MPs accuse government of complacency on safety

The chair of a key parliamentary safety monitoring committee has slammed the government as “pathetic, defensive and complacent”, according to reports in Safety and health practitioner (SHP), the magazine of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health.

The House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee published its report into the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) earlier this year (see the Labour Research Department’s Safety rep bulletin, June 2008). The government responded to the report in July, rejecting virtually all of the Committee’s recommendations.

The chair of the Committee, Labour MP Terry Rooney, told SHP: “It is pathetic. They have conceded nothing at all. The government is being extremely defensive and complacent”.

The government rejected the case for more inspectors, on the bizarre grounds that “the prime factor which governs whether there are fatalities, injuries or ill health is the motivation of the employer”. It appears to have overlooked the evidence that employers are “motivated” to act on safety by the fear of inspection and prosecution for breaching the law.

Unions were also incensed by the government’s dismissal of the Committee’s findings (Safety rep, August 2008).

Alan Ritchie, UCATT construction union general secretary said: “Self-regulation does not work in dangerous, casualised industries such as construction. By talking about the importance of giving ‘advice and guidance’, ministers and HSE chiefs give the impression that they think it is more important to stuff material into envelopes than inspect sites.”