Lord Cullen speaks out on health and safety issues

Lord Cullen, the Lord Justice-General of Scotland, has opened the first in a series of high profile lectures launched by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI), in partnership with the University of Ulster.

Lord Cullen opened the season of talks by discussing the role of public inquiries into major safety failures to an audience that included a wide range of business and civic leaders from the whole of Ireland.

Speaking from experience - having led the inquiries into the Piper Alpha Oil Rig disaster and most recently the Ladbroke Grove Rail disaster - Lord Cullen said: “I hope that, in giving insights into how major accidents are analysed by means of public inquiries, I can contribute in some way to the discussion of health and safety issues. Too often failures to manage health and safety can impact dramatically on all our lives.”

Professor Gerry McKenna, Vice-Chancellor of the University, paid tribute to Lord Cullen, describing his work as representing “outstanding examples of transparency and accountability”.

He added: “In this way, and in his legal career, Lord Cullen has made an outstanding contribution to the community. We are all guilty of giving less than due regard to health and safety issues and I am quite certain that Lord Cullen’s lecture will bring about an increased public awareness of this very important subject.”

The second in the current series of lectures will be delivered by Bill Morris, General secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, early next year. (CL)