Official health and safety figures reveal there were large drops in prosecutions and enforcement action in the year 2005/6.
But although the number of prosecutions dropped by 23 per cent and the number of enforcement actions dropped by 25 per cent, the Health and Safety Commission figures reveal the number of fatal injuries fell by 5 per cent and the number of major injuries fell by 7 per cent.
Overall, the number of working days losts due to work-related injury and ill health fell to 30 million – down from 40 million in 2000/1.
The government’s health and safety minister Lord Hunt of Kings Heath welcomed the figures but said there was no room for complacency.
“I am encouraged by the progress made in the ill health, injuries and days lost figures, which suggest that the approach set out in the HSC strategy for workplace health and safety to 2010 and beyond is beginning to bear fruit,” he said.
“However, there is no room for complacency. Each case of ill-health and injury at work causes distress and hardship for individuals and their families, and thirty million working days lost is still a huge burden on the overall economy. The financial costs to society of work-related stress alone are estimated at £3.8 billion a year.”
The message was echoed by the TUC, which has conducted its own health and safety survey among union safety reps.
It found that enforcement is the most effective way of ensuring compliance with health and safety laws – and although the HSC has said that enforcement measures are now on the increase, the TUC is concerned that budget cuts will leave the HSC with fewer inspectors.
Figures from the TUC’s survey show that four out of ten employers who receive a legal enforcement notice, not only comply, but as a result act to make other areas of their workplace safer.
Union safety reps also reported incidences of employers who were prompted into making safety improvements simply after hearing about a notice or prosecution issued against another employer.
But the TUC survey also showed that the number of visits by HSE inspectors was falling with 46 per cent safety representatives questioned saying that their workplace had never been visited by an inspector – a finding confirmed by the HSC’s own figures.
Speaking on both sets of figures, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “The work the HSE is doing on health is now beginning to reap dividends and many employers are making their workplaces safer.
“But the figures show that a significant number are not putting their workers’ safety first and the HSE must ensure they are brought to book.
“Enforcement must not be seen as a dirty word. Inspections, the threat of prosecution and enforcement notices are important tools in keeping workers safe.
“Employers need to know that if they kill or injure a worker because they have not complied with their responsibilities under safety law, they will be prosecuted. At the moment this is not happening. Fewer inspectors, fewer visits and fewer prosecutions mean more unsafe workplaces.”
