HSE develops 'Statement of Commitment' to Health and Safety

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are urging Local Authorities across the country to work with others to improve health and safety standards in the sectors they regulate, with a Statement of Commitment.

This arose as a result of the figures that the HSE collected, showing failures in the management of occupational health and safety inside Local Authority enforced business sectors - these predominantly refer to retail, consumer services, entertainment and warehousing/supply chain sectors (which account for around two thirds of business premises - or half of the total Great Britain workforce). The figures state more than 100,000 new cases of ill health, 5000 major injuries and around 10 workers deaths each year stem from this mismanagement.

Many of those harmed are vulnerable workers who are not provided with reasonable workplace protection - this leads to around 15 members of the public, adults and children who are killed each year in avoidable accidents, accidents that could have been prevented with appropriate management of workplace activity. This is exacerbated by the challenging environment which impacts how the Local Authorities deliver their wide ranges of regulatory services and statutory duties.

Local Authorities throughout Great Britain were instrumental in developing this Statement of Commitment, in conjunction with the HSE to help strengthen and maintain the delivery of their legal duty as enforcers of workplace health and safety, in a long-term senior commitment; the Statement of Commitment itself asks Local Authorities to collaborate with other bodies to help deliver an effective and correctly targeted solution with the workers safety as the end result.

It recognises that:

• Local Authorities must target and prioritise regulatory resources to meet their legal duties;
• continued delivery of effective co-regulation will require ongoing evolution in both the Local Authority and HSE approaches to regulatory delivery; and
• the HSE and Local Authority co-regulatory partnership plays a vital role in delivering the ‘Help GB Work Well’ strategy.

The HSE will be working to develop further supporting materials that are to be made available in due time. In the interim, many Local Authority chief executives and Heads of health and safety regulatory services are encouraged to publicly endorse the Statement of Commitment and embed the principles within their service plans - which is already seen by HSE’s Board, the Local Government Association, the Welsh Local Government Association and the Society of Chief Officers of Environmental Health in Scotland.