Health and Safety Executive

Health and Safety Executive

Helping Great Britain Work Well

Philip White

Head of Operational Strategy

HSE

Energy UK Annual Health & Safety Conference 2016

22nd September

Presentation

• The new health &

safety system

strategy

• Industry challenges

• Regulatory issues

New strategy for the GB system

A record to be proud

• One of the safest

working countries in the

world

• Mature system of

regulation, with

experienced and

committed participants

• Together, we can make

the health and safety

system even better

Opportunities & challenges

Success has created many

opportunities but also

challenges:

• It will be stretching to drive

further improvement

• Need to resist temptation to

set disproportionate standards

• Immediacy of safety

challenges has detracted from

effectively tackling health

issues

• A safer, healthier and more

prosperous Great Britain

• A healthy workforce that

feels valued by their

employers

• Reduced public expense

dealing with unnecessary ill

health

• Business sectors boosted by

improved staff retention and

increased productivity

What we all stand to gain

Helping Britain Work Well

HSE’s contribution

• Continue as the prime mover

in the health and safety system

– Develop & maintain

regulatory framework

– Encourage & support action

– Enforce law & provide

justice

Key Sector Challenges

To improve health &

safety in the context of:

• Integration of new

technologies

• Managing ageing

infrastructure and its

decommissioning

• Industry fragmentation

and rapid changes

Specific examples

• Demolition of

redundant plant

– Didcot

– CDM

• Smart Meters

– Scale of challenge

– Industry sharing

Avoiding catastrophe

• Improve corporate risk management

systems

• Knowledge, skills and experience of

safety risk management should be

raised

• Communication and interface

management should be improved

• Competence

• Effective management of temporary

works

• Independent reviews should be

employed

• Learn from experience

Regulatory challenges

• Deregulation

– £10bn savings this

Parliament

• Brexit

– No immediate

consequences for HSE

• Public Spending

– HSE commercial activity

– FFI/cost recovery

Expectations

• Maintain, develop & ensure

all industry relevance of key

infrastructure:

– Powering Improvement

– National HESAC, etc.

• Commit & deliver on strategy

– Exemplar case studies

• Learning from failures

In summary

• Leading performance

on health and safety

• Big challenges ahead

• Embrace strategy &

maintain position

Many thanks

Health and Safety Executive

Health and Safety Executive

#HelpGBWorkWell