Employers are increasingly likely to go unpunished after workplace accidents, ministers have been warned, as figures show the number of investigations dropped by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) due to insufficient resources has surged.
A dip in public funding and staff numbers at the HSE over the past decade means victims who suffer an injury at work could miss out on getting justice, the trade union Prospect said.
Figures compiled by Prospect and shared with the Guardian suggested that the number of “mandatory investigations” not undertaken due to a lack of resources rose from just two in 2016-17 to 389 in 2021-22.
Mandatory investigations are meant to take place after a work-related accident that results in a person’s death, or injury such as permanent blinding and serious multiple fractures.
There are five reasons why such incidents do not require investigation, such as where it is “impractical” due to key evidence no longer being available, there are no reasonable ways to avoid a recurrence, or because of “inadequate resources”.
About half of the more than 800 incidents in 2021-22 that triggered a mandatory investigation were dropped because all reasonable precautions had already been taken, according to Prospect’s analysis. But it found a similar proportion were dropped due to insufficient resources.
A combination of funding cuts and a fall in staff numbers at the HSE had contributed to the problem, said Prospect. In a report on the UK’s principal safety regulator, the union said HSE had struggled to recruit and retain inspectors, policy officials and scientific staff.
Some senior HSE staff were now so concerned that they privately believed the body had “shrunk below the critical mass to be an effective regulator”, the report added.
Since 2003, staffing levels at the HSE have nearly halved, according to Prospect. It found that in 2003 there were 4,200 staff, dropping to 3,700 in 2010 and 2,400 in 2022. Government funding for HSE also fell dramatically, from £228m in 2010 to £126m in 2019 – though has since recovered to £185m in 2022, the union said. HSE does receive additional funding, and last year made an extra £90m from fees and cost recovery.
Mike Clancy, Prospect’s general secretary, said the number of investigations being dropped into serious incidents “should worry anyone who values safety at work”.
He told the Guardian: “The bottom line is that if effective investigations cannot be carried out, then those who are at fault for an accident may get away with it, depriving victims of justice and making workplaces less safe.”
Clancy added the Covid pandemic had highlighted the importance of an effective regulator with enough skills and capacity to inspect workplaces and hold employers to account.
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader and shadow secretary for the future of work, said legal workplace protections “must go hand in hand with effective enforcement of the rules” and were sensible for workers and businesses.
She added: “13 years of failed Conservative government has left the UK’s health and safety enforcement regime badly overstretched, and that is putting working people at risk.”
Britain “continues to be one of the safest places to work in the world”, an HSE spokesperson said. The watchdog said it had an “excellent reputation, shown by our growing responsibilities, which include post-Brexit chemical regulations and the creation of the new building safety regulator”.
The spokesperson added: “We generate a substantial income on top of our government funding, which helps pay for our regulatory work. Our staffing levels have changed as our responsibilities have changed. We are currently seeing significant recruitment into HSE.”
It is understood that staffing levels have varied in part in response to the changing regulatory environment – for instance, when the Office for Nuclear Regulation was formed from part of HSE in 2014.
HSE also pointed to a recent rise in proactive investigations – from 14,880 in 2020-21 to 16,900 in 2021-22.
