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Embargoed:
00.01 am Sunday 11 Sept 2005
"Endemic Failures" in Scottish Ambulance
Service says HSE
The HSE have severely criticised the Scottish Ambulance
Service in an inspection report obtained by the CCA.
The report says that the "Scottish Ambulance
Service Board have systematically failed to implement
systems to ensure compliance with minimum statutory
requirements" in relation to health and safety.
It says there is "an endemic failure to carry
out suitable and sufficient risk assessments".
This failure it says "is compounded by a lack
of specific competence ... and a failure to provide
adequate resources for health and safety."
It also says that previous advice from the HSE has
"not been adequately actioned and on occasions
had been ignored".
The report was a result of a detailed inspection by
ten HSE inspectors that took place during a two week
period in November 2004 which resulted in the imposition
of six improvement notices.
CCA has written to the Glasgow Procurator Fiscal to
ask if any prosecutions will result, and to provide
reasons in writing for any negative decision. To see
a copy of the whole report, click
here.
The CCA is assisting a former SAS paramedic who suffers
from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder brought about
by his experiences and lack of support while employed
by SAS. He said:
"It
was my experience whilst working at the SAS that
it had a very poor culture of H&S with staff
concerns being ignored, and employees being put
in real danger as a result. HSE's report backs up
everything that I and others have said about safety
at the SAS".
The
reports were obtained under the Freedom of Information
Act.
The SAS has a long history of health and safety failure.
In September 2000, an HSE inspection resulted in two
improvement notices. In 2002, further investigations
into moving an handling practices revealed "ongoing
shortcomings" and resulted in a further two improvement
notices.
Bethan Rigby, the Caseworker at the CCA dealing with
the case said:
"It
is important that the HSE carries out detailed inspections
of this kind. The failures at the SAS were clearly
very extensive and had put the health and safety
of employees at unacceptable risk. This time the
SAS must make the changes required of it. We are
waiting with interest to see whether the procurator
fiscal will prosecute."
The
recent report also criticised the SAS for "not
hav[ing] a Managing Stress at Work Policy" and
the Ambulance Service was criticised in a further
detailed report. Click
here to download this.
The
Centre for Corporate Accountability is a human rights
charity advising those bereaved from work-related
deaths, and working on issues of safety, law enforcement
and corporate accountability.
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