CWU Broadside Attack Sinks Government's Health & Safety Strategy

Following last weeks publication of the Tory led Con-Dem(ned) coalition's plans to decimate health and safety in this country by pushing its new strategy document entitled 'Good health and safety, Good for everyone', the CWU have examined in fine detail the realities of the so-called strategy for health and safety, exposed the myths and lies; and condemned it for the being the "Slash & Burn" Strategy that it truly is.

The CWU's examination of this strategy shows that it will not save one single death or injury at work or reduce work related sickness levels. Indeed it will simply increase such occurrences as it provides no clear strategy for prevention of work related injuries and deaths.

Central to the government's strategy are massive cuts in pro-active health and safety enforcement, and the eventual complete deregulation of health and safety in this country, as in the USA.

CWU's National Health, Safety & Environment Officer, Dave Joyce issued his broadside attack on the government strategy in his latest letter to all CWU branches issued today 30th March. LTB615/11 provides, in its seven pages, a detailed analysis of the current situation and coalitions plans for health and safety decimation.

In the final paragraph, the LTB sums up, in one simple sentence, the governments approach:

"In reality the government's health and safety cutbacks are a full frontal attack on workers' rights and these crazy plans will increase workplace deaths and injuries."

Dave goes on to say:

"What we need and what we are clearly not going to get under this terrible Tory/Lib-Dem Coalition Government is a well resourced HSE that remains focused on preventing death, serious injury and ill health to those at work and those affected by work activities. The primary function of health and safety laws and their enforcement is a simple one; to stop people being killed or injured by irresponsible and illegal behaviour."

The analysis and true indictment of the current situation of health and safety enforcement is summed up by Dave at the end of his LTB:

"We keep hearing from government about the great Health and Safety record of the UK but the facts are not ones to be proud of.

The TUC estimates that more than 20,000 people die as a result of work each year.

For the year 2008-2009: 1.2 million people were suffering from an illness they believed was caused or made worse by work; 551 000 of these were new cases; 246 000 RIDDOR-reportable injuries occurred. (Injuries leading to 3 days or more away from normal work); 29.3 million days were lost overall due to work-related Accidents and Ill health (24.6 million due to work-related ill health and 4.7 million due to workplace injury)."

LTB315/11 reminds CWU Branches that:

The Tory/Lib-Dem Coalition Government have announced that all health and safety laws in the UK will be subject to a major review, in a government bid to cut back 'red tape' and 'burdens on business' and 'enemies of enterprise'! Any health and safety laws that put an "unnecessary" burden on business will be scrapped said DWP Employment minister Chris Grayling in an announcement in the House of Commons.

A new government safety strategy that will mean an unprecedented reduction in the number of workplace safety inspections, no proactive inspections for the majority of firms and new quickie risk assessments for millions of businesses will lead to more deaths and injuries at work.

The new blueprint will be accompanied by a review of all workplace safety legislation and has been welcomed by the business lobby but slammed by safety campaigners.

The LTB outlines the CWU response to the tory strategy:

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has warned the Government in letters to Employment Minister Chris Grayling and HSE Chief Executive Geoffrey Podger that cutting workplace health and safety inspections will increase accidents at work.

Under new measures announced by Employment Minister Chris Grayling, automatic inspections in industries categorised as either "medium" or "low-risk" will end - reducing total annual inspections by around 11,000, or approximately one-third.

In an official Government statement outlining the changes, Mr. Grayling criticised what he described as "Britain's health and safety culture" and said that this was stifling business and holding back economic growth. He went on to say that by reducing unnecessary red tape the government can encourage businesses to come and invest in the UK, creating jobs and opportunities when we need them most. He said we need common sense at the heart of the system, and these measures will help root out the needless burden of bureaucracy

The CWU has strongly rejected and condemned Mr. Grayling's analysis, and have asked what is wrong with Britain having a 'good health and safety culture'? We in the CWU - like the TUC and our fellow trade unionists across the country  will always put workers' health and safety right at the top of the agenda where it belongs and that cuts of this size will mean more accidents in the workplace. If employers know their premises won't be inspected, it's obvious that they'll start to let standards slip.

The CWU - alongside our fellow trade unionists and TUC will highlight the effects of this retrograde strategy and campaign against any worsening of health and safety standards and protection for workers.

Going further into the details of the effects the strategy will have on UK workplaces, the LTB states:

The 35% HSE Budget cut and 28% Local Authority Budget Cuts are disastrous for health and safety regulation and policing. With 1,500 deaths and a quarter-of-a-million serious accidents at work each year, we can ill afford this huge reduction in HSE and local authority (EHO) inspections. This will substantially undermine the laws that protect all of us, will encourage unscrupulous employers to flout health and safety regulations and lead to an increase in deaths and injuries at work.

