4 December 2008
The Health and Safety Executive wants anyone with responsibility for a workplace environment to be part of a major new consultation.
The HSE’s three-month consultation is to set its new strategy, “The Health and Safety System of Great Britain - Be Part of the Solution.”
The decision to develop a new strategy was prompted by a range of factors, said the HSE. These include the recent slowing of improvement in the UK’s health and safety performance, and an increase in small businesses and the self-employed.
The strategy will set out a number of goals:
* Encouraging strong leadership and championing a common sense approach to health and safety;
* Building the competence of those charged with delivering health and safety in workplaces;
* Customising the support for small businesses to help them comply with their health and safety obligations, and
* Avoiding catastrophes in Britain’s high-hazard industries.
HSE chair Judith Hackitt said: "We are calling on all those involved in workplace health and safety - employers, self-employed, employees, trades unions, manufacturers, suppliers - to work with us on delivering these goals. We all share the same mission; to prevent death, injury and ill health in our workplaces, but HSE and its Local Authority partners, as the regulators for health and safety, cannot do this alone. This is why we are seeking support and involvement from all stakeholders to be part of the solution."
The consultation will end on 2 March after a series of regional workshops hosted by HSE. The full launch of the finalised strategy will take place in quarter two of 2009.
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