Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that farmers follow duties under (a) section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and (b) Cattle and public access guidance published by the Health and Safety Executive.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Over the period 2020/21-2022/23, eight members of the public were killed in agriculture, forestry and fishing in work-related incidents involving cattle while walking on public rights of way or open access land. This information has been published on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website Fatal injuries in agriculture, forestry and fishing in Great Britain 2022/23 (hse.gov.uk)
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) provide the national reporting framework for accident reporting and place a duty on responsible persons (usually employers, certain self-employed persons, and those in control of work premises) to report certain cases of injury, diseases and specified dangerous occurrences to the relevant Enforcing Authority.
Incidents involving livestock and members of the public are reportable under RIDDOR where they result in either a fatality or a member of public attending hospital, directly from site, for treatment in respect of any injuries sustained. Many serious incidents are not reported so HSE does not have verified data on major injuries sustained by members of the public involving cattle. However, some analysis was done in 2020/21 for the Agriculture Industry Advisory Committee and this suggested that 26 members of the public sustained non-fatal injuries from cattle whilst walking on public rights of way or open access land.
The safety and health of people at work in agriculture and members of the public who are affected by agricultural activities is a concern to HSE and the industry. HSE has a long-term strategy to drive up industry ownership of the challenge and influence farmer behaviour to comply with long standing legal requirements. Since 2018, HSE has delivered an annual programme of free training to farmers in advance of targeted proactive inspection. These targeted inspections specifically check if farmers are complying with the law in relation to management of risks from workplace vehicles, cattle (including the management of cattle in fields with public rights of ways) and falls.
Earlier this year HSE has launched its 2024 Agricultural Campaign Work Right Agriculture - Work Right to keep Britain safe which includes a clear focus on management of livestock in a bid to improve safety on Britain’s farms. HSE is committed to supporting farmers to work safely with livestock.
HSE also produces guidance to enable farmers and landowners to manage the risk from cattle put into fields which also have public access. Guidance is available free of charge on HSE’s website:
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of members of the public who have been seriously injured by cattle while walking on public rights of way or open access land in the last three years.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Over the period 2020/21-2022/23, eight members of the public were killed in agriculture, forestry and fishing in work-related incidents involving cattle while walking on public rights of way or open access land. This information has been published on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website Fatal injuries in agriculture, forestry and fishing in Great Britain 2022/23 (hse.gov.uk)
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) provide the national reporting framework for accident reporting and place a duty on responsible persons (usually employers, certain self-employed persons, and those in control of work premises) to report certain cases of injury, diseases and specified dangerous occurrences to the relevant Enforcing Authority.
Incidents involving livestock and members of the public are reportable under RIDDOR where they result in either a fatality or a member of public attending hospital, directly from site, for treatment in respect of any injuries sustained. Many serious incidents are not reported so HSE does not have verified data on major injuries sustained by members of the public involving cattle. However, some analysis was done in 2020/21 for the Agriculture Industry Advisory Committee and this suggested that 26 members of the public sustained non-fatal injuries from cattle whilst walking on public rights of way or open access land.
The safety and health of people at work in agriculture and members of the public who are affected by agricultural activities is a concern to HSE and the industry. HSE has a long-term strategy to drive up industry ownership of the challenge and influence farmer behaviour to comply with long standing legal requirements. Since 2018, HSE has delivered an annual programme of free training to farmers in advance of targeted proactive inspection. These targeted inspections specifically check if farmers are complying with the law in relation to management of risks from workplace vehicles, cattle (including the management of cattle in fields with public rights of ways) and falls.
Earlier this year HSE has launched its 2024 Agricultural Campaign Work Right Agriculture - Work Right to keep Britain safe which includes a clear focus on management of livestock in a bid to improve safety on Britain’s farms. HSE is committed to supporting farmers to work safely with livestock.
