§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Employment by what number and by what percentage he estimates that the incidence of industrial accidents has changed since 30th April 1975 when the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act came into force.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerI am informed by the Chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that the information
NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS GIVING RISE TO ABSENCE FROM WORK FOR MORE THAN THREE DAYS IN 1974 AND 1975 Enforcing Authority 1974 1975 (provisional) Average change 1974–75 Percentage change 1974–75 Reported to HM Factory Inspectorate: under Factories Act 1961 256,930 243,250 -13,680 -5.3 under Offices, Shops and Premises Act 1963 16,669 17,198 +529 +3.2 Reported to HM Mines and Quarries Inspectorate (including figures supplied by the National Coal Board and the Business Statistics Office) 51,744* 56,400 +4,656 +9.0 Reported to Department of Environment under Railway Employment (Prevention of Accidents) Act 1900 5,592 5,776 +184 +3.3 Reported to Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food/Department of Agriculture, Fisheries for Scotland under the Agriculture (Safety Health and Welfare Provisions) Act 1956 5,709 5,196 -513 +9.0 * The figures for 1974 were affected by an industrial dispute in the coal mines. It is much too early to evaluate the impact of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act upon the incidence of industrial accidents. Comparisons of two years data should, therefore, be treated with care. An individual year is for example, affected by the level of employment and industrial activity during that year and it may be some time before a real trend can be detected.
Detailed analyses of the effect of the Health and Safety at Work Act can become available only when new regulations on the reporting of accidents to the Health and Safety Executive are brought into force and more comprehensive data becomes available.