§ 27. Mr. McKelveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the levels of occupational health services provided by British Coal under the requirements of the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act 1946 and by private sector employers in mines and quarries.
§ Mr. NichollsThe Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 replaced earlier legislative requirements relating to provision of occupational health services. There are no specific requirements as to how this should be implemented by employers in the mining and quarrying industries. However, British Coal provides an extensive range of services and employ over 600 qualified staff to operate them. Full details of this are published in the annual report of the British Coal medical service. No such detailed information is available for non-British Coal mines or for quarries.