STATEMENT FROM BILL CALLAGHAN, CHAIR OF THE HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMISSION

HSC press release C029:03 - 2 July 2003

CRISIS IN ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Bill Callaghan, Chair of the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) today addresses the Local Government Association Conference on the issues and concerns of Environmental Health Officers and the effects on health and safety.

"The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has long valued the work of local authorities and in particular the services of the highly qualified Environmental Health Officers. However more recently the Commission has been concerned about the decline in local authority enforcement activity in relation to health and safety matters. In part, this is due to the crisis in recruitment and the shortage of qualified Environmental Health Officers. HSC very much welcomes the regulatory services partnership Action Plan launched by the LGA and is seeking ways of providing support to Environmental Health Officer Student recruitment.

"I am pleased that the Health and Safety Executive is able to play its part in working with other Government Agencies to encourage students to enter the Environmental Health profession. There are big strategic challenges ahead in the future and we will only be able to meet them with the help of competent professional support."

Notes to editors

1. Bill Callaghan will be speaking from 2pm in the Exhibition Hall at the Local Government Association Conference in Harrogate;

2. The session has been organised by LG Regulation (formerly LACORS) (an LGA sponsored organisation, coordinating local authority regulatory services) offering support for initiatives designed to arrest the current crisis in student recruitment to the Environmental Health profession, the officers who for the most part provide the health and safety enforcement service for local authorities;

3. Bill will also be giving a short presentation later in the day, discussing the clear challenges for local government in effectively discharging their health and safety enforcement duties and their responsibilities as major employers, advising delegates of the strategic planning and review currently underway by the Commission with the potential impact on local government.

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