Compliance action group final report

The Compliance Programme Action Group were invited to consider how the occupational health community could act upon the compliance programme, as set out in Securing Health Together:

Work of the Compliance Programme Action Group

• The Compliance PAG set out to instigate action on a number of levers to ensuring compliance with Health and Safety legislation. They considered options against the priority areas identified in the strategy document. The group members used their own networks to take forward a small number of projects that were identified as being likely to have an impact and that also had a good chance of being progressed.
• The group met six times between April 2001 and October 2002. At the last meeting they agreed that the projects that were still ongoing would be taken forward without the need for the group to meet and monitor progress.
• The following summarises the actions the group took forward under the priority areas and the final output or stage that the work has reached.

Increasing involvement of health and safety representatives to promote compliance with the law

• Ultimately the PAG felt that the key to improved safety representative involvement lay in improving their status in the workplace. This they felt Compliance Programme Action Group summary report would come with improved educational opportunities for the representatives themselves and in particular the promotion of body mapping techniques.
• The PAG believed that body mapping needed to be promoted with occupational health professionals as a valid and useful technique, so that the representatives’ efforts would be well received in those companies using occupational health services. To this end, Cynthia Atwell has presented the technique at a number of OH professionals’ conferences and written articles for relevant journals.

Increasing fines/sentences or other disincentives for breaches of health and safety legislation

• The PAG began its analysis by considering its collective knowledge of what incentives and disincentives would work to increase compliance with Health and Safety legislation. However, they felt that there was insufficient robust evidence about what works and what does not. They wanted to see research on this and were keen for it to look not just at what we knew about compliance with Health and Safety legislation, but to consider more broadly whether we could learn anything from the legislative frameworks such as that applied to food safety, traffic speeding, other employment rights and enforcement of the requirements under them.
• HSE is funding a research project called 'Levers for Promoting Compliance with Health and Safety Law'. It has been slightly delayed, but has just started. It is due to report in 12 months.

Increasing information available on economic benefits of addressing occupational health to help promote compliance with the law

• The PAG wanted to identify specific routes through which they could evaluate potential OH benefits. They chose:
  • (1) Procurement process for suppliers and for contractors
    The Compliance PAG's established an Implementation Board to oversee a project which will explore the health management capability of those seeking to supply goods and services. The Board will comprise United Utilities, South West Water and HSE.
    Research will demonstrate the cost savings of this approach and the project Mission Statement therefore is:
    • (i) "To purchase from a supplier which does not protect the health of its employees is:
      • Not socially responsible
      • Ultimately more expensive
      • Risking Business Continuity"
  • This project is still in the early stages.
  • (2) Corporate social responsibility and fund management for investors
    HSE published in July 2003 two research reports that assess the extent to which:
    • (i) large companies report publicly on health and safety, and
    • (ii) board and directors provide direction and leadership on health and safety.
  • Further work to develop a health and safety management index is ongoing and the index is likely to be launched in Spring 2004.
  • (3) uptake and use of the costs information in the Frank Davies report
    The Frank Davies report, Health Protection and Accident Prevention as Business Imperatives’, published in March 1999, was the only report that set out to identify accident and ill health costs in an industry (the water industry) and promote the commercial case for health and safety management. The work behind the report was undertaken by South West Water on behalf of, and with support from, the whole water industry, now represented by Water UK. Rob Gwyther, on behalf of the Compliance PAG, completed a quick survey of how the Frank Davies Report had been used. He found:
    • 750 copies were given to HSE for the use of front-line Inspectors.
    • 117 further copies were distributed by SWW.
    • Both Revitalising Health and Safety and Securing Health Together strategy documents referred to the data.
    • The data was used to build the HSE’s Ready Reckoner, an interactive tool for carrying out a costings study for H&S failures for any business.
    • Used as background for Revitalising Health and Safety in Construction work.
    • Original data revisited to support the case for an Occupational Health Support Service for the construction sector.
    • At least 18 lectures and articles used the results to assist CEOs in other sectors.
    • Lord Chancellor used the WRULD data when inviting Project Manager to his Chambers to give keynote speech at RSI Association's 10th Anniversary celebration.
    • Assisted with Socially Responsible Investment activities by proving the business continuity benefits of effective health management.
    • Incorporated by WS Atkins into their own research model.
    • Used by Jon Rimington in his "Adding Value" research and publication.
    • Integrated into many TUC courses for Employee Representatives.
  • The Frank Davies report remains one of the few comprehensive surveys of costs arising from health and safety failures.

Securing consistent enforcement action on health issues

• The Compliance PAG felt that there was a need to raise the knowledge level of inspectors on health at work issues so that they felt able to take appropriate enforcement actions.
• To this end, HSE’s Local Authority Unit devised with HELA a programme of work to address health issues with local authority enforcement officers. These include training events, website training materials, including OH in enforcing authority priority programmes and reviewing the enforcement management model used by inspectors when selecting the appropriate level of action. This work is ongoing.

Increasing the involvement of interested parties (eg trade associations) to produce standards

• HSE has looked at how and when it uses good practice, both within its own guidance and from industry or other standards. The project as originally envisioned has completed. It has identified an agreed definition of what makes good practice and when it is needed. This will be codified for HSE authors and will be available for non-HSE authors.
• An example of where HSE is producing good practice guidance in partnership with other interested parties is the work with the Disability Rights Commission and others on sickness management and rehabilitation of people who become ill.

Raising awareness of the law within priority groups (eg small firms); and Raising awareness among employers that reasonable adjustments to working arrangements should be made for employees or job seekers who are or who become disabled.

• The PAG identified opportunities for joint work between the DWP Disability Unit, HSE and the Small Business Service to develop a communication strategy for the aspects of the Disability Discrimination Act coming into force in 2004 applying to small firms. These will be taken forward nearer the time.