HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT REPORT –
NEC FEB 2009
HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE
Annual statistics from the HSE showed that 229 people were killed at work in the 12 months to April 2008, a rate of 0.8 per 100,000.
2.1 million People were suffering from an illness they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work.
34 million days were lost overall, 28 million due to work-related ill-health and 6 million due to workplace injury.
The HSE levels of investigations into major injuries have declined by 43% in the last five years according to new research. In 2006/7 the Centre for Corporate Accountability reported that a mere 10.5% of major injuries reported to the HSE were investigated.
HSE has launched a nation wide consultation on its new strategy. The HSE Chair Judith Hackitt said the new strategy had to meet new challenges, including the value of the Health and Safety brand, the prevention of death, injury and ill-health to those at work and those affected by work activity.
Both the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health have warned industry throughout the UK that the economic downturn is no excuse to cut corners on Health and Safety.
Community has met with the HSE Chair Judith Hackitt to discuss the new strategy and to put forward the case that greater enforcement would only happen if the government increased resources for inspection and enforcement. Community also put the case to Hackitt that new structures were needed to effectively enforce a different set of Health and Safety issues in industries such the betting industry.
TRADES UNION CONGRESS
We continue to attend the UHSS meeting at the TUC and have discussed our concerns regarding Heath and Safety in the Betting Industry and the subsequent effect the new HSE strategy would have on Community members.
A copy of the newly revised 1977 Safety Reps and Safety Committees Regulations and associated guidance can now be downloaded from the TUC website at www.tuc.org.uk/extras/brownbook.pdf.
Lord McKenzie, the Health and Safety Minister said that union safety reps could take credit for improvements over the last 30 years since the regulations came into force.
INDUSTRY
STEEL
Together with the National Secretary we attended a meeting with the Corus Director of Health and Safety to discuss the future of JAPAC.
TUBES
We continue to support the development of the industry Health and Safety Manual and are working on sections on the Management of Change and the Safety Pyramid.
WIRE
We continue to support the Live Wire initiative and are preparing for the 2nd Annual Awards event. We attended a judge’s panel meeting and have selected this years winners.
FOOTWEAR AND LEATHER
Preparations are underway for the 2009 annual industry conference. Work has began on the guidance documents. This year the committee has decided to focus on Safe Systems of Work, COSHH and Occupational Health and First Aid at Work.
BETTING INDUSTRY
We have provided comments and observations on the ABB Health and Safety documents for the roundtable ministerial meetings. We also attended a meeting in Region 1 to discuss Health and Safety issues in the Betting Industry.
NLBD
Disabled workers and employees with long –term health conditions experience disproportionate negative treatment in the workplace the Equality and Human Rights Commission report ‘Work Fit for All ‘ based on the findings of the 2008 British Workplace Behaviour Survey. For example more than double the proportion of disabled people- over one in eight compared to one in eighteen non-disabled people reported experiencing physical violence at work. The report can be downloaded from www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publicationsandresources/pages/publications.aspx
TRAINING AND EDUCATION
We have held the Specialist Course of the Health and Safety Reps Training programme 2008, approx 25 reps attended and completed the course.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENT
We continue to attend the Trade Union Sustainable Development Advisory Committee.
The General Secretary has written to Government Ministers on issues concerning Climate Change and Environmental policy.
Together with the General Secretary we attended the first meeting of the International Metalworkers Federation, Steel Section, and Climate Change Committee to develop a statement on Climate Change in preparation for COP 15 in Copenhagen. The IMF is the first Global Union Federation to agree such a statement.
We attended the UNFCCC as part of the ITUC Working Group ON Climate Change to give a presentation on the work of the IMF group.
LEGISLATION
The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008,
Will increase penalties and provide the courts with greater sentencing powers. The Act raises the maximum penalties in the lower courts from £5,000 to £ 20,000,and the range of offences for which an individual can be imprisoned has also been broadened.
Needlestick Injuries
The Health and Safety Executive Board recently considered this issue in the context of measures being discussed by the European Commission. HSE Board paper, 25th Sept 2008.European Commission measures for protecting workers from infections due to needlestick injuries at www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/meetings/hseboard/2008/250908/b60.pdf
LEAD ADVICE
HSE has updated its web pages on working safely with LEAD. The advice covers the risks and management of exposure to LEAD, legislation requirements and health surveillance.www.hse.gov.uk/lead/index.htm
MAJOR HAZARDS
The HSE and the Environment Agency announced in December 2008 that they had charged five companies in connection with the Buncefield explosion. www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2008/buncefield.pdf
FOOTWEAR
The TUC has produced a guide for Safety Reps on feet and footwear entitled Workers Feet and Footwear.
Employers must ensure that their Risk Assessment includes risks to the feet as well as slipping risks. www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/index.cfm
We have sent to branches the latest editions of the Safety Rep bulletin. We continue to spend a significant amount of time and resources dealing with a variety of requests and queries from members.