WSA scheme leads to more worker involvement

The now-defunct Workers’ Safety Adviser (WSA) scheme was a success, according to a new evaluation report carried out for the HSE.

Consultants Greenstreet Berman found that the scheme – which ran from 2004 until earlier this year, allowing accredited advisers into particular workplaces with the employers’ permission to assist with health and safety matters – had “a positive impact on worker involvement and health and safety”.

Although far short of the “roving safety rep model” proposed by safety reps and the Hazards campaign, the scheme did attract some participation from unions and other organisations.

Employers, workers and WSAs themselves felt that the scheme has improved worker involvement, the report says. Formal consultation structures are more widely in place, with 28% more organisations reporting that they have a worker representative and 25% more having a health and safety committee.

Both employers and workers improved their knowledge of health and safety as a result of the scheme, and 29% more formal risk assessment procedures were implemented as a result of it.

However, it appears that the scheme did not help increase union representation in the workplaces where it operated.

The report, Workers’ Safety Adviser challenge fund evaluation, can be downloaded from www.hse.gov.uk/workers/wsa/wsa.pdf