Posted By Arfon Wiiliams
Can anyone point me in the right direction for a history of the HSWA 74? I've had a torrid time trying to find a decent essay on the subject using the internet.
I know about the Robens Committee Report of 1972, but am I right in thinking that the Committee was put together after the UK joined the EU? Or was it directly supported by the Conservative government of the early 70s?

Posted By Roly Buss
Arfon
I once heard a talk given by Lord Walker of Doncaster to The NHSGC (Safety Groups UK) meeting at the House of Lords. Lord Walker (now deceased) tells the story that at that time there were several changes of government in a short time, and he was a Labour MP sponsored by the miners.
I believe the bill was originally put forward by the conservatives, who lost the election, and Harold Wilson, unexpectedly in governement told his cabinet, I don't know what we are going to do as we have not got any bills. Up popped Lord Walker who says "What about the Health and Safety Bill". Jolly good says Harold can you deal with it?
Lord Walker then steered it through Parliament, but before it was passed, there was another election and the Conservatives were back in power. They then said they did not know anything about H&S, and would Lord Walker continue to steer it through , which he did.
I don't know about the accuracy of the story, but it did come direct from Lord Walker, and I think he did a brilliant job.
Anyway, its good for a Friday afternoon

Roly

Posted By Pete48
From memory , it was the labour govt of 1964-1970 in the shape of Barbara Castle who asked Lord Robens to chair the commission in 1970?
The UK joined the EU in 1973?
The commission sat from 1970-1972. I cannot find the reference at the moment but I am sure the Heath govt did not oppose the strategic findings of the committee on safety and health (robens)
Political life was pretty torrid in this time and the bill was not put to parliament until after the labour party returned to power. The labour government added the requirements to allow that employee reps should be appointed by trade unions.
And the rest is history. Apologies that this is from memory, I will see if I can find some references for you over the weekend

Posted By Arfon Wiiliams
Thank you for you comments so far, very useful indeed.
I tend not to pay much attention to Wiki, but it does confirm what some of you have said.
I'll continue to investigate.

Posted By Finlay McGuire
" I tend not to pay much attention to Wiki,"

Wikipedia does tend to get, I would argue an undeserved, bad press. Most articles are written by folks who know their subject, and while there are accidental and more occasionally malicious bits of misinformation if you've got a reasonable grasp of your subject these can usually be spotted. Like any text, it is always worth cross referencing. Use the articles to direct you to original sources.

Posted By Carolynn Wilson
Hi Arfon - here is some text lifted from my study materials during the Dip 1 that I completed some years back. Hope it is helpful to you:

Since the 18th century there has been an increasing use of legislation in health and safety matters. This has consisted of particular pieces of legislation passed by Parliament or by subordinate bodies under delegated powers. The Health & Safety at Work etc, Act 1974 gives the Secretary of State the power to make an order which permits speedier implementation of legislation.

Early legislation was directed as much towards the protection of morals and sanitation as it was towards health and safety. It also concentrated too much on specific, arbitrary risks, often retrospectively after a history of accidents or ill-health.

The situation was generally felt to be unsatisfactory by the enforcement authorities for a variety of reasons, which included the fact that unless a factory owner broke a specific piece of legislation it was difficult to obtain a prosecution and, similarly, from an enforcement point of vieew, it was difficult to identify the specific piece of legislation applicable to each situation. Consequently it was estimated that 5 million employees had no statutory protection. In an attempt to remedy this situation the Robens Committee was set up in 1970.

Posted By TDsafety
I read a book last year called 'the history of factory inspoectors', or something like that. Have a look on amazon for it.There are of course other equally good literature suppliers.

Posted By Kenneth Patrick
"The Committee on Health and Safety at Work was appointed in May 1970 by Barbara Castle, Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity. It was required to review and make recommendations on the provisions made for both the safety and health of persons in the course of their employment, and that of the public in connection with activities on industrial, commercial or construction sites (other than general environmental pollution). Transport workers while engaged on transport operations (and covered by other provisions) were excluded from the committee's terms of reference. The committee was chaired by Lord Robens, Chairman of the National Coal Board and comprised six other members.
The committee reported in June 1972, and its report was printed in the following month (Cmnd 5034). "

Posted By Robert K Lewis
Yes LAbour appointed committee and the bill was first brought in by Ted Heath as the Safety and Health at Work etc Bill but on the fall of Mr Heath HW brought the bill forward as the Health and Safety at Work etc Bill.

I think Robens was used as chair by Barbara Castle because of his coal board background. She was strong beliver in the duty of care concept that underpinned mining legislation. This latter is historic in context because of the recognised Master-Servant relationship that existed in mining and thus led to Common Law settlement of dispute particularly working conditions and definitions of terms such as safe systems of work..

With a different chair the final act would have been very different.

Bob