Listening to the news and the fears that the Scottish people might vote yes and break up the union, it seems unclear as to what will and won’t change.

Will they lose the pound? Probably it appears. Will some of the larger employers move parts of their business away from Scotland – again it’s highly likely. What about being in the European Union – would Scotland be given the right to join; not a given right according to the EU.

What also isn’t clear is will Scotland continue to apply the current health & safety legislation or will it start again from scratch? We think this is an important question as it will impact on so many businesses. We currently support a number of Scottish businesses to comply with DSEAR, some which are multi- national to ensure the safety of the business and the workforce. If the yes vote wins will this piece of legislation need to be replaced – or for simplicity would Scotland adopt what they already use.

Already across the UK the HSE has been working on streamlining legislation and changing how and where information on health & safety is available. This has taken huge resources to what is supposed to cut the red tape which businesses suffer from. If Scotland has to go through the same process again in the near future the costs would be high and would further complicate the picture for businesses.

Maybe this is only a very minor part of the decision that the Scottish people need to know but add this to many other issues then the decision is likely to be very difficult; maybe that’s why there are so many don’t knows. It makes us think of the saying; be careful of what you wish for as the reality is likely to be very different from the dream.