§ Mr. Chichester-Clarkasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what representations she has received from builders regarding compulsory consultation on site safety; and what reply she has sent.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe National Federation of Building Trade Employers and the Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors asked for the construction industry to be excluded from the application of Part II of the Employed Persons (Health and Safety) Bill because of the
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TOTAL NUMBERS REGISTERED AS UNEMPLOYED, AT 9TH FEBRUARY, 1970 WHO LAST WORKED IN CONSTRUCTION (MINIMUM LIST HEADING 500 OF THE STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION) TOGETHER WITH AN OCCUPATIONAL ANALYSIS OF MEN REGISTERED AS WHOLLY UNEMPLOYED South East East Anglia South Western West Midlands East Midlands Yorkshire and Humberside North Western Northern Wales Scotland Great Britain Total registered unemployed, males and females 27,301 2,916 7,748 8,623 7,251 14,592 15,688 15,660 10,111 20,412 130,302 Men registered as wholly unemployed 26,566 2,787 7,459 8,380 7,027 14,171 15,089 15,077 9,760 19,477 125,793 Carpenters, joiners and shutterers 1,649 191 448 465 447 1,095 999 1,056 312 1,238 7,900 Bricklayer 1,081 162 361 556 386 984 867 939 336 827 6,499 Mason, stone carver 24 1 99 4 3 27 19 10 16 100 303 Slater, tiler, thatcher, roofing felt fixer 205 5 37 60 24 73 116 62 33 291 906 Plasterer 450 54 142 98 94 265 263 251 158 233 2,008 Floor and wall tiler, mosaic worker, terrazzo worker, floor, etc. layer 115 14 27 34 11 47 75 63 12 64 482 Painter, decorator, signwriter 3,839 300 834 738 520 1,062 1,404 902 479 895 10,973 special features of the industry and their fear that the proposals would interfere with existing voluntary arrangements for joint consultation and thus be prejudicial to accident prevention. These representations were carefully considered but my right hon. Friend decided that it would be impossible to justify such an exclusion and informed the building employers accordingly.