Holyrood heard last week that the UK Government has reduced Health and Safety budgets by more than a third.
This is especially bad news for Scotland. Our nation's large proportion of high-risk jobs has often been cited as the reason why Scotland's workplace injury rates for serious and fatal injury are above the rest of the UK.
The news came as Neil Findlay, a candidate for Scottish Labour leadership, announced that he would back devolution of employment regulations to Scotland.
Creating a Scottish Health and Safety Executive would, he believes, enable the service to fit closely with the specific needs of Scotland's industry and its workers.
STV News reports Findlay as stating in a speech to the conference of the Scottish Hazards Campaign in Glasgow last week, that there is great need to create a body that is "adequately resourced, has sufficient staff in place to do its work and is restored back to the status and resources it had before the recent attacks by the Con-Dem coalition".
One proposal put forward called for the creation of a corporate culpable homicide act.
This would allow the establishment to provide harsher punishment to companies found to be exercising poor safety standards that lead to the death of an employee.
It would also support relatives in seeking justice when a loved-one is involved in a fatal accident, and it is hoped, would deter companies from cutting corners on safety measures.
As the race for Scottish Labour leadership intensifies, it is thought these proposals will help Findlay to establish himself as a serious candidate.
Following the defeat of Scottish Independence in the recent referendum, the Scottish public are now eagerly awaiting the extension of devolved Scottish powers, as promised by Westminster.
