Retail surgery: Will Lord Young’s recent recommendations on health and safety change my duties as an employer in a national retail chain?

Lord Young was commissioned by the Government to review health and safety legislation in the UK. His report, published in October, recommended introducing a “commonsense approach” to health and safety, which will change your employer responsibilities.

Retail premises and activities are defined as work in a “low hazard” workplace and Lord Young has recommended that risk assessments in these workplaces be simplified. Risk assessments could soon be interactive as opposed to written and would be available on the Health and Safety Executive website.

Chris Green, partner in the regulatory team at law firm Weightmans LLP, says: “Instead of being judged on the same assessment process as construction or hazardous industries, you would be able to undertake interactive periodic checks to ensure you are complying with the regulations.”

As an employer, you have a duty to report most injuries that are sustained by anyone on your premises under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations. Lord Young will allow businesses to send reports of accidents to a centralised body within seven days before the injury or accident needs to be reported instead of three. “This coincides with the requirement for the employee to get a ‘fit note’ from their doctor and would ultimately reduce the number of reportable accidents, ensuring only the most serious are reported,” says Green.