SCO/072/08
01 May 2008

HSE welcomes scottish parliament debate

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) welcomed the Member’s Debate due to take place today in the Scottish Parliament to recognise the importance of International Workers’ Memorial Day.

On Monday 28 April, International Workers’ Memorial Day was marked with the theme "remember the dead: fight for the living". The HSE this year supported the aims of the day by enhancing its multi-lingual migrant worker website to provide guidance for workers from overseas and their employers.

Trevor Johnson, Principal Inspector said:

"All workers have the right to work safely and without risk to their health. With 31 people dying at work in Scotland last year (2006/07) and nearly 200,000 people suffering from an illness they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work,  it is of utmost importance that health and safety processes are in place to protect workers’ lives. The HSE website is a valuable tool for overseas workers and their employers and will help them to understand their roles and responsibilities under British health and safety law."

Migrant workers are employed in a wide range of industries, some of them high risk, and may encounter unfamiliar risks in their work. The working environment and workplace health and safety culture may be very different from those in their country of origin. These factors, particularly where there are also language difficulties, may lead to migrant workers being put at increased risk of accidents or ill-health.

The pages for workers have been translated into several languages, and are also available in English. Advice, guidance and sources of further information and help are accessible through page navigation and links to other relevant Government and non-Governmental agencies.

The HSE webpages on migrant worker health and safety can be found at www.hse.gov.uk/migrantworkers.

Notes to editors

• Details of the debate can be found on the Scottish Parliament website www.scottish.parliament.uk
• Debate: S3M-1710# – Elaine Smith: Remember the Dead, Fight for the Living.

Key HSE Statistics for 2006/07 in Scotland are:

Ill health

• 199,000 people were suffering from an illness they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work.
• 60 000 of these were new cases in the last 12 months.
• 176 people died of mesothelioma (2005), and many more from other occupational cancers and lung diseases.

Injuries

• 31 workers were killed at work.
• 12,026 other injuries to employees were reported under RIDDOR.

Working days lost

• 4.3 million days were lost overall (2.1 days per worker), 3.7 million due to work-related ill health and 0.6 million due to workplace injury.

Enforcement

• In Scotland, prosecutions are brought by Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), who make the final decision on prosecution.
• In 2006/07, 91 offences reported by all Directorates (excluding Railways) in Scotland, were prosecuted, 60 of which led to a conviction.
• The average fine per conviction was £27,268, a fall on the previous year (£249,418, which included a fine of £15 million).
• Nine offences reported by local authorities were prosecuted in 2005/06, all of which led to a conviction. The average fine per conviction was £107,289, an increase on the previous year (£1,285).

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