A new report from the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies worryingly suggests that at least twice as many people die from fatal accidents at work than are victims of homicide. In a statement regarding the results, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Jenny Willott said:
"It is deeply worrying that fatal accidents at work are being brushed under the carpet. This report suggests that health and safety inspections and investigations simply aren’t carried out often enough, which has had devastating consequences.Previous reports have highlighted that Health and Safety Executive is underfunded and overworked but the Government hasn’t acted on these findings. Ministers must take steps immediately to ensure that people are safe at work.Deregulation is not a licence for employers to abandon their responsibility to protect their employees."
The report, which was launched in parliament later on Tuesday found that at least 1,300 people died as a result of fatal occupational injuries in 2005-06 in England and Wales, compared with 765 homicide victims. Non-fatal workplace injuries requiring hospitalisation were also likely to be greater that year than those needing such treatment following the violent offences formally recorded as crimes.
The report, `A crisis of enforcement', argues that the recent trend towards the `light touch' regulation of business has in effect `decriminalised' death and injury at work. Serious incidents are significantly underreported, the authors claim. A reduction in the capacity of bodies such as the Health and Safety Executive to inspect business and take appropriate action has led to a situation where the vast majority of the most serious injuries, as well as many deaths, are not subject to any form of investigation. This raises a number of important questions, the authors argue, about whether the current policy preoccupation with `conventional' crimes such as homicide, street violence and theft should be complemented by a much greater focus on workplace crimes and harms.
Professor Steve Tombs, a report author, said `Violent street crime consumes enormous political, media and academic energy. But, as hundreds of thousands of workers and their families know, it is the violence associated with working for a living that is most likely to kill and hospitalise.'
Dr David Whyte, another report author, said: `HSE enforcement notices fell by 40% and prosecutions fell by 49% between 2001/02 and 2005/06. The collapse in HSE enforcement and prosecution sends a clear message that the government is prepared to let employers kill and maim with impunity.'
Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, stated: `Safety crimes are worthy of greater acknowledgement given the harm caused and the contexts within which they occur. This research raises important questions about what is currently defined as crime, who gets to decide, and how we as a society deal with harmful and dangerous practices.'
CCJS is an independent charity at King's College London that informs and educates about all aspects of crime and the criminal justice system. It was established in July 1931 as the 'Association for the Scientific Treatment of Criminals'. It was renamed the 'Institute for the Scientific Treatment of Delinquency' in July 1932, and the 'Institute for the Study and Treatment of Delinquency' in 1951. It adopted its current name - the 'Centre for Crime and Justice Studies' - in 1999.
They have stated their mission as ‘the aim of the early founders of what became CCJS was to promote the notion, backed by scientific research, that there was a better way of dealing with offenders than prison and to translate this notion into action.’
Sofia is an author of several articles pertaining to No Win No Fee, Compensation Claims,
Work Accident Claims, Personal Injury Claims and other legal articles.
