NEWS RELEASE FOR RELEASE SUNDAY 29 DECEMBER 2002
STUC CONCERNED OVER GOVERNMENT'S "MODERNISING" MESSAGE ON HEALTH AND SAFETY
The Scottish Trades Union Congress has expressed deep concern following the announcement of the outcome of the comprehensive spending review and the impact that the review will have on health and safety enforcement. The Health and Safety Executive have been awarded increased funding of £10 million over the next three years - £4 million in years one and two and £2 million in year three. On current operating costs these increases amount to 1.5% for the first two years and 0.75% in the third and final year. The Annual Report and Accounts for the Health and Safety Commission/Executive showed staff costs alone increased by £5,895 million in 2001 and £6,089 million in 2002.
Commenting on the spending review, Ian Tasker, STUC Health Officer, said:
"We are quite clearly concerned that the Government, while supposedly committed to improving workers' health and safety, have now placed financial constraints on the Health and Safety Executive that may have a serious impact on the success of the revitalising strategy. The Government led priorities for the Health and Safety Commission may prove meaningless if they fail to provide the HSE with adequate resources to make a real difference in improving the protection afforded to workers, not only in Scotland but elsewhere in Britain.
"There appears to be complacency on the part of the Government following the recent figures showing some improvement in workplace fatalities and injuries. This complacency may turn out to be misplaced as Scottish figures for fatalities alone are already causing concern and look likely to rise.
"The increases in resources made available to the Health and Safety Executive provide little opportunity for the enforcement authority to raise the level of enforcement activity in Scotland. By reducing resources, unscrupulous employers will feel more secure that they will not be subject to intervention by the Health and Safety Executive unless as a result of accident investigation. Therefore our concern would be that, as a result, they are more likely to disregard the law. We would also argue that fines imposed by Scottish Courts fail to act as a further deterrent to employers who maybe willing take risks with workers safety.
Tel: 0141 337 8100 / Fax: 0141 337 8101 / Email: itasker@stuc.org.uk
"The Government, as recently as October, stated that it recognised that the HSE has to be fully equipped to do its job and we would now question the rationale behind this u-turn. We cannot rely on self-regulation of health and safety in the workplace if we are to witness a sustained reduction of workplace fatalities, major injuries and other dangerous occurrences. In order to achieve this the Government has to ensure that the HSE is resourced to increase the frequency of pro-active workplace inspections, identifying hazardous workplaces before accidents occur.
"The STUC will continue to support campaigns for increased resources for the Health and Safety Executive and to ensure that the Government begins to deliver on its manifesto commitments to introduce a safety bill, corporate killing legislation and ensure that Director's of large companies are accountable for any actions jeopardising the health and safety of their workers."
Ends.
NOTE TO EDITORS
- Scottish Statistics for last five years.
Severity of 1997/98 1998/99 1999/2000 2000/01 2001/02 Injury Fatal 37 33 29 37 27 Major 2369 2449 2333 2423 2308 Over 3 day 10715 10671 10317 9888 8979
- For further information, please contact:
Ian Tasker, STUC Health and Safety Officer