By Hans Stacey 21/02/2017

Under: Health and Safety News

Brexit White Paper: No Clarity on Health and Safety

The Brexit white paper details the Great Repeal Bill which will remove the European Communities Act 1972 from the statute book and convert the body of existing EU law into domestic law. The white paper asserts that ‘wherever practical and appropriate’, the same laws will remain in force the day after we leave the EU. On the face of it, the bill gives reassurance that we won’t immediately fall out of the health and safety standards and protection afforded by EU legislation when we leave.

However, there is a significant problem in health and safety: even if we make EU legislation our own, the day we leave the EU will also mean we are no longer paying members of several organisations and regulatory bodies that underpin and enforce the law.

The white paper discusses these bodies in point 8.42:

“There are a number of EU agencies, such as the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European (Financial Services) Supervisory Authorities (ESAs), which have been established to support EU Member States and their citizens. These can be responsible for enforcing particular regulatory regimes, or for pooling knowledge and information sharing. As part of exit negotiations the Government will discuss with the EU and Member States our future status and arrangements with regard to these agencies.”

The above suggests the government will, wisely, seek a deal to remain part of these bodies. If a deal is not possible, the government will face the significant challenge and cost of enforcing certain legislation themselves, potentially creating a very big job for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).  

The Great Repeal Bill also enables changes to be made by secondary legislation to laws that ‘would otherwise not function sensibly once we have left the EU’. Without EU protection, this could leave health and safety law vulnerable under a government – or future government – with a anti “red-tape” agenda.

Reassurance does however come from the economic arguments for continued compliance with EU standards, which would likely be part of any trade deal. The EU is our largest single trading partner, and UK companies will be keen to adhere to the standards that allow access to the £220 billion EU export market.

When it comes to health and safety, the Brexit white paper leaves a lot of questions still to be answered. We will be keeping a close eye during the negotiations phase.