Worker and public safety is being put at risk, claims the STUC

The Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) - whose report coincides with National Inspection Day - is urging employers to check for hazards.

It found 39% of workplaces with union safety reps had never been inspected by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or an environmental health officer.

Only 42% of companies had involved reps - despite a legal requirement to do so.

The STUC also found that 11% of workplaces surveyed had not been inspected for more than three years.

Nearly 40% of safety reps were aware an inspector had visited their place of work but had not been spoken to during the visit.

The other key findings from the survey include:

• Manufacturing companies (49%) and workplaces in the energy and water sector (47%) were the most likely to have been checked in the past year

• Central government departments (70%) and financial sector firms (61%) were most likely never to have been inspected

• Larger workplaces were more likely to have been visited, as 40% of companies with more than 1,000 employees had been visited compared to 24% for firms with less than 100 workers.

STUC assistant secretary Ian Tasker said: "Sadly a visit from a safety inspector is still all too rare an occurrence for the overwhelming majority of employers.

"Regular inspections are an ideal way of keeping firms on their toes, but at the current rate, they could wait years for an inspector to call.

"In the meantime, workers and members of the public are being put at risk."

'Extra resources'

Mr Tasker said that the fear of an imminent inspection was sufficient to make most employers get their safety act together.

But he said the threat was not enough to mend the ways of companies who are playing with their employees' safety.

He added: "If we are serious about improving the poor workplace safety record, the government must allocate extra resources to the HSE to enable them to increase the number of inspectors able to visit companies on a regular basis."

The HSE said it had to use its resources to the best of its ability.

A spokesman said: "Any increase in resources would be a matter for the government.

Management of health and safety in the workplace is primarily the duty of the employer HSE spokesman

"Even with an increase in resources, we would still have to prioritise our work, concentrating on those industries deemed to be the most dangerous, for example the construction and agriculture centres.

"Our priorities are to reduce deaths, injuries and ill-health among the workforce, and to meet government-set targets for doing so.

"That said, management of health and safety in the workplace is primarily the duty of the employer."

Earlier this year the work and pensions select committee report into the Health and Safety Commission and HSE recommended the number of inspectors be doubled.

National Inspection Day is part of European Health and Safety Week, which runs until 22 October.