HSE also produces guidance to enable farmers and landowners to manage the risk from cattle put into fields which also have public access. Guidance is available free of charge on HSE’s website:
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of members of the public who have been killed by cattle whilst walking on public rights of way or open access land in the last three years.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Over the period 2020/21-2022/23, eight members of the public were killed in agriculture, forestry and fishing in work-related incidents involving cattle while walking on public rights of way or open access land. This information has been published on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website Fatal injuries in agriculture, forestry and fishing in Great Britain 2022/23 (hse.gov.uk)
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) provide the national reporting framework for accident reporting and place a duty on responsible persons (usually employers, certain self-employed persons, and those in control of work premises) to report certain cases of injury, diseases and specified dangerous occurrences to the relevant Enforcing Authority.
Incidents involving livestock and members of the public are reportable under RIDDOR where they result in either a fatality or a member of public attending hospital, directly from site, for treatment in respect of any injuries sustained. Many serious incidents are not reported so HSE does not have verified data on major injuries sustained by members of the public involving cattle. However, some analysis was done in 2020/21 for the Agriculture Industry Advisory Committee and this suggested that 26 members of the public sustained non-fatal injuries from cattle whilst walking on public rights of way or open access land.
The safety and health of people at work in agriculture and members of the public who are affected by agricultural activities is a concern to HSE and the industry. HSE has a long-term strategy to drive up industry ownership of the challenge and influence farmer behaviour to comply with long standing legal requirements. Since 2018, HSE has delivered an annual programme of free training to farmers in advance of targeted proactive inspection. These targeted inspections specifically check if farmers are complying with the law in relation to management of risks from workplace vehicles, cattle (including the management of cattle in fields with public rights of ways) and falls.
Earlier this year HSE has launched its 2024 Agricultural Campaign Work Right Agriculture - Work Right to keep Britain safe which includes a clear focus on management of livestock in a bid to improve safety on Britain’s farms. HSE is committed to supporting farmers to work safely with livestock.
HSE also produces guidance to enable farmers and landowners to manage the risk from cattle put into fields which also have public access. Guidance is available free of charge on HSE’s website:
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to enforcement notice 310819694 served against the UK Health Security Agency on 31 July 2020 by the Health and Safety Executive, what steps she is taking to ensure that laboratories at Porton Down continue to comply with relevant safety requirements.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In July 2020 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued a Crown Improvement Notice in relation to the information, instruction, and training for the handling and restraint of animals infected with hazardous biological agents. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) complied with this notice to the satisfaction of the HSE, by their deadline of November 2020. The UKHSA has built upon this through a dedicated human factors specialist in its corporate health and safety function, and a compliance team within the Science Group.
The UKHSA Porton Down high security laboratories meet current HSE guidance. This is tested on a regular basis by site evidence-based inspections, conducted by the HSE.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the current condition of the high-security laboratories at Porton Down is.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
All of the UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) high security laboratories at Porton Down, including the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens’ (ACDP) Containment Level 4 facility, are operational and compliant with all health, safety, and security requirements. The Health and Safety Executive conducts annual inspections of the ACDP Containment Level 4 facilities, and a recent assessment by the UKHSA has also confirmed that with proper maintenance, the high containment facilities can remain operational for at least another decade until they are replaced.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to (a) provide information to welders on and (b) help protect welders from the potential health risks associated with mild steel welding fume.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has taken the following steps to provide information to welders:
HSE conducts regular inspection campaigns targeting the industries where welding is prevalent. Since 2013 there have been annual campaigns specifically focussing on metal fabrication businesses including assessment of their control of exposure to welding fume. Inspection activities in other industries, for example agriculture and construction, also address welding controls where appropriate.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many compliance inspections his Department made to ensure that the conditions of the emergency authorisation of Thiamethoxam were met in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023; and what proportion of inspections found non-compliance with those conditions.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is no specific programme of enforcement/compliance visits exclusively focused on Cruiser SB use, or for any other Emergency Authorisation. All pesticide use in the UK is regulated through HSE’s overarching programme of enforcement and compliance. This includes intelligence-led monitoring and enforcement activities to ensure that the supply and use of pesticides complies with legal requirements.
