Health, Safety And Environment Debated At The CWU Conference 2013

Derek Maylor, Chair of the North West BT Unions Health & Safety Co-ord reports from the first day of conference at which important propositions dealing with health, safety and welfare issues were debated by delegates:

In the first safety proposition it was decided to review and clarify agreements on health and safety compliance with all employers as a matter of urgency. In many companies where we have members there is insufficient support from the employer to include consultation for compliance and representation at all levels; this undermines the work to improve health and safety for members.

The current and repeated failures by the employers to not adhere to the agreed H & S processes in terms of non-consultation, reclassification of accidents, non-reporting or joint investigation of accidents or near miss events and issues of blame culture can never be in the best interests of our members and worse, it continues to place our members at risk.

It can be argued that there is a business need to understand that Union Safety Representatives possess legal rights and that such safety functions are underpinned by legal entitlements; rights which the employer has legal obligations to facilitate. Safety representatives have such rights under the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees (SRSC) Regulations 1977 and they must be consulted at all appropriate levels and given sufficient paid time off and facilities during working hours to carry these functions.

Training for USRs representatives is paramount and the CWU has an excellent core training programme with several safety courses followed by the IOSH Diploma course leading up to the BA in Labour and Trade Union Studies in Health and Safety (BALTUS). However it was agreed that ongoing training is crucial and USRs need refresher training to keep them up to speed on changes to regulations, new legislation and so on. Adequate training will be made available, the frequency and duration of this will be addressed by Head Office following consultation.

The provision of sun protection cream for external workers in BT is welcome and the same facility is to be sought in other industries for all external workers who are exposed to the effects of the sun whilst working.

In the best proposition of the week, conference instructed the NEC to apply pressure on the relevant bodies so that work related road traffic accidents, now addressed as RTC's, are reported to the HSE and fall within the boundaries of RIDDOR regulations. This to include people travelling home from work: at the moment these accidents are not recorded as 'accidents in work', as such the number of industrial injuries and deaths published each year are not a true measure of work-related incidents.

If a plane load of holiday makers died in a crash on the way home from Majorca there would be an enquiry; if that happened four times in a year there would be an outcry. Yet according to the police and VoSA every year 1000 people die in RTCs where one or more drivers involved is in work.

Employers have clear duties under health and safety legislation to manage work-related risks and this should include occupational road risk. There is no doubt that these are dangerous occurrences and should be reported accordingly.

This is not merely a case of gathering statistics, it would ensure that the root causational factors are found and addressed; such as too higher workloads, unattainable targets, insufficient time etc.

The hard work and dedication of safety representatives within the CWU across all companies is a cornerstone of trade unions and a proud part of the CWU. It was noted that with the staff reductions taking place across industries we have lost many active USRs. It was decided then to develop a range of tools and aids to enable branches to better encourage rank and file members to become USRs.

Conference called for such aids as posters, flyers, literature, CD and DVD’s etc. We would advocate the use of social media as easily accessed, quick and updateable. Downloadable items from Head Office website or from www.unionsafety.eu, audio-boo and YouTube and so on.

Source: Derek Maylor

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