Health and safety policy in Scotland
As published in the safety and professional - The official magazine of IOSH
Tods Murray Tom Miller explains how the application of health and safety in Scotland is different in England and Wales, and see what the current trends suggest application.
Health professionals and security in the southern base of the border may not be aware, be the method, start the procedure in Scotland is very different from the rest in the UK.
In Scotland, the HSE has no enforcement powers. The HSE investigation officer writes a report to the Office of the Crown Attorney and Tax Service (COPFS), which is responsible for the removal of all criminal prosecutions in Scotland.
The COPFS has a specialized department to investigate accidents. The department was established in 2009 to ensure that decisions about the persecution were carried out in an efficient and consistent basis created. However, while a report in April 2013, the supervisory authority of the public prosecutor in Scotland praised for the level of work of the department, cited concerns long delays meant that some cases not completed for several years.
By comparing the position of England with Scotland is an inexact science, the most recent statistics published by the HSE is to produce interesting results. In the UK there has been a decline in the number of workplace deaths - 2010/11-148 171 in 2012/13. This general trend is not in Scotland, where 22 workplace deaths in 2012/13 2010/11 included replicated to 14. This suggests, anecdotally, that the importance of safe work practices are not clearly understood by employees and employers in Scotland, as in the rest of the UK.
The HSE has a conviction rate in the UK developed from 95% in 2012/13, the. 568 sets of 597 prosecutors The COPFS conviction rate was 91% for the same period. However, this is on 21 cases of 23, based on the prosecution. The small number of cases brought before the court, together with the fact that until today only a prosecution in Scotland under the Companies Act 2007 and Corporate Homicide Homicide must provide the overall efficiency of the Scottish approach in question.
Tom Miller
Health and safety is a reserved to the UK Parliament proceedings, so that the Scottish Parliament can no laws that relate to the object. How could the position be affected by the vote will be on September 18 this year? Watch this space ....
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