Home page > News> United Kingdom: the House of Commons has published an important report on the activity of the Health and Safety Executive
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United Kingdom: the House of Commons has published an important report on the activity of the Health and Safety Executive
The Work and Pensions Committee's 25 July 2004 report said the number of safety inspectors should be doubled, safety reps' rights should be dramatically improved, a corporate crime bill should be introduced this year and the government should rethink its decision not to impose safety duties on company directors. Committee chair Sir Archie Kirkwood said: "The report is a comprehensive review of the subject which has a common thread: the HSE is under-resourced."
The report was welcomed by unions, who have been strongly critical of HSC's drift from enforcement to an advisory function, slammed as a "virtual amnesty for dangerous employers". TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "The government must do what the Select Committee is recommending and give employees better protection at work by introducing new laws on corporate killing and tougher penalties for bosses that commit safety crimes against their workforce."
GMB general secretary Kevin Curran said: "The GMB congratulates the Select Committee on a thoroughgoing report which shines a harsh but fair light on the HSE's current way of working - all woolly targets and management waffle, a jumble of complacency and convenience which is threatening the safety of Britain's workforce." He added: "The Committee has endorsed our view that the only system that works to reduce accidents and injury is a system of vigilance, based on inspection, enforcement and the active involvement of safety representatives."
The Committee report stresses the safety reps' role. It says: "Given the HSE's limited resources, if safety reps were empowered to enforce health and safety law in the workplace, we believe this would have a powerful effect in improving standards. "We also believe this power to take action, should include not just criminal prosecutions but also improvement and prohibition notices, subject to the usual right of appeal to the employment tribunal and as to terms on legal costs."
