Health and Safety Executive (Hansard, 27 October 1988)

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of industrial accidents which result in an emergency services call-out do not receive attention from the Health and Safety Executive.

§ Mr. Nicholls
The information requested is not available.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of accidents in the construction industry are not visited by inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive.

§ Mr. Nicholls
Between 1 April 1987 and 31 March 1988 all accidents involving fatal injuries were investigated. In the same period 91.7 per cent. of the total of reportable injuries occurring in the construction industry which were reported to the Health and Safety Executive's factory and agricultural inspectorates were not investigated. Reported accidents are selected for investigation after considering the gravity of the apparent breach, the need to give advice and the value of any information that would be obtained to prevent similar accidents.
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from the September 1981 and September 1984 censuses of employment, is given in the table below. The information collected in the census of employment is not sufficiently detailed to support the accurate calculation of full-time equivalents.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of the time of Health and Safety Executive's construction inspectors is now taken up with work relating to so-called blitzes, fatalities and prosecutions.

§ Mr. Nicholls
The amount of time devoted to work by construction inspectors on the blitzes, which ended in September 1988 and on investigating fatal accidents is not recorded separately.
Information about the amount of time construction inspectors devote to prosecutions is also not recorded separately. However, it is expected that construction inspectors during the current year will devote about 13 per cent. of their time to legal work, most of which will relate to prosecutions.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will make a statement concerning the number of experienced factory inspectors leaving the Health and Safety Executive; and what steps he intends taking to reduce such losses in the future.

§ Mr. Nicholls
The staffing of the factory inspectorate is a matter for the Health and Safety Commission and Executive. Between 1 January 1979 and 31 December 1987, 333 experienced factory inspectors left HSE of whom 178 resigned, 135 retired and 20 left for other reasons. During the same period 242 factory inspectors joined HSE.
New long-term pay arrangements, agreed last year, allow greater flexibility in determining future salaries, and improvements are currently being discussed between HM Treasury and the Institution of Professional Civil Servants. Also, within the HSE, training and career development arrangements for all inspectors are being re-examined, with a view to broadening and enhancing what is already rewarding, if demanding, work. Particular attention is being focused on inspectors in mid-career.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what priority he attaches to the enforcement of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations; and what assessment he has made as to whether there are sufficient Health and Safety Executive inspectors in place to fully implement these regulations.

§ Mr. Nicholls
Health and Safety enforcement priorities, and allocation of appropriate resources, are matters for 375W the Health and Safety Commission and Executive, whose total resources are reviewed annually. I am satisfied that sufficient resources will be available to the Executive to enforce the regulations.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many written reports have been received under the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazard Regulations; what proportion this represents of reports that are required for submission before June 1989; and what assessment he has made as to whether there are sufficient inspectors in the Health and Safety Executive adequately to scrutinise the reports.

§ Mr. Nicholls
The Health and Safety Executive has received centrally 123 safety reports as required by the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards (CIMAH) Regulations 1984. There are currently about 300 sites subject to the more specific requirements of CIMAH ("top tier" sites) where compliance with regulation 7 is required.
It is impossible to give a precise estimate of the number of safety reports which Health and Safety Executive expect to receive by July 1989. This is because there are several distinct "top tier" activities on some large sites, each in a separate installation, and operators have discretion to decide whether to submit a comprehensive single report covering all activities, or a separate report for each activity.
Allocation of resources is a matter for the Health and Safety Commission and Executive and I am satisfied that Health and Safety Executive is able to carry out its scrutiny of safety cases effectively.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment he has made of the problems the Health and Safety Executive faces, and anticipates facing, over recruiting new graduate scientists; and what plans it has made to help overcome these problems.

§ Mr. Nicholls
Responsibility for the recruitment of scientists rests with the Health and Safety Executive which recognises the importance of attracting good quality candidates in an environment where there is strong competition from other employers.
Pay is obviously important. New long-term arrangements agreed last year between Her Majesty's Treasury and the Institution of Professional Civil Servants will provide for greater flexibility in determining salaries for the grades at which most scientists are recruited.
In addition, the executive is seeking to publicise more widely to potential recruits—through closer contacts with universities, and greater use of vacation studentships—the wide range of interesting and rewarding work available. More school leavers may also be recruited, with support to pursue further education on day release.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what work is being done, or is planned by the Health and Safety Executive in investigating flour allergy among biscuit and pastry makers; and what sources of expertise are available to it in this area.

§ Mr. Nicholls
The Health and Safety Executive plans to assist the Federation of Baker's safety sub-committee working party which has been set up to identify where dust occurs in bakeries and to consider practical and engineering methods of reducing dust levels. The Health376W and Safety Executive employs expert doctors and scientists concerned with occupational health and hygiene and is also in touch with other leading specialists.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what additional numbers of inspectors are(a) needed and (b) in place to implement and enforce the Food and Environment Protection Act, the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazard Regulations, the Road Traffic (Carriage of Dangerous Substances in Packages) Regulations and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations.

§ Mr. Nicholls
The Health and Safety Executive enforces these and other health and safety regulations concurrently and resources cannot be allocated specifically to particular items of legislation. These additional responsibilities were however recognised in the Government's decision to allocate an additional £6.7 million for the executive's work in 1988–89.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will make a statement on the information he has as to the reasons for the increases in fatal and major accident incidence rates in manufacturing industry from 1981 to 1985.

