§ Mr. Ian McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on how the Government are ensuring that ILO convention No. 81 (1947) is applied consistently in the Health and Safety Executive's market-testing and contracting-out programme. [29227]
§ Mr. OppenheimILO convention No. 81 (1947) concerns the provision of labour inspection in industrial and commercial workplaces. The Government have decided that the Health and Safety Executive's inspection and enforcement functions will not be subjected to market testing or contracting out and therefore the convention is not relevant.
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§ Mr. Ian McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much money has been spent to date onundertaking the current review of the Health and Safety Executive's field operations division; and what he expects the final cost will be. [29215]
§ Mr. OppenheimTo date, the cost of the Health and Safety Executive's field operations division management arrangements feasibility study is estimated at £30,000 plus the time spent on staff consultation, which cannot readily be measured.
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average frequency of visits by Health and Safety Executive inspectors to(a) high-risk premises and (b) low-risk premises. [29221]
§ Mr. OppenheimThe Health and Safety Executive does not specifically identify high-risk and low-risk premises, nor does it base its inspection programme on frequency. Although years elapsed since the previous inspection are one consideration in determining inspection priorities, more account is taken of the degree of hazard and risk posed to employees and the public.
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many premises will be transferred from the Health and Safety Executive's SHIELD computer system to the new FOCUS system. [29213]
§ Mr. OppenheimApproximately 445,000 premises' records were transferred from SHIELD to FOCUS. Each record represented one employer working at or from one fixed workplace. In the transfer process, those were split into separate employer and location records. At the start of FOCUS, there were approximately 343,000 employers registered, identified as working at approximately 420,000 locations.
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much it will cost to equip and train field inspectors, and other staff, at the Health and Safety Executive's Cardiff office to use portable computers; and from what budget these costs are to be met. [29217]
§ Mr. OppenheimThe hardware and software cost of providing staff in Cardiff with portable computers is £163,000 excluding VAT, met from a central Health and Safety Executive information technology budget. The cost of training those staff to use portable computers is £13,400—there is no VAT on this service—met from a training budget held by the HSE's field operations division.
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the total loss of experience in staffing years to Health and Safety Executive(a) factory inspectors in area offices, (b) agricultural inspectors in area offices, (c) doctors in area offices and (d) nurses in area offices as a result of the recent early retirement scheme. [29208]
§ Mr. OppenheimTotal loss of experience in staffing years is shown in the table:
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Total loss of experience in HSE Area Offices as a result of <pathe recent Early Retirement Scheme Grade Total staffing years (a) Factory inspectors 476 (b) Agricultural inspectors 55 (c) Doctors 119 (d) Nurses 41 Total 691
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will place in the Library(a) the Health and Safety Executive's management arrangements feasibility study report and its implementation plan and (b) the Health and Safety Executive's employment medical advisory service feasibility study. [29224]
§ Mr. OppenheimNo. The documents represent internal management advice to the Health and Safety Executive and commission and will not be placed in the Library.
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what exceptions exist to the Health and Safety Executive's policy that all workplaces should be visited by an inspector over a period of time; and what policy changes are planned. [29220]
§ Mr. OppenheimSince 1977 preventive inspections by the Health and Safety Executive's field operations division have been prioritised on the basis of an inspection rating system. The inspection rating system is currently being refined. The refined system will come into use shortly.
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many premises were registered on the health and Safety Executive's SHIELD computer system in each area office on(a) April 1992, (b) 1 April 1993 and (c) 1 April 1994. [29212]
§ Mr. OppenheimThe number of premises registered on SHIELD in each area office on the specified dates is not readily available and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment which industrial or work sectors will not be visited on a preventive inspection basis by a Health and Safety Executive inspector after 1 August. [29216]
§ Mr. OppenheimNo industrial or work sectors are excluded from preventive inspection. The Health and Safety Executive's field operations division aims to ensure that contact with duty holders is proportionate to the hazard and risk at any organisation, and focuses its inspection effort on higher-risk premises. Low-hazard, low-risk premises are contacted in the main by other non-inspection techniques, but inspectors retain discretion to inspect where necessary, and investigate accidents and complaints in accordance with HSE policy.
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the percentage reduction in the Health and Safety Executive staffing levels of(a) factory inspectors in area offices, (b) agricultural inspectors in area offices, (c) doctors in area offices, (d) nurses in area offices, and (e) specialist staff in policy divisions as a result of the recent early retirement scheme. [29222]
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§ Mr. OppenheimThe percentage reduction of staffing levels as a result of the recent early retirement scheme is shown in the table:
Grade Reduction in staffing levels as percentage of staff employed in the grade (a) Factory inspectors 4.1 (b) Agricultural inspectors 1.9 (c) Doctors 22.2 (d) Nurses 11.5 (e) Specialist staff in policy divisions 6.9