Search

7 Protecting people at work

82 Health and safety at work

Congress notes that 228 people were killed at work in 2007/08.

Congress further notes that prosecutions by the Health and Safety Executive dropped by 43 per cent since 2001/02, immediate prohibition notices decreased by 31 per cent and enforcement notices fell by 27 per cent during this time.

Since 2002 the HSE has experienced year-on-year real term budget cuts and it faces further cuts in future. The cuts have led to fewer inspectors and inspections.

Congress notes with dismay that the HSE has adopted the discredited policy of self-regulation and the belief that business must regulate itself. This policy has been an abject failure and has needlessly endangered the lives of workers, particularly in safety-critical industries such as construction and agriculture.

Congress believes that only by introducing a high profile regime of regular inspections, supported by the maximum level of enforcement action, will workplace deaths be reduced.

Congress calls upon the General Council to mount a vigorous campaign to:

i) transform the ethos of the HSE from an organisation that offers advice to an organisation that maximises its resources in conducting inspections and prosecuting companies that break health and safety laws;

ii) replace the existing members of the HSE board who remain wedded to the failed theory of self-regulation;

iii) lobby the Government to increase dramatically the funding of the HSE with additional monies spent on frontline services; and

iv) ensure the HSE recognises that a culture of transparency and openness is paramount when reducing fatalities in the workplace.

Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians

Amendment

Insert new paragraph 2:

'Congress notes the inquiry into death in the construction industry proposed by the Government and reasserts that only when statutory health and safety duties are placed on individual directors will this catastrophic level of deaths be reduced.'

Unite

Amendment

Add new material at end:

'and for:

v) statutory health and safety duties for company directors;

vi) legislation reversing the House of Lords Pleural Plaques decision and funding for compensation at pre-2007 levels;

vii) dedicated research on asbestos-related conditions; and

viii) statutory requirements upon employers to provide risk assessment findings, and to respond formally to safety representatives.

GMB

83 Workers' Memorial Day

Congress agrees to lobby the Government for another nationally recognised bank holiday to commemorate Workers' Memorial Day, on the nearest Monday to 28 April.

Bakers, Food and Allied Workers' Union

Amendment

Insert new opening paragraph:

'Congress notes with regret that, since 1999, when the TUC first adopted Workers' Memorial Day, over 2,000 workers have been killed at work and tens of thousands have been seriously injured.'

Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians

Amendment

Paragraph 1, lines 3 and 4, replace 'on the nearest Monday to 28 April' with 'by renaming the first bank holiday in May'.

Add new final paragraph:

'Congress agrees to lobby for an October bank holiday identified to encourage volunteering and community service.'

Association of Educational Psychologists

84 Paid time off for health screening

Congress supports the Government, the NHS and its staff, together with all those organisations and charities, in their continued endeavours to improve health services, as Congress is committed to maintaining and improving the health of workers.

Congress asks all unions to urge employers to provide paid time off for employees to attend screening appointments and to ensure that employees who are diagnosed with illnesses are fully supported during their treatment, and where appropriate, their return to work.

Accord

Amendment

Add at end of paragraph 1:

'Congress also welcomes the work of unions in improving workers' health by tackling such issues as drug and alcohol misuse.'

Paragraph 2, line 3, after 'screening' insert 'or counselling'

Community

85 Violence at work (working alone)

Congress recognises the legal duty that employers have to provide a safe place of work and notes the vital role trade unions provide in supporting their members to improve workplace design and facilities.

Congress acknowledges that official figures from the British Crime Survey suggest that violence at work has fallen in recent years and while Congress welcomes this fall it needs to appreciate that surveys in the public sector demonstrate that this is still very much a key issue that continues to affect thousands of workers and members.

While Congress acknowledges that health and safety legislation offers some protection from violence for workers it is saddened that there continues to be no legal prohibition on lone working.

Current guidance reinforces the need to prevent violence happening in the first place by having good staffing levels and systems to alert staff to potential threats, but in the NHS union members continue to work alone without support or contact with someone for long periods of time.

Congress values the safety of members and the service they provide, and it calls upon individual employers and the Public Service Forum to insist that this issue remains high on the health and safety agenda to reduce violence at work and introduce legal safeguards to protect members.

Society of Radiographers

Amendment

Insert new paragraph 5:

'Congress calls on the General Council to campaign for the adoption of a 'passport scheme' for staff training in conflict management, similar to that in Wales, and also for robust ring-fencing of the £97m announced by the Secretary of State to be injected into the NHS for staff protection.'

Chartered Society of Physiotherapy

Amendment

Add at end of paragraph 4:

'Similarly, workers in transport industries are regularly rostered to work alone, especially at night, in stations or on trains and buses, where they are extremely vulnerable to - and frequently suffer from - physical and verbal attack.'

Transport Salaried Staffs Association

86 Nurses' safety

Congress recognises the potential danger faced by community and district nursing staff when making patient visits alone.

Although there is a focus on safety for such high profile areas as accident and emergency departments, the CDNA's concern is for its members.

Community and district nurses are providing nursing care 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. While out on their travels they make visits alone within inner cities, urban and rural areas and many of our members' cars have been damaged whilst on visits. Although modern technology provides mobile phones a clear signal is not always guaranteed, which is no good should they need to raise an alarm.

Congress asks that the TUC and fellow affiliates support the CDNA in urging NHS Trusts to address the safety of union members before any further tragedies happen.

Community and District Nursing Association

Contents

Next section