Campaign calls for more naming and shaming

THE Health and Safety Executive (HSE) fails to publicise the vast majority of its convictions – including those involving deaths – a new study by the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) campaign and research group has revealed.

According to the CCA in 2007, the HSE only issued a press release following a third of its cases – 167 cases out of 502 – that resulted in a conviction. This is despite the fact that one of the main purposes of these kinds of prosecutions is to deter other employers from committing similar offences.

David Bergman, CCA executive director said: “HSE repeatedly tries to justify its low level of prosecution by pointing to the time and money prosecution takes – yet the HSE seems to be wasting its money if it fails to ensure that each conviction is widely known in trade, regional and national media.”

The HSE issued a press release in only around half (45 out of 84) of the convictions involving a work-related death.

Bergman also pointed to the slump in convictions over the last decade. “The failure of the HSE to publicise its convictions is simply extraordinary. HSE’s level of conviction has declined 54% since 1999 – convictions are increasingly rare. Yet the HSE fails to take the trouble to publicise even the convictions it has obtained.”