HSE publishes independent audit of open procedures and practices

HSE Press Release E236:02 - 12 December 2002

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has today become one of the first Government bodies to report on its openness procedures & practices.

Independently carried out by the Constitution Unit (part of University College London), the report is key to the HSE's preparations to implement the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the findings of the Philips BSE enquiry.

The report is largely based around an evaluation of staff attitudes towards openness and the effectiveness of current systems but also, crucially, of stakeholder perceptions of the HSE as an open organisation. The stakeholders were drawn from a sample of those in the media (specialist & national), industry, unions, business and non-government organisations. Key findings include:

• a good general awareness among HSE staff of the importance of openness, but also of the legal requirements to protect confidential data;
• an Open Government framework providing a good foundation for dealing with individual requests and proactively publishing information of public interest;
• most stakeholders consider the HSE to be open and trustworthy, but some perceptions of bias toward employers' interest exist;
• recognition that HSE is trying to be more open but that developing a more effective dialogue with stakeholders is essential.

Welcoming the report's publication, HSE Director General Timothy Walker said:

"The HSE is committed to becoming, in its attitude, operations, policies and processes, a leading example across Government of an open and accountable organisation."

He continued by saying:

"Securing trust and continuing to be perceived as an open organisation requires more than responding to questions in an open way and publishing quantities of information. It is also about finding what our stakeholders expect from us and I am certain that this report, by analysing where the HSE currently stands in relation to openness, marks an important step in this process."

Prof. Robert Hazell of the Constitution Unit said:

"HSE deserve great credit in taking this initiative. No other public body has commissioned such a detailed independent audit of its openness policies and procedures. HSE come out of the study pretty well, because they fully understand how crucial openness is to maintaining public trust and confidence. We hope their example will be followed by others".

In line with its commitment to openness , the HSE invites thoughts and comments on the audit report from anyone who has first-hand experience with its Openness Practice.

Notes to editors

1. The Constitution Unit specialises in constitutional reform and comparative constitutional studies. It is independent and non-partisan and the centre of a wide network of national & international experts. The Unit is based in the School of Public Policy at UCL (University College London)

2. The fieldwork for the report took place in the spring of 2002. The staff interviewed were from a wide range of divisions & functions but tended to be mainly more senior and experienced staff occupying front-line or managerial positions who would be most likely to influence decision making in relation to openness & the disclosure of information.

3. The Freedom Of Information act (FOIA) became law in November 2000 and is intended to foster a culture of openness - making government more accountable and enhancing public participation in a democratic decision making process. All government bodies are required to implement the act in January 2005 and it is expected that public awareness of the opportunities and rights provided by the FOIA will lead to many more requests for information than under the present voluntary code.

4. S.28 of the Health & Safety at Work Act (1974) places restrictions on disclosure of some of HSE's information. In general, it prohibits release of data collected under Health & Safety at Work legislation but it does provide allowances for disclosure in certain situations. Exceptions may me made where consent from the data subject is gained, where harm may be prevented or where there is concern amongst the public that release would allay. Disclosure in breach of the act is a criminal offence. It is expected that changes to s.28, will be introduced to coincide with the full implementation of the FOIA in January 2005.

5. The Data Protection Act (1998) was introduced as a requirement of the European Directive on Data Protection (1995). At the heart of the act is a set of principles that regulate the collection, use and security of personal data and with the subjects' rights. All individuals have the right to know what personal information is held about them while being confident that this information is kept in confidence.

6. The Philips report into the BSE issue, published in October 2000, criticised government bodies for their lack of openness in handling the crisis. The Food Standards Agency, established in the wake of the outbreak, has responded by leading the way on Open government issues. The HSE hopes to use the findings of the Openness Audit to itself become a leading example across government of an open and accountable organisation.

7. The HSE's Freedom of Information web page, currently under review, can be found at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/index.htm

Copies of 'An independent Audit of HSE's openness procedures and practices, including a qualitative study of staff attitudes towards openness and stakeholder perceptions of HSE as an open organisation', ISBN 0 7176 2590 7, price £30 are available from HSE Books.

HSE's Contract Research Reports are available on the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr052.htm

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