Prosecutors should have the statutory power to instruct health and safety investigators to produce timely reports, the Lord Advocate has said.

Victims of health and safety breaches or their families have a right to "a greater understanding and certainty on timescales" from bodies such as the Air Accidents Investigations Branch, Marine Accident Investigation Branch and Health and Safety Executive (HSE), according to Frank Mulholland.

The Lord Advocate attended the Crown Office and HSE's health and safety conference at Aberdeen University today to discuss the investigation and prosecution of related cases and provide a forum for investigators, prosecutors and defence lawyers.

He said the prosecution service in Scotland needs the same statutory power to direct investigations for health and safety regulators as it has for Police Scotland and Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

"Such a power would allow the Crown to require agencies to investigate such breaches and comply with agreed timescales for the submission of expert and investigation reports," he said.

"This would give a greater understanding and certainty for families on timescales, and give greater strength in depth to the Crown milestone charter which is under consideration as part of the FAI bill which is currently before the Scottish Parliament."

He added: "As the Audit Scotland report published this week showed, our cases are more complex than ever before.

"That has been the case for some time and is the reason that the Crown moved to set up the specialist health and safety division within the Crown Office.

"The division has held a conviction rate of 98% for the cases it has taken up.

"This shows that our expertise in this area has contributed in helping to create a safer workplace for people in Scotland."

Gary Aitken, head of the health and safety division, said: "There are few places which understand the importance of strong health and safety measures better than the north-east of Scotland where many people earn a living in high-risk environments like agriculture, fishing, construction and offshore oil exploration and exploitation.

"These industries can be safely and properly operated, as many employers show on a daily basis.

"We decided to hold our health and safety conference in Aberdeen to send a strong message to those employers who are not so diligent.

"If they fail in their duties to their employees, and to others, those failings will be robustly investigated and they will require to face the consequences."

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