Prospect slams job cuts at UK safety body
10/08/2006
The union representing 1,750 inspectors, scientists and other professionals in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has condemned an announcement that government spending restrictions in the safety body will force it to axe up to 350 posts.
The announcement coincides with a new report,
published in Hazards magazine, that highlights how
at the same time HSE is implementing its new
strategy to move away from hands-on workplace
inspections, figures for fatalities and major injury
rates across the UK are rising.
In a notice to staff, HSE chief executive Geoffrey
Podger said the move to reduce the total number of
staff by between 250 and 350 posts by 2008 and
cut programme spend was necessary to remain in
budget.
But Prospect fears that this will only be the tip of
the iceberg coming on the back of real terms cuts
in HSE’s budget since 2002, and in the face of likely
further cuts given the 5% reduction target identified
for its parent body, the Department of Work and
Pensions, in the last comprehensive spending
review.
Prospect HSE branch chair Steven Kay said: "While
we welcome the commitment to try to achieve these
losses through natural wastage and voluntary
redundancies, any reduction in HSE staff numbers
will inevitably impact on the drive to improve safety
in UK workplaces. Evidence shows it is inspection
backed by enforcement that is the most effective
way of ensuring employers comply with their health
and safety responsibilities.
"It will result in a drop in the number of
prosecutions and inspections undertaken and could
see a further restriction of the accident selection
criteria used to prompt an investigation as HSE tries
to maintain the 60:40 balance it seeks to strike
between preventive and reactive work. Less
investigations will mean workers that suffer
horrendous injuries will not get justice."
HSE programmes also identified as casualties of the
cutbacks include measures introduced as part of
the executive’s strategic shift away from inspection
and enforcement in favour of education and
preventative advice, announced in 2003.
The Hazards report shows that even before this
latest blow, the time spent by HSE staff in direct
contact with employers has fallen in all of HSE’s
divisions bar one despite a growth in the number of
workplaces. In 2001/02 the average frequency of
workplace inspections was once every seven years.
Figures for 2006 suggest this has risen to every 13
years.
While HSE’s Hazardous Installation Division (HID)
bucked the trend, Hazards attributes this to the
"HID inspection and investigation surge after the
December 2005 Buncfield explosion."
Prospect members in HSE anticipate a
corresponding crash in activity over the coming
year, as inspectors take related time-off-in-lieu,
overtime payments drain budgets further and
inspectors are seconded from other divisions to
meet the shortfall. The union is calling for
government intervention to reduce the financial
pressure crippling HSE.
To view the Hazards report visit Hazards report or contact
the editor, Rory O’Neill on 01535 210462.