Cedrec's annual Legislation Roadshow toured the country in January this year, visiting ten cities in two weeks. Our consultants, Richard Clarke and Gareth Billinghurst, discussed the legislation landscape of the environment and safety industries and took the opportunity to poll attendees from each city, in each industry discussion.
The results based on those polls signal it is likely we won't be throwing out those EU directives any time soon, but we did find it interesting to note the results from each industry, from each region.
Take Newcastle's health and safety practitioners, for example. The only poll to come back with a vote for a Brexit.
The fact Newcastle's safety poll was the only one to come back with a vote to leave doesn't mean it wasn't close in other cities. Far from it in fact. Southampton safety professionals were only 58% in favour of staying with the EU, and Leeds were even more sceptical, with only 55% voting to remain.
Within the different professions, it was clear environmental practitioners were more inclined to be pro-EU, with only one city, Manchester, bucking the trend, with the environmental session poll yielding 67% to stay, versus the safety poll where 68% voted the same way.
Cedrec's take
Really interesting results. We had our suspicions that safety professionals would be more inclined to leave the EU. There could be any reason for this, but we believe that the UK's attitude to health and safety being as good as it is means safety professionals feel no loyalty to EU legislation. With their industry focus being unaffected by a Brexit, they can therefore focus on reasons more personal to them.
Environmentally, however, the EU provides a great deal of protective legislation, and many reports and opinions have been published in the media stating that the UK does not do enough through its own organic legislation in order to properly protect the environment, should we no longer have EU legislation put in place.
Whatever your profession, age, location, variable of any kind, this decision is a big one, so be sure to use your opportunity to vote on 23 June 2016!
