Perhaps we should simply repeal the 1974 act altogether, dismiss all the bureaucrats, and have a one-year moratorium on the subject. At the end of it we would be clear precisely what the problem is, and could then devise non-intrusive solutions. Brutal as this sounds, we all know that tinkering tends to achieve little.

Roger Pearse, Ipswich,

The HSE figures are irrelevant as they are deliberately doctored by government.They only refer to deaths investigated by HSE, many hundred employees and public (including children) are killed every single year
My son was killed in 2005 by an employer so deliberately and outrageously negligent that I consider he was murdered but the CPS, the right wing press and those with no knowledge of the subject would call it 'Accident' WE still await an Inquest after 31 months

If a driver ignored every road side warning sign, drove at 100 miles an hour in a 30 mile limit , killing a pedestrian he would be treated as a criminal and face a jail term . Why then is a man immune from the law if he comes with the label 'employer' when he puts lives in danger for profit?

Far from being a nannie state ,this present government collude in the killing of its' citizens by business by denying money and staff to HSE who struggle to cope with the mounting death toll.

It could happen to you so easily!!

Dorothy Wright, Largs, Scotland

Can Andrew Davies please provide some facts to back up his statement that "A UK construction industry worker has a higher chance of fatality per 1000 employed than a soldier serving in Iraq"?

Based on figures from the MoD website, there are ~5000 troops currently in Iraq and there have been 44 fatalities this year. So roughly 9 fatalities per 1000 troops per year.

According to the HSE website, there were 59 construction fatalities in 2005/06. I couldn't find a good source for the total number of workers employed in the construction industry in the UK but it appears to be in excess of a million. So roughly 0.06 fatalities per 1000 per year. I.e. a British soldier in Iraq is more than 150 times likelier to be killed than a British construction worker.

Suggest you check your own facts before getting on your high horse and telling others to check theirs.

Simon Carter, London,

Before making such claims get your facts right and stop complaining - A UK construction industry worker has a higher chance of fatality per 1000 employed than a soldier serving in Iraq. over 200 people are killed at work annually , 30 million days are lost at cost of £ 30 billion - yes work has changed but it still injures people. In fact the HSE does not prosecute enough in my mind and fines are ludicrously low when large companies are prosecuted - more should be done in this area not less

The HSC is a tripartite body of union, government and industry that controls health and safety at work not public safety

The key issue of public and employee safety and the civil claims arising are the legal precedents made by ivory living judges interpreting european directives made law in a country with a totally different legal system to europe its a no win situation for industry and everyone

Andrew Davies , Chorley, Lancs

Much as I detest the Health and Safety brigade - and even more so the Ambulance Chasers that they have spawned - we must try to be fair.

"Health and Safety" has now joined "the Data Protection Act" as a trump card for use by public servants who are too idle to do what they are paid for. Demand to know which particular regulation prevents them doing something sensible or useful - and watch them panic!

Mike Bibby, St Albans, England -0not EU

At last a common sense view of life at large and an acceptance that there is something call an "accident" which normally means the person involved has not paid proper attention to their surroundings.
I hope this is not a one off comment ,but the start of a campaign that will be picked up and shouted from the roof tops until the politicians do something to pull back this cancer in our soceity.
My philosophy is that if I trip over or walk into something then it is my fault.

Colin MacMillan

Colin MacMillan, Redditch, UK