The STUC has welcomed the announcement that a new specialist Division is to be set up within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to prosecute employers who commit health and safety offences.
Grahame Smith, STUC General Secretary said
This announcement from the Lord Advocate is extremely welcome and the formation of a specialist Health and Safety Division within the Crown Office is something we support wholeheartedly.
"Our experience of dealing with families who have paid the ultimate price of health and safety failures, the loss of loved ones, is that there would be comfort in knowing that a dedicated team of specialist prosecutors were committed to investigating the fatal event as swiftly as possible and making sure the case against any potential accused was expertly prepared. This new Division must also ensure that families receive frequent updates and progress reports during the often lengthy investigation process and during any court proceedings "
The STUC appreciates the many competing demands on the prosecution service and the impact complex health and safety cases can have on the workload of Procurators Fiscal. Therefore we believe that these new arrangements will lead to greater consistency in, and more effective prosecution of, health and safety cases.
We look forward to working with the Crown Office during the early days of the Specialist Health and Safety Division and ensuring that Scottish workers have confidence that prosecutions for health and safety offences, given their often complex nature, are being progressed with the same vigour, using this Specialist Division that any criminal offence in our society should.
This will clearly have massive benefits for all stakeholders, but most importantly will be the benefits for victims families in cases where lives are lost, ensuring they receive justice and answers as quickly as possible This will allow them at least some sense of closure and an maybe to begin to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives”.
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For further information contact
Ian Tasker 0141 337 8100