Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of people with occupational respiratory disease.

Tackling ill health is one of six themes in HSE’s strategy for the health and safety system, ‘Helping Great Britain work well’. The strategy is available at:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/strategy/index.htm.

Tackling occupational respiratory disease remains one of HSE’s health priorities and is a key element of HSE’s Health and Work strategy and occupational lung disease plan which are available at:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/strategiesandplans/health-and-work-strategy/index.htm.

The aim is to reduce the incidence rate and number of new cases of occupational related lung disease. To help achieve this HSE will focus its inspection and enforcement activity where it can have the most effect and continue to work with a broad range of partners including the recently established Healthy Lung Partnership.