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Summary
| 2.1
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The
CCA’s evidence concerns: (a) resources;
(b) prevention/ enforcement; (c) directors
duties and jurisdiction; (d) HSE and public
safety (e) HSE and Local Authorities.
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| 2.2 |
Resources
The CCA’s evidence on resources can
be summarised in the following manner
| • |
the
Government’s current financial
settlement will mean that the HSE
has less money to spend on the ‘administration’
budget – which pays for inspector
costs - in 20005/6 than 2003/4. |
| • |
The
average yearly increase in HSE‘s
administration budget between 2000/01
and 2005/6 will have been around 2.5%
- the rate of inflation - though two-thirds
of that increase came in one year.
Since that one year – where there
was an increase of 9% - the level
of increase has risen on average by
less than 1.25%. |
| • |
the
number of inspectors is crucial to
the core work of the HSE – inspection,
investigation and enforcement activities
- and the absence of adequate resources
for their employment severely impacts
upon HSE’s ability to carry out
these activities which is to the detriment
of health and safety; |
| • |
apart
from its direct impact upon inspection/
investigation/ prosecution issues,
lack of resources has resulted in
HSE:
| (a) |
adopting
a new highly restrictive policy
concerning HSE’s future
engagement on public safety
issues; |
| (b) |
considering
new enforcement strategies that
seem to directly contradict
the findings of international
and HSE’s own research; |
| (c) |
failing
to supervise appropriately local
authority enforcement |
| (d) |
deciding
against setting up legal independent
oversight of HSE’s prosecution
decisions; |
|
| • |
the
HSC has failed to campaign publicly
about the problem of resources: the
result, it appears, is a resource
driven enforcement strategy. |
|
| 2.3 |
Prevention
and Enforcement
The CCA’s evidence can be summarised
in the following manner
| • |
the
CCA understands the issue here as
the relative priority that the HSE
should give to (a) inspections on
the one hand and investigations on
the other and (b) informal advice
on the one hand and formal enforcement
on the other; |
| • |
investigations
should not be seen as only about ‘accountability’.
Investigations serve important preventative
functions – with some advantages
over inspections. |
| • |
Whilst
prosecutions serves to bring about
criminal accountability, the evidence
indicates that they serve an important
preventative function as the fear
of legal action and reputational damage
has important deterrent impact. |
| • |
the
prosecution criteria in HSE’s
Enforcement Policy Statement should
be changed so that breaches of safety
law that result in major injuries
are treated in the same way as breaches
that result in deaths. |
| • |
HSE’s
new evolving policy on enforcement
– to move away from inspection,
investigation and formal enforcement
- as proposed by HSE’s Deputy
Director in October 2003, contradicts
overwhelming international and HSE
evidence that it is inspection, investigation
and formal enforcement that works
best. |
| • |
HSE’s
continuing focus on the “business
case for safety” has been shown
to have little impact in motivating
employers. |
|
| 2.4 |
Legal
Framework: Directors Duties and Jurisdictional
Matters
The CCA’s evidence can be summarised
in the following manner
| • |
there
is a gap in the law so that company
directors have no legal obligation
to take any positive steps to ensure
that their company is complying with
safety law. This has serious implications
for both prevention and accountability |
| • |
the HSC/E acknowledges that the conduct
of company directors can be crucial
to the safe management of a company; |
| • |
the findings of international and
HSE research indicates that legal
regulation is the principle mechanism
to motivate senior company officers
in relation to safety; |
| • |
the
government and the HSE have not kept
their commitments relating to legislating
in this area; |
| • |
the
HSC has decided to go down a voluntarist
approach without any evidence of its
effectiveness and in contradiction
to its own and international research
|
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| 2.5 |
HSE and Public Safety
The CCA’s evidence can be summarised
in the following manner
| • |
As a cost-cutting measure, the HSE
has recently established a new restrictive
policy on public safety issues which
will, for example, mean that many
deaths and injuries suffered by members
of the public will no longer be investigated; |
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| 2.6 |
HSE and Local Authorities
The CCA’s evidence can be summarised
in the following manner
| • |
CCA analysis of Local Authority inspection
and investigation rates indicates
the need for the HSE to be carrying
out its supervisory functions more
assiduously and not just employing
one person to audit |
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