Alarm Welcomes Publication of Lőfstedt
Review
Alarm
welcomes the publication of Professor Ragnar Löfstedt’s report,
‘Reclaiming health and safety for all’, which was commissioned by
the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. The report
recognises that problems often arise not because of the regulations
themselves but more in the way in which these are interpreted and
applied. Thus, in the public and third sectors, we find
instances of activities that have been curtailed or cancelled due
to fears over alleged health and safety implications.
As a result, communities are
diminished as years-old customs and practices are abandoned,
playgrounds closed, trees felled and hanging baskets removed – all
in the name of health and safety, and fears of legal suits being
taken out against the council, school or community group
involved.
Alarm agrees with
Professor Löfstedt’s view that proportionate risk management makes
good business sense and that decisions should be made from a risk-
and evidence-based perspective.Alarm has been working closely with
the Association of Chief Police Officers in England and Wales on
the adoption of a risk-based model for decision making – the
“National Decision Model (NDM)” – based on the risk management
cycle and applying to all areas of policing, whether front-line
response, management of resources or strategic decision
making. This involves the adoption of 10 “Risk Principles”
and a Statement of Mission and Values, underpinning the NDM and how
the police service accepts and manages risk, and the inclusion of
risk in the new Policing Professional Framework, (the new role
profile framework), for officers and staff at all levels.
Alarm welcomes the
recommendation that Government stimulates a wider debate about risk
in society, and how it should be regulated, and looks forward to
participating in that debate.