How health and safety reps at GKN Automotive worked with the employer to cut waste, carbon, and unnecessary costs

What can union reps at an industrial site achieve by working with the employer on energy and carbon savings? 

The GKN Automotive factory in Birmingham has recently been in the spotlight as the unionised workforce fought against the asset-stripping investor Melrose’s plans for closure with an alternative plan – to make electric car parts. But years before this, under the previous owner, GKN was an example of an entirely different working relationship between union reps and the employer. We spoke to the former Convenor, Frank Duffy, about the constructive changes achieved through their health and safety reps. 

Health and safety reps lead the way 

The idea of working with the employer on energy and carbon savings came from the health and safety site steering Committee. They discussed with the company the need to be looking at how to reduce the sites carbon emissions and the potential to reduce costs in the process.  

Frank recalls, “We spoke with our health and safety reps and the company about incorporating the environmental role into the health and safety position and negotiated extra facility time. The environmental role was also incorporated into our committees at local level, site level and through the site steering committee.”  

The reps then set up a regular meeting with management on environmental issues.  

Fixes and changes  

Initially the project started at department level. Reps carried out audits looking for air leaks, fluid leaks, air quality through filtration systems and power usage via machines and lighting. The workers identified and fixed smaller leaks on the spot, while larger ones required involvement from maintenance staff. Oil leaks in machines turned out to be harder to identify on the spot, so the reps asked the oil and coolant suppliers for information on oil and coolant usage by machine. As a result, the run time of air compressors, the use of oil, coolants, and lubricants at the factory dropped.     

In regards to lighting, Frank explains “it was decided that all lighting would be changed to LED. Where feasible, motion detection was put in place. This resulted in a significant energy saving and cost reduction to the business. We also put in place a shutdown procedure for machines that wouldn’t be running 24/7, again improving energy efficiency.”   Changes were also made at site level:  

• Motion sensing taps installed with a set temperature which cut water usage and the energy required to heat it.   
• Reduced land fill waste by segregating waste.   
• Invested in a wood crusher and recycled all wood waste.   
• Additional bins set up around the factory for different types of waste including cardboard, plastics and metal.  
• Water-based coolants rather than oil were implemented, where possible.   

Frank’s experience at GKN shows how reducing carbon emissions, energy use and waste at work can be a productive joint project between the union and the employer, and bring about significant savings – win win!  

If you are interested in implementing changes at your own workplace, check out: 

15-minute online course on beginning to talk to your employer about climate change 

‘Too hot, too cold’ – tackling extreme temperatures and inefficient buildings

If you work in manufacturing and process industries, get in touch with our Worker Led Transition project on climate@tuc.org.uk