§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he is satisfied with the procedures for removing firms registered on the Shield computer system which have closed down; and what steps are taken to ensure that totals recorded remain accurate.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyI am satisfied that the records of the Shield register on the Health and Safety Executive's computer are changed when up-to-date information, which has been checked as accurate, becomes available. Labels are no longer used for recording information.
§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list as at 1 April 1985 and for 135W previous years where figures are available the number of establishments registered on the Shield computer system where the Factory Inspectorate is responsible for enforcing the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act; if he will break the figures down by area office and are a industry group; and if he will seek to ensure that in all future annual reports of the Health and Safety Executive this information is included in a statistical appendix together with the approximate number of employed in total in such establishments.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyOn 30 April 1985 the total number of establishments allocated on the Health and Safety Executive's Shield computer system to the Factory Inspectorate was 393,675. This compares with 393,237 on 31 December 1983, 322,233 on 31 December 1982 and 260,653 on 31 December 1981. The breakdown by areas on 30 April 1985 was:
Establishments South West 20,803 South 27,145 South East 24,788 London (formerly three areas and being reorganised into two at the time) (total) 52,414 East Anglia 20,242 Northern Home Counties 17,670 East Midlands 18,414 West Midlands 19,091 Wales 18,258 North Midlands 15,521 South Yorkshire and Humberside 16,766 West and North Yorkshire 21,652 Greater Manchester 15,850 Merseyside 15,429 Marches 15,569 North West 17,774 North East 16,025 Scotland East 19,888 Scotland West 20,376 A further breakdown by industry groups within areas could not be provided except at disproportionate cost.
The information held on Shield as to the number employed at each establishment is intended as a guide to inspectors, and may be several years out of date, depending on when the last visit took place. Totals would therefore not be meaningful.
HSE already publishes a large amount of statistical information in its various annual reports, but a tabulation of this kind is not felt to be of sufficiently general interest to be included.