His report recommends a raft of changes including an easing  in the bureaucracy burden caused by the RIDDOR accident reporting regulations.

Construction companies currently have to file a report if employees are off work for three days or more following an accident.

Lord Young is now calling for that period to be extended to seven days as the first step in a possible revamp of the whole law.

He wants to see the whole raft of health and safety laws consolidated into one easy-to-use document for business.

Health and safety consultants will also be better regulated with a website created containing details of experts and their relevant qualifications.

Lord Young:  “For too long, health and safety has been allowed to become a joke in the media and among the public. It’s about time it was taken seriously.

“I believe that the best way to do this is to ease the burden in places where health and safety is not an issue, and to discourage the compensation culture that has spread fear of litigation throughout our society.

“I believe my recommendations will be an important step towards restoring civil liberties, shredding red tape and making sure that health and safety rules are properly applied and respected.”

The Health and Safety Executive welcomed the proposals.

Judith Hackitt, the HSE Chair, said: “HSE will continue to champion a sensible and proportionate approach to dealing with serious risks in the workplace – not eliminating every minor risk from everyday life.”