The amendment is designed to change civil liability laws in relation to health and safety duties, but there has been uproar from Labour MPs, unions and lawyers for the way it has been sneaked in via the ERR bill without any consultation.
The effect would be that workers would be unable to rely on an employer's breach of health and safety law to win a personal injury claim. Instead they would have to prove negligence.
"This proposal was introduced with no consultation and there is no indication of what regulations the civil liability changes will apply to," said a TUC spokesperson. "But it is a disgrace that they are transferring the cost of an injury from the employer on to the worker, who will already have suffered the pain and suffering."
The government has argued that the change arises out of a recommendation Professor Ragnar Löfstedt's review last November. However, the proposed amendment grossly exceeds it. See www.tuc.org.uk/workplace/tuc-21579-f0.cfm