§ 25. Mr. Madelasked the Secretary of State for Employment what arrangements he will be making for people to submit suggestions to the new research unit dealing with stress at work; whether this unit will be responsible to the Health and Safety Commission; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe hon. Gentleman is no doubt referring to the Work Research Unit whose functions were described in my hon. Friend's reply of 9th December 1974 to my hon. Friend the Member for East Kilbride (Dr. Miller). The unit offers an advisory service on redesigning jobs and organising work in order to increase job satisfaction. These 273W facilities are available to any management or trade union and they are already being well used. In this broad context, the unit will clearly be concerned with problems of stress at work.
The unit is not responsible to the Health and Safety Commission; it is part of the Department of Employment and is responsible to my right hon. Friend. There is, however, very close co-operation between the unit and the commission's Employment Medical Advisory Service.