HC Deb 15 May 1973 vol 856 cc1246-8

3.31 p.m.

Mr. Edwin Wainwright (Dearne Valley)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to further the making in factories and elsewhere of arrangements for persons representing employees to participate in promoting the safety of employees; and for connected purposes The Bill is practically unaltered from that which on three previous occasions has been given an unopposed Second Reading. On the first occasion it was put before the House as Part II of the Labour Government's Employed Persons (Health and Safety) Bill on 2nd March 1970. Unfortunately, the General Election intervened before it could complete all its parliamentary stages. The other two occasions occurred on 23rd April 1971 and on 4th February 1972 respectively. On the latter occasion it was slightly amended in Committee.

The Bill is a brief, modest and I believe a relatively uncontroversial measure. The objects of the Bill are to encourage employers and employees to become more safety conscious and thus reduce the number of fatal accidents and serious injuries in our British industries. It seeks to do this by encouraging trade union representatives to become more involved in the promotion of safety measures and the improvement of working conditions.

To achieve improved safety standards the Bill in the first place makes provision for factories with 10 or more employees to have safety representatives nominated by recognised trade unions selected from among the employees of the factories.

Secondly, if there are more than 100 employees at a factory, the safety representatives, if they so wish, can constitute a joint safety committee to be composed in part of the safety representatives and in part of the management representatives. The functions of safety representatives shall be to promote co-operation in achieving and maintaining safe working conditions in the factory between the management and the persons employed by the employers to work in the factory. In addition, the safety representatives from time to time can carry out inspections in the factory in the interests of the safety of the persons so employed.

These inspections are to be carried out by not more than two safety representatives and the employer shall not be required to give permission if that part of the factory has been inspected within the past three months, unless the inspection is the result of a notifiable accident. A person shall not be appointed as a safety representative unless he has been in the industry for five years and has worked for the employer in that factory for two years.

The Bill seeks to convince employees that they, as well as management, have a responsibility in improving and carrying out the safety measures at the factory; that it is essential for the better running of the factory for the employees to be more and more interested in the safety conditions; that it is their lives, their welfare and their health which are at stake if they do not play their part in improving the safety conditions of the factory.

Having worked in the mines for over three decades I am very much surprised that a modest Bill such as the one I am asking leave of the House to introduce was not put on the statute book many years ago. I dread to think what the pits would be like if we did not have the present Acts governing safety in them. I am informed that the concepts contained in the Bill are in operation in Sweden. There is sufficient evidence in that country to convince us that similar measures to those contained in this Bill have improved tremendously safety performances in their factories.

During the Second Reading of the Bill introduced by my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Sparkbrook (Mr. Hattersley), the Under-Secretary of State for Employment was not too enthusiastic about the Bill because the Government were awaiting the report of Lord Roben's Committee.

That report was published last July and we are still waiting for the Govern- ment to take action. I am fully aware that the report implied that there should be safety regulations and non-statutory codes of practice. On page 20 the report says: We recommend, therefore, that there should be a statutory duty on every employer to consult with his employees or their representatives at the work place on measures for promoting safety and health at work. It is not the good employer who requires to be compelled by legislation to bring in safety measures. It is the employer who is indifferent to the health and welfare of his employees. It is essential that legislation is introduced to bring about a minimum standard of safety in our factories. For many years we have experienced paltry measures. In many instances they have failed. There are far too many deaths and serious accidents in our factories and legislation is urgently required.

This is a modest Bill and the cost would be so small as to be unnoticed. However, the results could be of great benefit to employees and to industry as a whole.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. Edwin Wainwright, Mr. Reg Prentice, Mr. Harold Walker, Mr. Roy Hattersley, Mr. Peter Archer, Mr. Robert C. Brown, Mr. Ronald Brown, Mr. Richard Kelley, Mr. James Tinn, Mr. David Weitzman, Mr. John Golding and Mr. Michael Cocks.