HSE move will ‘haemorrhage key expertise'
HSE move will 'haemorrhage key expertise'
Plans to relocate the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) policy division will damage its ability to advise Whitehall, fail to produce promised savings and risks haemorrhaging key expertise within the safety organisation, HSE unions have warned. Prospect and PCS members protested outside HSE's London HQ on 17 July. Prospect negotiations officer Mike MacDonald said the proposals were 'poorly thought out', adding: 'Many experienced staff faced with the option of uprooting families and leaving their homes will view redundancy as a preferable option, draining HSE of its body of expertise.' He said: 'HSE is unique in that it has its own policy section, staffed by a workforce with a detailed knowledge of what the Executive does - many are former field inspectors - rather than relying on generic advice from its parent government department. Isolating the policy division from ministers and Whitehall will also marginalise its influence and risks creating a parochial service.' The unions argue that HSE has already admitted that the move will not realise the all the benefits it is seeking but have yet to develop a 'benefits realisation strategy' to say how this can be achieved. Neil Hope-Collins, Prospect's HSE branch chair, said: 'The Executive is pushing forward with a radical relocation before it has fully assessed the impact of government funding cutbacks which have already led to the loss of up to 350 jobs or the further drive to find 15 per cent cost savings over the next three years. Prospect is calling for HSE to rethink the proposals and discuss other means to make the HSE more efficient.'
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