Partners in time: being the head of the safety regulator is an unenviable position. Whatever the HSC does, it is likely to face criticism--either for doing too much, or too little. HSC chair Bill Callaghan explains to Godric Jolliffe and Deirdre Hipwell how he plans to ensure that safety does not slip from anyone's agenda. Portraits Julian Anderson.(Health and Safety Commission)

Publication: The Safety & Health Practitioner

Publication Date: 01-NOV-04

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COPYRIGHT 2004 CMP Information Ltd.

PARTNERSHIP, PRIORITIES AND "BEING SMARTER" ARE THEMES THAT recur throughout Bill Callaghan's conversation. It is nearly 30 years since the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act came into force, and the UK that the HSC is responsible for these days is a very different place. Coalminers' sons are more likely to be working in a call centre and many of the UK's manufacturing industries have now moved overseas. More positive is the fact that the UK's accident rate is one of the best--or least worst, depending on your point of view--in Europe.

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Despite this, safety is still frequently given a hard time in the media--from accusations of banning children from playing conkers in schoolyards to businesses 'drowning' in reams of red tape. The amount of money the HSC has to challenge this is limited, with funding of [pounds sterling]201m set for next year--a rise of only 1 per cent. As Callaghan puts it: "All of the government, apart from [the Department of] Health, faces the prospect of what is called flat cash--in other words the same amount of money. That is a real terms decrease." To achieve the testing targets set out by the Revitalising Health and Safety initiative, it seems the HSC is going to have to be very smart indeed.

Plateau point

Being HSC chair is a considerable challenge, but one that Callaghan seems to thrive on. After one term in office he could have chosen to bow out gracefully and hand the baton on to a successor to carry on the work he started, he says, but adds: "It's a great job, which I enjoy. I think I can point to some successes."

It is the challenges that continue to motivate Callaghan, and there are quite a few which he thinks will be met by the HSC's strategy, launched earlier this year. "Accidents are still at a plateau and although we have seen some successes in certain areas, such as paper and board,...

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