TUC calls for restored funding

The TUC has called on the government to restore HSE funding following research showing there has been no progress in reducing preventable physical risks at work over the last three years.

The latest (2022/23) TUC Safety Reps Survey, based on responses from more than 3,000 union health and safety reps and analysed by the Labour Research Department (LRD), shows reps’ concerns over musculoskeletal disorders like back strain, and workplace accidents like slips, trips and falls, have gone unaddressed. These remain the most cited injury risks (both 29%), and the number of reps concerned about physical risks like handling heavy loads and working in low temperatures has increased.

Just one in five reps surveyed said their workplaces had been inspected by the HSE over the last year and a massive 60% said they were not aware of their workplace ever being inspected.

Unless HSE funding is restored, the TUC says, there will continue to be a “glaring shortage” of inspectors to visit workplaces and enforce safety rules. TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said that “preventable risks like injury, stress and overwork are not being dealt with”.