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Health and Safety (Offences) Bill

I am grateful for hon. Members’ support for the group of amendments, which would extend the Bill to Northern Ireland. Since the criminal justice aspect of health and safety legislation is a reserved matter, the Bill already applies to England, Scotland and Wales. The cross-party nature of the support is consistent with the House’s historic bipartisan approach to health and safety legislation. The Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 was largely drafted under the Heath Administration and introduced and enacted under the first Wilson Government of 1974. I am especially grateful for the support of the two main Northern Ireland parties represented in this place: the Social Democratic and Labour party, of which my hon. Friend the Member for Belfast, South (Dr. McDonnell) served on the Standing Committee and intervened in the proceedings to call for the Bill’s extension to Northern Ireland; and the Democratic Unionist party, of which the hon. Member for Belfast, North (Mr. Dodds), in his capacity as Northern Ireland Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, welcomed me to Stormont when I visited Belfast on 2 June, and offered his enthusiastic support for the measure’s extension to Northern Ireland. I am most grateful to him for the warmth of his welcome and his generosity in finding time to meet me when there were other serious demands on his attention. I also express my thanks to the chairman and chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland, Professor Peter McKie and Jim Keyes, who were my excellent hosts on my Belfast visit. It goes without saying that they are delighted that the opportunity has arisen to add the amendments to the Bill. I was impressed by what I learned about the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland—the HSENI. Its mission is, of course, underpinned by the three principles of supporting the weakest, recognising the best and challenging the worst. Given the importance of agriculture in the Northern Ireland economy, the HSNI faces some distinctive challenges from its counterpart in Great Britain. Although no fatality in the workplace can ever be acceptable, both Great Britain and Northern Ireland can take justifiable pride in being at the top of the international league table and having the lowest rate of workplace fatalities not only in the European Union but in the world.