§ Mr. Nicholls
An analysis of trends in reported occupational accidents 1981 to 1985 was discussed in an article by HSE which appeared in theEmployment Gazette in January 1988. A copy has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make his policy not to allow the transfer to the Health and Safety Executive of areas of work currently allocated to other departments without a concomitant increase in resources.

§ Mr. Nicholls
When such transfers take place, proper consideration is given to implications for resources.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether any work is being undertaken by the Health and Safety Executive to reduce hazards in underground transportation in mines, following the two serious accidents in the Channel tunnel.

§ Mr. Nicholls
The Health and Safety Executive has always paid particular attention to the hazards of underground transport in mines and is currently undertaking a survey of transport accidents in mines as well as projects related to individual types of transport systems.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations the Health and Safety Executive has received on the extension of the working life of mine winding ropes; and what response the Executive has made.

§ Mr. Nicholls
No representations on the extension of the working life of mine winding ropes have been received by HSE since the mining industry commented in 1985 on proposed new legislation on shafts and winding in mines.
The proposals have been revised to take account of these comments and are to be issued for a further period of informal consultation.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what work has been undertaken by Health 377W and Safety Executive scientists on the emergency shut-down system for offshore gas production platforms; and when this work will be completed.

§ Mr. Nicholls
The Health and Safety Executive's work in this area arose as a constituent part of a wider programme on the assessment of programmable electronic systems. A PES-based system is used on the SEAN P gas production platform in the North sea which was selected as an example to evaluate the PES guidance documents published by HSE. The assessment was limited to the wellhead area of the platform and is now complete. The draft report is now being approved for issue.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what work is planned by the Health and Safety Executive into dimethylformamide as a cause of testicular cancer in the shoe manufacturing industry.

§ Mr. Nicholls
The Health and Safety Executive's employment medical advisory service is compiling information about workplaces known to be using dimethylformamide (DMF), including the circumstances in which it is being used, the numbers of workers and the levels of exposure to DMF which they experience. This will be used to assess the feasibility of the executive carrying out an epidemiological study of exposed workers.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will list the responsibilities that the Health and Safety Executive has lost since 1979; and whether he will describe the major areas since that year where the Health and Safety Executive has become more cost-effective.

§ Mr. Nicholls
Since 1979 the Health and Safety Executive has lost the following responsibilities:

(i) Her Majesty's industrial air pollution inspectorate was transferred to the Department of Environment on 1 april 1987.

(ii) inspection and enforcement responsibility at most zoos was transferred to local authorities from October 1985.

Over the same period, sources of improved cost-effectiveness have included:

better planning and targeting of inspections, helped by the development of work recording systems and systems for rating premises according to their level of risk;

use of information technology and the development of investigation databases; and

reduced administrative burdens following codification of advice and reform of out-dated legislation.

A fuller account of efficiency and effectiveness improvements will be included in the annual report of the Commission and the Executive for 1987–88, to be published shortly.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will list the additional responsibilities taken on by the Health and Safety Executive since 1979; and if he is satisfied that the Health and Safety Executive is adequately enforcing these responsibilities.

§ Mr. Nicholls
The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 laid upon the Health and Safety Commission and Executive responsibility for virtually all aspects of occupational health and safety, and most aspects of the protection of the public from work activity. Within this overall competence HSE has acquired the following new responsibilities since 1979:

(i) carriage by road, classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances;
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(ii) notification of new and existing substances before they are placed on the market;

(iii) action under the European directive on the control of industrial major accident hazards;

(iv) mains gas safety;

(v) asbestos licensing;

(vi) the enforcement of part 3 of the Food and Environment Protection Act and its related Control of Pesticides regulations.

In addition, the HSE has acquired new or substantially expanded work in connection with the nuclear industry and the control of dangerous substances in harbour areas, radiation and noise and the health and safety implications of the development and use of new technology including programmable electronics and biotechnology. There has also been a significant growth of EC activity and regulations in areas affecting safety and health, and a general growth in public and international interest in relevant environmental and major hazards issues requiring action by HSE.
I am satisfied that HSE is adequately enforcing these responsibilities.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many times since 1984 the Health and Safety Commission or the Health and Safety Executive, directly or through his Department, has asked for additional funding over and above its original public expenditure survey allocation; and what sums were requested and granted in each case.

§ Mr. Nicholls
Discussions regarding the funding for the Health and Safety Commission are confidential and take place in the context of the annual public expenditure survey round. These discussions have resulted in the allocation of the following amounts additional to the previously planned gross provision:

£ million

Additional amounts agreed

PES 1985 covering years:

1986–87 1.1

1987–88 2.9

1988–89 3.0

PES 1987 covering years:

1988–89 6.7

1989–90 6.9

1990–91 7.1

In addition, during the estimates round for 1987–88 the Health and Safety Commission received further gross provision of £1 million above the previously agreed planned provision, as well as a winter supplementary estimate of £1 million gross.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest number of factory and agricultural inspectors employed by the Health and Safety Executive.

§ Mr. Nicholls
On 1 October 1988 the Health and Safety Executive employed 601.5 factory and 165 agricultural inspectors.

£ million
	Additional amounts agreed
PES 1985 covering years:
1986–87	1.1
1987–88	2.9
1988–89	3.0
PES 1987 covering years:
1988–89	6.7
1989–90	6.9
1990–91	7.1