§ Mr. William Priceasked the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he proposes to require Her Majesty's Inspectorate to take so as to ensure a reduction in the number of handling accidents; and what proposals he has for making regulations under Section 72(2) of the Factories Act, 1961 prescribing the maximum weight which may be lifted, carried or moved by persons employed in factories.
§ Mr. BryanHer Majesty's Factory Inspectorate regularly advises management and employed persons on the ways and means of preventing handling accidents. General advice has been given in the booklet "Lifting and Carrying", which is No. 1 in the Health and Safety at Work series. It is by no means clear that the best way of reducing the number of handling accidents would be by increasing the efforts of the inspectorate in this field at the expense of its other duties, or by making regulations under Section 72(2) of the Factories Act, 1961. I have no proposals at present for making such regulations.
§ Mr. Colemanasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether, in view of the fact that his Department has given the numbers of days' production lost for the first 10 months of this year through industrial disputes, he will now give the comparable figures for the number of days' production lost during this period as a result of industrial accidents.
§ Mr. BryanEstimates of man-days lost as me result of accidents reported from premises subject to the Factories Act are based upon data supplied by employers in respect of a 5 per cent. sample. The data for 1970 will not be available until June, 1971.