The Great British Standstill……..
Whether we leave the EU in the short term, the long term, never, or in name only is still an unknown factor and may be for some time to come. The EU (Withdrawal Act) 2018 applies itself to our health and safety Legislation and ensures that the EU references are removed and replaced with UK references, so that we can, if we do, transition seamlessly into whatever re-emerged state we evolve into, on or around midnight of the day in question, if that day ever comes. Clear as mud.
Whether you are a remainer, a Brexiter or still unconvinced either way, the main loser in all this is surely the amount of time we have simply stood still. In this very British act of standing perfectly still, broken down and going nowhere, waiting for something to come along and give us a bump-start we have committed the worst kind of transgression which is doing nothing.
Since the vote we have had extremely little in the way of health and safety change, debate, consideration and have become moribund, becalmed and de-motivated, our eyes on something else our mind on somewhere else.
We need to shake ourselves down, cast off this shadow and get on with our work. Safety in the workplace, in a changing and challenging workplace, is getting harder to define, harder to maintain and manage. It needs a fresh, vibrant approach to encompass all the new working practices ahead. Not to address this is to let the Global Organisations plough on without due consideration for worker and public safety. Drones, artificial intelligence, driverless vehicles, gig economy, home working, come on let’s get out of this torpor and into the debate.
Hopefully The Great British Standstill and OJ Safety are ready for any changes to Health and Safety change and will ensure all our clients are kept up to date when/if this occurs.