In line with the terms of the Emergency Authorisation granted for this year, if Cruiser SB is used on sugar beet seeds, growers are required to participate in a stewardship scheme, which includes requirements for the correct use of treated seed. All sugar beet growers are supported through the season by weekly monitoring and advice provided by the British Beet Research Organisation (BBRO). This provides a robust support mechanism to drive effective stewardship. As part of the stewardship scheme, the applicant must monitor soils and plants following use of the treated seed at key indicator sites and report back to the Health and Safety Executive at the end of the season of use.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many inspections have the Health and Safety Executive conducted by sector in each year since 2008.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The table below shows the number of inspections, by year and by sector, carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for each financial year since 2017. HSE’s data deletion policy only allows for retention of detailed inspection data for up to 7 years, therefore data before 2017 can be found on Gov.uk website.
The figures below are based on raw live data and can be subject to change due to updates to historical cases. Therefore these figures may differ to the figures published in the Annual Reports.
‘Sector’ as used in this table is a term used by HSE internally and is a categorisation of the main economic activity of a workplace. The figures below include inspections to major hazard sites. A breakdown by sector is not always published in the Annual Reports as the focus will be on the respective priorities of business plan for that work year.
Year Inspected | ||||||
Sector | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
Agriculture | 574 | 773 | 708 | 229 | 405 | 868 |
Construction | 7,872 | 7,472 | 5,004 | 4,582 | 6,134 | 6,146 |
Extractive Utilities | 135 | 42 | 40 | 148 | 44 | 86 |
Manufacturing | 6,068 | 5,289 | 4,322 | 6,080 | 5,729 | 5,417 |
Services | 3,304 | 3,195 | 2,291 | 3,717 | 3,426 | 2,959 |
Unknown | 7 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
Water/Waste Management | 1,626 | 1,418 | 1,148 | 2,225 | 1,258 | 1,434 |
Total | 19,586 | 18,194 | 13,514 | 16,985 | 17,000 | 16,912 |
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons the Condition Data Collection survey between 2017 and 2019 did not consider issues of (a) structural safety and (b) hazardous construction materials.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is the responsibility of those who run schools - academy trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies - to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert the Department if there is a serious concern with a building. It has always been the case that, where the Department is made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken.
The Condition Data Collection (CDC) programme was the first ever comprehensive survey of the school estate. Previous administrations took no action to understand the condition of the school estate. Running from 2017 to 2019, the survey allowed the Department to understand the condition of the school estate over time and informed capital funding and programmes by providing information on the condition of all 22,000 government funded school buildings and 260 further education colleges in England. During the time the CDC1 programme was nearing completion the first RAAC panel failed in a school in October 2018. Amendments to the successor programme CDC2 were implemented to monitor the presence of RAAC where it was visible or known to the school. The data collection started in early 2021.
The CDC programme was not designed to examine structural safety or hazardous substances or materials. The programme was designed to assess the relative condition of building fabric and mechanical and electrical systems through a consistent, visual survey to inform the allocation of capital funding to where it is most needed. A CDC survey does not replace the responsible body’s responsibility in meeting statutory requirements regarding health and safety.
The effective life expectancy of individual buildings can be improved by regular inspections, maintenance and upgrades over time. That is why the Department has a ten year rebuilding programme, with the aim to rebuild or refurbish school buildings in the poorest condition or with significant safety issues. It was only since 2010, with the Priority School Building Programme and its successors, that building condition was made a driver for schools to be chosen for rebuilding.
The Department follows Health and Safety Executive guidance on building safety issues and monitors reports from Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures, the Institution of Structural Engineers, and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors for any bulletins on safety that may impact the school estate.
Two system-built designs, Laingspan and Intergrid, have been found as having systemic risks. The Department has proactively identified these buildings, and the blocks in question have already been included in the School Building Programme, which is transforming 500 schools across the country over the next decade. Responsible bodies are given the support required to ensure the safety of pupils, staff, and the general public through appropriate mitigation means, including propping and building closure where required.
