Lord Young's long awaited review into health and safety in the UK has been published with the government committed to tackling the "damaging compensation culture".

The former Conservative minister said that changes were needed as the standing of health and safety in the eyes of the public has never been lower with businesses often operating such policies in a climate of fear.

David Cameron said that he hoped the review would turn out to be a turning point with a new system being introduced to replace unnecessary bureaucracy.

The report has received a cautious welcome from business leaders although the TUC leader Brendan Barber called it a "grave disappointment" adding that it did not contain a single proposal that would reduce the high levels of workplace injuries, illness and death. He said it was a missed opportunity to improve the UK's safety at work record and could even make the situation worse.

The report criticises the "no win, no fee" system which, according to Lord Young, gives the misleading impression that there is no financial risk in starting litigation. He says that the system for claiming compensation was a growing industry and that the current incentives for claiming compensation had to change.

Lord Young proposes that a scheme, recently introduced for road traffic accidents, be extended to take in straightforward personal injury claims and calls for a "common-sense approach" to educational trips as opposed to the current system which, he said, deters teachers from arranging trips at all.

Lord Young added: "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."