§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state, when potential training managers in employment training are given their review of training arrangements prior to receiving ATO status, how many of their work experience placements will be visited and assessed for their quality and health and safety arrangements by Training Commission officials; what length and type of training these Training Commission officials will have had in identifying health and safety hazards; what steps he is taking to ensure that all the work placements used by ET are properly registered with the Health and Safety Executive Factory Inspectorate; whether the Training Commission will publish ET health and safety incident statistics; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NichollsThe number of locations to be visited by Training Commission staff and assessed for their quality 835W and health and safety arrangements will be determined by the size of a training manager's employment training operation. The minimum sampling levels will be:
Number of training locations used by a Training Manager Minimum number of locations to be visited 12 or less 3 13–24 4 25–50 5 51–100 8 101–150 10 151–200 12 more than 200 5 per cent. (subject to a minimum of 12) Each sample will include a cross-section of directed training locations and practical training locations.
Every Training Commission area office will have staff who have been specially trained to help them identify the more obvious health and safety hazards and their training will be given by staff who are affiliate members of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and who have wide experience in dealing with health and safety issues on YTS.
In addition every Training Commission region has a part-time professional safety adviser to provide expert advice on the more complex health and safety issues.
The Training Commission will be entering into a contractual agreement with every training agent and training manager which will require written assurances that their premises and those of their subcontractors will be registered with the appropriate enforcing authority. Training managers themselves will also be expected to monitor health and safety on all of the training provision that they will be responsible for.
The Training Commission will be recording and publishing employment training accident statistics in exactly the same way as for YTS.
§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if his Department's adjudication officers will be required to impose benefit penalties on ET trainees for making themselves voluntarily unemployed if(a) they chose to terminate their training before the end of their agreed training plan because they are dissatisfied with their training or work experience placement, (b) they are dismissed from their training scheme for absenteeism or lateness and (c) they are dismissed from their training scheme for misconduct; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. CopeParticipation in Employment Training will be voluntary and leaving the programme early for any one of the reasons mentioned will not in itself provide grounds for refusal of benefit.