§ Ms QuinTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what research he has commissioned about any link between long working hours and the health and safety of employees; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythProfessor J. M. Harrington of the University of Birmingham institute of occupational health was commissioned last year to identify and evaluate pertinent medical and scientific literature relating to the effect, if any, of hours of work on employees' health.
The Health and Safety Executive has previously commissioned the studies "Shift Work and Health—a Critical Review of the Literature", Harrington, 1978 and "Shiftwork, Health and Safety—an overview of the scientific literature 1978–1990", Waterhouse, Folkard and Minors, 1992.