Westminster Compliance

As part of the Government’s Plan for Growth, Business secretary Vince Cable has recently said red tape that can deter employers from taking on apprentices would be slashed.

Currently training providers and employers who work with the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) are expected to meet not only the health and safety standards required for all employees but also additional requirements for apprentices.

IOSH said it welcomed efforts to encourage more high-quality apprenticeships, but regretted that health and safety was again being portrayed as a hindrance and were not aware of the additional requirements that are being referred to.

Mr Cable insisted the changes to the regime would not reduce quality, saying: “Apprenticeships are proven to boost the life chances of young people, and are a sound investment in our future competitiveness. So, when times are tough, it’s right that we provide additional support to help the smallest firms meet training costs.

The changes announced by Mr Cable, which also include financial incentives for small firms to offer apprenticeships, will see health and safety requirements streamlined so that there are no additional demands on employers that already comply with legislation and national standards.

So, from the start of next year, training providers and employers offering apprenticeships will no longer have to comply with any requirements that go ‘above and beyond’ health and safety legislation.

We wonder, will this reduce the quality of work? will the number of accidents/incidents in the workplace begin to rise? Risk assessing a young worker is surely not a burden to an employer – but a simplified precautionary measure?

Did you know? New employees are as likely to have an accident in the first six months at a workplace as during the whole of the rest of their working life.

The HSE states the reasons behind this are;

• lack of experience working in a new industry or workplace;
• lack of familiarity with the job and the work environment;
• reluctance to raise concerns (or not knowing how to); and
• eagerness to impress workmates and managers

IOSH joined organisations across the UK in calling for greater investment in preparing young people for the world of work.

The Young Enterprise (YE) Charter, signed by chief executive Rob Strange OBE, calls for enterprise education to be made a priority and placed in the statutory curriculum. It fits with IOSH’s work to promote the education of young people about occupational risk before they enter employment.

The UK’s YoungEnterprise (YE) scheme is part of Junior Achievement Worldwide, a global organisation dedicated to educating students about entrepreneurship and financial literacy through hands-on programmes.

So what do you think? Should educating young people in health & safety and entrepreneurship go hand in hand with national curriculum or i sthis starting too young?

The results of recent research has shown that young workers (18-29 year olds) are feeling more pressured at work due to the recession causing them to work longer hours than their older colleagues (those in their fifties/sixties).

Working longer hours, insufficient resources and employers  using the recession to justify asking them to do more is leading to more & more younger workers to feeling stressed in the workplace as they find an inbalance between work life and personal health.

On the other hand, older workers  aren’t feeling the stress and pressures as much – although don’t let this stop you from completing your risk assessments and making sure you provide your employees with a stress-free working environment.