A single regulatory body will now be responsible for promoting the cause of better health and safety at work in the UK after the Government announced a merger of the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive.
The merged body will be called the Health and Safety Executive and its chair will be Judith Hackett, the current chair of the Health and Safety Commission.

"The new Health and Safety Executive will strengthen the importance of workplace health and safety in Great Britain," Ms Hackett said. "With a single regulatory body we will be able to strengthen the links between strategy and delivery in order to provide the accountability expected of a public body in today's workplace climate."

Welcoming the merger, Health and Safety Minister Lord McKenzie said: "The Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety Executive have done an excellent job over the last 30 years in bringing about significant improvements to health and safety at work.
"However, to face the challenges and demands of the changing world of work, now is the right time to merge the organisations into one which can provide a platform for further improvements to health and safety at work across Great Britain."
The decision to merge the two bodies followed a public consultation exercise in which 80 per cent of respondents favoured the move.

The consultation document can be viewed at: www.dwp.gov.uk/mediacentre/pressreleases/2008/apr/emp070-010408.asp

Source: Department for Work and Pensions press release, April 1 2008