Hazards Campaign Tells Grayling And Cameron You Lie, We Die!

As always, the latest figures from the HSE relating to workplace deaths and injuries which do not tell the true story, and are being used by this Tory-led Con-Dem(ned) government to justify the whole scale annihilation of the UK’s health and safety legislation framework.

However, few commentators apart from Hazards have responded to the effects of the ‘piecemeal’ destruction of legislation which is very much linked together, and the huge risks being taken in the creation of a ‘safety net full of holes’!

Hilda Palmer from Greater Manchester Hazards Campaign explains:

“"HSE already reviewing all guidance notes to employers have just released consultation on ACoPs including a plan to replace the ACoP to the Management Regs with guidance instead.

ACoPs have some legal status - guidance is far, far weaker. This is all very serious.
HSE's consultation docs are typically mendacious with fictitious flawed Impact Assessments and bizarre assumptions.

This consultation, following the plan to revoke 14 regs (that closed on 4th July) is changing the whole architecture of H&S regs. Their consultation document states there is no problems removing this bit as that bit will protect - but hang on THAT bit is also up for review! This threatens to bring the whole house down like dodgy builders each demolishing the wall others are telling you will hold the house up!"

As a result, Hazards new campaign, entitled, ‘You lie we die - so Stop it you're killing us!’, alerts the public to the lies that are being told by this government, and Grayling in particular, about workplace health and safety legislation and the true costs to the lives of workers and their families it will cause as a result of a greater number of workplace deaths and injuries, as ‘the pack of H&S legislation cards’ which currently goes along way to protect people at their workplace; is fragmented and comes tumbling down!

Hilda commented on the latest HSE figures:

“Under this government's incessant but false attacks on workers protection as a 'burden on business' and 'pointless red tape', the HSE's figs (less than 1% of total killed by work) workers killed at work has gone up. They rose by 19% in 2010/11, their first year in office, from 147 to 175, and have remained at that level in 2012/13 with 173 provisionally recorded.

Work death rates usually decline in a recession, so it utterly shameful for this government to preside over an increase in the number of deaths in the deepest recession in many years.

These figures come out the day after the closure of a consolation period on scrapping 14 sets of regulation including the Docks Regulations where death rate is running at up to 20 times the national average, and Crane and  Head Protection Regs  in construction,  where almost one worker is killed every week. Another consultation on scrapping Approved Codes of Practice has just begun.   

The Hazards Campaign calls on Chris Grayling and the government to take responsibility for this, and to stop tearing up our health and safety system :  You lie we die - so Stop it you're killing us!”

Add to this mix of destructive manoeuvres being perpetuated by this government the fact that whole risky workplace environments such as those of the Docks for example are now being classed as ‘low risk’, and therefore do not warrant HSE inspection unless something happens; it is easy to see that this Government, as with the health service and healthcare provision in the UK; intends to ensure before 2015 that Health & safety in the UK mirrors precisely the US model where prevention and protection of workers is non existent!

As always in this country, the wait and see what happens approach is preferable to the pre-emption of disaster in order to eliminate the chances of it occurring.

Profit before workers lives is the Tory-led Con-dem(ned) coalition’s mantra!

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