18 JUNE 2003  

MR NICK STARLING, MR GRAEME HENDERSON, MR TIM GALLOWAY, MR RON WEBB AND MR PETER LANDLES

  Chairman: Good afternoon, gentlemen, you are most warmly welcome. If you will forgive us, we have one little bit of homework first: members declaring an interest.

  Mr Stevenson: Transport and General Workers.

  Mr Stringer: MSF-Amicus.

  Mr Donohoe: Transport and General Workers' Union.

  Chairman: ASLEF, Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen.

  Mrs Ellman: Transport and General Workers.

  Clive Efford: Member of Transport and General Workers' Union.

  Q377  Chairman: Gentlemen, I am sure you know the ground rules here. If you agree with one another we should be grateful if you did not repeat the same things. If you do not agree, please indicate. I am going to ask you to give your names for the record, but if any of you has anything you wish to say by way of opening remarks, perhaps you would indicate. Names first.

  Mr Webb: Ron Webb, National Secretary, Transport and General Workers' Union.

  Mr Henderson: Graeme Henderson, Head of Marine Policy, Health and Safety Executive.

  Mr Starling: Nick Starling, Policy Director, Health and Safety Executive.

  Mr Galloway: Tim Galloway, Head of Docks and Air Transport Unit, HSE.

  Q378  Chairman: Anything you want to say first or may we go straight to questions?

  Mr Webb: Straight to questions.

  Q379  Chairman: What are the most recent statistics on accidents?

  Mr Galloway: The statistics we have indicate that in the standard industrial classification for ports there was a total of 612 accidents to employees in the financial year 2000-01 and 649 accidents in total to employees in 2001-02. I should add that, because of an increase in the number of employees that the Office of National Statistics say work in ports, the accident rate overall fell from 2,952 to 2,901. That is a comparison of the number of accidents with the number of workers.