I recently came across this on an H&S checklist issued to volunteers at an event and it started me thinking about the phase ‘common sense’, its origins, definition, uses and, of course, its application to health and safety. A search of the HSE website (www.hse.gov.uk) revealed ‘Common Sense Common Safety’ (5). In this, Lord Young opines ‘Above all it means applying common sense not just to compensation but to everyday decisions once again’ and ‘My report highlights the role that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and local authorities have in promoting a common sense approach to health and safety’. The Prime Minister of the day, David Cameron, claims that…
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RIDDOR – A Missed Opportunity?
RIDDOR – A Missed opportunity? From 1 October 2013 the new Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations came into force. The alleged reason for the change from RIDDOR 1995 (as amended) to RIDDOR 2013 is to simplify the reporting requirements in line with the recommendations of the Young report (2010) and the Lofstedt review (2011). To sketch out a bit of background here – the Young report made two recommendations regarding RIDDOR. The first was implemented by the 2012 amendment to change over-3-day injures to over-7-day injuries. The second was to “re-examine the operation of RIDDOR to determine whether this is the best approach to providing an accurate…
