Hazards Campaign news release -13 March 2026 [No embargo]
The Hazards Campaign is sounding the alarm over the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) plans to use its Retained EU Law Powers to introduce significant deregulatory changes to Great Britain’s chemical regulation system with little transparency and limited scrutiny. Hazards Campaign is concerned these plans will lead to a weakening of protections and the emergence of a two-tier system of chemical safety compared to the better protected EU workforce.
The HSE’s response to concerns raised during the consultation on the deregulation proposal largely ignored the issues highlighted by many key stakeholders, reinforcing its commitment to a deregulatory approach HSE Chemicals Legislative Reform Consultation Response. Under the proposed route, the changes will be subject to only minimal parliamentary debate, making it extremely difficult to challenge or prevent them becoming law.
At the heart of the proposals is the plan to de‑link Great Britain’s chemical hazard classification system from the EU’s. The Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) framework is the foundation of the UK’s chemical safety regime: hazard classifications determine legal controls across around 19 other regulations, including the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) which govern workplace exposure to harmful chemicals
Under current law, the HSE must act on new EU hazard classifications—especially for carcinogens and mutagens—within a set timeframe. The HSE now proposes removing this obligation and replacing it with a discretionary system that could draw on any international source. This is likely to increase regulatory divergence from the EU; GB has already diverged in around 15% of cases, typically with weaker classifications
Despite these risks, the HSE argues the current duty is “burdensome” and restricts its ability to prioritise domestic work. Meanwhile, the UK has already chosen not to adopt new EU hazard classes for endocrine disrupting‑ chemicals (EDCs). As a result, EU workers will receive stronger protections from EDC exposure, while GB workers will not — creating a two-tier‑ system of chemical safety.
Hazard Campaign’s Assessment
The proposed changes would:
- Reduce protections for GB workers, leaving safety standards below those of the EU.
- Slow and weaken updates to hazard classifications, diminishing the system’s scientific robustness.
- Increase regulatory divergence, creating inconsistencies for industry and enforcement.
- Undermine the legal framework that governs control of exposure to high‑risk chemicals.
The Hazards Campaign calls for the HSE and Government to:
- Withdraw the deregulatory proposals that remove mandatory alignment with EU hazard classifications.
- Retain a science based‑, precautionary, mandatory updating process for chemical hazard classifications.
- Adopt EU classifications for carcinogens, mutagens, and EDCs to protect workers from recognised harm.
- Stop the creation of a weakened, divergent GB chemical safety regime that undermines COSHH and other worker protections.
- Engage meaningfully with unions, safety bodies and NGOs, as urged in your own call to action text.
Call to Action
Stakeholders—Unions, NGOs and safety activists —are urged to raise concerns with the HSE, political representatives and internal structures, and to press for reversal of this deregulatory shift, particularly around GB CLP and the regulation of carcinogens, mutagens and endocrine disruptors.
Press enquiries
Marie Monaghan
Hazards Campaign Lead and Joint Co-ordinator of the Greater Manchester Hazards Centre
Email: Marie@gmhazards.org.uk
www.hazardscampaign.org.uk
