The Löfstedt Review

At the end of 2011, an independent review was carried out into the amount of unnecessary regulations that British businesses have to conform to regarding health and safety. The Löfstedt Review made a number of recommendations based on these findings, with the aim of reducing the burden on businesses, without damaging Britain’s exceptional health and safety performance – which is amongst the best in the world.

The government has accepted many of Professor Löfstedt’s recommendations, the most controversial being the removal of the requirement for first aid training to be regulated and approved by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Until the law changes to reflect the new recommendations, all first aid training courses, as well as the companies delivering the training, have to be fully approved by the HSE which, although it is a step further than is required by the EU, has had a significant positive influence on our health and safety record. But Löfstedt found ‘little justification’ for this requirement, as businesses should be able to decide what type of training is best for their business and be able to cut costs by choosing cheaper training courses.

The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 now need to be reviewed to reflect the recommendation, and as such the requirement for training providers to achieve HSE approval must be removed. This means that they will no longer be able to advertise as being HSE approved, and are likely to need to lower their costs to compete with previously cheaper, non-approved courses.

This means that for a business looking to gain first aid training for their employees, they will have a greater degree of flexibility to choose a more cost effective training organisation, and a course that is more suited to their specific workplace and hazards.

Although many businesses and individuals have expressed their support of what some are calling the common-sense approach to health and safety and first aid training, there are still some concerns about the repercussions. One of the biggest concerns surrounding this decision is that first aid training standards will drop, directly affecting workers who won’t have access to adequate first aid should they be involved in an accident or become ill whilst at work.

Another worry is the removal of the requirement for self-employed workers to be able to apply first aid to themselves. Sole traders often work in dangerous situations, and with hazardous tools and chemicals, where they are at higher risk of injury. And with more than half of the workers in the construction industry classed as self-employed, this leaves a large part of our workforce at risk! The construction union, UCATT, have warned that some of the key recommendations in the Review will ultimately result in an increase in accidents and limited access to first aid in an industry that already “all too often fails to comply with basic safety legislation.”

Health and Safety Training have been supplying HSE approved first aid training for many years, and an excellent track record and pass rate prove our dedication to providing quality, tailored courses that reflect our learners’ needs. So you can be sure that when the law does change, we’ll continue to look after the best interests of our customers and their employees.