HC Deb 27 October 1988 vol 139 c386W
Mr. Strang

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will update the numbers of deaths from occupational diseases that was published in the foreword to the "Control of Substances Hazardous to Health" consultation document.

Mr. Nicholls

In 1986, the latest date for which a figure is available, there were 631 awards of death benefit, excluding awards for asbestosis, in Great Britain. Other figures are for 1985, when the total number of deaths from chronic bronchitis, asthma and emphysema were about 16,000 and the total number of deaths from cancer just under 142,000. It is not known what proportion of deaths are occupationally related, but for cancer it has been variously estimated as between 28 and 30 per cent.

Mr. Strang

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, what additional resources he expects will be necessary for the Health and Safety Executive fully to implement the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations; and in what areas and disciplines additional staff will be needed.

Mr. Nicholls

Responsibility for compliance with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations when they come into force in October 1989 will rest with industry. The Executive intends to work closely with industry organisations in the coming months, to encourage them to develop guidance for their members.

The regulations will be enforced by the Health and Safety Executive as part of its continuing programmes of visits to premises. Although the regulations largely replace out-dated existing requirements, their introduction can be expected to increase employers' awareness of health problems, and generate more requests to the Health and Safety Executive for advice and assistance.

There will be a shift in the balance of scientific support required by inspectors, from checking exposure problems directly, to appraising employers' control systems. Possible changes in the Health and Safety Executive's total costs are unquantifiable at present. Resourcing for the commission and the Health and Safety Executive is, of course, reviewed annually as part of the public expenditure survey.