KEELE 2010
Reports from Lorna Blackman, Chikwe Ibeakanma and Philip Lewis
Remember the Dead – all those killed at and by work to Fight for the Living – all workers and everyone affected by work activities
Report by Philip Lewis Vice chair Camden UNISON
On Friday we had a presentation from FACK (Families Against Corporate Killers) it was called “Face the Facks; the human cost of workplace killing” this DVD had the place in total silence and there was not a dry eye in the house.
I propose that this DVD should be played at every Health and Safety committee so that management can see the real cost. and also at trade council public meetings to gain public support for our campaign against the ConDem cut in Health and safety laws It should also be played at Camden branch committee and shop stewards committee as well. We should get 3 DVD,S for the branch
Every year, on Workers’ Memorial Day (28 April), the Hazards Campaign makes the case that the evidence supports a figure of up to seven times as many deaths caused by work incidents as that officially cited by the HSE. The regulator’s headline figure is limited to those deaths reported to it and to local authorities. It does not include those from other enforcement agencies, such as the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and excludes members of the public and also those killed by occupational illness. A more realistic estimate, which includes work-related road-traffic deaths and suicides attributed to work-related stress, is 1500-1600 a year. (For more than ten years, the Hazards Campaign has demanded that work-related road-traffic deaths are reported under RIDDOR, added to the official death-at-work statistics, and brought under the protocol for investigating work-related deaths. In recent years we have been joined in this call by the TUC, trades unions, the Centre for Corporate Accountability, RoSPA, and IOSH.) But even that figure is the tip of the iceberg; if we include the many thousands who die from illnesses caused by their working conditions the total could be up to 50,000 a year!
Hazards Campaign spokesperson, Hilda Palmer
said: “HSE reports only those killed whose deaths must be reported under RIDDOR, while we include all worker-related incident deaths and estimate this to be up to 1,500 a year even in the recession. Almost all work-related deaths are not accidents, and could and should have been prevented but workers do not only die in incidents due to a lack of safety, many tens of thousands more die of illnesses such as occupational cancers, heart disease and lung diseases caused by poor working condition, up to 50,000 per year we estimate.
“It
is vital that the ill wind of a recession, which in this case has
delivered at least part of this reduction in some workplace
deaths, is not overestimated or taken as justification by the
Lord Young Review or the forthcoming cuts in the public sector,
for an assault on health and safety laws or their enforcement.
Every worker, wherever they work, in an office, a hospital, a
school, on a building site, a farm, in recycling, on an oil rig,
or as an emergency worker, is at risk of injury or ill-health
caused by their employer’s non-compliance. All workers are
entitled to have not only their safety but their immediate and
long term health protected while they are working. All workers
lives are precious: a fire-fighter’s life is just as
precious as a construction worker; an office worker should be
protected from risks to their health and safety just like any
other worker. Over zealous health and safety, or refusing to
accept risks, or too much health and safety law, did not kill
these people, but non-existent compliance and weak enforcement
did contribute to their avoidable deaths. This is unacceptable at
any time but especially now when we are all being told we must
work harder, for less money and for many years longer.”
Report from
Lorna Blackman
The Hazards conference for 2010 was highly motivational, informative, supportive and engaging. The works were delivered by professional and highly experience facilitators. The workshops concerning Union Safety Rep Facilities and How to deal with Stress at Work touched on issues and areas of my residence of work as a Union Steward/Union Rep. As a new Union Health and Safety rep still unsure of the legality and rights the workshop gave me confidence and guidance, helping me to address training to my employer and how to request leave for further training throughout the year. In addition to this I was able to understand the role of my employer Health and Safety Committee and their jurisdiction. The update version of Union health and Safety manual is informative and is easy to read and understand.
The second workshop Stress at Work was an eye opener. With the public sector cut backs and loss of jobs due to re-structuring the stress levels at work is increasing. This is evident through high sickness levels, anxiety and in some cases ill health problems. The course made me aware how employees can react where they are subjected to impossible deadlines and high work load. Listening to the case studies and data research warned with continual cut backs in services especially in the public sector the Union will be the first point of contact for their members and employees. The social networking enabled me to meet up with other Union reps/stewards and people who care about people. We were able to exchange ideas. The Testimonies from Blacklisted which is a pressure group formed of Health and Safety reps. They have been blacklisted from working on building sights due to their commitment to ensuring building companies implement the health and safety procedures on their building sites. The testimonies from other people whose families were killed at work due to the employer not exercising the health and safety act was shocking but hopeful.In all I thoroughly enjoyed the conference and it has changed my life. When I arrived back at the work everyone notice a difference in me. But nevertheless one thing that I came away from the conference is that I AM NOT ALONE.
Report from Chikwe Ibeakanma
Keele University has a fantastic campus, a quite environment for a conference. It reminded me of my years back in the University of Lagos. Hazards conference, organised by the national Hazards Campaign, is the biggest educational and campaigning event for the trade union safety representatives and activists. The conference was made up of a mixture of speakers, plenary sessions, campaigning meetings and comprehensive workshop programmes.
I choose to attend among other workshops, the “Doing a Workplace inspection”, as this is an area that is mostly ignored in the workplace until something serious happens. Why a workplace inspection? It has to be known that workplace inspection is an invaluable way of identifying potential workplace hazards before they cause a health and safety problem. There is no right or wrong way. Workshop inspection is not a duty it is a function that a health and safety representative has to carry out.
The right to carry out inspections comes from the Safety Representatives and safety Committees Regulations 1977, otherwise known as “The Brown Book”. These regulations also make it clear that safety representatives are entitled to be paid time off for carrying out inspections, as well as carrying out their functions.
The workshop also addresses the fact that the health and safety representative has a legal right to inspect all the workplace areas they cover at least once every three months, but they must give the employer reasonable notice in writing of their intention to do so. One week’s notice should be enough.
The Health and Safety Commission believes it is good practice for employers and safety representatives to agree programmes of formal inspections in advance. These will also make it clear when each can expect an inspection to be carried out and would fulfil the requirement to give notice of quarterly inspections. Any changes to the planned timetable must be agreed to by both the employer and the health and safety representative.
There should be an agreement on the areas the inspection should cover, again workplace inspection must not always be planned because walking round the office and observing and taking notes of faults can also be an inspection. Firstly health and safety representative should check with the Branch whether it has reached an agreement on workplace inspections. If so, a copy of the agreements should be obtained. If there is no agreement, the branch might consider negotiating one.
photos hazards. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYegAr7OFI8
The Allan award pt1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC4wGSjlZAM
The Allan award pt2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EkTg19mP7E