Half of workplaces have never been inspected

In the month when the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has seen its budget cut by 35%, research has revealed that almost half (49%) of workplaces in the UK have never been visited by a health and safety inspector.

The TUC’s biennial survey of safety reps found that nearly one in 10 of those questioned said that the last inspection of their workplace was more than three years ago, and only a quarter (27%) said that their workplace had been visited in the last 12 months. This is despite evidence that inspection and enforcement activity is the most effective way to ensure that employers meet their obligations under health and safety laws.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber pointed out that “knowing that an inspector is likely to visit is one of the key drivers to changing employers’ behaviour and making the workplace safer and healthier”.

Meanwhile, building workers union UCATT pointed out that, in the same week that the HSE funding cut was announced, six construction workers died on different sites across the UK.

Mike Clancy, deputy general secretary for the Prospect union, which organises HSE inspectors, said: “Lord Young’s report was supposed to tackle the madness of the health and safety culture, but surely the cuts to the HSE’s budget are the clearest example of safety gone mad”.