New plans drawn up by the Conservatives would allow contractors to arrange their own externally audited safety inspections, and ban Health and Safety Executive inspectors from their sites if they have already passed strict standards.
The measure is part of a package announced by shadow business secretary Ken Clarke in a bid to cut red tape for business.
He said he wanted to “curb the powers of intrusive inspectors by allowing firms to arrange their own, externally audited inspections and, providing they pass, to refuse entry to official inspectors thereafter”.
Safety lobbyists and unions have reacted angrily to the proposal, which they claim would prove “disastrous” for the construction sector.
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