HEALTH & safety supremo Timothy Walker visited Caerphilly-based National Britannia Group to see how its internet-based systems are leading the fight against death and injury in the workplace.

Last year 249 people were killed in work-related accidents and 27,477 suffered major injuries.

In addition it was estimated that 40.2 million days were taken off work due to illness and injury.

Mr Walker, director general of the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), was briefed by Britannia's James Ostler on the company's pioneering web-enabled risk management system e-riskManager.

Mr Ostler said: "We have pioneered the use of the web and it is clear these services are immensely popular with businesses.

"We offer leading-edge solutions in occupational health & hygiene, food safety, water quality, noise management, pollution control, fire safety and asbestos management." National Britannia operates two key services for HSE from its Caerphilly base.

The Incident Contact Centre (ICC) was set up in 2001 in response to the requirements of the government's e-programme. It's the national service for the reporting of accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences in the workplace.

The ICC handles 250,000 reports a year via e-mail, a website, post, phone and post. A dedicated team at Caerphilly uses bespoke software and database programmes to process these reports and communicate with 500 enforcement officers nationwide.

HSE InfoLine was set up at Caerphilly in 1996 and handles 280,000 health and safety enquiries per annum.

Last year the contract was renewed for another seven years securing the jobs of 20 consultants.

Praising National Brita-nnia's contribution to HSE's work, Mr Walker said his organisation had to modernise the way in which it manages its resources and delivers its services.

"The world is changing and industrial structures and patterns of employment have altered," he said.

"There are more service industries, small firms, part-time workers and indirect employment relationships.

"We need to ensure that the way we work, our systems, procedures and organisation are geared to this changing environment."

The HSE is working towards a series of accident-reduction targets between now and 2010, some of which are as ambitious as 50%.

With a turnover of £25 million National Britannia claims to be one of the world's largest risk management specialists.

It employs 252 people at Caerphilly, part of a total workforce of 700 spread across 14 countries.

* Pictured: Timothy Walker listens to a caller on the infoline