HSE is failing safety reps in fight for their rights

The government admits that safety reps do life-saving work but won't give them the time to continue doing it, a new report in the TUC-backed magazine Hazards has claimed.

A survey for the report found that the top problem facing union safety reps is the challenge of getting employers to act on safety concerns. Over a third (35%) of respondents rated this as their main concern, and 90% listed it among their top three concerns. The same proportion said they find it difficult to get their legally allowed time off for training and to carry out inspections, investigations and other crucial workplace safety functions.

Rory O'Neill, the Stirling University researcher who undertook the survey, said: "Safety reps are life-saving, disease-preventing, union-trained volunteers. With more people in work and a massive increase in the number of workplaces nationwide, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) should be grateful for all the help it can get and must provide robust support for safety reps."

The Department for Trade and Industry recently estimated that safety reps prevent between 8,000 and 13,000 workplace accidents and between 3,000-8,000 work-related illnesses per year.

But a third (35%) of the Hazards survey respondents reported problems getting support from the official safety enforcement agencies. The HSE has never prosecuted an employer for breaching the regulations on safety reps' rights.