Posted By Taff2
Most of us recognise Lord Robens as the architect of the report that led to the Health & safety at Work Act 1974 - but the very same guy was in charge of the NCB when one of its slag-heaps killed so many in Aberfan in 1966

So is he a hero or a villain in the history of health & safety?

Posted By J Knight
It may well be that what happened at Aberfan was one of the influences on the way he wrote his report; if you'd been responsible in any way for that you probably wouldn't want it to happen again,

John

Posted By Chris Pope
I thought the lauding of the Robens report did not sit well with the film footage I have of him tood in front of aberfan after the disaster - making excuses. However I think he is a hero now that I have read his autobiography entitled the ten year stint. Written 1972 ISBN 0 304 93 9874 2.

Posted By Ralph Baqar
Roben’s, was an astute businessman. After Aberfan he did volunteer his resignation however, politically he was assured that it would not be accepted (this is easily researchable, for those that want to). NB. Worth noting that he was not a Lord at the time of this disaster.

Fact, the mining industry had a very poor health and safety record whilst he was in charge. However, the paramount factor for the coal mining industry was to make money, which he did.

Many specialist, ministers and others worked on the framework which evolved into the 1974 Act (this then formed our framework when we joined Europe). This does not make Robens’ a saint or hero, merely another person who was paid to undertake a role. I think its fair to say that he probably did better than anyone else who worked on this report.

It’s funny how time passes that we forget the actualities of the time and historical realities. We almost become one dimensional and relay our rational to placing individuals on a pedestal - some who may deserve it and others who don’t .

Posted By Graham Bullough
An earlier responder has already mentioned Alfred Roben's book "Ten Year Stint". From what I recall of reading it some years ago, he worked earlier in life as a full-time employee of a trade union (USDAW or similar) so he probably had a reasonable grasp of health and safety basics when he took over as NCB chairman. However, unless he had had previous experience of the coal industry, he would not have been familiar with its particular health and safety issues.

What did impress me in the book was the fact that he summoned the managers of the worst performing pits (the 50 worst rings a bell but perhaps it was 15)to a weekend seminar to explain to him why their pits were killing/injuring so many employees AND then to discuss effective ways of reducing the toll. I cannot recall reading if more than one such meeting was held.

Perhaps his book had some personal spin, but my impression was that he personally cared about health and safety in what was a very hazardous industry. His personal interest and lead - rare among top people - almost certainly improved the NCB's health and safety performance, so he was the obvious choice to head the team whose work led to the 1974 Act and the establishment of the HSC and HSE.

During his NCB stint he encountered the systems of colliery health & safety committees and union-appointed safety reps and how effective they could be, and this almost certainly explains why they were introduced to complement the 1974 Act.

As for the Aberfan Disaster (21 October 1966), it occurred because it was a long established practice for collieries in the deep valleys of South Wales to tip spoil on the valley sides because other land for this was scarce. Such tipping was done with little thought for the stability of the tips, and included tipping over natural springs and streams. The report of the official enquiry into Aberfan (for which my former geology professor served as a geological expert - and recommended that his students read the report) explained that the officials in charge of tipping tended, believe it or not, to be colliery mechanical engineers. Before the disaster, other tips had slid because of gradually increasing back pressure of spring or stream water which had been dammed beneath them. However, from my recollection of the report, these events caused relatively little damage and nobody in authority thought to heed information about them and consider that other tips, some of them large, located above inhabited locations could also suddenly slide or, more accurately, flow at speed downhill without prior warning as a water/spoil slurry!

If local colliery managers and engineers had little or no comprehension about tip stability, then Alfred Robens as the NCB's head certainly would not. Seeing what happened at Aberfan and having to deal with its aftermath must have affected him deeply, and perhaps helped to influence the inclusion of obligations of employers to "persons other than employees" as Section 3 of of the 1974 Act.

As a parallel the original owner of Du Pont (sorry, can't remember his name) was also deeply affected when his company's explosives factory blew up in the early 19th century and killed numerous employees. This underpinned his subsequent personal interest in safety and health and his strivings to have the safest and most effective plant designs and systems of work.

Therefore, going back to the theme of this thread, it will come as no surprise that I think Lord Robens was a hero and a champion for occupational safety and health in the UK. Furthermore, it is worth remarking that his main legacy, in the form of the 1974 Act plus the HSC/HSE organisation needed to promote/enforce it, has since been emulated in some other countries.

Graham

p.s. In addition to "Ten Year Stint" and the Aberfan Inquiry report I suggest reading "Safety and Health at Work. The report of the Robens Committee" published June 1972. It includes the remit set for Robens and his team, what they did and a summary of what they found, including the now amazing fact that many work sectors, such as education and research, were then not subject to any H & S controls. (If you can't find copies of these publications in local or academic libraries, try requesting them via inter-library loan.)

Posted By Graham Bullough
In response to Garyh's comments, how many top people of big organisations even get prosecuted let alone jailed for significant failings by their organisations? The answer is none; the only people who occasionally do get prosecuted, convicted and jailed are unimportant individuals who own and run small companies.

Robens apparently offered his resignation in response to the Aberfan disaster but this was rejected. According to the first website which currently appears during an internet search under "Aberfan", Robens gave evidence in person at the inquiry tribunal and admitted that the NCB (National Coal Board) was wholly to blame. The NCB and its predecessors had no policy about tip safety/stability, and the Mines & Quarries Inspectorate of the time also had none. Part of the Tribunal report concluded that the disaster stemmed from a tale "not of wickedness but of ignorance, ineptitude and a failure of communications." The same website, which has a very graphic photograph on its home page, said that "No one faced criminal proceedings but those named (and others cleared) had to live with the disaster on their consciences for the rest of their lives."

Among other things, the Tribunal findings resulted in colliery tips being classed as "civil engineering structures", plus the engagement by the M & Q inspectorate of civil engineers to assist/closely monitor the NCB which introduced major changes regarding all aspects of its tips.

The points about civil engineering prompt the thought that my comment yesterday about NCB mechanical engineers and NCB tips could have been misconstrued as derogatory to such engineers. Through long custom and practice, plus the absence or shortage of civil engineers within the NCB, they were usually given responsibility for tips even though their training and experience simply did not equip them for it.

Back to Robens. The website I refer to said that initially he claimed that nobody knew about the spring covered by the tip which failed at Aberfan. This prompts the question: Did he do this knowing that NCB people did know or was it based on what the NCB legal advisers, PR people, etc., had told him or even because relevant managers kept information from him? In addition, I wonder, was he compelled by law to give evidence to the tribunal hearing or did he opt to do so out of personal conscience and perhaps against the advice of the legal and PR people? How many other "top people" have given or would give evidence in person at hearings after major disasters? Therefore, I still contend that Robens was a hero!