[IER] H&S Press

[Carolyn Jones]

A think tank for the labour movement

  
Home


 


 

 


PRESS RELEASE

 

  _____  

 

Warning! Work Is Dangerous For Your Health 

 

Liverpool, like many other cities, has experienced both fatal and serious
accidents on building sites over recent years.  But how many of these were
unnecessary and avoidable?  

 

According to an IER report due to be launched in Liverpool next month, “the
HSE’s own evidence from their Accident Prevention Advisory Unit shows that
70% of safety incidents could have been prevented by management action[1]

 

So why aren’t management taking the necessary actions to prevent death and
injury? 

 

The authors of the report entitled ‘Regulating Safety at Work: The New
Politics of Enforcement’[2] say “something rather dramatic took place with
regards to HSE enforcement practices in the past decade

.(there has been) a
rapid decline in HSE enforcement action”

 

Professor Steven Tombs and Dr David Whyte have used information obtained via
Freedom of Information requests to support their notion of a crisis in
health and safety enforcement.  They have found that inspection and
enforcement notices issued by the Health and Safety Executive have actually
been falling over the past 13 years.  So, despite a commonly held belief
that we are a nation hamstrung by health and safety regulation, the soon to
be revealed facts tell a different story. 

These findings are in stark contrast to recent comments from David Cameron.
Announcing a review into The Health and Safety at Work Act, Cameron claimed
bosses were being “burdened” by regulation while Lord Young (set to lead the
review) branded the legislation as “a joke”.   

The families of those who have been killed or injured through avoidable
incidents at work might take a different view? And trade unionists sacked
and blacklisted for trying to enforce health and safety on sites certainly
do not believe sites are over-regulated. 

 

The Conference[3] has been organised by Liverpool-based Institute of
Employment Rights. Speakers include David Ashton (Director of Field
Operations at the HSE); Rita Donaghy (author of the DWP report, ‘One Death
is Too Many: An Inquiry into the Underlying Causes of Construction Fatal
Accidents’) and Dennis Doody Executive Committee Member of UCATT the
construction industry union. 

 

ENDS 

 

For more information contact

Carolyn Jones, Director, Institute of Employment Rights

0151 702 6925 or 07941 076 245

cad at ier.org.uk

 

 

Notes to editors


  _____  

[1]  (HSE Publication 1995).

 

[2] Regulating Safety at Work: The New Politics of Enforcement by Professor
Steve Tombs, Liverpool John Moores University and Dr David Whyte, Liverpool
University, will be launched at the Conference.  Following the conference
the report will be available from IER, 50-54 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, L3
5SD. Price £8 trade union, £30 others.

 

[3] Health and Safety: a new agenda at work <http://www.ier.org.uk/node/464>
? will take place at the Adelphi Hotel, Lime Street, Liverpool on Tuesday
13th July 2010 at 9.50-4.00pm

 

Carolyn Jones
Director
Institute of Employment Rights
50-54 Mount Pleasant
Liverpool, L3 5SD
p 0151 702 6925
f 0151 702 6935
m 07941 076245
cad at ier.org.uk

IER are proud of what we have achieved over our 20 years existence but
recognise more needs to be done. Show your continued support by taking a
subscription and joining our debate. Go to www.ier.org.uk

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/pipermail/ier-elist/attachments/20100617/52c3d605/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 26223 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/pipermail/ier-elist/attachments/20100617/52c3d605/attachment.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 5487 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/pipermail/ier-elist/attachments/20100617/52c3d605/attachment.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 26223 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/pipermail/ier-elist/attachments/20100617/52c3d605/attachment-0001.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image005.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 1924 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/pipermail/ier-elist/attachments/20100617/52c3d605/attachment-0002.gif>