Rigger
Moderator
I do not know how many of you have taken the time to read the recent report on H & S by Lord Young
http://www.number10.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/402906_CommonSense_acc.pdf
It is far reaching in its conclusions and I think will return the H&S issues within our industry and the country on a whole to a more defined and workable system.
I am in favour of most of the proposals and think it is time for a major review. It appears that changes will happen over the next year or so, and not become another talking shop complicating the issues even further.
Please at least read the letters Lord Young sent out to various organisations, including insures, claim lawyers, HSE (Annex G, H, I, J, K,) and the planned Implementations milestones. (Annex M) You will find these near the end of the report
“Forward by Lord Young
It may seem unusual to commence a review of health and safety with the state of litigation in the country but I believe that a ‘compensation culture’ driven by litigation is at the heart of the problems that so beset health and safety today. Last year over 800,000 compensation claims were made in the UK while stories of individuals suing their employers for disproportionately large sums of money for personal injury claims, often for the most trivial of reasons, are a regular feature in our newspapers.
While the ubiquitous media reports may cause little more than a raised eyebrow to the reader they hide a serious point; the perception of a compensation culture results in real and costly burdens for businesses up and down the country. Today there is a growing fear among business owners of being sued for even minor accidents.
And it’s not just a media phenomenon; the rise of claims management companies over the last decade has had a dramatic impact on the way we perceive the nature of compensation.When laws were amended to allow ‘no win, no fee’ agreements with lawyers, it led to aggressive and,I believe, wholly inappropriate advertising. Now we are subject to a barrage of adverts every time we switch on the television and radio.
Today accident victims are given the impression that they may be entitled to handsome rewards just for making a claim regardless of any personal responsibility – adding to a real sense that we live in an increasingly litigious society.
It’s a climate of fear compounded by the actions of some health and safety consultants, many without any professional qualifications, who have a perverse incentive to take an overzealous approach to applying the health and safety regulations. As a consequence they employ a goal of eliminating all risk from the workplace instead of setting out the rational,proportionate approach that the Health and Safety at Work etc Act demands. It is a problem exacerbated by insurance companies, some of whom insist on costly and unnecessary health and safety risk assessments from external consultants before they will even consider offering accident insurance policies to small and medium sized businesses.
Together these factors combine to create a growing view that ‘if there’s a blame, there’s a claim’ and any claim means financial recompense. At the same time lawyers are incentivised to rack up high fees secure in the knowledge that they will be charged to the losing party. It is hardly surprising that many organisations seek to mitigate their liabilities with excessively risk averse policies.
And it’s a fear that not only blights the workplace but almost every walk of life – from schools and fetes, to voluntary work and everyday sports and cultural activities. It was with this in mind that the Prime Minister, when he was still Leader of the Opposition, asked me to investigate the
compensation culture, alongside our health and safety regime. My appointment as the Prime Minister’s advisor on these issues was reconfirmed once the Coalition Government took office.
Clearly, it is right that people who have suffered an injustice through someone else’s negligence should be able to claim redress. It a basic tenet of law and one on which we all rely.What is not right is that some people should be led to believe that they can absolve themselves from any personal responsibility for their actions, that financial recompense can make good any injury, or that compensation should be a cash cow for lawyers and referral agencies.
It is my firm belief that the UK’s compensation system should focus on delivering fair and proportionate compensation to genuine claimants as quickly as possible – not fuelling expectations that injury means automatic compensation regardless of the circumstances.
The recommendations in this review are designed to deliver the necessary reforms to achieve this. The aim is to free businesses from unnecessary bureaucratic burdens and the fear of having to pay out unjustified damages claims and legal fees. Above all it means applying common sense not just to compensation, but to everyday decisions once again.
I am also committed to ensuring that the recommendations in my report are put into place. All too frequently reports of this nature are left to gather dust on the shelves of Whitehall, so I have agreed with the Prime Minister that I will continue in my role to deliver all the reforms identified as being necessary.
