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UK’s 100,000 safety reps are vital to safe and healthy workplaces, says TUC

The TUC yesterday (Wednesday) published a new leaflet and web page to celebrate 40 years of union health and safety reps and committees.

There are currently around 100,000 safety reps in the UK’s workplaces, who help reduce injuries and ill-health at work, encourage better reporting of incidents, and save the economy many millions of pounds every year.

The leaflet highlights the key benefits of trade unions to health and safety:

• Employers who have union health and safety committees have half the injury rate of employers who manage safety without unions.
• Fatalities are lower in unionised workplaces.
• In 2016, a study of government statistics calculated that the prevention of workplace injuries and work-related ill-health due to unions contributed savings of £219m-£725m a year.  

And the web page profiles dozens of union representatives from around the UK who have made their workplaces safer and better, including:

• Angie Roberts, UNISON: Angie has been a driver in the ambulance service for 14 years. After she became a rep, her service bought a new fleet of patient care ambulances. Angie talked to members and found out that, due to the inclines involved and the variations in patients’ weights, pushing patients up a ramp and in to the ambulance manually could be dangerous. Angie made the case for tail lifts to be included on the vehicles – and because of her actions the ambulances were all delivered with lifts. This has reduced the risk of back strain and manual handling injuries to staff, who would otherwise have had to push wheelchairs up ramps.
• Bob Grant, Unite: Bob was a safety rep in a Scottish shipyard for the last 6 years of his working life. He spotted that the apprentices were often not wearing the cheap and ugly safety glasses that were provided. He convinced management to buy more stylish glasses and then promoted them to the apprentices to ensure they were being worn. All sites reported a reduction in eye injuries – one by 93% in just one month.
• Malcolm Woods, CWU: Mal is safety rep in a parcel delivery company, where several pedestrians had been killed or injured in reversing accidents. Mal suggested fitting vehicles with reversing cameras and they were eventually installed. However, the company only installed them in the vans that were driven by their own drivers. In addition, about a quarter of the vehicles were driven by “owner-drivers” who were self-employed and did not have to fit them. Mal’s continued lobbying finally got the company to ensure that all the vans were fitted with cameras. They also had to revise their working practices, which led to a significant reduction in injuries to the public.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“Health and safety is under attack by politicians who see good regulation as “red tape”, and bosses who want to cut corners and risk lives. Big falls in inspections and cuts to enforcement are making working life more dangerous for us all.

“But good employers are already working with unions and know the benefits safety reps can bring to their workplaces. Not just by keeping their staff safe and well, but also by saving the economy hundreds of millions of pounds every year.

“We often forget that union health and safety representatives are volunteers doing this job because they care about their colleagues’ well-being. So let’s use this anniversary to celebrate the massive difference these unsung heroes have made.”

Martin Temple, Chair of the Health and Safety Executive, said:

“Trade unions have an integral part to play in ensuring health and safety in the workplace. HSE has a strong history of working with TUC, it’s a relationship built into the health and safety system. We’re proud to have initiatives in place to offer our support to the celebration of 40 years of trade union health and safety representatives.”

Editors note

For more information please visit: www.tuc.org.uk/safetyreps@40

The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 is the primary piece of regulation covering union health and safety representatives and is, along with the parent act, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, one of the most important pieces of regulation for unions working on health and safety. It has also had a huge effect in saving lives and preventing injury and illness.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) exists to make the working world a better place for everyone. We bring together more than 5.6 million working people who make up our 50 member unions. We support unions to grow and thrive, and we stand up for everyone who works for a living.