|
29/04/2008
Increasing rates of inspection should be the HSE’s main target, while measures to extend its responsibilities into other areas are placing an excessive strain on its resources.
So says a report by the Department of Work and Pensions into the role of the (former) HSC and HSE in regulating workplace health and safety.
Published on 21 April, the report says that the results of the recent HSE ‘refurbishment blitz’, which led to 30 per cent of 1000 sites inspected receiving an enforcement notice, is clear evidence of the importance of inspections in ensuring employers comply with health and safety laws. The MPs also took the view that current penalties for health and safety offences are too low.
Chair of the committee, Terry Rooney MP, said: "At present businesses can expect an HSE inspection just once every 14.5 years. This is not enough to act as a deterrent to those employers tempted to cut corners on health and safety. Increasing inspection rates should be HSE’s primary focus."
In considering the main barrier to increased inspections – the scarcity of resources – the committee expressed concern that the HSE was spreading itself too thinly. Consequently, the committee calls on the DWP to evaluate whether the HSE has the capacity to take on extra responsibilities, in addition to deploying more front-line inspectors – as the report argues is necessary.
In the wake of Dame Carol Black’s report into health and wellbeing, which came out during the inquiry, the MPs support her call for a fully developed occupational health service, but do not believe the service should be delivered by the HSE.
The report also said that health and safety consultants sometimes gave over-zealous advice to businesses, and went on to recommend that the Government apply appropriate sanctions for malpractice, and introduce a recognised accreditation scheme for health and safety consultants – something which IOSH has been advocating for some time.
Bud Hudspith, national health and safety officer at the Unite union, said: "A toothless HSE has been starved of resources and the power to penalise those who disregard the safety of workers and the public. The HSE needs more inspectors but there must also be a step-change in enforcement with legally binding health and safety duties on company directors and senior managers."
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "The theme that runs through the report is that the HSE is being asked to do too much with too little. The government needs to address the very serious resource issues that this report raises."
|
