HSC pulls plug on safety advisers scheme

News | HSW
01.02.2007

The HSC has decided not to continue funding the Workers' Safety Adviser (WSA) Challenge Fund, which promotes safety improvements in small businesses.

The commissioners decided to end the fund when the current round finishes in March, on the advice of the HSE that the initiative was not giving value for money.

The WSA scheme started in 2004, funded by a £3 million grant from the Department for Work and Pensions. The money has been spent on regional partnerships between trade unions, voluntary bodies, local authorities and advice centres. Safety advisers visit small businesses in their areas three times to help them increase worker involvement in safety management. The 47 WSAs reached 3185 companies with an estimated 60 000 employees.

An evaluation of the first round found that the advisers' intervention was broadly successful. But the HSE said it was "not a particularly cost-effective way of delivering an advice service to SMEs". The HSE said discussions with unions and employers' bodies among others had produced no clear recommendation for a follow-on to the WSA scheme, but the executive is currently analysing responses to a public consultation exercise on worker involvement and expects to report to the HSC next month.