§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the number of convictions on (i) summary proceedings and (ii) indictment under each relevant section of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act, with the average fine for the years 1974 to 1984, inclusive.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTable 1 shows information for convictions resulting from prosecutions brought by HSE inspectorates and agencies for all sections of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 for the period 1976–83. The figures do not include convictions secured by local authorities. An analysis by section of the Act for 1983 only for Her Majesty's Factory Inspectorate is given in table 2.
Information on prosecutions taken on indictment is readily available only for Her Majesty's Factory Inspectorate. The figures are given in table 3.
The rest of the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Table 1 Convictions resulting from prosecutions taken by health and safety inspectorates and agencies under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974* Year Number of convictions Average fine per conviction £ 1976 330 131 1977 576 121 1978 617 148 1979 558 214 1980 575 233 1981 456 229 1982 542 298 1983† 584 328 * Excluding local authorities. † Provisional. 478W
Table 2 Convictions resulting from prosecutions taken by Her Majesty's Factory Inspectorate only, for 1983* Section of Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 Number of convictions Average fine per conviction £ S2 266 355 S3 81 394 S4 23 316
Section of Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 Number of convictions Average fine per conviction £ S5 1 100 S6 28 332 S7 27 92 S8 1 100 S21 10 267 S33 92 249 S36 8 250 S37 4 144 All sections 541 321 * Provisional.
Table 3 Health and Safety at Work etc. Act Cases taken on indictment, number of convictions and average fine* Year Number of convictions Average fine per conviction £ 1976 2 4,000 1977 5 640 1978 9 1,111 1979 2 3,250 1980 8 2,656 1981 1 3,000 1982 5 5,480 1983† 1 2,500 * Her Majesty's Factory Inspectorate only. † Provisional.
§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the number of Health and Safety Executive inspectors who actually inspect, and the number of work-places to be inspected, for the years 1974 to 1984, inclusive.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyThe number of Health and Safety Executive inspectors in the field, in each of the years since it was set up, is
Number August 1975 703 April 1976 763 April 1977 *1,013 April 1978 1,041 April 1979 1,084 April 1980 1,098 April 1981 1,052 April 1982 989 April 1983 942 April 1984 915 * Agricultural Inspectorate joined HSE. These are the inspectors who are primarily concerned with visits to work sites, accident investigations etc., but inspectors who work in HSE headquarters also visit premises from time to time.
The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate has no field structure but some 25 of its inspectors are designated as site visiting inspectors. They are not included in the figures given above.
The Health and Safety Commission and Executive currently have responsibility for between 600,000 and 700,000 fixed premises, the precise figure depending on whether the smallest agricultural holdings are included, as well as for transient sites such as construction sites and fairgrounds. These premises range from small agricultural holding or factory units to major chemical complexes.
479WComparable figures for earlier years cannot be provided because of changes in the responsibilities of the inspectorates and in the methods of compiling records.
§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many prosecutions and applications to tribunals, with the relevant section of the legislation, were taken under the Safety Representative and Safety Committee Regulations 1977, for the years 1978 to 1984, inclusive.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyNo prosecutions have been taken under the Safety Representatives and Safety Committee Regulations 1977. The number of applications to tribunals which were all made under regulation 4.2 of the regulations are given in the table below.
No. of Applications 1978 (Oct.-Dec.) 2 1979 30 1980 11 1981 7 1982 28 1983 20 1984 (Jan.-5 Oct.) 7 Note: The regulation came into operation on 1 October 1978.
§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list (a) the number of persons sentenced to imprisonment under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act for the years 1974 to 1984, inclusive, (b) the number and average fines against employers under the Act for the years 1974 to 1984, inclusive, (c) the number and average fine against employees under the Act for the period 1974 to 1984, inclusive and (d) the estimated numbers of employers and employees covered, each year, during the period 1974 to 1984.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyAs yet no sentences of imprisonment have been recorded.
Without incurring disproportionate cost, it is possible to distinguish between convictions against employers and employees only for prosecutions taken by Her Majesty's Factory Inspectorate. The available figures are given below.
Convictions against Year Number Employers average fine(£) Number Employees average fine (£) 1981 371 285 17 83 1982 397 291 18 110 *1983 491 333 18 138 * Provisional. The following table gives the number of employees, and of self employed persons covered by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 but excluding certain categories such as home workers.
480W
Years Employees (including armed forces) Self Employed (including those with employees) (Thousands) (Thousands) 1976 22,364 1,888 1977 22,440 1,843
Years Employees (including armed forces) Self Employed (including those with employees) (Thousands) (Thousands) 1978 22,577 1,843 1979 22,934 1,842 1980 22,759 1,950 1981 21,693 2,057 1982 21,297 2,129 *1983 21,038 2,199 * Provisional. No estimate of the number of employers is available.