Annual Insurance Review 2024: Health & safety

In this chapter of our Annual Insurance Review 2024, we look at the main developments in 2023 and expected issues in 2024 for Health & safety.

Key developments in 2023

The Building Safety Act 2022

The main parts of the Building Safety Act 2022 came into force this year, as well as some further fire safety legislation. 

From 1 October 2023, the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), which is the HSE, became the building control body for new higher-risk buildings (those classed as being at least 7 storeys tall, and over 18m in height) which must be registered with the BSR. Existing projects would have had to have been submitted to the BSR before 1 October 2023. The BSR will oversee safety and standards, requiring applicants to submit a building control approval application before construction can start. A safety case report summarising major fire and structural hazards and risk management measures is now mandatory for each higher-risk building.

Additionally, a series of new 'duty holder' roles have been introduced. Individuals must be able to evidence they have the appropriate skills, knowledge, experience, and behaviours to perform their roles, and organisations must be able to demonstrate their organisational capabilities.

The Focus on Mental Health

In our last annual insurance review [link?], we reported that the HSE had confirmed that reducing work related ill health with a specific focus on mental health was one of its key strategic objectives in its 10-year strategy (2022-2032). The HSE said it intended to "deliver interventions that make a real difference", and this year we have seen the launch of a new online learning tool designed to prevent work-related stress as part of its Working Minds campaign. The new tool is comprised of six short modules and is designed for businesses to come away with an understanding of what the law requires and what actions they need to take. The tool was launched on 8 November, at HSE’s online Health and Work conference. It can be found here.

What to look out for in 2024

Protect Duty Legislation

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Draft Bill, which was initially called Protect Duty legislation, is a direct response to the terror attack at Manchester Arena on the night of 22 May 2017, where 22 people were killed as a result. Over the past 24 months, the Government has set down the groundwork for the bill and in the King's Speech on 7 November 2023, outlined its intention to lay it out before parliament in the coming months, thus confirming that the Bill will go forwards.

The legislation will impose a duty on the owners and operators of publicly accessible locations to take proportionate steps to increase their preparedness for and protection from a terrorist attack. The precise enforcement regime has yet to be confirmed, but consultations refer to site owners being encouraged to take steps to comply with substantial penalties to be considered where there is repeated noncompliance. The indications are that locations falling within the standard tier (maximum capacity of 100 people) will be subject to a maximum penalty of £10,000; whilst those within the enhanced tier (locations with a capacity over 800 people) could face a maximum penalty of up to £18 million or 5% of worldwide turnover. Businesses are encouraged to:

• Consider what tier they may fall into to better understand what is expected to comply with legislation.
• Carefully review any current risk assessments to ensure compliance.
• Consider what changes could be made to current security plans.

The Food Standards Agency ("FSA")'s new risk based approach

In June 2023, the FSA introduced a revised model for delivery food standards controls which was produced following a consultation in late 2022. This new model is aimed at helping local authorities take a more risk-based and intelligence driven approach to the inspection of Food Business Operators ("FBOs").

A phased rollout started this summer and the deadline for local authorities to transition to the new model is the end of March 2025. The changes will only come into force in England and Northern Ireland and the Food Law Code of Practice was updated to include:

• New foods standards risk rating scheme to create a risk-based approach to inspections.
• Decision matrix to determine the frequency at which food standards controls should be delivered to a FBO as a result of any risk assessment.

A key aim of the new approach is to allow local authorities to focus their resources to the inspection of higher risk FBOs which should in turn encourage compliance from FBOs who will, as a result, benefit from less frequent inspections if they are found to be 'lower risk' businesses in relation to food safety and hygiene. FBOs would be wise to make themselves aware of this new approach and how it may affect their business once it is introduced by the local authority, which may occur at any time between now and March 2025.

Written by Rashna Vaswani.