Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending to all employers irrespective of staff numbers the obligation to undertake a work-related risk assessment.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires all employers (irrespective of staff numbers) to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of their employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work. They also require employers to assess the risks to the health and safety of persons not in their employment arising out of the conduct of their undertaking, in order to identify the measures that are needed to comply with relevant health and safety regulations. Employers with five or more employees are required to record the significant findings of their assessment.