Consultants invited to sign up to new register for health and safety

Health and safety consultants are being invited to sign up to a new independent register that is intended to become a new benchmark for standards in the profession, in an attempt to reduce the number of claims for work accident compensation. The Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register (OSHCR) is being set up in response to recommendations in the Government-commissioned report on the UK health and safety system _ Common Sense Common Safety. It aims to increase employers’ confidence in accessing good quality, proportionate advice and also to address concerns that some employers can find it difficult to know how and where to get external health and safety advice, with the result that they are more prone to being on the receiving end of an accident at work claim. OSHCR has been established by a number of professional bodies representing general safety and occupational health consultants across the UK, with support from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). This is part of an excellent ongoing campaign by the HSE to educate employers so that they can reduce the likelihood of a work accident claim being made against them.