Defend Health and Safety Day of Action
28th April 2012
Bulletin 3
Compensation under threat
Workers are facing an onslaught by the government on their ability to claim compensation. There are three proposals to strip us of our rights being considered at the moment. Compensation for injury or illness The first proposal will make it much more difficult to get compensation after an injury or illness caused by work. When someone gets injured or develops an illness because of the negligence of their employer most people would agree that they should be entitled to compensation. After all that is why employers have to have insurance by law. The government seems hell-bent in making it as hard and expensive to claim as they possibly can. More
Bulletin 1
Defending Regulation
In January 2012 the Prime Minister claimed made an outspoken attack on health and safety regulation. He said that he was 'waging war against the excessive health and safety culture that has become an albatross around the neck of British businesses' and that businesses had to 'battle against a tide of risk assessment forms'.
He also said that the Health and Safety Executive had been given the task of abolishing or consolidating up to half of existing regulations.
This briefing outlines what the Government are doing with health and safety regulations and why strong simple regulations are needed. Read it Here
Business as usual: Downing Street Summit excludes grieving families
FACK expressed anger but not surprise that the Prime Minister continues to make policy about people’s lives, about health and safety at work, based on the benefits to business not the massive costs and burdens on families of people killed by negligence.
UNISON believes health and safety in the workplace is an issue for everyone. Every year, thousands of people suffer accidents and ill-health at work - most of which could be avoided.
Unions and health and safety laws save and protect lives. But many more could be protected from harm if health and safety laws were better enforced. We are campaigning for a new way of working, one that guarantees every worker a safe and healthy workplace. Health & Safety document search
Care worker holed up with attacker
A careworker left alone overnight with a violent patient after being beaten was forced to give up her job as result. UNISON helped support worker Lorraine Morgan, 42, obtain compensation after her bosses ignored the beatings and instead instructed her to hole up overnight, resulting in another assault the following morning. Thompsons Solicitors news release.
UNISON pushes organisation on safety
Public sector union UNISON is putting health and safety at the centre of a recruitment and organising drive. General secretary Dave Prentis says the union's new 'Organising for health and safety' guide is part of a strategy 'to turn UNISON into a genuinely organising union.' He adds: 'There are few more important areas that can act as a vehicle for this than health and safety at work - particularly during the massive attacks by this Conservative led government on our public services.' According to Prentis, when budgets are cut, corners also tend to get cut on health and safety. 'As always it is our union that stands between the excesses of the employer and our members. Achieving this means having an organised workplace where as many people as possible are members,' he says. 'Organising around health and safety issues cuts right to the core of what's important for our members. Becoming an organising union means that as many people as possible take part in organising activities that helps to stand up for our members during these increasingly difficult times and continues the growth of our union.'
Organising for health and safety: a UNISON guide [pdf]. TUC health and safety organising pages.
The aim of this site is to inform parents, teachers and support staff about asbestos in schools. It gives guidance on how to improve the management of asbestos in schools. It aims to encourage openness in the UK Government's policy towards asbestos in schools.
Health and safety regulations don’t kill jobs:
lack of regulations kill workers!
The business lobby claims that pesky safety regulations and meddling inspectors are bringing the economy to its knees and stifling job creation, but FACK spokesperson Linzi Herbertson says: “There are a couple of big problems with this deregulatory fantasy: their arguments are bogus and the statistics behind them are rigged.”.” More
Craig Whelan 23 years old & Paul Wakefield killed on 23rd May 2002 in a fire in a chimney at Carnaud Metal Box in Bolton. By Linda Whelan, mother
I want to tell you how my son Craig died to show you the risks workers face and the injustice families face when someone is killed at work. More
New Safety Inspections at Work Guide
The safety rep guide, Health and Safety Inspections at Work has been updated and revised. It now includes useful checklists, draft forms, and suggested further resources. It also explains how safety inspections may be used as a recruiting and organising opportunity. A new poster, Safety First - Don't cut corners with health and safety warns that spending cuts and the pressure to save money should not lead employers to risk health and safety.
Download HERE
The TUC has produced a simple guide to inspections that includes forms, adapted from the HSE recommended forms, and a checklist. These can bedownloaded here.
Give us a (Loo) break!
Better welfare facilities - guidance for union representatives
More