The Ministry of Justice has announced that among changes “designed to bring some common sense back to Britain's health and safety culture”, new measures will be brought forward that will put the law more clearly on the side of employers who do the right thing to protect employees if something does go wrong through no fault of their own. Measures will also provide greater protection to small business owners who face challenges from “irresponsible employees” even if they have taken a responsible approach to safety training and procedures. The proposed changes to the law would make sure the courts take into account the context of an incident if a negligence case is brought. They would not prohibit cases from being brought, in order to ensure that people can still seek justice if they have fallen victim to an accident caused by genuine negligence. The law changes will be made in new legislation. They are expected to come into effect next year.

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