The architect of the government’s health and safety strategy has raised concerns that his report could be ‘misused’ for political purposes.

Professor Ragnar Lofstedt told a forum in London on Tuesday that he was not in favour of ‘radical’ reform, apparently contrary to prime minister David Cameron’s attack earlier this month on the ‘monster’ of health and safety. Cameron referenced Lofstedt’s report from December as he blamed the ‘albatross’ of health and safety legislation for holding back British businesses.

But the King’s College academic, speaking at the Westminster Legal Policy Forum, insisted he had never called for significant changes to legal policy and did not believe in a compensation culture. When asked if he was worried his report could be hijacked for political purposes, he said: ‘I am concerned about it. I am concerned my review could be misused.

‘But I am not going to go away, I have made my conclusions with policy makers and I want to engage with them.

‘To be very clear, [employment secretary] Chris Grayling did not change one word in my review - there are politicians open to evidence and risk-based policy-making.’

Lofstedt assured an audience of solicitors, insurers and retailers that his proposal to lift health and safety burdens for the self-employed applied only to those who could do no harm to themselves or others. He explained that novelists or computer programmers need not fill in assessment forms, but said the likes of construction and agriculture workers ‘should not and never will be’ subject to more lenient health and safety rules.

(Read More) Source: Law Gazette