Once in a lifetime inspections

Workplaces can expect to see a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector only once every 38 years, compared with every eight years a decade ago, according to unpublished official figures released by the safety campaign group, Hazards.

A special report in the latest issue of Hazards magazine (Issue 110, April to June 2010) says: “A decade ago, the Health and Safety Executive could be expected to turn up at the average UK workplace once every few years. But unpublished official figures obtained by Hazards show workplaces are now lucky to see the pared-back watchdog once in a working lifetime.”

It says this means that safety crimes are going unpunished and says that the number of offences prosecuted by the HSE, and the number of successful convictions almost halved over the period from 2001-02 to 2008-09. The number of offences prosecuted by HSE is down from 1,986 in 2001-02, to a provisional figure of 1,090 for 2008-09.