Since 2002 the HSE has lost around 1,500 jobs as a result of the government spending cuts and the organisation employs around just 3,500 staff to police 20 million workers and 885,000 workplaces with Local Authority EHOs covering the rest. Better funding for the HSE would be good for workers concerned about their safety, employers seeking advice and the taxpayer who meets the costs of higher benefit and insurance because of rising accident rates.  With adequate funding in the past, HSE succeeded in making substantial progress but now the HSE is being starved of the resources needed to improve safety at work. These Budget cuts could risk the steady year-on-year decline of work-related deaths and injuries in the UK. The HSE Unions, FDA, Prospect and PCS estimate that the cuts could remove up to 750 HSE posts.

There's not a single proposal in the Young Report "Common Sense, Common Safety" or the Grayling Strategy "Good Health and Safety, Good for Everyone" that will reduce the high levels of workplace deaths, injuries and illness in the UK.

There's been a worrying decline in enforcement by the HSE where inspections, accident investigations and prosecutions have been in free-fall over the last decade. HSE Inspections of workplaces fell by 69% over the last decade and Mr Grayling has just slashed the remaining Inspections by a third.

The HSE now only investigates a third of safety offences it did 10 years ago and that is set to fall dramatically under the latest plans. Health and Safety Prosecution have fallen by 48 per cent and two thirds of all amputations, a quarter of all major burns and two thirds of all major poisonings and gassings reported to HSE are not investigated by the HSE. Prosecutions will fall further also as resources are stripped out of the HSE and Local Authorities. Workplace safety standards will have been completely undermined by this collapse of the Health and Safety Executive’s investigation and enforcement role.

The LTB continues:

Mr. Grayling also plans a comprehensive review of all health and safety at work legislation headed by specialist risk assessment and deregulation academic Ragnar Lofstedt. Mr. Lofstedt - a professor at London's King's College - is expected to complete his work and publish his conclusions in the autumn, but the CWU is determined to ensure that workers' voices are heard before any decisions are made.

The CWU - alongside our fellow trade unionists - will be making a full contribution to Mr. Lofstedt's review and we will continue to urge the Government to stop pandering to Daily Mail-style stereotypes and stop attacking hard-won workers' health and safety rights and safety standards. The drastic cuts in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) budget and the deregulatory agenda of the Tory/LibDem Coalition could well lead to recommendations for the introduction of US style self-regulation in many industries.

In respect of the forthcoming health and safety regulatory review, to be headed by Professor Ragnar E Lofstedt - the government was determined to announce cuts before the Professor even starts his review. He's clearly not going to be able to conclude that more HSE Workplace Inspection is required! HSE Inspectors themselves are convinced that proactive inspection is vital, not least because prevention is cheaper and better for business, workers and the taxpayer than the cost of putting lives back together after an accident.

The Government has identified three categorizations of non-major hazard industries in there "Good Health and Safety, Good for Everyone" Strategy setting out the next steps in the Government’s plans for reform of the health and safety system in Britain:-

-those sectors which present comparatively high risk and where, in our judgement, proactive inspection remains necessary as part of the overall regulatory approach;

-those sectors where there remains comparatively high risk but proactive inspection is not considered a useful component of future interventions; and -those areas where proactive inspection is not justified in terms of outcomes. The categorizations result in the following groupings:

(i) Comparatively high risk areas where proactive intervention to be retained. The major areas for inclusion are currently considered to be construction, waste and recycling, and areas of manufacturing which are high risk e.g. molten and base metal manufacture;

(ii) Areas of concern but where proactive inspection is unlikely to be effective and is not proposed e.g. agriculture, quarries, and health and social care; and (iii) Lower risk areas where proactive inspection will no longer take place. These areas include low risk manufacturing (e.g. textiles, clothing, footwear, light engineering, electrical engineering), the transport sector (e.g. air, road haulage and docks), local authority administered education provision, electricity generation and the postal and courier services.

The full seven page LTB gives further analysis of the current state of health and safety and the likely future if the governments strategy document is allowed to comes to fruition.

Dave concludes by commenting on the fact, as reported by Unionsafety last week, that many professional health and safety bodies and organisations have in fact welcomed the Governments attacks on health and safety:

"I am frankly disgusted that the leaders of professional Health and Safety bodies including the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management, British Safety Council and Institution of Occupational Safety and Health who have welcomed these 'safety lawlessness at work' initiatives that follow on from the Lord Young report as putting proportionality and common sense back into health and safety."

He adds:

"On the other hand it comes as no surprise at all that Bosses organisations the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), Institute of Directors,  Confederation of British Industry CBI and Engineering Employers Federation were all quick to welcome the new strategy. The Young's report and the DWP streamlined health and safety strategy are really about freeing businesses and bosses from bureaucratic burdens at the expense of workers’ health and safety."  

You can download in full LTB315/11 here

Source: CWU

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