1971-72 Cmnd. 5034 Safety and Health at Work. Report of the Committee 1970-72 House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online
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1971-72 Cmnd. 5034 Safety and health at work. Report of the committee 1970-72 House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. 467 COMMITTEE ON SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK CHAIRMAN Lord Robens MEMBERS Mr. G. H. Beeby Miss Mervyn Pike, M.P. Mr. S. A. Robinson Miss Anne Shaw, C.B.E. Sir Brian W. Windeyer Professor J. C. Wood, C.B.E. (Vice-Chairman) SECRETARY Mr. M. Wake iii House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. 469 To the Right Honourable Maurice Macmillan, M.P., Secretary of State for Employment Sir, We were appointed on 29th May 1970 by the Right Honourable Barbara Castle, M.P., then Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity, as a Committee of Inquiry with the following terms of reference: To review the provision made for the safety and health of persons in the course of their employment (other than transport workers while directly engaged on transport operations and who are covered by other provisions) and to consider whether any changes are needed in: ( 1) the scope or nature of the major relevant enactments, or (2) the nature and extent of voluntary action concerned with these matters, and to consider whether any further steps are required to safeguard members of the public from hazards, other than general environmental pollution, arising in connection with activities in industrial and commercial premises and construction sites, and to make recommendations. We now have the honour to submit our Rep6rt. ROBENS (Chairman) G. H. BEEBY MERVYN PIKE SYDNEY A. ROBINSON ANNE SHAW BRIAN WLNDEYER JOHN C. WOOD (Vice-Chairman) MATTHEW WAKE (Secretary) CHARLES NEALE (Assistant Secretary) 9th June 1972 House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. 471 CONTENTS Page Preface . xiv Problems encountered xiv Sources of material .. xv Layout of the report . xvi Chapter 1—What is wrong with the system? 1 The nature of the problem . 1 The nature and background of this Inquiry 2 The legal provisions and their enforcement 4 Defects of the statutory system 6 The objectives of future policy 12 Chapter 2—Safety and health at the workplace 14 The role of management .. 14 Management objectives and the allocation of responsibilities 16 Safety advisers 17 The involvement of workpeople 18 Can legislation help? . 19 A statutory requirement to consult .. 21 Written safety and health policies .. 23 Company reports 24 Chapter 3—Action at industry level 25 Joint standing committees .. 25 Other industry-level safety committees 26 Trade unions, the TUC and the CBI 28 Other organisations . 28 Recent developments 29 The future 30 Chapter 4—A new statutory framework 31 The case for unification . 31 The field for unified legislation and administration 32 vii House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. 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All rights reserved. •▪ Page Unified administration—the nature of a new institution . 35 Unified administration—the functions of a new institution 36 A national Authority for Safety and Health at Work 36 The status of the Authority .. 37 Internal organisation and staff 39 Chapter 5—The form and content of new legislation 40 An enabling Act 40 A statutory declaration of principles 41 Supporting instruments 42 Statutory regulations .. 43 The style of new regulations.. 43 Consultation on regulations . 44 Voluntary standards and codes of practice 45 The use of non-statutory codes and standards 46 An Advisory Committee on Regulations and Codes 48 Technical working parties . 49 Summary 49 Chapter 6—The application and scope of new legislation 51 Placing obligations .. 51 The scope of new legislation 51 Employed persons 53 The self-employed 54 The general public 55 General exclusions . 55 Transport workers .. 56 Hospitals and educational establishments .. 57 Educational research laboratories .. 58 Chapter 7—The inspectorates 59 Growth of the inspectorates .. 59 Present patterns of inspection work 61 Support facilities 62 A unified inspectorate 62 viii House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. 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All rights reserved. • 473 Page The basic task of a unified inspectorate . 63 Planning the work of the inspectors 66 The structure and organisation of a unified inspectorate within the new Authority . 