WORKERS are now first in line to be sued over an accident or disaster because of "botched'' legislation, it is claimed.

Under health and safety regulations, bad employers can now pass the buck to their staff after any workplace accident, according to whistleblowing charity Public Concern at Work.

The regulations, introduced a year ago with no publicity, mean that workers face having to pay unlimited damages if they don't raise concerns about health and safety risks, said the report.

The group claimed that if the regulations had been in place for the Potters Bar train crash two years ago, the worker who inspected the track weeks before the incident would have been made the "statutory fall guy".

Public Concern at Work director Guy Dehn said: "It's unacceptable that such a far-reaching and radical new law can be introduced with no publicity and without even a word of advice or guidance to those it affects."

The government was urgently considering the matter, according to Public Concern at Work.