Error parsing XSLT file: \xslt\FacebookOpenGraph.xslt Graham Hurdle's blog: 20 September 2012 - Health and safety laws relaxed - but fleet operators shouldn't be!
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Graham Hurdle's blog: 20 September 2012 - Health and safety laws relaxed - but fleet operators shouldn't be!

Date: 20 September 2012

Graham Hurdle is managing director of E-Training World

Plans have been announced by the Government which means that from April 2013 businesses considered 'low risk', such as shops, offices, pubs and clubs, will no longer face routine health and safety checks - unless they have had a previous incident or possess a track record of poor performance.

Business secretary Vince Cable said companies need to focus on creating jobs and growth rather than being tied up in unnecessary red tape.

He said: "I've listened to those concerns and we're determined to put common sense back into areas like health and safety, which will reduce costs and fear of burdensome inspections."

I'll step forward and say that I welcome this idea because I feel health and safety is heading in a direction where companies are getting completely strangled by red tape.

Rather than existing for the role they were designed for - to protect the welfare of workers, customers, suppliers or anyone else associated with a business - some areas of H&S law now defy common sense.

Stating on a cup of tea or coffee that the contents contain hot liquids which may cause harm through burning is an example of such nonsense.

Yet if I have any concerns, I sincerely hope small businesses don't feel this means they are completely off the hook. Certain aspects of business, and driving is one of these, remain dangerous.

In my view too many companies, large and small, still do not take it seriously enough to ensure the safety of their drivers and other road users.

There have been many surveys from companies within the fleet sector regarding all manner of worrying issues.

Some of the ones that stick in my mind licence checks, which reveal a proportion of drivers who do not hold the correct licence categories or have been disqualified but are still on the road; foreign drivers working for UK companies who have not had adequate UK familiarisation and do not understand all of the road signs; young drivers who are given the keys to a car far more powerful than they have ever driven before; and companies without the necessary controls in place to ensure their company and grey fleet vehicles are safe, legal and roadworthy.

The reality is that while some companies adopt a very strong approach to their duty of care obligations, others don't.

There remains a lot of work to do educating firms, and persuading them to introduce better standards in respect of their at-work drivers hence reducing the numbers of KSI's (Killed or seriously injured) on our roads.

So when you read the headlines about relaxing health and safety, please do me a favour and tag on the words: 'this does not mean your vehicles'! We are not in a position to relax yet, I can assure you.

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