Union UCATT has warned there are a number of failings in the prosecution system when it comes to dealing with workplace accidents…
Delays in justice are reportedly on the rise as convictions for construction-related fatalities have declined.
Construction trade union UCATT revealed the results of parliamentary questions by Stephen Hepburn Jarrow MP, which showed a significant drop in convictions relating to fatal accidents of construction workers.
Hepburn said: “There is something terribly wrong in how we are dealing with workplace accidents.
“From an already poor base we have seen a serious decline in conviction rates and an increase in delays before a prosecution even begins.
“This is causing human misery and the Government must not turn a blind eye to these failures.”
The answers to Hepburn’s questions were relayed by Department for Work and Pensions parliamentary under secretary Justin Tomlinson. The figures revealed that conviction rates following a fatal construction accident had fallen from 51 per cent in 2007/08 to 35 per cent in 2012/13.
According to previous Health and Safety research, some 70 per cent of construction deaths were due to failures in management. An internal HSE audit also estimated prosecutions should occur following 60 per cent of construction deaths.
UCATT’s acting general secretary Brian Rye said: “These aren’t meaningless figures these are human tragedies. Construction workers deserve to know why convictions are so low.”
The union said the low conviction rates were not due to a high level of ‘not-guilty’ verdicts, as the HSE has achieved an overall conviction rate of between 91-95 per cent.
The questions showed that since 2005 the average time between a fatal accident and a prosecution being approved was some 751 days. It took longer before a conviction occurred. However, the figures revealed some 30 per cent of cases did not reach the prosecution stage until three to four years after the incident.
Over the past five years the length of time between a fatality and the start of a prosecution had further increased to 879 days in 2014/15.
Rye added: “The length of time between a fatal accident and a prosecution is far too long. Justice needs to be done but it must be done more quickly.
“The families who have lost a loved one should not have their lives put on hold for so long.”