As part of our ongoing proactive approach, the Department is planning a research study on other system build types to examine if there are other potential systemic issues that are not yet identified by current best practices.
The Department supports schools in a number of ways. This includes significant capital funding and providing guidance and support to help schools and responsible bodies manage their buildings effectively.
The Department has allocated over £15 billion for improving the condition of schools since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed this financial year. The School Rebuilding Programme will also transform buildings at 500 schools over the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition and delivering new buildings which are net carbon zero in operation. The Department has announced 400 schools to date, including 239 in December 2022. In 2022/23, the Department announced an additional £500 million in funding to improve buildings at schools and colleges, prioritising energy efficiency. Up to £635 million over the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years has been made available through the public sector decarbonisation scheme for installing low carbon heating and energy efficiency measures in public buildings, with a minimum of 30% going to schools and colleges.
Where the Department is alerted to significant safety issues with a building, that cannot be managed within local resources, the Department considers additional support on a case by case basis.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to (a) assess safety and (b) mitigate risks in system-built schools and other educational premises that are past their design lifespan.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is the responsibility of those who run schools - academy trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies - to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert the Department if there is a serious concern with a building. It has always been the case that, where the Department is made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken.
The Condition Data Collection (CDC) programme was the first ever comprehensive survey of the school estate. Previous administrations took no action to understand the condition of the school estate. Running from 2017 to 2019, the survey allowed the Department to understand the condition of the school estate over time and informed capital funding and programmes by providing information on the condition of all 22,000 government funded school buildings and 260 further education colleges in England. During the time the CDC1 programme was nearing completion the first RAAC panel failed in a school in October 2018. Amendments to the successor programme CDC2 were implemented to monitor the presence of RAAC where it was visible or known to the school. The data collection started in early 2021.
The CDC programme was not designed to examine structural safety or hazardous substances or materials. The programme was designed to assess the relative condition of building fabric and mechanical and electrical systems through a consistent, visual survey to inform the allocation of capital funding to where it is most needed. A CDC survey does not replace the responsible body’s responsibility in meeting statutory requirements regarding health and safety.
The effective life expectancy of individual buildings can be improved by regular inspections, maintenance and upgrades over time. That is why the Department has a ten year rebuilding programme, with the aim to rebuild or refurbish school buildings in the poorest condition or with significant safety issues. It was only since 2010, with the Priority School Building Programme and its successors, that building condition was made a driver for schools to be chosen for rebuilding.
The Department follows Health and Safety Executive guidance on building safety issues and monitors reports from Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures, the Institution of Structural Engineers, and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors for any bulletins on safety that may impact the school estate.
Two system-built designs, Laingspan and Intergrid, have been found as having systemic risks. The Department has proactively identified these buildings, and the blocks in question have already been included in the School Building Programme, which is transforming 500 schools across the country over the next decade. Responsible bodies are given the support required to ensure the safety of pupils, staff, and the general public through appropriate mitigation means, including propping and building closure where required.
As part of our ongoing proactive approach, the Department is planning a research study on other system build types to examine if there are other potential systemic issues that are not yet identified by current best practices.
The Department supports schools in a number of ways. This includes significant capital funding and providing guidance and support to help schools and responsible bodies manage their buildings effectively.
The Department has allocated over £15 billion for improving the condition of schools since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed this financial year. The School Rebuilding Programme will also transform buildings at 500 schools over the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition and delivering new buildings which are net carbon zero in operation. The Department has announced 400 schools to date, including 239 in December 2022. In 2022/23, the Department announced an additional £500 million in funding to improve buildings at schools and colleges, prioritising energy efficiency. Up to £635 million over the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years has been made available through the public sector decarbonisation scheme for installing low carbon heating and energy efficiency measures in public buildings, with a minimum of 30% going to schools and colleges.
Where the Department is alerted to significant safety issues with a building, that cannot be managed within local resources, the Department considers additional support on a case by case basis.