CWU Condemns Anti-Health And Safety Dogma In Three Governmental Reports

As previously reported by Unionsafety, the government issued three key reports on Health and Safety last month, available from this website's E-Library Database.

CWU Branches have been circulated with copies of these reports, by Dave Joyce, the Union’s National Health, Safety & Environment Officer in his letter to all CWU branches (LTB127/13)

Dave writes:

“The three reports published reveal the Government determined continuation of their anti-health and safety ideological drive to deregulate industry in the interests of employers and to the detriment of workers. Furthermore, the Coalition has once again showed its determination to listen only to the advice it wants to hear and invent the rest even when it's opposed by the very experts they hire.”

He comments further:

“Professor Ragnar Lofstedt's review of health and safety law deemed that some consolidation but no cuts in health and safety law were necessary, and despite complaints from Lofstedt himself that he is being misrepresented, the Government continues to falsely claim they are cutting health and safety laws in line with his recommendations.”

Dave also refers to Professor Ragnar Lofstedt, issueing his second report looking at the progress made in implementing the recommendations contained in his 2011 report ‘Reclaiming Health and Safety for all’.

“Professor Lofstedt welcomes the fact that many of his proposals to tackle the over-zealous application of health and safety in Britain have already been put into place. The report states that these changes will help businesses focus on growth rather than unnecessary red tape.” writes Dave.

Dave Joyce refers later in his LTB to the HSE and a report available on its website which details the work they have done so far in implementing the Tory-led Con-Dem(ned) coalition government’s aim of reducing Health and Safety ‘burdens’ on business.

As to be expected, Tory-speak for what is really going on; fails to tell the truth:

“Like the rest of the public sector HSE has been reducing its costs to the taxpayer. In the last five years HSE has reduced its taxpayer funding by nearly £61m (26%) in real terms, maintaining the effectiveness of its regulatory functions by focusing on reducing costs across administrative and support functions.”

In other words a major cut in the budget with regard to enforcement of health and safety law.

And this which is actually about cuts in the budget of HSE scientific research:

“External science spend has been reduced by 64% by improving the targeting and prioritisation of research and commissioning research in partnership with industries and stakeholders or through collaborations with national, international and EU programmes.”

But many will comment that cuts to the HSE's enforcement budget and its personnel have not just started with the current government, but that throughout the lifetime of the last Labour government; cuts to the HSE staff numbers and their overall budget, was a feature.

When it comes right down to it, all governments since 1974 have destablised the HSE and detrimentally affected its ability to be pro-active in protecting workers from injuries and deaths caused by their work.

Two of the reports referred to are available from the E-Library Database using search category ‘government report’ and keyword ‘Loefstedt’ to fine-tune the search.

The report from the HSE can be downloaded from the E-Library Database by selecting search category ‘HSE Reports/Documents’

Source: CWU / Unionsafety

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