Employee involvement 'vital' for health and safety

Highlighting the success of the close collaboration between the employment service ACAS and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on stress management, Bill Callaghan called on other stakeholders to follow their lead.

"Health and safety needs to re-discover its roots, re-discover the art of the possible, rather than pursue the ideal of the perfect," he said. "The human relations and health and safety communities need to work more closely together to achieve this goal."

Mr Callaghan also praised partnerships between trade unions and employer and trade organisations in industries such as construction, paper and board and quarrying. However, he added that such arrangements were "not as numerous as they might be."

At the same time he was against regulating for greater co-operation between employers, workers and their representatives.

"My view is that informal regulation via unions and employers will be more efficient and less onerous than regulation imposed externally, either by HSE or through the courts," he said.

"Not every health and safety problem needs a new law. We also need to work closely with our partners to join up and make readily accessible the wealth of advice, guidance and best practice that already exists. Self-regulation and worker involvement are inextricably linked."