Overview

This briefing considers the recent report of Lord Young of Graffham, who is keen to move away from what he sees as an overprotective regime of health and safety related rules that are driving an unwelcome “compensation culture” and stifling activities beneficial to society.

The ambitious aim of Young’s report is to tackle the excessive amount of health and safety related litigation in the UK; Lord Young wants “to free businesses from unnecessary bureaucratic burdens and the fear of having to pay out unjustified damages and fees.

However this briefing’s authors, UK law firm Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, ask whether common sense can prevail to simplify the current regime, or whether Lord Young’s well-intentioned proposals would simply have the effect of introducing yet more rules and bureaucracy.