Hansard

I, too, thank Karen Gillon for bringing the debate to the Parliament. The issue of health and safety at work is vast, but the aim of the European week for safety and health is to raise awareness of the issue among trade unions and Parliaments throughout Europe, and perhaps to encourage the introduction of legislation as a result.

As Karen Gillon said, last year, 37 workers in Scotland were killed at their workplace. The figure for the UK as a whole was 300. Since 1999, only two company directors have been prosecuted in Scotland for health and safety at work offences—one was admonished; the other received a fine of £1,000. Although the rate of accidents in Scotland is higher, in the same period, 29 company directors were prosecuted in England and Wales. One worrying trend in Scotland is that the number of fatal injuries at work has increased by 14 per cent from 2001-02 to 2002-03, although in Britain as a whole, the figure fell by 11 per cent. The rate of fatal accidents at work reflects the trends in health and safety at work. We must ask ourselves why the figure is rising in Scotland.

One difference between England and Wales and Scotland is the way in which health and safety at work offences are prosecuted. In England and Wales, the Health and Safety Executive can bring prosecutions directly but although, as has been said, such cases can be complex, in Scotland, procurators fiscal prosecute them. It seems that there is a reluctance on the part of the PFs to prosecute many of these cases. I do not have the answer, but I am raising the question: should that be looked at? Is it the place of the PFs to prosecute? Should we look for some other form of prosecution or of taking up these issues when they are raised?

How are we going to force workplaces, employers and, especially, companies to take health and safety issues seriously? That is at the heart of the matter, and trade unions have been at the forefront of doing that work. They are the bodies that have pushed this issue more than anybody else to ensure that there is safety in the workplace.

The issue of corporate manslaughter charges is very important. The UK Labour Government gave a commitment in 1997 that it would introduce a new law on that. It undertook consultation in 2000, which found that there was huge support for such charges. Those who were in favour of them included trade unions, lawyers, victims' families and voluntary organisations. Those who were against them included the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors and the big companies' chief executives.

Karen Gillon is going to introduce a member's bill to create a charge of corporate culpable homicide. We need to send the signal out about how seriously we take the issue. It is a devolved issue and we can change the law in Scotland on it. If we were to move in that direction, it would concentrate the minds of many employers on taking the issue of health and safety at work seriously.

The two main issues are the question of prosecution—and who prosecutes—and the need to change the law. I know that the minister does not want to talk about Transco, but if the big companies think that they are only going to get their knuckles rapped or a little fine, they will not take the issue seriously. If they think that their directors might go to jail for 20 years, that would tend to concentrate their minds on the procedures in their workplaces. Therefore, a central part of changing the culture and attitudes is passing legislation to force companies and workplaces to take health and safety at work seriously.