The Minister for the Department of Infrastructure will present proposals for the simplification of construction sector health and safety legislation to the November sitting of Tynwald.
 
The call for the revocation of the Construction (Health and Safety) Regulations 1985 and the Construction (Head Protection) Regulations 1999 will reduce the current levels of confusion within the industry over which laws should be applied and greatly improve the consistency of health and safety standards on construction sites across the Isle of Man.
 
The Construction (Health and Safety) Regulations support an outdated approach to the management of risks that is in conflict with the obligatory requirement for businesses to apply reasonably practicable controls. The Construction (Head Protection) Regulations are unnecessary as the need to take steps to protect against the possibility of head injury has been adequately covered by alternative existing legislation.  The specific reference to construction in the title also deflects companies that operate in other sectors from assessing and controlling similar risks to their employees.
 
Richard Ronan MHK, the Departmental Member with responsibility for Health and Safety, commented ‘Having worked extensively in the industry I understand how difficult it can be to manage construction projects. Adopting this proposal would result in significant improvement as it would reduce the confusion over which legislation should be applied and allow businesses to be more effective in identifying the measures required to achieve proportionate control over the risks present on their projects’.
 
Minister for Infrastructure, David Cretney MHK said: ‘This is the first stage in developing a health and safety regulatory framework that is current, easy to understand and effective. Construction companies will be able focus on addressing the risks specific to their own operations rather than having to consider unnecessary layers of legislation.
 
‘We are not concentrating solely on construction and I can confirm that the Health and Safety at Work Inspectorate are committed to supporting this common sense approach to risk management across all sectors.’