Coalition government does not take ‘health and safety’ seriously,
says Unite
7 July 2010
The health and safety of Britain’s workforce is not being taken
seriously by the coalition government, Unite, the largest union in
the country, said today (Wednesday, 7 July).
Unite joint general secretary, Tony Woodley, accused the former
Thatcherite cabinet minister, Lord Young, who headed the review, of
being ‘offensive’ after reported remarks trivialising the need for
health and safety in the workplace.
Lord Young was quoted in The Times as saying “people
occasionally get killed, it’s unfortunate but it’s part of life”
and “do you know anything dangerous in offices?”
Unite also believes that the views of interested parties, such
as trade unions, were undermined due to the fact that the
consultation period for the review lasted only three weeks,
compared to the normal 8-12 weeks.
Tony Woodley said: ”I welcome a genuine review of the impact of
health and safety legislation in the workplace, and particularly a
review that considers the widespread failure of employers to
conduct workplace risk assessments.
“Any review shoud also look at the lack of effective
investigation of workplace accidents, incidents and causes of
ill-health and the widespread failure by employers to report
injuries and diseases and dangerous occurrences.
”Regrettably the remarks reported in the press from Lord Young
are deeply hurtful and offensive, particularly to the families of
those killed at work.
”This has sent out completely the wrong message from the
government. Regrettably this suggests to us that the government is
not giving this review the weight that is urgently required.”
Unite is calling for a 10-point action plan to:
- improve the enforcement of existing health and safety duties on
employers
- ensure that the Health and Safety Executive and local
authorities are given adequate funding to enforce health and safety
law
- re-affirm that health and safety laws apply to all workplaces
and to all workers and are enforced accordingly
- ensure that official health and safety statistics fully reflect
the incidence of occupational injuries and
ill-health
- concentrate more on internal health and safety improvements at
workplaces, rather than issues relating to external
consultants
- lead to the enforcement of union safety representatives’
rights
- recognise and use union safety representatives as a driving
force behind the improvement of workplace health and safety
- legislate to place explicit health and safety duties on company
directors and their equivalents
- introduce new laws to require the early release of basic health
and safety information after a death at work
- put a stop to the trivialisation by the tabloid press and
others of health and safety law and its enforcement and the
so-called “compensation culture”
ENDS
For further information contact, Ashraf Choudhury in the Unite
press office on 020 7420 8914 or 07980 224761, or Shaun Noble on
07768 693940
For a full copy of Unite’s response to the government’s review
of health and safety, please email ashraf.choudhury@unitetheunion.org
