With compensation claims a headache for British business and a fear for bosses, the Health & Safety Commission presented a conference to tell the truth about the culture. Dan Raywood was in attendance.

The 'compensation culture' has become a buzz phrase for the media and government in recent months, as advertising and word of mouth promotion has encouraged victims of accidents to take action against those responsible.

The Health and Safety Commission held a conference in March to address the current situation regarding the compensation culture, and what is being done to both combat false claims and encourage truthful pursuits.

But what is the real situation? Bill Callaghan, Chair of the HSC admitted that 'a risk free society is a pie in the sky'. The statistics show that in 2004, there was 235 fatalities in the workplace and there was a total of 39 million working days lost due to absence through sickness.

With risk often a problem and companies constantly with 'backs to the wall' regarding employee safety, Bill Callaghan realises this situation and encourages small companies to put into force practical and simple measures to protect workers rather than employ 'excessive risk aversion.'

Bill also said, 'The key is to employ sensible health and safety measures, to manage risk and not ban it. We believe that excessive regulation hampers innovation.'

Timothy Walker, Director General of the Health and Safety Executive responded by saying, 'The Health and Safety at work act does not cover risks and companies need to identify for themselves what will work best for their circumstance.'

The situation regarding risk is further put under the spotlight with media coverage of supposed red tape regarding the banning of children playing conkers, removal of hanging baskets in high-rise buildings and the placement of railings on high ground.

Timothy declared that there is no such ban on such activities and admitted that 'all human activities have risks. The question is where do you strike the balance and where do you reach the decision.'

Speaking on behalf of the government - Lord Falconer, Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, said, 'The culture determines that there is always someone at fault and there is always someone to pay, this is hindering organisations from going about their business.'

Lord Falconer said, 'This is NOT a problem for the government alone, though we are determined to act and take our part in combating the culture of false claims, we need to improve the effectiveness of the culture. We need to say yes to real claims and no to false claims. There isn't a quick fix, this cannot be turned around over night.'

So what does this mean for small businesses? The consensus from the government is that if correct procedures are followed, companies have nothing to fear. Lord Falconer said, 'We need to keep on developing a common sense culture.'

Legislation is also being assured that in the event of an accident, the law protects those staff who have taken action to prevent accidents. Also the need to protect genuine claimants and how to make it work for them is also to be addressed.

Lord Falconer finished by saying, 'The process must be fair, proportionate and cost effective, compensation cannot come at any cost. The government is determined to take this work forward and is making real progress.'

The addressing and importance to small businesses of risk assessment is paramount, as compensation claims can be the difference between financial stability and failure.

Bill Callaghan said, 'SME's need as much help as possible, we can provide information to help them help themselves and understand what are the sensible and right steps to take.'

For further information, call the HSE's InfoLine on 0845 3450055, or write to HSE Information Services, Caerphilly Business Park, Caerphilly CF83 3GG. Visit the website at www.hse.gov.uk.

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