§ Mr. Tony LloydTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will update the 1976 employment medical advisory service survey which ascertained the number of physicians and nurses employed in industry who have specialist qualifications in occupational health;
(2) what action has been taken by the Health and Safety Executive on the proposals presented in the 1976 EMAS document entitled, "Occupational Health Services—The Way Ahead".
§ Mr. ForthThe aim of the 1977 publication "Occupational Health Services—The Way Ahead" was to stimulate debate. This led up to an inquiry by the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology. The Committee's 1984 report on occupational health and82W hygiene services called for a voluntary code of practice to extend the provision of occupational health services. To meet this the Health and Safety Commission—HSC—has embarked on an action programme to encourage employers to review their occupational health needs and make suitable arrangements to obtain advice. This programme includes published guidance and promotional activities intended to raise awareness of occupational health. Where employers are already making adequate provision they are encouraged to make their facilities more widely available. The programme has also involved local campaigns by HSE staff, and industry specific initiatives such as seminars, conferences and publications. During 1991, the HSC is due to evaluate the action programme and review the nature and extent of occupational health provision in Great Britain.
The results will be used in drawing up recommendations on the future of the action programme and whether the existing approach to the provision of occupational health should be continued.
§ Mr. Tony LloydTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what occupational health statistics are collected by the Health and Safety Executive; and what plans there are to extend the statistics collected.
§ Mr. Forth"Health and Safety Statistics 1988–89", published as a supplement to theEmployment Gazette for November 1990—Vol. 98, No. 11—gives a full description of the available statistics relating to occupational health. It covers information collected by the Health and Safety Executive under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases arid Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1985, and statistics derived from other sources.
The Health and Safety Executive has initiated two measures to supplement these statistics:
- (a) a "trailer" to the 1990 labour force survey which asked respondents whether they had suffered from any work-related illness during the previous year. Data from this survey will be available by mid-1991.
- (b) a consultant-based register of work-related dermatitis which started operation on a trial basis on 1 August 1990.
The Health and Safety Commission will be reviewing the 1985 regulations next year, and will be considering proposals for possible changes to the arrangements for the reporting of occupational disease by employers.