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Statutory Code Now Outlaws Proactive HSE Inspections With the review into the work that the HSE does, and the question being asked by the Tory-led government; whether or not we even need the HSE, comes further vicious attacks on workplace health and safety protection. It seems that the government view is that workplaces are inherently safe and that business needs only guidance from a government sponsored website. Further, pro-active inspections are needless: simply put, this is the ‘American Way’ when it comes to health and safety practice in the UK.
Dave Joyce, CWU's National Health, Safety & Environment Officer gives full details today (30th April) in his latest letter to CWU branches, LTB280/13: Safety campaigners fear Government Business Secretary Vincent Cable’s new policy to exempt many businesses from health and safety inspections will increase the number of employees being killed at work. Last September Cable said shops, offices and pubs would be excluded from inspections, claiming it would reduce business costs. He has now followed this up with a statutory code that explicitly outlaws proactive inspections by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in all but ‘high risk areas.’ This follows cuts in inspections in other industry sectors including what the government called medium and low-risk in 2011.
It's estimated that there are now 37 sectors that are exempt from unannounced preventive HSE inspections. They include docks, bricks, road haulage, quarries, telecoms and postal and courier services. Farming is also now classed as a “non-major hazard” industry where “proactive HSE inspection is no longer considered a useful component of future inventions” even though agriculture is the most dangerous sector to work in. Despite comprising of just 1.4% of the UK workforce Farming accounts for around a fifth of workplace deaths. Thirty people have so far been killed in Britain’s green fields in 2012-13. A recent Stirling University study found that, if construction was excluded, that three-quarters of those killed from April 2011 to October 2012 were in sectors which are the so called medium/low risk industries, not subject to unannounced HSE Inspections. What seems to be clear is that any savings to businesses by these Inspection cuts will be more than cancelled out by the employer costs of increased workplace deaths and injuries. such as sick pay, compensation, staff turnover, retraining and rehiring. The HSE records the costs of workplace deaths, injuries and illnesses at £13.4 billion a year, excluding occupational cancer. "Hazards" believes that the overall economic cost to the UK of workplace deaths, injuries at work, occupational cancers and asbestos deaths – which are currently averaging 4,000 a year - is close to £60bn. They say that Cable’s strategy is short-sighted and guaranteed to increase businesses costs whilst failing to protect people from death, serious injury and workplace illnesses which is immoral.
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With this now in place and with the continueing slashing of health and safety legislation, the government’s review into the HSE is looking more like an exercise in justifying its abolition, transferring its guidance and advice to the DWP’s website. It’s role as an enforcer of health and safety legislation will be near defunct given the news this week of even further dismantling of health and safety protection and enforcement.
Cable said the changes are necessary because “removing unnecessary red tape and putting common sense back into health and safety will reduce fears and costs for businesses. This will give them the confidence to create more jobs and support the wider economy to grow.”