Health and Safety in the news this week

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has recently published annual statistics on health and safety in Great Britain for 2017. 

Under the heading of Vital Statistics 2017, the illustration below shows how much time was lost to ill-health and injury, and sadly, that 137 lives were lost at work during the year.

The HSE also publish a booklet which breaks down the statistics further into industry type, which may be of interest in giving feedback to workers about the importance of observing health and safety regulations and safe working practices, and the consequences of poor health and safety.  The booklet is available from the HSE website, and breaks the statistics down to include:-

·         Work related ill-health and disease

·         Workplace injury

·         Enforcement of health and safety legislation

·         Working days lost as a result of health and safety incidents

 

Source: www.hse.gpv.uk



Health and Safety in the news this week

 

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) are marking the 40^th anniversary of trade union health and safety representatives receiving the legal right to improve health and safety in the workplace under The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977.
 

The TUC launched a campaign on 25^th October 2017 to mark this important milestone and to reflect upon the valuable work that has been undertaken by safety representatives and safety committees over the last 40 years.  Union health and safety representatives are often volunteers and there will be a celebration on Workers Memorial Day on 28^th April 2018 to honour the successes of union safety reps in making a difference in the workplace and the effect of the regulations in saving lives and preventing illness and injury.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) places great importance on worker involvement and consultation, which they feel has proved to be a key factor to improving health and safety in the workplace.

 

The HSE web page is publishing a series of case studies over the next six months which have been produced by safety representatives, and there is also a leaflet on the TUC website which can be downloaded that explains the role of the safety representative and how unions made a difference in the workplace.

Source: www.hse.gov.uk and www.tuc.org.uk