The self-employed will officially be able to ignore most health & safety regulations from 1 October, as long as doing so does not put other people at any risk.

The elelphant in the room is that not very much is actually going to change as the Health & Safety Executive has seldom intervened with the way a self-employed person is carrying out a job anyway… unless what they are doing is endangering someone else. And that is not changing. Now, though, the attitude of non-intervention in the activities of self-employed is explicit. 

The change is the result of the Löfstedt Review in 2011. It recommended that the self-employed whose work activities pose no risk of harm to others should be exempt from health & safety law. This recommendation was accepted by a Government keen to show it was removing red tape from business. 

So, from 1 October, if you are self-employed and your work activity poses no potential threat to the health or safety of other workers or members of the public, health & safety law will not apply to you. You can expose yourself to as much extreme work as you like – dust, vibration, noxious fumes, unguarded blades or any other danger you think is worth the risk.

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) estimates that 1.7million self-employed people will be removed from the protection of the regulations.

For the purposes of this easing of restrictions, 'self-employed' means you do not work under a contract of employment and work only for yourself.

If you are self-employed and employ others, the law will still apply to you as an employer. You may be self-employed for tax purposes, but this does not necessarily remove you from restrictions of health & safety legislation. This can be a complex area and HMRC has produced employment status guidance (click here to view it).

Most self-employed people will be able to judge for themselves if their work poses a risk to others. For example, if you are on a roof with nothing to stop you falling off, you could pose a risk of falling on others. 

HSE guidance on risk management explains more about the risks your work activity may create and how best to manage these (click here to see the guidance).