HC Deb 05 July 1988 vol 136 cc552-4W
42. Mr. McCartney

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of the factory inspectorate are trainee inspectors.

92. Mr. Radice

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of the factory inspectorate are trainee inspectors.

Mr. Nicholls

11.6 per cent. of the total number of factory inspectors in the inspectorate on 1 June 1988 are trainees.

45. Mr. Barry Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many workplaces the factory inspectorate visited during the periods 1 April 1986 to 31 March 1987, and 1 April 1987 to 31 March 1988.

56. Mr. Boyes

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many workplaces the factory inspectorate visited during the periods 1 April 1986 to 31 March 1987 and 1 April 1987 to 31 March 1988.

Mr. Nicholls

Between 1 April 1986 and 31 March 1987, factory inspectors paid 186,155 visits to workplaces for which the Health and Safety Executive's factory inspectorate had enforcement responsibility. Between I April 1987 and 31 March 1988, 173,033 (provisional) visits were paid.

47. Mr. Bill Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many sites have been visited by the factory inspectorate at the latest available date using the hazards rating system since its introduction; and how many sites were scheduled to have been visited under this system by the same date.

Mr. Nicholls

This question is incapable of answer. The scheme has been in operation for over 10 years, and there is a substantial turnover of scheduled sites as companies grow or go out of business.

50. Mr. Haynes

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many specialist factory inspectors are currently in place.

74. Ms. Short

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many specialist factory inspectors are currently in post.

Mr. Nicholls

On 1 June 1988 there were 213 specialist inspectors in post with the Health and Safety Executive.

68. Mr. Worthington

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many specialist inspectors have resigned from the Health and Safety Executive in the past 12 months.

Mr. Nicholls

Between 1 June 1987 and 31 May 1988 a total of 10 specialist inspectors resigned from the Health and Safety Executive.

71. Mr. Nigel Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest number of factory inspectors

Mr. Nicholls

On 1 June 1988 there were 542.5 inspectors in post in the Health and Safety Executive's factory inspectorate.

80. Mr. Pendry

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of reported accidents is investigated by the factory inspectorate.

157. Mr. Turner

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of reported accidents is investigated by the factory inspectorate.

Mr. Nicholls

In 1987–88 a total of 4.9 per cent. of reportable accidents reported to the Health and Safety Executive's factory inspectorate were investigated.

84. Mr. Graham

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many inspector hours were spent enforcing the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations in the last 12 months.

Mr. Nicholls

Enforcement of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Occurrences Regulations is dealt with during inspections and investigations, and the time spent on drawing the attention of employers to the need to report such incidents is not recorded separately.

93. Mr. Fatchett

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has on(a) the number of Health and Safety Executive inspectors and (b) accident at work rates.

Mr. Nicholls

On 1 June 1988 the total number of HSE inspectors in post was 1,159. The latest accident at work rates are given, for those industries where the HSE is the enforcing authority, in the Health and Safety Commission-Executive annual report 1986–87—a copy of which is in the Library.

105. Mr. Lofthouse

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many specialist factory inspectors are currently in place.

Mr. Nicholls

On 1 June 1988, there were 213 specialist factory inspectors in post with the Health and Safety Executive.

124. Mr. Sedgemore

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how often sites are reviewed as to whether or not they should be inspected under the factory inspectorate's hazards rating system.

Mr. Nicholls

Each fixed premise registered with the factory inspectorate is allocated an inspection rating and this is reviewed at each visit to the premises. In addition, each inspection rating is reviewed at the start of every inspection year, when a rating is amended upwards to take into account the period since the last preventive inspection.

129. Mr. Redmond

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the average frequency of visits made by the factory inspectorate to known workplaces in 1987.

Mr Nicholls

There is no information available on the average frequency of visits made by the factory inspectorate to known workplaces in 1987.

131. Mr. Michael Welsh

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the number of additional factory inspectors that would be required to allow the average frequency of preventive inspection of factory sites to be once in every four years.

Mr. Nicholls

The 402,000 premises registered with HSE include many fixed sites other than factories and there is an unknown number of small industrial establishments not registered. Consequently the information is not available in the form in which it is requested.

139. Mr. Corbett

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how often sites are reviewed as to whether they should be inspected under the factory inspectorate's hazards rating system.

Mr. Nicholls

Each fixed premise registered with the factory inspectorate is allocated an inspection rating and this is reviewed at each visit to the premises. In addition, each inspection rating is reviewed at the start of every inspection year, when a rating is amended upwards to take into account the period since the last preventive inspection.

146. Mr. Terry Lewis

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many sites the factory inspectorate has decided not to visit unless requested to do so or unless there is a serious accident.

Mr. Nicholls

None.