Hansard

I am pleased to bring to the chamber this debate on the European week for safety and health at work. It is a matter that affects us all as workers and, given Scotland's comparatively poor record, it is one that we must continue to address in the chamber. This is not the first time that health and safety has been discussed in Parliament, but it is important that we recognise the changes that have happened and look forward to what else we can do to improve standards of health and safety in Scotland.

The European week for safety and health at work for 2003 has focused on hazardous substances. Nearly all workers, from painters to farmers to hairdressers, have regular contact with hazardous substances. It is therefore important that people are aware of the risks that can be associated with certain substances. The importance of supplying and using protective clothing can never be underestimated. The knowledge that we now have about how harmful substances such as asbestos can be to the health of the work force shows the importance of having up-to-date research. We need to provide the best available information to everyone in the workplace.

However, instead of concentrating on hazardous materials, I want to focus on health and safety in general. We need to improve awareness, support and the rehabilitation of staff who have been affected. If necessary, we need to prosecute those who are responsible for placing the health and safety of Scottish workers at risk. In 2001-02, 11,954 work-related injuries were reported to the Health and Safety Executive in Scotland, including 32 fatal accidents. Those figures do not take into account work-related illnesses or injuries that were not reported. It is clear from the figures that far too many Scottish workers continue to be injured at work. We must continue to consider how we can improve those statistics and the health and safety of people in the workplace.

I put on record and pay tribute to the role of the trade unions in bringing about many of the changes that we have seen across Scotland and across industries. At times, employers have had to be dragged kicking and screaming into making changes—as, indeed, Governments have had to be dragged kicking and screaming into introducing the appropriate legislation—but it has been worth it. We in Scotland should never be in the position where profit is placed ahead of the safety of our work force.

The motion is closely linked to two other issues that I have raised in Parliament: the attacks on emergency services staff, which we debated last September and which was later taken forward by my colleague Paul Martin, and corporate killing, which I hope we will discuss before long. To some extent, both those issues are concerned with health and safety in the workplace. Members will also be aware that Transco is currently facing charges under the health and safety legislation following the deaths of the Findlay family in Larkhall in December 1999. I will not comment further on that as I do not wish to prejudice the on-going legal proceedings, but the fact that the company could not be prosecuted for culpable homicide is a gap in our legal system.

Responsibility for legislation on health and safety in the workplace is reserved, so we are limited in the action that we can take. In March 2000, the Parliament debated a report on the Scottish safety anomaly. The then Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, Nicol Stephen, offered little support on how the Scottish Executive could improve health and safety at work. I hope that the current deputy minister will offer something more concrete this afternoon.

It is clear that there is scope for the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Executive to make a contribution. In fact, the Scottish Executive has moved forward by establishing the Scotland's health at work scheme—or SHAW—which brings together national health service boards, NHS Health Scotland, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, Scottish Enterprise, the Confederation of British Industry, the Scottish Trades Union Congress and the Scottish Executive. By doing that, the Executive has shown that improvements can be made when all the stakeholders work together. I understand that, as of January of this year, 27.9 per cent of the work force participated in SHAW. I would be interested to know from the minister whether that figure has increased over the year and what steps the Executive is taking to increase participation. The Executive also funds the safe and healthy working initiative, which is a new occupational health and safety service for those in small and medium-sized enterprises. Again, I would be grateful to know from the minister how that initiative is being developed.

The initiatives that the Executive has implemented, along with work that has been done by the HSE and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, have managed to improve standards recently and should be commended. However, we are still behind the rest of the United Kingdom in our health and safety record. That is simply not good enough. If we are serious about improving health and safety, we must consider what more can be done.

There is a call for a more strategic approach to improving health and safety in Scottish workplaces. Instead of funding small packages from a variety of sources, the Scottish Executive could implement a single strategy that would oversee, regulate and impose health and safety standards. Such a strategy could provide education on occupational health issues to the general public, employers and employees and could work in conjunction with the Scottish Parliament when relevant legislation is being considered.

The main objective of such a strategy would be to improve the health and safety of individual workers and to raise the general standard of health and safety in Scotland. Nobody would deny that that would be a good thing. However, there would be another major advantage, which is that the Scottish economy would undoubtedly benefit from reduced absenteeism, increased productivity and an overall healthier work force.

As I mentioned earlier, the Scottish Executive is already involved in health and safety. As it is possible for the Executive to fund health and safety initiatives through its Health Department, it might be possible for it further to develop its role in this field. There are European examples of how that could be done. I encourage the Executive to explore these matters along with other bodies such as the Scottish Trades Union Congress.

The most important thing is to improve health and safety and in turn prevent injury and illness. By stopping occupational accidents, we can save the time, money and effort that are involved in rehabilitation and return to work, not to mention compensation. We need to improve the information and advice that are given to employers and employees. Advice about their responsibilities and legal requirements should be made available more freely.

It might sound clichéd, but in my experience education on the basics of workplace health and safety could have prevented the vast majority of minor accidents that have occurred over the past few years. We need to do more to provide that sort of information to people when they enter the work force and continue to update it as they go through their working lives. Health and safety practices will change over time and people need to be reminded about them.

Just to be controversial towards the end of my speech, I encourage the Executive to look again at enabling the NHS to reclaim from insurance companies the cost of treatment in personal injury cases. The figure involved amounts to around £8 million per year, which could be reinvested in the provision of appropriate services. If the NHS were also able to reclaim the cost of treatment of work-related illnesses, a considerable amount of money could be made available. The idea seems worthy of exploration in the medium to long term.

In conclusion, I thank all the members who have stayed tonight. Once again, I pay tribute to all those who are committed to improving the health and safety of all our work force. I encourage the Scottish Executive to continue to do more to improve the health and safety of all our citizens.