Everyday heroes to be protected by SARAH

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has announced that good-doers will no longer be unfairly punished when carrying out activities for the common good, which accidentally go wrong.

The concept of bringing common sense back to  health and safety culture is at the core of the proposed "Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill", otherwise known as "SARAH".

The Bill began life during the Red Tape Challenge, and Mr Grayling hopes that once it is made into legislation, it will slay much of the "elf and safety" jobsworth culture.

The proposed measures will put the law more clearly on the side of the employers who do the right thing to protect employees if something does go wrong through no fault of their own.

The measures also provide greater protection to small business owners who face challenges from irresponsible employees even if they have taken a responsible approach to safety training and procedures.

To make sure everyday heroes are protected, the law will be changed so that judges will have to give weight to three additional factors when deciding negligence cases.

These factors are:

• the person was doing something for "the benefit of society" – to give weight to the fact people were doing a good deed like volunteering, running an event or trip, or helping out by clearing snow;
• they had been acting in a "generally responsible way" – to make sure the court will give consideration to the fact people may have taken care when organising an activity but an accident has happened;
• they were "acting in emergency" – if they stepped in to help someone in danger but something went wrong.

Mr Grayling said, "I don’t want us to be a society where people feel that they can’t do the right thing for fear of breaking regulations or becoming liable if something goes wrong. I don’t want us to be a society where a responsible employer gets the blame for someone doing something stupid. I want a society where common sense is the order of the day, and I believe this measure will help us get there."

The changes, which would apply in England and Wales, are expected to come into effect next year.

Update

The Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Act 2015 has now been published and came fully into force on 13 April 2015.