HSE attacked by former boss

A former boss at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has said the body is "grossly inefficient" and "dysfunctional", it has emerged today (Friday).

Alan Osborne quit as director of rail safety at the agency last month, claiming that internal politics and turf wars had prevented him from doing his job properly.

Now, according to the Economist which has obtained a leaked resignation letter, the HSE tended to come up with inappropriate and costly ideas for safety problems. He further claims that the body should lose its responsibility for railway safety.

Osborne said he had felt unable to implement crucial recommendations from the Cullen report on railway safety because of such turf wars and in-fighting. The Cullen inquiry was set up after a total of 38 people died in the late 1990s during two separate head-on crashes - at Ladbroke Grove and Southall.

"I began to hit so many barriers within the HSE that I came to the conclusion that it was not possible to meet Lord Cullen's vision for the HSE's rail activities," said Osborne.