Deregulation Bill will cost workers dear

A draft Deregulation Bill published on 1 July will leave workers at greater risk of injury, ill-health and abuse at work, the TUC has warned. The Cabinet Office says the planned law 'frees businesses from red tape' by 'scrapping health and safety rules for self-employed workers in low risk occupations, formally exempting 800,000 people from health and safety'. Other clauses restrict the powers of employment tribunals, which could affect health and safety-related unfair dismissal claims, and limit the enforcement powers of the gangmasters' watchdog GLA. The Cabinet Office also notes the Bill will put 'a deregulatory 'growth duty' on non-economic regulators, bringing the huge resource of 50 regulators with a budget of £4 billion to bear on the crucial task of promoting growth and stopping pointless red tape.' This measure, which will affect the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), was trailed by ministers in March when it was criticised by the TUC for pandering to the business lobby at the expense of workplace safety (Risks 597). TUC had also criticised the government's 'stupid and dangerous' plan to exempt many self-employed workers from safety law (Risks 604). Commenting this week after the draft law was published, TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson said: 'This draft bill, which claims to simplify the law does the exact opposite. It will create confusion and uncertainty and will certainly lead to an increase in injury both to the self-employed and others.' This concern was put in sharp relief this week when new HSE fatality figures revealed that while there were 99 deaths in employees, the death count of 49 for self-employed workers showed they were at a much higher risk. TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said it was 'a concern that a third of immediate workplace deaths are among the self-employed. These workers have a fatality rate almost three times higher - 1.1 deaths per 100,000, compared to 0.4 - than other workers.' She added: 'This shows the importance of ensuring that everyone at work is properly protected - something that will become much harder if the government gets its way and exempts many of the self-employed from health and safety laws.'

• TUC news release and TUC briefing on the Deregulation Bill and the self-employed exemption.Cabinet Office news release and Draft Deregulation Bill. HSE news release.