John Howard Locke

John Howard Locke CB (26 December 1923 – 26 September 1998) was a British civil servant in the Department of Employment; the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; the Cabinet Office; and the Ministry of Transport. He was instrumental in implementing and championing the British risk-based approach to workplace health, safety and welfare: through drafting the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and as the first director-general of the Health and Safety Executive, the body responsible for enforcing the provisions of the act.

Early life

Locke was born in King’s Norton, Warwickshire, son of Percy John Howard Locke, a silk merchant, and Josephine Locke née Marshfield. He was educated at Hymers College, Hull and Queen’s College, Oxford graduating in 1944 with a first class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Career Locke joined the civil service in 1945 as an Assistant Principal in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries remaining there until 1965. He was promoted to Under-Secretary and worked in the Cabinet Office from 1965 to 1966. Thomas Balogh, the economic advisor in the Cabinet Office, recommended Locke to Barbara Castle, the Minister of Transport; she ‘lured’ Under-Secretary Locke to the Ministry of Transport. She noted that he ‘entered fully into the spirit of our transport policy’ and worked on the rationalisation and expansion of passenger transport services under public ownership.

Industry pay dispute In 1971 Locke was promoted to Deputy-Secretary and remained in the Department of Employment from 1971 to 1974 under the Conservative Administration. He was secretary to Lord Wilberforce's court of inquiry into the electricity industry pay dispute in 1971. This was an unusually senior appointment for such a role and demonstrates the seriousness of the situation for the government. Negotiations between the industry and the unions had broken down in December 1970 and the unions had taken industrial action which led to major disruption of electricity supplies and the government had declared a state of emergency. The Wilberforce court of inquiry was held in the week of 18 January and its report was published on 10 February 1971. The report noted that the majority of workers in the industry had not, between 1964 and 1969, been adequately compensated for changes to working conditions. The report recommended pay increases of £105 a year and an extra £35 a year for craftsmen and foremen plus improved shift payments and three additional days' holiday. The recommendations were incorporated in an agreement on 22 March.

Manpower services Locke was largely responsible for drafting the Employment and Training Act 1973 which established the Manpower Services Commission; and personally would have wished to head the Commission although his career took another direction.

The Robens Report had noted the humanitarian cost – 1,000 fatalities and half a million injuries a year This would be replaced with redistribution of responsibilities away from statutory regulation to "those who create the risks and those who work with them". Robens believed the role of the state was to facilitate good practice, establishing and strengthening the arrangements through which self-regulation could thrive. as Departments resisted the transfer of their health and safety functions to a new quasi-independent authority. Locke's "blend of creativity and steel" was deployed effectively to fuse together 13 organisations from six ministries. He took over as Director of Occupational Safety and Health in the Department of Employment with the Chief Inspector of Factories and the Chief Employment Medical Adviser reporting to him. He also acted as chairman of the shadow management board for the new Health and Safety Executive established by the 1974 Act.

The Health and Safety Commission and Executive The Robens Report had envisaged the responsibility for health and safety would be vested in a single institution, the National Authority for Safety and Health at Work. However, Locke was instrumental in creating two new agencies instead of the single authority. The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) developed health and safety policy: it was a tripartite organisation incorporating the interests of employees, employers and the public; realised through trade unions, employers organisations, and local authorities and professional bodies. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was, legally, a three-person body corporate, comprising a director-general and two deputy directors-general, its operational arm comprised officials enforcing the law, undertaking research and publicity and providing advice to the HSC. giving lectures, and contributing to contemporary debates on safety issues and health concerns.

In June 1978 the HSE published the Canvey Report. They presented the report in a way that would be understood by an ‘intelligent and objective observer’. However, one attendee noted that the HSE had ‘over-estimated the intelligence of the audience’ and had failed to understand the extent to which the audience had already made up their minds about the developments.

David Eves, a Deputy director-general of the HSE, commented on John Locke’s character: “John Locke was a clever and determined senior civil servant with a reputation for ruthlessness; inevitably he made enemies in Whitehall as he wore down Departmental opposition and drew the Executive’s resources together.” In addition to HM Factory Inspectorate, the staff of several inspectorates transferred to HSE in 1975. These included the Explosives Inspectorate, the Employment Medical Advisory Service, Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, Mines and Quarries Inspectorate, Safety in Mines Research Establishment, the British Approvals Service for Electrical Equipment in Flammable Atmospheres (BASEEFA), the Alkali and Clean Air Inspectorate. John Locke was succeeded as director-general by John Rimington. “Rimington set about mending fences that Locke had forced down in Whitehall when gathering the various Departmental Inspectorates together under the Executive’s wing”. Locke did a "good deal to maintain and improve the professional status" of safety advisers in the face of scepticism by some in the business community that advisers were "interpreting rules too strictly and making unnecessary and expensive demands". He was also invited by the Australian Government to advise on setting up a safety executive.

Personal life

Locke married the architect Eirene Sylvia Sykes (21 September 1921 – 5 August 2012) daughter of Francis Adam and Dorothy Sykes, in the Methodist church Hinde Street Marylebone, London, on 17 July 1948. They had two daughters, Diana R.C. Locke and (Carol) Imogen H. Locke. His address in 1948 was 73 Philbeach Gardens, Earls Court London; then 4 Old Palace Terrace, Richmond, Surrey; and Box Trees, 8 Sea Road, East Preston, Sussex, BN16 1JP. He died in Sussex and was buried on 7 October 1998 in St. Margaret’s churchyard Angmering, Sussex. His Will was made on 20 July 1993, probate of his estate was granted in Brighton on 4 February 1999.