Fewer local authority inspectors and inspections

New Health and Safety Commission figures on inspection and enforcement action in local authority-enforced sectors make worrying reading. The figures, published in HELA Health and Safety Activity Bulletin 2003, show that inspectors made 266,000 visits during 2001-02 - 11% fewer than the previous year. Also, the number of full-time equivalent health and safety inspectors fell by 10 to 1060, continuing the downward trend since the mid-1990s.

These inspectors are responsible for enforcing health and safety law in around 1.2 million premises, such as offices, retail outlets, hotels, residential care homes, consumer services and the leisure industry, covering around 12 million workers.

The HELA Bulletin can be found at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/index.htm