§ Mr. CryerTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment for what reason the number of inspectors allocated to the research and laboratory services division at the health and safety inspectorate has been set at one; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. JacksonIt is quite common practice in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for inspectors to be given short-term postings to non-inspectorate divisions, partly as development opportunities and partly to promote cross fertilisation of ideas. However, a great many of the professional posts in HSE's research and laboratory services division involve specialised scientific work and do not readily lend themselves to this type of approach. The division is therefore primarily staffed by professional scientific staff.
The non-scientific posts in the division are largely concerned with service delivery, involving administrative/clerical and other support duties, and would not provide the right sort of opportunities for inspectors. Even though there is little scope for postings, however, scientists and inspectors regularly work together in multi-disciplinary teams, for example, in major accident investigations.