HC Deb 11 February 1992 vol 203 cc486-90W
Mr. Tony Lloyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to strengthen the employment medical advisory service.

Mr. Forth

Since HSE reorganised its field-based staff in April 1990 the Employment medical advisory service has been an integral part of HSE's field operations division. Further plans to increase and broaden the impact of HSE's field force will be set out in the Health and Safety Commission's plans of work for 1992–93 and beyond, which the Commission expects to submit shortly to the Secretary of State for his approval.

Mr. Tony Lloyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give for each year since 1978 to the latest available date the budget allocation of staff, general administrative expenditure costs, both for each Health and Safety Executive doctorate and division, together with the number in post and the complemented figure for each inspectorate and the number of doctors and nurses in the employment medical advisory service and scientists within research and laboratory services division and medical division.

Mr. Forth

Available information is set out in the following tables. Changes in HSE's internal divisional structure and transfers of responsibilities within them mean that figures for budgets and staff are not directly comparable from year to year for divisions. Information is given from the earliest dates available.

1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92
Inspectorate/Division Salaries GAE Salaries GAE Salaries GAE Salaries GAE Salaries GAE Salaries GAE
Electrical equipment certification5 — — — — — — 854 63 1,031 70 1,219 93
Nuclear safety research3 — — — — — — — — 253 34 226 54
1 Includes HSE Secretariat, Commission expenses and Chairman's salary.
2 Transferred from the Department of Transport.
3 Transferred from the Department of Energy.
4 Transferred to Department of Environment.
5 Separated from the Research and Laboratory Services division.

Table 2: Staff in post in each Inspectorate since 1978 are shown below (1 April):
Year FAC/AGR TD M and Q NII RI OSD
1978 2087.0 — 199.0 166.5 — —
1979 2142.5 — 195.0 126.0 — —
1980 2168.0 — 162.0 125.0 — —
1981 2097.5 — 167.0 133.0 — —
1982 1908.5 — 163.5 142.0 — —
1983 1809.5 — 159.0 152.0 — —
1984 1796.5 — 151.5 159.0 — —
1985 1802.0 — 142.5 156.5 — —
1986 1472.5 2349.0 133.5 163.0 — —
1987 1466.0 305.0 134.5 168.5 — —
1988 1420.0 291.0 116.5 186.5 — —
1989 1428.5 289.5 112.0 211.5 — —
MI
1990 1490.5 304.5 481.0 249.5 — —
1FOD
1991 1797.0 1215.5 77.0 241.0 534 688
3THSD
1992 (Feb) 1859.5 314.0 67.0 264.5 53 192
1 HSE field-based staff were reorganised with effect from 2 April 1990 to form the field operations division (FOD). From that date separate figures are not longer available for factory, agricultural and quarries inspectorates. Staff based at field consultant groups including specialist inspectors and scientists were also transferred to FOD.
2 In April 1986 specialist inspectors including explosives inspectors who formerly worked within factory inspectorate, transferred to the newly-created technology division.
3 In November 1991 a new division: technology and health sciences was formed incorporating the technology division.
4 The quarries inspectorate transferred to the factory and agricultural division in October 1989.
5 The railway inspectorate transferred to HSE from the Department of Transport in December 1990.
6 Responsibility for offshore safety transferred to HSE from the department of Energy in April 1991.

HSE inspectorates do not have formal complements. Budgets are issued to meet staffing targets, but the actual number and grades of staff, and balance between payroll and GAE, will vary according to changes in work demands and other circumstances.

Table 3: The information requested about doctors, nurses and scientists is given below:
Year (Apr) Doctors Nurses Scientists
Within Medical Division including EMAS Within RLSD
1978 86.5 85.5 2.0 306.0
1979 86.5 91.0 8.0 307.5
1980 83.0 80.0 7.0 309.0
1981 86.0 72.0 12.0 282.0
1982 74.0 59.5 19.0 275.0
1983 73.0 60.5 19.0 298.0
1984 70.0 63.0 19.0 293.0
1985 71.5 50.5 13.0 290.0
1986 68.5 53.0 17.0 283.0
1987 64.5 49.0 21.0 280.0
1988 56.5 53.0 22.0 268.5
1989 55.0 50.5 21.5 273.5
1990 56.0 53.0 42.5 285.5
1991 56.5 53.5 50.5 245.5
(FEb) 1992 54.5 53.5 111.5 253.0
1 Following its formation the majority of scientists previously working in the health policy division (previously medical division) transferred to the technology and health sciences division.

Mr. Tony Lloyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the ways in which the employment medical advisory service intends to encourage development of occupational health services in industry.

