Chamber backs HSE site plan
An East Midlands chamber of commerce is backing new online guidance aimed to help businesses comply with health and safety laws.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has developed the "Health and safety made simple" site after 15 employees were killed and 2,056 were injured at work in the East Midlands last year.
The agency said it had worked on a few unsettling cases in the region in recent months. They involved a worker losing three fingers in machine at a paper works in Chapel-en-le-Frith, another breaking his back and fracturing his skull after falling from a roof in Mansfield, and an elderly resident's possessions becoming contaminated with asbestos during renovation work at sheltered housing in West Bridgford.
The website acts as an entry point for employers who "need help knowing where to start in meeting their health and safety responsibilities or for those confused by what is expected of them", a HSE spokesman said.
The website also links to the Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register (OSHCR) through which employers can search for a consultant for extra help or support.
George Cowcher, chief executive of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce (DNCC), said: "The chamber welcomes this positive response following consistent feedback from our members about the complexity of health and safety regulation.
"This will improve business confidence, and prevent employers feeling inhibited by onerous burdens that leave many firms confused about their legal obligations surrounding the well-being of their staff."
