§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what initiatives the Health and Safety Executive is currently taking to reduce the levels of occupational ill health.
§ Mr. OppenheimMuch of the Health and Safety Executive's everyday activity, such as modernising the framework of health and safety law, inspection of workplaces, provision of advice and formal enforcement action is aimed at reducing occupational ill health. HSE is giving priority in 1994–95 to implementing a coherent programme of action based on the conclusions of its recent strategic review of the 10 main occupational health risks—toxic substances, biohazards, noise, vibration, ionising and non-ionising radiation, manual handling, upper limb disorders, sick building syndrome and stress.544W Action includes: obtaining better information on the scale and pattern of ill health; commissioning further research, for example on prevention techniques; and provision of practical guidance and publicity campaigns.
HSE is also now planning a major new campaign, "Good Health is Good Business", which will start in May and aims to encourage and help employers to act to manage health risks more effectively.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the Health and Safety Executive's current estimate of the number of people whose health is affected by work activity.
§ Mr. OppenheimFrom the responses to a special set of questions in the 1990 labour force survey of 60,000 households, it can be estimated that in the 12 months prior to the survey 2.2 million people in England and Wales suffered from an illness which they believe had been caused or made worse by their work.