Does Lord Young’s report represent a return to common sense? Atiyah Malik & Alistair Kinley report
In his recent and long-awaited report, Common Sense, Common Safety, Lord Young observes that “businesses now operate their health and safety policies in a climate of fear”. One of his main aims was to eliminate this. His main terms of reference were: “to investigate and report back to the prime minister on the rise of the compensation culture over the last decade coupled with the current low standing that health and safety legislation now enjoys and to suggest solutions”.
Moreover, it was clear from the outset that Lord Young would be involved not just in reviewing the system but also in implementing change, as can be seen from a further sentence in his terms of reference which added that: “Following the agreement of the report, to work with appropriate departments across government to bring the proposals into effect.”
It is widely acknowledged that the interpretation of health and safety regulation has become confusing and can produce unnecessary bureaucracy around risk assessments, which may in turn
