Huge cuts to workplace safety inspections since Tories took office ‘left UK unprepared during pandemic’

UK lacked capacity to dramatically ramp up inspections when needed for reopening economy

David Cameron and Boris Johnson – cuts to local authorities and the Health and Safety Executive have seen a fall in the number of inspectors and inspections since 2010 (AFP via Getty Images)

Britain's workplace safety inspectorate has been hollowed out since the Tories came to power with the number of inspections "falling off a cliff" in the intervening decade, unions have warned.

A new analysis shows how unprepared the UK was to assess workplaces as Covid-secure during the pandemic, with a 32 per cent fall in the number of inspectors over the period.

Last summer ahead of the second wave experts like the Independent Scientific Advisor Group for Emergencies (Independent SAGE) said the government needed to ramp up inspections to ensure workplaces were following best practice before reopening the economy.

But they warned the service needed sustained investment to carry out the scale of inspections required for a safe reopening.

As well as a fall in the number of inspectors, the number of inspections actually being carried out has also fallen away sharply, the figures collated by the European Trade Union Confederation found.

There were 27 per cent fewer inspections carried out in the UK in 2019 than 2011, a fall over over 5,700 a year. The number of inspectors fell from 1,450 in 2011 to 985 in 2018.

“The numbers of workplace inspections have fallen off a cliff over the past decade. Huge cuts to the HSE and to local authorities undermine vital safety protections at work – and have left us under-prepared and vulnerable to the pandemic," TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady told The Independent.

“Bad bosses need to know that they can't get away with chancing workers' lives in dangerous workplaces. It’s a national scandal that not a single employer has been prosecuted and fined for putting workers or the public at risk during the pandemic.

Huge cuts to the HSE and to local authorities undermine vital safety protections at work – and have left us under-prepared and vulnerable to the pandemic

Frances O’Grady, TUC general secretary

“The government must reverse cuts and provide the HSE with sustained funding so it can recruit and train proper workplace inspectors, inspect more workplaces, and prosecute bad bosses who don’t keep their workers safe.”

The safety cuts mean the UK is now even further from meeting International Labour Organisation standards.

The United Nations organisation says countries should have 1 inspector per 10,000 workers: in 2011 the UK had 0.5, falling to 0.3 by 2018. Only Ireland has a lower ratio at 0.2.

The cut in the number of inspectors in the UK since 2010 was second only to Romania in 22 countries examined by researchers at the ETUC.

A recent survey by the TUC found “less than one quarter (24 per cent) of respondents said their workplace had been contacted by a Health and Safety Executive inspector, or other relevant safety inspectorate in the last 12 months. More than a fifth (22 per cent) said their workplace had never been visited by an HSE inspector".

Per Hilmersson, the deputy general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, described the situation as a "scandal" across the continent and warned the approach had "undoubtedly left workplaces less prepared for the pandemic and may have cost many lives".

“It’s time Europe stopped treating life so cheaply and put peoples’ safety first," he said.

"All countries need to dramatically increase their number of labour inspectors to facilitate a safe return to work after the pandemic, as well as dealing with the unacceptably high number of fatal accidents and work-related cancer."

The Health and Safety Executive says it has been carrying out spot checks on businesses during the pandemic to make sure they are Covid-19 secure.

It comes as unions demand a public inquiry into the government’s Covid response. Speaking on International Workers’ Memorial Day (28 April), UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:

“We must never forget all those workers who've died in the pandemic. They've selflessly put the needs of others ahead of their own. Day in, day out, they've carried on working, helping and caring for our loved ones.

“It’s beyond tragic so many lives have been lost providing essential services that many people take for granted. The government owes answers to their families and the public in general.”