The Rt Hon the Lord Young of Graffham”
October 2010
http://www.number10.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/402906_CommonSense_acc.pdf
It is far reaching in its conclusions and I think will return the H&S issues within our industry and the country on a whole to a more defined and workable system.
I am in favour of most of the proposals and think it is time for a major review. It appears that changes will happen over the next year or so, and not become another talking shop complicating the issues even further.
Please at least read the letters Lord Young sent out to various organisations, including insures, claim lawyers, HSE (Annex G, H, I, J, K,) and the planned Implementations milestones. (Annex M) You will find these near the end of the report
“Forward by Lord Young
It may seem unusual to commence a review of health and safety with the state of litigation in the country but I believe that a ‘compensation culture’ driven by litigation is at the heart of the problems that so beset health and safety today. Last year over 800,000 compensation claims were made in the UK while stories of individuals suing their employers for disproportionately large sums of money for personal injury claims, often for the most trivial of reasons, are a regular feature in our newspapers.
While the ubiquitous media reports may cause little more than a raised eyebrow to the reader they hide a serious point; the perception of a compensation culture results in real and costly burdens for businesses up and down the country. Today there is a growing fear among business owners of being sued for even minor accidents.
And it’s not just a media phenomenon; the rise of claims management companies over the last decade has had a dramatic impact on the way we perceive the nature of compensation.When laws were amended to allow ‘no win, no fee’ agreements with lawyers, it led to aggressive and,I believe, wholly inappropriate advertising. Now we are subject to a barrage of adverts every time we switch on the television and radio.
Today accident victims are given the impression that they may be entitled to handsome rewards just for making a claim regardless of any personal responsibility – adding to a real sense that we live in an increasingly litigious society.
It’s a climate of fear compounded by the actions of some health and safety consultants, many without any professional qualifications, who have a perverse incentive to take an overzealous approach to applying the health and safety regulations. As a consequence they employ a goal of eliminating all risk from the workplace instead of setting out the rational,proportionate approach that the Health and Safety at Work etc Act demands. It is a problem exacerbated by insurance companies, some of whom insist on costly and unnecessary health and safety risk assessments from external consultants before they will even consider offering accident insurance policies to small and medium sized businesses.
Together these factors combine to create a growing view that ‘if there’s a blame, there’s a claim’ and any claim means financial recompense. At the same time lawyers are incentivised to rack up high fees secure in the knowledge that they will be charged to the losing party. It is hardly surprising that many organisations seek to mitigate their liabilities with excessively risk averse policies.
And it’s a fear that not only blights the workplace but almost every walk of life – from schools and fetes, to voluntary work and everyday sports and cultural activities. It was with this in mind that the Prime Minister, when he was still Leader of the Opposition, asked me to investigate the
compensation culture, alongside our health and safety regime. My appointment as the Prime Minister’s advisor on these issues was reconfirmed once the Coalition Government took office.
Clearly, it is right that people who have suffered an injustice through someone else’s negligence should be able to claim redress. It a basic tenet of law and one on which we all rely.What is not right is that some people should be led to believe that they can absolve themselves from any personal responsibility for their actions, that financial recompense can make good any injury, or that compensation should be a cash cow for lawyers and referral agencies.
It is my firm belief that the UK’s compensation system should focus on delivering fair and proportionate compensation to genuine claimants as quickly as possible – not fuelling expectations that injury means automatic compensation regardless of the circumstances.
The recommendations in this review are designed to deliver the necessary reforms to achieve this. The aim is to free businesses from unnecessary bureaucratic burdens and the fear of having to pay out unjustified damages claims and legal fees. Above all it means applying common sense not just to compensation, but to everyday decisions once again.
I am also committed to ensuring that the recommendations in my report are put into place. All too frequently reports of this nature are left to gather dust on the shelves of Whitehall, so I have agreed with the Prime Minister that I will continue in my role to deliver all the reforms identified as being necessary.
The Rt Hon the Lord Young of Graffham”
October 2010
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