Safety legislation on the cards

Contractors and clients may soon be subject to fresh legislation requiring them effectively to monitor and manage subcontractors' work in the interests of site safety, according to Bill Callaghan, chairman of the Health & Safety Commission (HSC).

Contractors are also expected to encounter growing pressure from investors and from insurers to improve their safety performance. Firms with poor safety records could face a stockmarket boycott, he told delegates at last week's UCATT conference.

These are some of the ideas Callaghan expects to see in a major HSC discussion document to be published this September. The document will aim to generate a debate on the next steps needed to facilitate a real change in site safety performance.

He said the Health & Safety Executive already supports Home Office proposals for a new corporate killing offence. He also pointed towards a possible mandatory system of registration of both contractors and operatives.

Callaghan said the HSC is inviting views from various key stakeholders such as investors. It aims to assist and encourage the latter to take a company's health and safety performance into account when making investment decisions.

"Company reports with prosecutions and notices mentioned would be a good start," he said. "We have a long way to go. But there is good practice in company reporting and we want more of it."

Callaghan said the HSC sees scope for insurers to complement its efforts in promoting safety. It proposed to initiate a public debate on insurance and worker compensation schemes.

"We shall also invite views on the benefits of single insurance arrangements for whole projects to improve co-operation and prevent blame being offloaded from one body to another. Contracts are written to transfer risk - often to those least able to manage it. This makes for a lot of adversarial positions and incentives to conceal risk."

Callaghan said the HSC wants to promote employee consultation and involvement in health and safety - particularly in smaller workplaces and sectors that lack permanent on-site safety representatives.