Inspections go down, accidents go up, says CWU
21st March 2011
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) today warned the Government that cutting workplace health and safety inspections will increase accidents at work.
Under new measures announced by Employment Minister Chris Grayling, automatic inspections in industries categorised as either "medium" or "low-risk" will end - reducing total annual inspections by around 11,000, or approximately one-third.
In an official Government statement outlining the changes, Mr Grayling criticised what he described as "Britain's health and safety culture" and said that this was "stifling business and holding back economic growth."
"By reducing unnecessary red tape we can encourage businesses to come and invest in the UK, creating jobs and opportunities when we need them most," he added.
But CWU general
secretary Billy Hayes rejected Mr Grayling's
analysis, asking: "What on earth is wrong with Britain having
a 'health and safety culture'?
"We in the CWU - like our fellow trade unionists across the country - will always put workers' health and safety right at the top of the agenda where it belongs.
"Make no mistake, cuts of this size will mean more accidents in the workplace," Billy warned, adding: "If employers know their premises won't be inspected, it's blindingly obvious that they'll start to let standards slip."
CWU national
health, safety and environment officer Dave Joyce
said that the cuts were "disastrous.
"With 1,500 deaths and a quarter-of-a-million serious accidents at work each year, we can ill afford this huge reduction in HSE inspections," he argued.
"This will substantially undermine the laws that protect all of us, will encourage unscrupulous employers to flout health and safety regulations and lead to an increase in deaths and injuries at work."
Mr Grayling also plans a comprehensive review of all health and safety at work legislation headed by specialist risk assessment academic Ragnar Lofstedt.
Mr Lofstedt - a professer at London's King's College - is expected to complete his work and publish his conclusions in the autumn, but the CWU is determined to ensure that workers' voices are heard before any decisions are made.
"The CWU - alongside our fellow trade unionists - will be making a full contribution to Mr Lofstedt's review," said Billy, "and we'll urge the Government to stop pandering to Daily Mail-style stereotypes and stop attacking hard-won workers' rights."
Speaking on behalf of the trade union movement as a whole, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said that the cuts meant that employers would be able to "get away with ignoring the law until they kill or seriously injure someone.
"Employers need to know that there is the possibility of a safety inspector visiting, otherwise there will be no incentive for them to ensure they are protecting their workers," he explained.
