Title: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY IN SCOTLAND : AN OVERVIEW: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUES IN S
1OCCUPATIONAL HEALTHAND SAFETY IN SCOTLAND AN
OVERVIEW OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUES
IN SCOTLAND
- Andrew Watterson
- Occupational and Environmental Health Research
Group - University of Stirling
- Scotland
2 Outline
- (1) General occupational health and safety
problems - (2) The Scottish context
- (3) The record according to HSE and
- CCA and the related challenges
- (4) Possibilities
3 (1)GENERAL OCCUPATIONAL
HEALTH AND SAFETY PROBLEMS
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5 The state of play in UK occupational health in
the UK - Securing health together recent
official policy view
- By 2010 interested parties will work together to
achieve the following targets - a 20 reduction in the incidence of work-related
ill health - a 20 reduction in ill health to members of the
public caused by work activity - a 30 reduction in the number of work days lost
due to work-related ill health - everyone currently in employment but off work due
to ill health or disability is, where necessary
and appropriate, made aware of opportunities for
rehabilitation back into work as early as
possible and - everyone currently not in employment due to ill
health or disability is, where necessary and
appropriate, made aware of and offered
opportunities to prepare for and find work.
6- HSE apparently consider health, safety,
productivity and health inequalities are all
priorities yet- - days lost through work-related illnesses are
rising - minor issues such as stress and
musculo-skeletal problems have an impact on
efficient working - HSE are for closer worker involvement on OHS (
Sandra Caldwell Director HSEHD. IOSH Conference
2003)
7- HSE announce in 2003 the non-replacement of their
Medical director thus breaking the link with Sir
Thomas Legge from early 1900s. Snashall the
previous HSE Medical Director had been a
part-time appointment
8- Past problems with UK (and Scottish) occupational
health and safety - Large scale toll of workforce in disease and
accidents - Lack of political commitment of staff, resources
and enforcement to raise occupational health and
safety standards - Lack of focus in past on labour trend changes and
workplace organisations that impact upon
occupational health and safety , neglect or
ignorance of problems created by psychosocial and
physical stresses, aggressive and poor
management. - Lack of time in governmental and business
services for the subject
9 (2) THE SCOTTISH CONTEXT
10The Scottish economy in the 21st Century
- a. Workforce size
- b. Employment breakdown
11Scottish figures demographic and employment
- Total population c 5 million
- Economically active 2,543,000
- (seasonally adjusted ILO figure 2,39,500)
- ( references Scottish Economic Statistics 2003.
- Scottish Executive Fact sheet
2003)
12Breakdown of employment by sector June August
2003.
- Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing
1.4 - Energy and Water -
1.9 - Manufacture
- 12.0 - Construction
- 5.6 - Distribution, hotels
- 23.2 - Transport
- 5.7 - Public admin, health, education - 27.6
- Banking, Finance, Insurance - 16.9
- Other
- 5.7 - (ref Scottish Executive Fact Sheet 2003)
13Breakdown of Scotlands employment by employee by
sector 2001
- Sector Employees
Enterprises - Agriculture,forestry,fisheries 62020
25055 - Mines - 46440
2145 - Manufacture - 307980
14735 - Construction - 142120
38165 - Retail and trade - 241600
24320 - Hotels and restaurants - 177,630
16995 - (Reference Scottish Economic Statistics 2003)
14Scottish facts and figures Enterprises - 2001
- Total enterprises 243,000
- These break down as follows
- O employees 149,000
- 1-49 employees 88,305
- 50-249 employees 3500
- 250 employees 2345
- (Reference Scottish Economic Statistics 2003)
15Scottish facts and figures service sector
- 1.8 million employees work in Scottish service
sector - ( 80 of all Scottish jobs)
- 6 times as many employees in service industries
as in manufacture - ( ref Scottish Executive Fact Sheet 2003)
- This raises major issues for enforcement in
both policy and resources
16Percentage of employee jobs which are part-time
by sector, 2001
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21Distinctive battlefield features in Scotland?
- Typical range of employment and enterprise
activities - - whisky offshore oil industry
- Fishing? Tourism? Forestry
- Challenges of rurality and remoteness and access
to information, advice, enforcement action
questions of social and legal justice - Cultural issues? Attitudes of government and
employers rather than culture of workplace health
and safety a critical factor - - reward construction and engineering companies
that kill workers with honours and PFI contracts!
