Bill seeks to improve UK workplace violence and harassment protections

This Private Member’s Bill, Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Amendment) Bill,  introduced by Liz Saville Roberts of Plaid Cymru, aims to amend the existing Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (167 pages / 8.8 MB) (HSWA) to include more robust measures against violence and harassment in the workplace.

The bill seeks to place a legal requirement on employers to take proactive steps to prevent violence and harassment. This includes implementing comprehensive policies and training programmes designed to create a safer and more inclusive work environment. The proposed amendments also mandate the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to develop and publish a detailed Health and Safety Framework specifically addressing workplace violence and harassment, including gender-based violence.

The bill places emphasis on preventative measures. For instance, under the bill employers would be required to conduct regular risk assessment and establish clear reporting mechanisms for incidents of violence and harassment. This proactive approach is intended to not only address incidents when they occur but also to create a workplace culture that discourages such behaviour from happening in the first place.

While the bill has garnered significant attention and support from various advocacy groups and organisations dedicated to workplace safety and gender equality, it is “unlikely to become law unless it receives unanimous support from MPs and passes a second reading in the House of Commons without debate”, according to Willie Park, health and safety law expert at Pinsent Masons.

Park said: “The fact that the bill is unlikely to become law does not detract from the fact that it reveals the increasing support for better protections from such incidents. However, there is an argument that the HSWA is not the right platform to tackle such specific matters.

“One of the reasons the HSWA remains relevant 50 years after it came into force is its focus on the general responsibilities imposed on an employer to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of its workers and others affected by their activities, insofar as reasonably practicable. With its roots in the belief that as the person most likely to create workplace health, safety or wellbeing risk, the employer is best placed to address it, the HSWA’s focus on these underlying obligations has meant that it remains flexible and able to provide the underpinning of the radical changes already seen in the last 50 years, and which are likely to be met in the future.”  

“Specific issues requiring additional parliamentary intervention have been provided for in other legislation or regulations. However, health and safety does not operate in a vacuum and a holistic approach is required to ensure compliance with obligations, requiring collaboration between both occupational health and safety and human resources functions as well support from the wider organisational culture,” he said.