commercial benefit only. BS18001, CHAS, SafeContractor it s just paperwork and we have everything. We can ring the Consultant to tell him what paperwork to send, then can tick it off.

11 The management standards and certification market The claim: Management standards designed to help organizations of all sizes including your local scout troop The reality? Written by standards bodies, assessors, auditors (consultants). End user involvement? Guidance can be lengthy (90+pages ), technical Standards carry the weight of regulation ( Have to get it to survive ) - but can be developed without application of better regulation principles/approaches Duty holder perspectives quotes from the research: " a tick the box exercise. It s another way for auditing firms to make money, then for us go on a tender list." " as a company it doesn t concern us. But we have a feeling that our customers will enforce this on us." almost impossible for an SME to implement without external advice or dedicated internal resource.

12 Where does third party (consultancy) advice fit in? Communicating our strategy, developing our support for SMEs: a common understanding of what proportionate health and safety looks like Managing H&S proportionately - H&S Made Simple; Toolbox; and developing user-led SME web offer Encouraging in-house management of H&S Contrasted with consultancy marketing: Did you know that some businesses don t take health and safety seriously? There s a word for them: liable. There s a long list of things to think of it s all too difficult/ expertising the problem = a barrier to our strategy aims Cold calling, dedicated sales teams Multi-year contracts building the capacity of the duty holder?

13 3 rd party advice: HSE concerns HSE and LA inspectors view consultancy advice as generally poor with plenty of examples ranging from the pointless to the dangerous But even when quality is doubtful, duty holders trust it (believing it secures legal compliance) Costly under-compliance = false assurance for the duty holder: third party advice as lucky charm Lack of capacity building: only 45% of consultants visited site as part of the service, and only 52% provided a handover Prioritisation of paperwork over on-the-ground risk management? A quote from the research: Risk assessments and method statements generated simply to ensure the business has the correct paperwork in place.

14 What this can mean for business. False reassurance if the paperwork doesn t match the reality Additional business burdens This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

15 Why this all matters Reputation of the health and safety system Lack of proportionality wastes time/money growth agenda Inaccurate sense that health and safety is ever-changing (and that burden is increasing) [NB BEIS 2018 Business Perception Survey] Blurring rules and government regulation skews perception of regulatory burdens Future business/political pressure to reduce regulatory burden Management of health and safety Misdirected effort and focus Feels too hard to manage in house Clogging up the supply chain with what may be false reassurance.

16 A case for action? If so, what? Blue tape jeopardises proportionate and effective risk management Our role This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

17 Help for duty holders Guidance from HSE to help duty holders navigate rules better how to source competent person assistance proportionate application and implementation of health and safety management systems - ISO maximising effective use of certification and accreditation schemes and mutual recognition implications of civil and criminal law regimes respectively for duty holders paperwork

18 Working with intermediaries Building on positive engagement in 2017/18 Engaging with other relevant OGDs e.g. MoJ on civil law and the Crown Commercial Service on public procurement enhancing transparency about sources of rules for interested parties (e.g. FSB and the new All Party Parliamentary Group for business support and engagement) raising awareness/performance (challenging disproportionate B2B practices) so duty holders focus effort appropriately brokering solutions third parties can deliver, e.g. through websites or guidance All helps fuel business confidence/sense of burden decreasing

19 Procurement some thoughts on the Scottish dimension Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 guidance Requirements to be relevant, proportionate and not overly burdensome Procurement Journey guidance Route 1 (value <50k) may wish to include health and safety in selection criteria, but criteria must be relevant (?) Route 2 (value up to OJEU threshold) Avoid over-specification of performance Selection criteria: relevant, proportionate and not overly burdensome Do not select if bidder does not meet stated minimum requirements certification to OHSAS ( relevant etc as above), self-certification

20 Smartening up our own house Enhancing our capacity to scrutinise consultants performance making sure our guidance/policy approaches don t seed the ground for disproportionate health and safety rules (example: risk assessment case studies) making sure our stakeholder mapping, engagement and communication take account of the +/- role of intermediaries as far as possible (Commercial Motor example) considering commercial opportunities for HSE - e.g. training on proportionality for health and safety professionals

21 Beyond the blue tape horizon Businesses want to continue to hear the regulator s voice on these issues (e.g. Myth Busters) This is a Forth Bridge problem interventions need to be prioritised and well targeted Passing on the baton Helping GB Work Well is a whole-system strategy Thank you. Questions or comments? jeremy.bevan@hse.gov.uk