§ Mr. Michieasked the Secretary of State for Employment, in assessing the costs and benefits of health and safety legislation on small businesses, what weight he gives to the opinion of the Chief Inspector of Factories in the introduction to the 1983 report on manufacturing and service industries about the extent to which new small enterprises are alert to the hazards to which their 191W employees are exposed and the role of inspectors in exerting positive and continuing pressure to secure minimum standards.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyMy right hon. Friend and I support the Chief Inspector of Factories in his view that there are many small enterprises where there are potential risks to health and safety and that a sustained effort is needed to ensure that the minimum standards required by health and safety legislation are achieved.