§ Mr. CatonTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the impact of the recent change in the annual number of Health and Safety Executive inspections. [80244]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownThere was a fall in the number of preventive inspections between 1996–97 to 2001–02 from 116,652 to 75,237. Over the same period, there was a 35 per cent increase in the number of investigations.
647WInvestigations take much longer than inspections and so it is inevitable that more investigations mean fewer inspections. HSE has also taken action to increase their other preventive work including seminars, conferences and awareness days.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the level of investigations by the Health and Safety Executive into deaths and major injuries of(a) the public and (b) workers. [80242]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownThe data are not available in the format requested. However, incidents that meet HSE's incident selection criteria are investigated; the criteria are in the public domain and were agreed only after thorough consultation with all interested parties.
§ Mr. CatonTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the levels of prosecution following investigation by the Health and Safety Executive into deaths and major injuries of(a) the public and (b) workers. [80245]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownThe data are not available in the format requested.
However, all the Health and Safety Executive's decisions about taking enforcement action are made in accordance with the principles contained in the Health and Safety Commission's Enforcement Policy Statement (EPS).
In addition, the HSE has to ensure that proposed enforcement action meets the requirements of the Code for Crown Prosecutors in England and Wales, and the Prosecutors Code in Scotland. These require that there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of obtaining a conviction, and that any proposed prosecution would be in the public interest.
§ Dr. Cable (Twickenham)To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many accidents were(a) reported to and (b) investigated by the Field Operations division of the HSE in (i) 1998–99, (ii) 1999–2000, (iii) 2000–01 and (iv) 2001–02; and if he will make a statement. [75131]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownThe following table shows the number of injuries to employees, self-employed people and members of the public as reported to HSE's Field Operations Directorate and the total number of incidents investigated, 1998–99/2001–02.
Year Injuries Reported Incidents Investigated 1998–1999 141,549 7,805 1999–2000 141,507 9,754 2000–2001 138,312 14,279 Notes:
1. "Injuries" includes all fatal, major and over-3-day injuries.
2. Injuries reported as required by the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995.
3. "Incidents" includes injuries, diseases, dangerous occurrences and gas safety incidents.
648WThe data for investigations are not available in the form requested. The data for 2001–02 are not available as the information is subject to exemption 10 under the National Statistics Code of Practice pending the publication of HSE Statistics in December 2002
§ Mr. CatonTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what plans he has to increase the proportion of(a) dangerous occurrences and (b) major injuries investigated by the Health and Safety Executive; [80241]
(2)What assessment he has made of the reasons underlying differences between Health and Safety Executive areas in the level of (a) investigation, (b) inspection and (c) prosecution. [80243]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownI will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library.