Not best time to cut back on safety

Nov 16 2007 by Catriona Lingwood, director, Constructing Excellence in the North East

THE whole issue of safety, for workers and members of the public, has probably never been under greater scrutiny in the wake of the prosecution of the Metropolitan Police Service over its shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.

The police’s conviction, for breaches of health and safety laws, has been one of the biggest news events of the year.

However there has been much less coverage of a story which could also have major safety implications.

Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson, the joint general secretaries of the Unite union, are seeking an urgent meeting with Peter Hain, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions – which runs the Health and Safety Executive – following reports that it is planning cuts of 15% in the next two years.

In a letter to Mr Hain the union leaders said: “The most effective way of bringing about health and safety improvements for the public and workers alike, is by enforcement – that is direct interventions and visits by inspectors.”

The HSE is already stretched and I worry what impact these cuts will have if they go ahead. Last year the HSE was involved in more than 1,100 prosecutions and countless other investigations.

Its own figures reveal that a staggering 36 million work days were lost through work-related ill health (30 million) and workplace injury (six million) last year.

It admits it is not on track to meet targets to reduce the rate of work-related ill health and lost days. Most significantly the number of work-related deaths rose last year to 241, a rate of one death per 100,000 workers.

Seventy-seven of these fatalities were construction industry related. One death is obviously one too many but the figures should be a great cause of concern, especially as the number of deaths in 2005/2006 had fallen to the lowest recorded figure of 217. Given this background it seems an inappropriate time to inflict cuts at the Health and Safety Executive.

This, though, must not be used as an excuse by our industry or others to accept anything less than the very highest of standards when it comes to ensuring our workplaces are as safe as they can be.

A large part of the controversy over the Metropolitan Police’s conviction was caused by the refusal of its head, Sir Ian Blair, to resign.

I do not want to get into the rights and wrongs of his decision. However, I believe the safety message must be established by the people who lead and manage their organisation.

They are morally and legally responsible for the well-being of their employees. Given the nature of our industry, safety must be the main priority.

Our bosses need to set the standard, but it is also up to each individual to ensure they act in a way which minimises risk.

If anybody needs this message reinforcing they should think for a moment about the 241 families who will be missing a loved one this Christmas.