THE public's perception of health and safety is often distorted by disparaging coverage in the UK media according to Infrastructure Minister Phil Gawne.
But he says the Island's Health and Safety at Work Inspectorate (HSWI) performs a "vital function" and seeks to protect the safety and welfare of employees and members of the public who may find themselves at risk through the work of public and private sector industries.
The Island's HSWI has just published its annual report for 2010/2011 which describes the work undertaken by the inspectorate to ensure that compliance with work place health and safety legislation is achieved and maintained.
The report also contains details of the numbers of inspections, investigations and advisory events carried out by the inspectorate during the period. These include inspections to construction sites, the airport, heritage railways, offices and shops, fairgrounds and hospitals and care homes.
200 complaints were also dealt with by the inspectorate during 2010/2011. One case involved a member of the public who tripped and fractured a hip entering into a public building. An improvement notice was served and the authority was required to fit a handrail on the staircase leading into the premises.
Minister Gawne continued: "The department is committed to continuing to support the range of measures adopted by the inspectorate to ensure that risks are properly controlled in the workplace.
"Awareness events have been successfully used to raise the understanding of risks and how they can be controlled, collaborative working with employers and other industry bodies has resulted in common sense solutions to difficult health and safety issues and enforcement action has been taken when appropriate following serious incidents and when significant hazards have been identified by inspectors.
"We now have an excellent opportunity to build on the good work of the past year by working in partnership to ensure that risks to employees, contractors and members of the public are managed in a sensible and proportionate way."
To read the annual report in full visit: www.gov.im/transport/msd/healthandsafety/welcome.xml
Picture caption: The HSWI investigated an incident where a man partially fell through a steel mesh grating at a local dock facility. Fines totalling £10,000 for a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 were awarded against the organisation concerned.
