§ Mr. Oakesasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list those industries, other than shipbuilding and heavy engineering, in which he considers that there is a high risk of deafness being occasioned by conditions at work.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithI regret that it is not possible to provide such a list. The information available to the Factory Inspectorate, including the results of its sample survey of manufacturing industry carried out in 1971, is not sufficiently detailed to allow a reliable comparison of risks of hearing impairment between individual industries or processes. Such evidence as is available is summarised in paragraph 85 of the Industrial Injuries90W Advisory Council report on occupational deafness referred to by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services on 31st October.—[Vol. 863, Cols. 3–4.]