An announcement on the government’s website says the document is “part of the government’s long-term economic plan to abolish or improve outdated, burdensome or over-complicated regulations which waste businesses’ time and money”.
It quoted health & safety minister Mike Penning saying: “As part of the government’s long-term economic plan, it’s vital that businesses are not bogged down in complicated red tape and instead have useable advice about protecting their workers.”
However, the truth behind the rhetoric is that the regulations – which have been credited with preventing many accidents since their introduction in 2005 – are not being changed in any way at all. Neither is the guidance to any significant degree. It still sets out how the hierarchy of risk must be assessed and work at height must be planned. All that has changed is the packaging of the advice in a bid to help improve public understanding of the rules.
The Access Industry Forum (AIF) trade group was happy to see the guidance repackaged. Forum chair Peter Bennett said: “It was clear from the outset that where problems existed with the Work at Height Regulations, they arose from the misinterpretation of the regulations rather than from the regulations themselves.
“With falls from height still the biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the main causes of major injuries, what was needed was better awareness and understanding of the regulations, rather than a dilution of the law. This could potentially have put people at greater risk with shattering consequences for their families, friends and colleagues.”
The revised guidance can be downloaded at http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg401.pdf
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