BUREAUCRATIC HEALTH and safety laws coupled with public fear of litigation has made the United Kingdom an excessively cautious country that needs to change, said Conservative Party leader David Cameron.
One-third of all such UK laws have been introduced during the 12 years of Labour rule, he said in his speech to the Policy Exchange think tank, though this charge was strongly disputed last night.
The biggest change in UK society in recent years, Mr Cameron said, has been the “perception that behind every accident there is someone who is personally culpable, [that there is] someone who must pay.
“Excessive rules have given the impression that we have a right to a risk-free life, and that impression has been exacerbated by prominent claims and pay-outs. The consequence has been spiralling costs and a slow death of discretion, judgment and social responsibility,” he said.
Trades Union Congress general secretary Brendan Barbour accused Mr Cameron of “peddling half-truths and myths”, saying that 246,000 people were injured in UK factories and offices last year.
Mr Cameron said: “When children are made to wear goggles by their head teacher to play conkers, when trainee hairdressers are not allowed scissors in the classroom, when office workers are banned from moving a chair without expert supervision, when staff at a railway station don’t help a young mum carry her baby son’s buggy because they are not insured, when village fetes are cancelled because residents can’t face jumping through all the bureaucratic hoops, it is clear that what began as a noble intention to protect people from harm has mutated into a stultifying blanket of bureaucracy, suspicion and fear that has saturated our country, covering the actions of millions of individuals as they go about their daily lives.”
The Tory leader has ordered a former minister to draw up detailed plans for new legislation that would offer the public proper safeguards where needed, but would also emphasise the need for everyone to be responsible.
Consumers must be given guarantees that products they buy are safe: “It is simply not possible for parents to inspect their children’s toys for safety while they’re still in the box in the shop. So it is right we demand toy manufacturers comply with certain standards.”
Reasonable rules should govern employers to make sure that their staff are protected. “But it does not follow that employees can never be exposed to risk. It would be impossible for firemen to tackle fires or the police to chase criminals without a degree of risk.
“That’s why employers should be required to be clear about the attendant risks of the job – so when people sign up they know precisely what the work entails,” said Mr Cameron.
Greater transparency would help to improve standards, as happened in the US in 1998 when Los Angeles authorities began publishing the results of restaurant food safety inspections. “This led to a huge improvement in restaurant hygiene.” People who offer medical treatment in “Good Samaritan” cases should not be found negligent if something goes wrong “if they have acted in good faith”, and if they have taken reasonable actions to help someone.
Mr Cameron once more insisted that a Tory government would demand back control over working-hour rules from the EU, particularly over the 48-hour limit placed on junior doctors which, he said, is badly affecting the National Health Service.