Appeal for funds to catch workplace killers
May 3rd 2007 IOSH is calling for more resources to increase the effectivness of prosecuting those causing deaths and injuries in the workplace.
Following the release of a report by the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) and research by the CCA on behalf of the UCATT, the building workers union, stating the Health and Safety Executive should prosecute around three times more cases than it does, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), has said there is an urgent need for more resources to increase the effectiveness of prosecutions.
“Upholding health and safety standards is not purely a numbers game and prosecution for the sake of prosecuting,” comments Lisa Fowlie, president of IOSH. “What needs to be examined is the success and effectiveness of prosecutions, which can only be improved by better evidence gathering through increased resources, such as more inspectors.”
To indicate the scale of the workplace death toll, there were 212 work related deaths in the UK in 2005/06, and 2,475 workers have died over the last decade. In addition, there has been an estimated annual toll of 1,000 work-related road deaths.
This summer, the Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act will come into law, making it easier to prosecute organisations causing death.
Lisa added: “We have long supported this Act, but it will only be effective if there are sufficient resources to conduct thorough investigations to mount successful prosecutions. Unless this is available, the Act will be just an empty gesture for families of the bereaved needlessly killed in future workplace accidents as a result of the gross negligence of others.”
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