New joint guidance for reduced inspections

Following the DWP report, in May 2011, the HSE and the Local Government Group published its Joint guidance for reduced proactive inspections, available to download at: www.hse.gov.uk/lau/pdfs/reduced-proactive-inspections.pdf

Retail union USDAW has described this strategy as “seriously flawed”, and has warned that the approach, based on “risk ratings”, exempts many shops, offices and other local authority enforced businesses from inspection altogether. The narrow focus of inspections also means that work-related health issues such as stress and musculoskeletal injuries will be ignored. Shops, offices and classrooms had already been classified as “low risk” in an earlier government report by Lord Young, Common sense, Common safety, published in October 2010.