The government’s own papers show that crashing out of the EU without a deal would put the UK’s workplace health and safety regulations at risk, the TUC has warned. Hugh Robertson, the union body’s head of safety, said the government’s Brexit no-deal scenarios expose real threats to the chemical regulation REACH, with no plans to include REACH-style participation of unions and consumers in related technical committees.

Instead, the UK government refers to setting up a transitional “light touch notification process”.

Robertson, in a detailed blog article, notes: “This is at odds with the European Commission approach as there are plans to strengthen REACH in the future.” He adds: “The reality is that unless there is an agreement with the EU that includes a commitment to match or exceed future EU regulations, it is highly likely that once any post-exit transition period is over parliament will be free to re-write our health and safety laws and no assurances given by the current government will be able to prevent that. That is why we must ask for respect for EU health and safety standards to be at the heart of any future partnership agreement between the UK and EU to ensure that UK regulation remains, as an absolute minimum, at the level afforded to EU workers both now and in the future.”

He concludes: “The best way to guarantee this would be for the UK to remain in the single market, which is why the TUC is calling for the government to change course before it’s too late.”

According to ‘A right mess’, a feature in the current issue in Hazards magazine, the situation is compounded by a ‘stunted’ health and safety regulator and a Brexit secretary who has “previously called for Britain to use negotiations with the European Union to scrap workers’ rights”, with workplace safety regulations singled out for attack.