67 Recruitment and training . 69 The size of the inspectorate . 70 Organisation chart . 71 Chapter 8—Inspection by local authorities . 72 Criticisms . 72 The role of the local authorities—relevant considerations 73 Co-ordination and integration 74 Areas of responsibility 76 Chapter 9—Sanctions and enforcement 80 The present position 80 The future use of criminal proceedings 82 Administrative sanctions 83 Improvement Notices 84 Appeals against Notices 84 Prohibition Notices 85 The application of administrative sanctions 86 Licensing 87 Chapter 10—Public safety .. 89 Occupational safety provisions and the public .. 89 The division of administrative responsibilities for public safety . 91 Large-scale hazards and neighbourhood risks The relevance of development control powers 94 Direct and specific safety controls over dangerous substances and operations . 95 Chapter 11—Additional comments on particular topics . 97 Fire precautions 97 Flammable and explosive substances 99 Toxic substances . 102 ix House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. Page Radiological protection . 107 Noise .. 109 Design and manufacture .. I 1 1 Chapter 12—The organisation of occupational medicine 115 Previous reports 116 Existing statutory arrangements 116 Private medical services in industry 117 Research 118 A comprehensive occupational health service 118 The Employment Medical Advisory Service 119 Occupational medicine in the future 121 Chapter 13—Training 124 Safety training within industry 125 Off-the-job courses .. 126 Education and advanced training 126 The need for co-ordination .. 127 The Industry Training Boards 128 Management training 128 The law and safety training .. 129 Chapter 14—Research and information 130 Research needed 130 Criticisms of occupational safety and health research arrangements 131 The new Authority's role in research 131 Information .. 132 Chapter 15—Statistics 134 Official statistics 134 Criticisms of the official statistics 135 Improving the official statistics . 136 Statistics at plant and industry level 137 Further statistical research 137 Industrial disease statistics .. 137 x House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. 475 Page Chapter 16—The costs of accidents .. 139 Chapter 17—Compensation and prevention . 142 The statutory industrial injuries scheme 142 Damages for injuries suffered at work 144 The role of insurance 146 Overseas experience . 147 Recommendations . 149 Chapter 18 Summary 151 Chapter 19—Programme of action . 157 xi House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. TABLES Page Table 1 Fatal Accidents at Work 1961-1970 . 161 Table 2 All Accidents at Work 1961-1970 . 162 Table 3 Days lost through Industrial Injuries 1961-1970 163 Table 4 Some International Incidence Rates 163 Table 5 Prosecutions in 1970 164 APPENDICES Appendix 1 The Committee's procedure 167 Appendix 2 List of those who submitted evidence 168 Appendix 3 Visits made by the Committee 172 Appendix 4 Research reviews . 180 Appendix 5 A note on the history of the legislation 181 Appendix 6 The main statutory provisions and inspectorates . 184 Appendix 7 Case law and accident prevention .. 185 Appendix 8 The 1967 proposals for new legislation (the First Con- sultative Document) 188 Appendix 9 Accident costs . 189 Appendix 10 Estimated expenditure by government departments and agencies on occupational safety and health, 1970-71 .. 208 Appendix 11 The New Zealand Accident Compensation Bill .. 209 Appendix 12 A note on the implications of entry into the EEC 212 Appendix 13 Questionnaire-review of the field of the Inquiry .. 213 Appendix 14 Bibliography .. 216 xii House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. 477 ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE REPORT AFD Appointed Factory Doctor CAI Central Advisory Inspectorate CBI Confederation of British Industry DHSS Department of Health and Social Security DTI Department of Trade and Industry EEC European Economic Community EETUJPTU Electrical, Electronic and Telecommunications Union/Plumbing Trades Union EMAS Employment Medical Advisory Service HMFI Her Majesty's Factory Inspectorate JIC Joint Industrial Council NCB National Coal Board NHS National Health Service NRPB National Radiological Protection Board OSRP Act Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963 RoSPA Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents SMRE Safety in Mines Resep.rch Establishment TUC Trades Union Congress UKAEA United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information