New HSE chief executive

Construction workers’ union UCATT has expressed disappointment over the focus of the advertisement for the role chief executive of the HSE, which comes with a salary of around £160,000 a year.

The opening line of the job advert reads: “We are now seeking a new chief executive to run the Health and Safety Executive to help change the organisation and take a range of national and international commercial opportunities.”

The advert focuses on how the successful candidate will need to make the HSE more commercial three times, with no mention of improving workers safety.

And to press home the point, the advert says: “For this critical post, we require a proven leader with a demonstrable track record of delivering cultural change within complex organisations.”

UCATT general secretary Steve Murphy said: “This yet again shows the contempt the government has for the safety of working people. The primary role of the chief executive of the HSE should be about ensuring the lives of the worker are not put at risk. The HSE is not a commercial organisation full stop.”

www.ucatt.org.uk/disgust-hse-top-job-focuses-commercial-opportunities-and-not-safety