date: 6 March 2007

embargo: 00.01hrs Wednesday 7 March 2007

Give safety reps more time to make UK workplaces safer says TUC

A union safety role that saves society millions each year and prevents thousands from being injured or made sick is being undermined by a lack of support from employers and the Government's official safety watchdog, says the TUC today (Wednesday).

An survey of unions featured in the Spring issue of the TUC-backed health and safety magazine Hazards found that the top problem facing union safety reps was the difficulty of getting employers to act on safety concerns. Over one-third (35 per cent) of reps questioned rated this as their top concern and 90 per cent listed it as a top three concern. The same proportion said the problem for safety reps was getting their legally allowed time off for training and to undertake inspection, investigation and other crucial workplace safety functions.

The TUC says that because union safety reps are able to spot dangerous areas of the workplace and identify ways of working that can make staff ill, they are able to reduce the number of days lost to UK businesses by as much as 616,000 days a year. Some conservative estimates suggest that union reps already prevent over 11,000 cases of work-related ill-health or injury a year, with the real effect on safety almost certainly more than double this.

While some employers can see the benefits of working with safety reps, the survey findings reveal a real concern that many employers still refuse to give safety reps the time to carry out all important safety inspections or speak to colleagues about safety concerns.

At the moment if a safety rep wants to do something about an employer who is refusing to give them the time to carry out their duties, their only recourse is to go to an employment tribunal. But this can take a great deal of time and as a result the majority of reps don't take the issue any further.

The TUC would like to see the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provide safety reps with far more support and take legal action against employers who consistently fail to give safety reps enough time away from their jobs to carry out their safety duties properly.

Worryingly, a third of all the survey respondents (35 per cent) said one of their top problems was getting support from the official safety enforcement agencies. This is reflected in official enforcement statistics, which show no record of the HSE ever prosecuting an employer for breaching the regulations on safety reps' rights.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Up and down the UK, thousands of safety reps are trying to make work safer for their colleagues, in some cases with little help from employers. It would make the world of difference to the poor safety record of UK workplaces if the HSE gave safety reps more support and got tough with bosses who refuse to give safety reps their legally entitled time off.

'If safety reps were guaranteed time off to inspect factories offices, and other workplaces, the UK would see a real reduction in the number of workers killed, made ill or injured by their jobs every year.'

Stirling University senior occupational health researcher Rory O'Neill, who undertook the survey, said: "Union safety reps are life-saving, disease preventing, union trained volunteers. With more people in work and a massive increase in the number of workplaces nationwide, the HSE should be grateful for all the help it can get and must provide robust support for safety reps at work.

"This isn't just common sense, it is the law - and as the workplace law enforcement agency, the HSE must ensure it is observed."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- The survey findings are published this week in a Hazards magazine report, 'Safety repressed'. The survey findings are based on responses from Amicus, ASLEF, ATL, BALPA, Community, CWU, FBU, GMB, NAPO, NGSU, NUJ, NUT, PCS, Prospect, RMT, SOR, TGWU, UCU, UNISON and Usdaw. Respondents represent over 5.6m members. The full report is available online at www.hazards.org/safetyreps

-- A DTI consultation paper published in January 2007, 'Workplace representatives: A review of their facilities and facility time', concludes that safety reps at 2004 prices save society between £181m and £578m each year as a result of lost time reduction from occupational injuries and work-related illnesses of between 286,000 and 616,000 days. It estimates safety reps each prevent between 8,000 and 13,000 workplace accidents and between 3,000-8,000 work-related illnesses.

- Hazards magazine is published quarterly. For subscription enquiries or orders contact Jawad Qasrawi on 0114 201 4265 sub@hazards.org

Contacts:

Media enquiries: Elly Brenchley T: 020 7467 1337; M: 07881 622416;
E: ebrenchley@tuc.org.uk

Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248; M: 07778 158175; E: media@tuc.org.uk

Press release (800 words) issued 7 Mar 2007