§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he has yet received the report of the working group on the occupational safety of fishermen; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Clinton DavisI am pleased to announce that the report has now been received and arrangements are being made for its earliest possible publication. The principal task of the working group was to produce an up-to-date code of safety for fishermen and I warmly welcome the recommendation in the report that the revised code should be adopted by all seagoing sector of the United Kingdom fishing industry. The group has also prepared a separate handbook dealing with personal safety on board fishing vessels and copies will be issued free of charge to all fishermen engaged in the industry.
The report, a copy of which I will be placing in the Library, on publication, recommends the development of statutory regulations governing accident reporting, safety of access and the testing, examination and inspection of lifting and hauling machinery and the marking of safe working loads. This work will be put in hand immediately in consultation with all interests concerned.