22Research on record of occupational health and
safety in Scotland
- The Scottish Safety Anomaly 2000 (Woolfson and
Beck) revealed worsening occupational fatality
trends in 1980s and 1990s in Scotland as a of
those for Britain - The Agius observation 1998. Occupational
fatalities, injuries and disease in some sectors
and outcomes in Scotland compare unfavourably
with perceptions of what is acceptable, or indeed
with statistics from elsewhere - Specific examples - problems in the offshore oil
industry (Woolfson and Beck) still remain - Almost feudal attitudes and health and safety
responses on some larger estates unchallenged and
unchecked by HSE - Accident Problems in fishing industry which
Aberdeen medical researchers want addressed by
targeted prevention interventions.
23 (3) THE ENFORCEMENT RECORD
IN SCOTLAND ACCORDING TO HSE AND CCA AND THE
CHALLENGES
24SCOTLANDS RECORD ON WORKPLACE INSPECTIONS AND
INVESTIGATIONS based on CCA 2003 analyses of HSE
statistics
- Scotlands record in the early 2000s was good in
some areas but poor in others - Between 1996 and 2001, Scotland saw the highest
increase in investigations and advice but the 3rd
largest decline in inspections
25TABLE Average fines per HSE prosecution action
conviction 1997/8-2001/2 Scotland and GB
Source HSE statistics 2003
26TABLE Accident reporting levels by HSE Division
based on RIDDOR in
Source HSE statistics 2003
27TABLE Estimated prevalence and rates of
self-reported illness caused or made worse by
work 2001/2
Source HSE Statistics 2003
28TABLE . Numbers of Reported and Investigated
Industrial Diseases by HSE Area (1996/7 2000/01)
(Source CCA Analysis 2003)
29Mesothelioma. Age standardised death rates per
million by region, time period and sex. Scotland
and GB figures with ranking out of 11 regions
in ( )
Source HSE Statistics 2003
30Local authority enforcement visits for 346 local
authorities
31Record for HSE Scotland East and West
occupational health and safety investigations,
prosecutions out of 19 HSE Areas in UK for
specific years ( high ranking is good, low is
poor) (1)
- Amputations investigations Scotland West 15
- 2000/1
- Burns investigations Scotland East
- 18 - 2000/1
- Dangerous occurrences
- investigations 2000/1 Scotland
East - 19 - Industrial diseases Scotland
East - 14 - investigations
Scotland West 17 - 2000/1
- Prosecuting worker deaths Scotland West
16 - 1996/7
- Prosecutions for major injuries Scotland West -15
- 1996/7
32Record for HSE Scotland East and West
occupational health and safety investigations,
prosecutions out of 19 HSE Areas in UK for
specific years ( high ranking is good, low is
poor) (2)
- Dangerous occurrences Scotland West 17
- 1998/9
- Sentences following deaths Scotland East - 14
- of workers 1996/7 1998/9 Scotland West
19 - Sentences following major Scotland East - 17
- injuries to workers Scotland
West - 19 - 1996/7 1998/9
- Overall ranking Scotland East
- 13 -
Scotland West - 19
33 34 - In Scotland, activity such as SHAW in workplaces
exists - SME initiatives exist
- Scotland has a small if in parts a distributed
population with both potentially better and worse
communication networks
35- Lack of full disclosure of information on hazards
and risks relating to workplaces - Lack of commitment to occupational health and
safety in the recent past and inaction in terms
of corporate accountability - Unbalanced approach to risk management that has
led to a neglect of hazard identification and
removal as a the first step in successful health
and safety strategies - Inability to action effective precautionary
principle strategies to control such problems as
pollution form endocrine disrupters, asbestos and
other carcinogens and reproductive health hazards - Failure to link effectively workplace and wider
environmental hazard identification and removal. - RESULT data discussed above. We may have
progressed but we have a long way still to go
both on workplace safety and health
36- SOLUTIONS (1)
- Pooling resources to raise SME health and safety
standards - Pressing for HSE implementation and extension of
revitalising health and safety targets - Carry forward plans on social exclusion,
environmental justice, and socio-economic
influences on health and safety - Ensure enforcement of OHS in local authorities,
not cutting HSE field inspectors or budgets for
getting publications to workers
37SOLUTIONS (2)
- Join up thinking further on occupational health
and safety - end reserved status and link HSE to SEPA?
- Empower worker representatives in new health
boards and hospitals to raise agenda on public
health linked to workplaces and pollution - establish occupational health clinics along the
lines of SOHP and BSTs in Denmark
38- SOLUTIONS (3)
- Use available resources in workforces and trade
unions more fully to advance health and safety
practice - Adopt wider and more active HSE advocacy roles
not only at national but also at local and
workplace levels. - We have heard the rhetoric about the HSE being a
champion in the field. We await the evidence in
Scotland