Prosecution delays and a fall in conviction rates for fatal construction accidents are some of the issues that have been brought up in a series of parliamentary questions.

The questions were tabled by Stephen Hepburn, Labour MP for Jarrow.

In answering the queries, Justin Tomlinson MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, at the Department for Work and Pensions, revealed conviction rates following a fatal construction accident had fallen to 35% in 2012/2013 compared with 51% in 2007/08.

Recent Health and Safety Executive (HSE) research has indicated that 70% of construction deaths are caused or contributed to by management failures.

Previously, internal figures estimated prosecutions should occur following 60% of industry deaths.

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In addition, low conviction rates do not appear to be due to a high level of not guilty verdicts as in recent years the HSE have achieved between 91-95% of successful prosecutions.

Mr Hepburn's questions also revealed since 2005, the average time between a fatal accident and a prosecution being approved was 751 days, although it takes even longer before a conviction occurred.

However, 30% of cases did not reach the prosecution stage until between three to four years after a worker's death.

Follow up questions revealed the length of time between a fatality and the start of a prosecution had further increased to 879 days.

Brian Rye, Acting General Secretary, of union UCATT, said: "These aren't meaningless figures these are human tragedies. They demonstrate that killer bosses are getting away scot free following the death of workers. Construction workers deserve to know why convictions are so low.

"The length of time between a fatal accident and a prosecution is far too long.

"These figures reveal there is something terribly wrong in how we are dealing with workplace accidents. From an already poor base we have seen a serious decline in conviction rates and an increase in delays before a prosecution even begins. This is causing human misery and the Government must not turn a blind eye to these failures."

(LM)