Pictured above: Stephen Nye

Reducing health and safety inspections while scores of people are still being killed or seriously injured at work each year could put more lives at risk, according to the UK's leading industrial accident lawyers.

The latest Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures show 17 workers in the West Midlands died in 2010/2011 - with many more seriously injured. 

Now Stephen Nye, Irwin Mitchell's national head of workplace injuries, says changes to the way the HSE operates, as outlined in its latest strategy in May 2011, must not put even more workers' lives at risk.

Irwin Mitchell is currently representing several clients who were seriously injured whilst working for employers which, as a result of the incidents, have been investigated and successfully prosecuted by the HSE.

Nye said the threat of prosecution remained the most effective deterrent to employers tempted to ignore safety regulations.

The HSE strategy has outlined how compulsory inspections will make way for a more targeted operation, focusing on specific 'high-risk' sectors and so-called 'rogue' employers. There are also suggestions that the HSE could change its business model and start charging for safety advice.

Nye said the latest figures - as well as catastrophes such as the fatal Chevron Refinery explosion in Pembroke in June 2011 - proved that budget cuts and economic growth must never be prioritised over people's lives.

He said the repercussions of the latest changes to the HSE were still to be felt on the ground - but said nothing should stand in the way of improving safety for UK workers.

"The HSE is in a difficult position - we understand it is under pressure from Government ministers to reduce the regulatory burden on business, but it cannot ignore its primary function and that is to enforce strict standards of at-work health and safety," Nye added.

"The latest figures have shown that people are still dying at work under the stricter system - we have to hope the situation will not grow worse once the inspection regime is loosened.

"Despite improvements in attitudes to at-work safety, and an overall reduction in serious injuries, we are still seeing far too many people being killed or injured.

"These are people with families, not cold statistics, and politicians and government agencies must remember the devastating impact that these injuries and deaths have on lives across the UK when making key decisions."

Nye reiterated demands for the Government to set up an Employers' Liability Insurance Bureau (ELIB), which would provide support to the victims of accidents at work in cases where the employer was not insured.

He said: "The formation of an ELIB is essential to ensure people who are victims of accidents whilst working for uninsured employers are able to seek justice.

"Society does not expect people to drive a car, but it does expect people to work. However, it remains the case that if a motorist is injured by an uninsured driver, then the Motor Insurance Bureau will help the victim - yet there is no such system in place for those inured whilst working for uninsured employers. This is an unacceptable inequality which ought to be addressed."