Consultants Register

A new register for safety consultants is likely to form part of a suite of government recommendations on health and safety. The report is authored by Lord David Young, the Conservative peer charged with reviewing health and safety law and perceptions in the UK.

Lord Young has voiced concerns that some consultants either overcomplicate safety, or miss important hazards. In his speech at the Conservative party conference, he said:

“We cannot allow untrained, unqualified and inexperienced consultants loose on the business world.”

The register, known as the Occupational Safety Consultants Register, or OSCR, is seen by the government as the first step to resolving problems Lord Young has identified around standards during his review. OSCR is designed to help businesses who don’t need to employ full time safety professionals, or need specialist help on a specific issue, and aims to give clients confidence in the consultant they choose.

The national register, which clients will be able to search online, is due to go live in early 2011. The Health and Safety Executive is leading the project to develop the register, and has worked in consultation with several organisations, including IOSH. The plan is to set up a not-for-profit company to run the scheme in the long term.

To register, consultants will need to have a degree level qualification and assessed experience in safety, as well as an active commitment to Continuing Professional Development. They also need to be signed up to a code of conduct and have current professional indemnity insurance. Chartered Members of IOSH, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland, and Fellows of the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management, will be eligible.

Initially, the register will only cover safety. The HSE has said that the register is for:

“…individuals who primarily provide commercial third party advice services on general safety management issues. We will keep this under review and will not rule out occupational health consultants in future.”

The enforcing body believes that the register will drive up standards:

“The benefit for safety consultants is that this will establish a new benchmark for high standards in the sector. The register will be the only independent and HSE-recognised way of demonstrating the highest professional standing and competence in occupational safety consultancy.”

The HSE and local authority inspectors will be referring businesses needing general external safety advice to OSCR. Lord Young has made it clear that if this voluntary scheme fails to raise standards, a statutory scheme can’t be ruled out.

The costs of joining and staying on the scheme haven’t yet been hammered out, but the HSE has described the joining cost as a “small fee” to cover administration.