HSC Annual Report 2001/2002 shows solid progress towards strategic aims

HSE Press Release C050:02 - 18 November 2002

The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) today published its Annual Report and Accounts for the year 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002. The report can be found on http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/reports

The document reports progress with the first year of plans published in 'HSC's Strategic Plan 2001-04'. The Plan concentrates efforts into four main programmes of work:

• priority programmes: falls from height; workplace transport; musculoskeletal disorders; work-related stress; construction; agriculture; health services; slips and trips
• major hazard sectors: including railways, gas conveyance and onshore major hazard pipelines, chemical installations covered by the Control of Major Hazards Regulations, explosives and the mining, offshore and nuclear industries
• securing compliance and
• HSC's statutory duties: to modernise and simplify the law, to provide information and advice, to promote risk assessment and technical knowledge and to operate statutory schemes.

HSC Chair Bill Callaghan said:

"This is the first report on our challenging three-year strategy to help achieve the national health and safety targets set out in the 'Revitalising Health and Safety' Strategy Statement. The planned programme of work for the first year has largely been delivered with solid progress made in the four targeted areas, as well as many additional and unplanned issues."

The majority of key elements in the important priority programmes initiative have been delivered. The management of health and safety in high hazard industries and the control of high hazard events continued to dominate HSE's work. HSE has worked to implement Lord Cullen's recommendations for the railways industry and continues to work with the industry to secure the improvements that are needed.

The core of HSE's work is securing compliance with the law and it does this through a mix of inspections and other regulatory contacts, investigations and formal enforcement work. HSE achieved the PSA target for investigations, although there was a shortfall against our internal target because the number of reported incidents was below estimates. The foot and mouth epidemic and more complex investigations also affected the targets set for the number of regulatory contacts. Nevertheless, the report shows the wide range of enforcement activities carried out and successes achieved across a broad range of hazards in a number of sectors.

Good progress was made with the majority of plans agreed in the mandatory activities area. A lower number of regulations than expected have been introduced, but the percentage of those introduced on time met planned targets.

Bill Callaghan added:

"Provisional statistics for 2001/02 published in July indicate a decrease in the number of fatal injuries, but it is too soon to say whether these figures represent a long-term downward trend. We will shortly publish provisional injury and ill-health statistics, which will give a broader indication of progress against the national health and safety improvement targets."

Notes to editors

1. The HSC Annual Report is a statutory document of record. The Health and Safety at Work Act etc 1974 requires the HSC to send a report on its functions to the Secretary of State.

2. The HSC's Annual Report for 2001/02 reports on the work of the HSE during 2001/02 and is based on the plans contained in the HSC's Strategic Plan 2001-2004 which was published in October 2001. The Plan was developed in an open way, both the overall structure and the detailed programmes were shared with stakeholders and it focuses HSC activity on achieving the national targets for health and safety set out in the Revitalising Health and Safety Strategy Statement.

3. On 7 June 2000, HSC Chairman Bill Callaghan and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott launched the Revitalising Health and Safety initiative. This aims to achieve, by the year 2010, the following national targets: reduce the incidence of working days lost from work-related injury and ill-health by 30 per cent; reduce the incidence of people suffering from work-related ill-health by 20 per cent; and reduce the rate of fatal and major injury accidents by 10 per cent. There is an additional target of achieving half of each improvement by the year 2004. HSC has identified eight priority areas - major hazards and worst-performing sectors of industry - where improvement is most needed to meet the targets. These are: construction; agriculture; the health service; stress; musculoskeletal disorders; falls from heights; slips and trips; and work-related transport. For more information, visit the Revitalising Health and Safety web site at http://www.hse.gov.uk/revitalising

4. Many industries have now committed to delivering health and safety improvement targets, many of which go beyond the national ones; government departments have agreed to set their own safety targets; trade unions, employers and others have helped us achieve successes throughout the year in numerous activities; and a HSE/LA forum was set up to underpin the role of LAs in delivering RHS targets in their capacity as employers.

5. The report also includes information about the management of HSE, health and safety in HSE, an analysis of our output and performance and the HSE Accounts.

6. Towards the end of the year, HSC will also be publishing a supplementary report on the website, describing progress against the outcomes and targets we in the Strategic Plan.

Copies of The 'Health and Safety Commission Annual Report and Health and Safety Commission/Executive Accounts 2001/2002,ISBN 0 10 291822 8, price £22.60, are available from HSE Books.

Press enquiries

All enquiries from journalists should be directed to the HSE Press Office