The European Union, UK health and safety law and Brexit

The European Union (EU) was an important source of UK health and safety law, a large part of which is now underpinned by EU legislation. Almost two-thirds of new British health and safety regulations introduced between 1997 and 2009 originated in Europe (41 out of 65 laws).

The TUC says EU law helped stop illnesses and injuries at work and saved lives. In 1992, there were 368 officially recorded worker fatalities in Britain (see page 3). By 2015, this had fallen to 142. The rate of deaths over this period fell from 1.5 to 0.46 per 100,000 workers.

Now the UK has left the EU, it is no longer bound by the requirements of new or amended European directives. In addition to government attempts to weaken existing health and safety rights and protections (see Changes to Retained EU law below) unions have warned that Britain will also fall behind improvements on safety standards that will apply in other European countries. Recently agreed revisions to the asbestos directive will lower the occupational exposure limit for asbestos for workers in the EU, for example (see Chapter 6).