HSE Guidance on the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations


As a result of the Löftsted review (see page 22) and the subsequent HSE review of its approved codes of practice (ACOPs), the Management Regulations ACOP (L21) was withdrawn at the end of July 2013. In its place, the HSE produced a suite of what it describes as “core guidance”. This includes Successful health and safety management (HSG65), which is divided into three sections:


• core elements of managing for health and safety;


• whether you are doing what you need to do; and


• delivering effective arrangements.


The three sections of the guidance are available to download from the HSE website.


The more recent guidance has moved away from using a “Policy, Organising, Planning, Measuring performance, Auditing and Review” model of managing health and safety to a “Plan, Do, Check, Act” approach. Unions were extremely critical of the decision to remove the ACOP, particularly as neither Lord Young (see page 21) nor Professor Löfstedt recommended its withdrawal. “An ACOP has different status from guidance, and as any safety rep could have told them, employers are far more likely to do something because it is in an ACOP” said TUC deputy general secretary Paul Nowak. “Replacing an ACOP with guidance is simply downgrading it and giving it ‘nice to have’ status.”