Will occupational health director improve worker safety?

Butterworths Legal Updater 6th October 2005

At the recent Labour Party Conference, Work and Pensions Secretary David Blunkett announced the appointment of an occupational health director to tackle 'slips and trips' at work. Jeff Zindani, managing director of personal injury specialists Forum Law, tells Jon Robins why he supports the move...

At the recent Labour Party conference in Brighton, the Work and Pensions Secretary David Blunkett announced that a new occupational health director would be appointed to tackle the causes of accidents and ill-health at work. Jeff Zindani, managing director of personal injury specialists Forum Law supports the move and calls for better action from employers on 'slips and trips' in the workplace.

A new national director is to be appointed jointly by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health. The role will be to oversee the implementation of the Government's 'Health, Work and Wellbeing Strategy' which the ministers hope to publish this autumn. "The new national director for occupational health will lead a ground-breaking partnership that will help to break the link between ill-health and being out of work," commented Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Health. "We want to transform opportunities for people to recover from illness while at work and maintain their independence and sense of worth." 

"For the first time we see government policy linking up what were two distinct problems - worker health and safety and rehabilitation," says Jeff Zindani. "The Government is clearly attempting to attack the causes with a US-type of agency. As long as this does not become a treasury-driven initiative the impact is likely to be significant particularly if there becomes a statutory framework for rehabilitation."

"This could lead to a 'cooling off' period before personal injury claims are made, allowing insurers and public bodies the opportunity to provide meaningful rehabilitative programmes away from the cut-and-thrust of compensation claims," he says.

The solicitor sees the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) new drive to improve workplace slips and trips as "a recognition that the root cause of many workplace accidents is poor preventative systems".

"There were over 11,000 serious trips and slips last year with two workplace deaths," he says. The solicitor welcomes the new Watch Your Step campaign as encouraging employers "to put in place robust management systems" and reminding them of "their obligations under the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992".

"Employers should make sure that traffic routes in the workplace are kept safe and risk assessments are regularly undertaken," he says. Whilst many see these types of accident as "a source of amusement in the workplace," they are "certainly no laughing matter when workers are injured and employer liability insurance premiums increase through an increase in personal injury claims", he adds.

"The statistics from the HSE consistently show that injuries from slipping, tripping or falling are likely to be the most common kinds of over three-day injuries to workers," Zindani says. "It is of no surprise to see the HSE announce a new initiative to improve worker safety. For personal injury practitioners, this area of law is fraught with difficulties because of the interpretation of some of the key provisions which are still unclear."

(06/10/05) 

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