HSE director elected president of prestigious International Inspection Association

HSE Press Release E148:02 - 24 July 2002

The Health and Safety Executive's Director of Field Operations, Dr Adrian Ellis, has been elected President of IALI - the International Association of Labour Inspection - at its triennial congress in Geneva.

IALI , founded in 1972, is an association of about 90 members covering some 70 countries which provides a professional forum for the exchange of information and experience about labour inspection and promotes closer co-operation between authorities responsible for this work.

Adrian Ellis said:

"Health and safety standards at work are a major part of IALI's programme and my election is a recognition of the progress that Britain has made in this area over many years. Much still remains to be achieved and IALI provides an opportunity for us to learn from other countries."

Timothy Walker, Director General of HSE, said:

"IALI has an important role in helping to raise standards of health and safety in both developing and developed countries. Our current priorities as part of the programme of Revitalising Health and Safety are shared with many other countries and IALI conferences and meetings allow progress with these priorities and good practice to be shared."

The Revitalising Health and Safety initiative aims to achieve, by the year 2010, the following national health and safety improvement targets: reduce the incidence of working days lost through work-related injury and ill-health by 30%; reduce the incidence of work-related ill-health by 20%; and reduce the rate of fatal and major injury accidents by 10%. There is an additional target of achieving half of each of these improvements by the year 2004.

Dr Ellis, Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Institution of Chemical Engineers, lives with his family in Southport, Merseyside.

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