Embargoed: 00.01 am, Sunday 25 Jul 2004

Select Committee challenges government to significantly increase the resources to the Health and Safety Executive and introduce legislation on Director Duties

The Government should give substantial new resources to the Health and Safety Commission/Executive (HSC/E) in order for it to double the number of inspectors over a six year period, and change prosecutions procedures, according to a report published by the parliamentary Work and Pensions select committee which published its report today.

The Committee stated that the HSE should be considered a "front-line service" and protected from the cuts that the Chancellor announced in his recent spending review.

Increasing the level of inspectors should according to the committee result in increased levels of inspections and investigations overall and allow for more enforcement work to be undertaken on work-related road safety and occupational health issues.

The report also calls on the government to introduce a bill in the next parliamentary session that would introduce legal duties upon directors and increase the levels of fines and calls on the Government to publish a draft bill on Corporate Killing by the end of December 2004.

The report also recommends "that the HSE should not proceed with the proposal to shift resources from inspection and enforcement to fund an increase in education, information and advice" – which is a central component of HSE’s new strategy published in February 2004.

David Bergman, Director of the Centre for Corporate Accountability stated:

"This is a detailed and considered view. If the Government and the HSC accept the report's recommendations, it will require a significant shift in the Government's current policy of cutting HSC's budget and promoting non legislative approaches to important safety issues."

To read key sections from the report and download a copy, click here