Mr. Forth

The medical and other professional staff in the Health and Safety Executive, will continue to provide advice on the use of occupational health services in industry, organise national and local campaigns, and liaise with relevant professional bodies to encourage the development and maintenance of appropriate standards of training and qualification for occupational health service practitioners. This work is supported by a wide range of HSE publications relevant to the development of occupational health services in industry.

Mr. Tony Lloyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what criteria are used to assess the suitability of appointed doctors; and how many doctors have had their status as appointed doctors withdrawn by employment medical advisory service; what proportion of doctors appointed by EMAS have qualifications in occupational health; how many appointed doctors are currently registered with EMAS; and how many days training, on average, each received from EMAS staff.

Mr. Forth

Doctors applying for appointment by the Health and Safety Executive's employment medical advisory service need to demonstrate interest in occupational medicine and show that they are sufficiently qualified, experienced and competent to carry out their duties. Appointments are now for five years only and automatically terminate unless reviewed. Suitability is assessed by the local senior employment medical adviser concerned, both on appointment and regularly thereafter. In 1991, 174 doctors had their appointment revoked for reasons generally of retirement, or cessation of the particular process or substance requiring appointment.

There are currently 1,340 appointed doctors registered with EMAS. Over 30 per cent. hold specialist qualifications in occupational medicine. Others have attended courses in occupational medicine which do not lead to formal qualifications, such as the Faculty of Occupational Medicine's introductory course. Each doctor is provided with induction training prior to appointment and the opportunity to attend an EMAS seminar held annually, as well as written guidance material relevant to his or her duties. Records of average training days are not maintained.

Mr. Tony Lloyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to increase the staff of the employment medical advisory service, within the health and safety executive.

Mr. Forth

Since HSE, reorganised its field-based staff in April 1990 the employment medical advisory service has become an integral part of HSE's field operations division. HSE plans to increase the number of doctors and nurses working in the division by around 10 during 1992–93, from 98 in post at 1 February 1992.

Mr. Tony Lloyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the rate of doctors and nurses employed by the employment medical advisory service in relation to introduction of Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations; and what additional staff resources will be made available to effect this.

Mr. Forth

Responsibility for the enforcement of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations lies with the inspectorates in the Health and. Safety Executive (HSE) supported by their professional colleagues who include staff of HSE's employment medical advisory service (EMAS). EMAS has been active in helping to increase awareness of the regulations and advising on the use of occupational health expertise and services. No additional EMAS resources were required specifically for the introduction of these regulations but 56 doctors have been appointed under them to conduct statutory medical examinations.

Mr. Tony Lloyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give details of the current amount of fees outstanding to the employment medical advisory service of the Health and Safety Executive for medical examinations.

Mr. Forth

On 31 January 1992, £10,339 was outstanding for medical examinations carried out by the employment medical advisory service.

Mr. Tony Lloyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will update the 1976 employment medical advisory service survey on the number of physicians and nurses employed in industry who have specialist qualifications in occupational health; and what action has been taken by the Health and Safety Executive on proposals presented in the 1976 EMAS document "Occupational Health Services—The Way Ahead."

Mr. Forth

The Health and Safety Executive has recently commissioned a survey of occupational health provision in industry which will provide information on the number of physicians, nurses and other professional staff in industry with specialist qualifications in occupational health. The results of the survey should be available by the autumn.

The 1976 EMAS document, "Occupational Health Services—The Way Ahead", made recommendations relating to epidemiological work, statutory medical examinations, and the provision and operation of occupational health services in relation to occupational medical and nursing input. Progress has been made in all these areas as a result of action taken by the Health and Safety Executive and by the professional bodies concerned.

The Health and Safety Commission followed up this work by issuing in 1986 a statement of its policy on the development of occupational health services and launching a programme of action to promote the use of occupational health services by employers commensurate with the health hazards and risks in their undertakings. Further impetus was provided by new statutory requirements on health surveillance, particularly the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1988. In indicating the current extent of occupational health provision in industry, the survey now commissioned will help the Health and Safety Commission and Executive evaluate the impact of these developments and further develop their policy and programmes on occupational health.

Mr. Tony Lloyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many staff were employed by the Health and Safety Executive employment medical advisory service in each year since 1979 to the latest date for which figures are available, broken down by occupation and location; and how many posts are currently vacant.

Mr. Forth

An analysis by occupation and location of staff working in the employment medical advisory service (EMAS) is given in the following tables for each year from 1988. EMAS was reorganised with effect from April 1988, from a regional, to an area structure. Comparable figures for earlier years are not available.

On 1 February 1992 there were 11.5 vacant posts in EMAS.