Hansard

I thank Karen Gillon for bringing this important debate to Parliament. I also welcome the European week for safety and health and I take this opportunity to thank the trade union movement for keeping this important issue high on the agenda.

Health and safety is an issue for workers throughout the world. While we consider what we could do to save lives and avoid injuries and work-related illnesses, we need to talk a bit more about Scotland.

As Karen Gillon said, there is a Scottish safety anomaly. That term was coined by academics several years ago and recent statistics show that it still exists. There were 36 fatal injuries to workers in Scotland in 2000-01, which is five more than there were the year before. Although there was a larger increase in Great Britain overall, Scotland still remains above average for Britain. In particular, Scotland has a higher rate of fatal injury in the construction and service industries.

We have a particular problem in Scotland. There were 2,720 major injuries to employees in Scotland in 2000-01, which is about the same as in the previous year. It is worth noting that the figures are subject to significant under-reporting. Surveys suggest that only 43 per cent of non-fatal reportable accidents are reported in Scotland. The worst sector is agriculture, in which only 17 per cent of such accidents are reported. England and Wales have 100 per cent reporting; Scotland has 61 per cent reporting. As for the self-employed, fewer than one in 20 reportable injuries is recorded.

The anomaly is not only a poorer record of accidents but a poorer record of enforcement. The average fine per conviction last year was just over £4,000 in Scotland, but it was over £7,000 in Britain as a whole. The figures for Britain remain considerably higher than the Scottish ones and that has also been the case in previous years. Furthermore, in Scotland, only 138 out of 238 charges resulted in convictions. That is a poorer success rate than in Great Britain as a whole, which last year secured 1,402 convictions from 1,908 charges.

When concerns about health and safety are raised in the Scottish Parliament, we are reminded that health and safety is a reserved issue and therefore outwith the remit of the Scottish Parliament. However, the current structure is failing to improve the situation for Scottish workers. The reverse may be the case as the danger is that current plans to alter court jurisdictions are likely to result in many personal injury claims being heard by sheriff courts. Decisions by less-expert sheriffs will do little to improve the situation in Scotland.

I believe that we need a Scottish commission for health and safety. That would not replace the national commission but would work with the STUC, employers and the Health and Safety Executive to promote good practice, highlight weaknesses and be active in all matters relating to health and safety in Scotland. The commission would have a clear view to consider health and safety throughout Scotland. It would be independent, but it would have statutory status and would report to the Scottish Parliament. It would not be an enforcing body but would have the power to conduct investigations. I ask the Scottish Executive to consider that suggestion and to work with the STUC and others to work towards a safer Scotland for workers.