Since the coalition came to power in 2010, HSE has suffered a funding cut of over 40 per cent. In April 2010, just before the election, HSE employed 3,702 people. By December 2013, this had fallen to 2,769.And that’s just one small indication of the damage the government has done, says a new report from the TUC.

Toxic, corrosive and hazardous - the government's record on health and safety adds that HSE’s occupational health functions and official safety inspections have been “drastically cut”, new regulations have been blocked and some existing protections removed, reporting requirements have been undermined and access to compensation for work-related injuries and illness has been restricted. 

DO LITTLE Europe’s new health and safety strategy, which has been strongly influenced by David Cameron’s pressure for EU-wide deregulation, has been condemned as “weak and insubstantial” by unions.  [more]

Also cut is support for employers and health and safety reps. And there is more to come, as the government intends to exempt large numbers of self-employed workers from health and safety protection. According to TUC, this is a “huge concern” as self-employed people are more than twice as likely to be killed at work as other workers.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The government says that the UK is a safe place to work and that we don’t need any more regulation. If only this were the case. With the UK ranked just 20th in the health and safety risk index of 34 developed nations, we’ve hardly got a record to be proud of.”

Falling workplace fatality figures are misleading, TUC indicates, because they comprise “far less than even one per cent of the number of people whose lives have been cut short as a result of their work. 

“If you include those who die from occupational cancers, other lung disorders and cardiovascular disease caused by work and people killed on the roads while working, at least 20,000 people die prematurely every year because of occupational injury or disease, but the real figure could be even higher.” It is feasible the annual toll could be as high as 50,000 work-related deaths.

The government’s 2011 policy document, ‘Good health and safety, good for everyone’, did not even mention occupational illness or disease, points out TUC. Nor did the David Cameron-commissioned review of the health and safety system by former Tory cabinet minister Lord Young. 

CUT IT OUT  Union reps have good reason to be angry with David Cameron and his health and safety slashing government.

The government argues health and safety regulations are a ‘burden’ on business, says TUC. “This is despite strong evidence that those organisations with a strong health and safety culture perform better generally,” the report notes.

“It also believes that Britain can be successful only if it tries to compete with countries like Indonesia and China where workers’ rights are much lower. That is why the attack on health and safety protection for workers is a part of a wider weakening of employment rights, maternity rights and rights to compensation. 

“The truth is, of course, that those countries with the strongest regulations and worker protection like Germany generally survived the recession better than the UK and have stronger economies.”

TUC accuses the government of eschewing evidence-based policy making in favour of “grandstanding”. It says ministers are pandering to populist misconceptions about health and safety, fuelled by “distortions” in the press about “elf and safety gone mad”.

TUC says in its four years in power the coalition government has:

The TUC report warns these government-driven changes “are having, and will continue to have, a significant effect on the health of workers.” 

SELL OUT Construction union UCATT has expressed ‘disgust and disquiet’ following the publication of the job advert for a new chief executive to run the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). It says that while the advert for the £160,000 per annum post mentions three times that the post holder will be expected to make the HSE more commercial, it fails to mention the importance of improving worker safety.  [more]

It concludes: “The question is whether the HSE, and our health and safety system, can survive a further period of cuts, deregulation and political neglect or abuse. There must be a real concern that we are close to losing the workplace culture and consensus on safety that has existed in Britain for so many decades, and the results of that loss could be disastrous.” 

The union body argues there “must be a sea-change in our attitude to health and safety if we are going to stop this massive health problem that costs the state billions of pounds but which claims the lives of far too many workers.” 

TUC says its 10-point manifesto for a protective regulatory and enforcement system with worker involvement follows a proven model that is good for employers, the economy and the workforce (Hazards 121).

“Good employers who work closely with unions improving health and safety at work don’t see regulation as an intrusive burden. But rogue bosses, who are happy to cut corners and take risks with their employees’ lives, do,” warns Frances O’Grady.
”There is a real danger that further cuts and deregulation will destroy the workplace safety culture that has existed in Britain for many decades – with a disastrous effect on workers’ health and safety.”

Toxic, corrosive and hazardous - the government's record on health and safety, TUC, April 2014 [pdf]. TUC health and safety – Time for change manifesto.

Unions slam Europe’s do little safety strategy

Europe’s new health and safety strategy has been condemned as “weak and
insubstantial” by unions. 

Commenting on the European Commission’s long delayed Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2014-2020, published on 6 June, the TUC said the strategy “contains absolutely nothing new.” TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson noted: “One of the few positive proposals is that they will be ‘Improving enforcement by Member States for example by evaluating the performance of national labour inspectorates.’  
“However, overall, it is little more than a re-statement of the present, ineffectual
policies that have done nothing to reduce the huge levels of MSDs [musculoskeletal disorders] and stress-related illnesses across Europe, or address the problems
of exposure to carcinogens.” 

Józef Niemiec, deputy general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), criticised the “weak and insubstantial” strategy. “It contains no concrete proposal for action, and no specific improvements to health and safety,” he said.
The previous strategy expired in 2012, leaving safety policy in Europe in limbo. The ETUC says that while the framework document name checks a number of challenges to be addressed, including risks in smaller firms and from nanomaterials and musculoskeletal disorders, it “does not, commit to improve legislation – or come forward with new proposals – to tackle the challenges it identifies.” 

It also picks out risks faced by women and related to the ageing workforce, psychosocial problems and mental disorders and other work-related diseases including occupational cancers, again without identifying any measures to address them. 

Unions are concerned the strategy, which includes a commitment to “simplifying
existing legislation where appropriate to eliminate unnecessary administrative
burdens,” has been bolted onto the European Commission’s deregulatory REFIT programme. 

ETUC’s Józef Niemiec concluded: “The strategy proposes to treat health and safety as part of REFIT programme of cutting so-called red tape. Workers’ safety is not a bureaucratic burden.” 

The ETUC added that it was “disappointed” that the joint recommendations of trade unions and employers on health and safety “are not being taken up by the Commission in this strategy or in other initiatives.

Do we really want Del Boy running HSE?

Construction union UCATT has expressed ‘disgust and disquiet’ following the publication of the job advert for a new chief executive to run the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). 

The advert’s opening line reads: “We are now seeking a new Chief Executive to help lead change in the organisation and take advantage of a range of national and international commercial opportunities.” 

UCATT says that while the advert for the £160,000 per annum post mentions three times that the post holder will be expected to make the HSE more commercial, it fails to mention the importance of improving worker safety. 

Steve Murphy, the union’s general secretary, said: “This is disgusting and yet again shows the contempt the government has for the safety of working people. The primary role of the chief executive of the HSE should be about ensuring the lives of workers are not put at risk. Instead they are looking for someone to sell the organisation’s services to the highest bidder.” 

He added: “The HSE is not a commercial organisation full stop. Rather than trying to make money from the HSE the government should be reversing the HSE’s funding cuts, in order to ensure that people can work safely.” 

HSE has already embraced safety minister Mike Penning’s demand for more commercialisation. A report to HSE’s April board meeting from acting HSE chief executive Kevin Myers said “to support the commercialisation agenda” management consultant Leo Enright had been recruited as  HSE’s commercial director and “will provide additional resource and commercial expertise to take forward this work as well as lead on the delivery of the other Triennial Review recommendations with a commercial aspect.”

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Toxic record

The government’s ‘toxic, corrosive and hazardous’ record on health and safety has placed workers at risk and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in jeopardy, the TUC has warned. The union body says this means the role played by unions and their safety reps is more crucial than ever.

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