§ Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for Employment what experience J. F. Peterie, P. J. Arscott and D. Friggens have of the lifting of heavy weights in industry ; and whether any member of the Confederation of British Industry/Trades Union Congress working party has either medical experience or qualifications or any knowledge of ergonomics.
Mr. May hewAs I told the hon. Member in my written reply on 28 January 1980—[Vol. 977, c. 557]—the130W Health and Safety Commission decided to set up a working party to advise it on the formulation of general guidance for those responsible for designing work systems and for supervising work.
Nominees to the working party were sought from both sides of industry and there is no reason to doubt the experience and competence of those nominated from either side to carry out this task.
§ Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons were considered for membership of the working party on the lifting of heavy weights.
§ Mr. MayhewThe Health and Safety Commission imposed no specific limitations on the number of members of its working party on manual lifting. It is not known how many persons were considered by the CBI and TUC for membership of the working group.
§ Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether the Royal College of Nursing or any other nursing organisation, the Back Pain Association, the International Labour Office or any other body closely associated with back lifting problems were asked to nominate members to the working party on the lifting of heavy weights.
§ Mr. MayhewOnly the CBI and TUC were invited by the Health and Safety Commission to nominate members to the working party which is to reexamine the draft proposals for regulations and guidance on manual lifting prepared by the Health and Safety Executive.
However, various interested bodies, including the Royal College of Nursing and the Back Pain Association, were consulted informally during the preparation of the draft proposals.
§ Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many prosecutions have been instituted or improvement notices and prohibition notices issued in respect of breaches of section 72 of the Factories Act 1961 during 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979.
§ Mr. MayhewNo prosecutions were instituted for breaches of section 72 of 131W the Factories Act 1961—lifting excessive weights—during the years 1975 to 1979. No prohibition notices were issued in respect of breaches of section 72 in the same period, but improvement notices were issued as follows :
1975 Nil 1976 2 1977 1 1978 (provisional) Nil Figures for 1979 are not yet available.
§ Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether any members of the working party on the lifting of heavy weights were obtained through advertising the vacancies ; if not, what method of selection was used ; and whether the present composition of three members each from the Trades Union Congress and Confederation of British Industry is expected to produce a result different from that achieved by the Health and Safety Commission.
§ Mr. Mayhew: The Health and Safety Commission has decided that the draft proposals for regulations and guidance on manual lifting prepared by the Health and Safety Executive should be reexamined by a working party from industry. Accordingly nominations to the working party were sought only from the CBI and TUC.
I cannot anticipate the conclusions of the working party.