§ Mr. Haywardasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether the final report of the independent 224W study on accidents to trainees on the youth opportunities programme, commissioned by the Manpower Services Commission, has been completed; and what are its main findings.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonIn their preliminary report based on an analysis of a 10 per cent. sample of accidents to trainees on the youth opportunities programme between April 1980 and March 1983, researchers from Aston university suggested an examination of a larger sample to ensure that their findings were soundly based and to provide more detailed analyses of the patterns of occurrence, severity and causation of accidents. The final report based on a larger sample has now been received and I have placed a copy in the Library. The latest report generally confirms the findings contained in the preliminary report which was placed in the Library in May 1984. The Aston researchers conclude that there is no evidence that trainees on the youth opportunities programme had a higher accident incidence rate than employed young persons. They express strong reservations on the validity of comparing accident incidence rates for the youth opportunities programme with figures from the Health and Safety Executive applying to the employed population generally. The great majority of injuries sustained by trainees were of the type that could be expected to happen to any person working in the industries concerned. Copies of the Aston reports are available on request from the Manpower Services Commission.