Politics-First-September-2014

CORRIDORS:
A government out of touch with
health and safety
Jim Cunningham,
MP for Coventry South
“I remember men blinded
from flying machinery”
and for our children.
The Government has slashed funding of the Health and Safety
Executive and drastically reduced workplace inspections. It has
made it much harder for workers to claim compensation if they are
injured and actively blocked new initiatives from Europe.
They have introduced the Social Action, Responsibility and
Heroism (SARAH) Bill, which seems to be nothing but a glorified
press release – it is supposed to protect “heroes” from lawsuits,
but, in fact, does no such thing. It has been widely panned for being
pointless at best.
More concerning still is the Government’s policy to exempt many
self-employed workers from the Health and Safety at Work Act. It is
a completely unnecessary and poorly thought-through policy that
will create confusion and uncertainty over what duty of care is due
in workplaces.
Those are just a few of the Government’s attacks on health and
safety that have left experts dumbfounded.
When I was 15 years old and working in a steel mill, it was
common to see men suffering from the fatal “steelworkers’
disease” of steel dust in the lungs. I remember
men (without goggles) blinded from flying machinery and splashed
with corrosive paint stripper; and I remember broken feet as a result
of dropped metal sheets and lack of safety boots.
When the London Olympics went ahead without a single workrelated
fatality – the first in recent history – I saw it as a sign of how
far we have come and how we now have a level of workplace safety
that is the envy of the world.
In the recent debate on the SARAH Bill, I questioned the Justice
Secretary as to whether there are as many frivolous claims being
made as he believes, given that it is now much harder to take
someone to a tribunal. Indeed, workplace compensation claims
have halved in the last decade. His reply was: “All I can suggest is
that the hon. Gentleman find a moment or two in his day to watch
daytime television and see the number of adverts for firms trying
to attract people who will sue when something has gone wrong—
“Have you had an accident? Come and launch a case.”“ Is that really
the evidence-based policy our Government is putting forward?
Creating a healthy and
sustainable future
And yet our Prime Minister has announced that he will “kill off
the health and safety culture for good”.
As somebody who has seen and advocated a steady
improvement in workplace safety throughout my lifetime, I find the
Prime Minister’s agenda indefensible.
We hear of the “burden” of our health and safety system and
the damaging cost of “red-tape” so often that this is almost taken
for granted in public discussion. That is mystifying to me. The
Government has held three reviews now into the “burden of our
health and safety system”. But the reviews all found no evidence
of excessive regulation nor a compensation culture. Lord Young
even admitted that: “The problem of the compensation culture
prevalent in society today is, however, one of perception rather
than reality”.
Attacks on health and safety culture are attacks on an easy
target because of press focus on occasional poor interpretation
of health and safety legislation. There is insufficient focus on the
positive consequences of robust health and safety culture for us
The Government cites the safety of our workplaces as the
justification for cutting back on health and safety. The Justice
Secretary spoke recently of “a country where things are safer than
ever, where our workplaces are less risky than ever and where
safety standards on our roads are higher than ever”.
It is disturbing that the Justice Secretary cannot make the
connection between that and the “health and safety culture” that
he and the Prime Minister wish to destroy. Many advocates of
reducing health and safety legislation have little or no experience
of working life without such legislation and perhaps the naivety of
their arguments is because they have the luxury of believing it is
unnecessary.
If the Government insists on cutting back our health and safety
regulations, do not be misled into thinking it is because the
evidence supports that conclusion. It is based on an ideology that
always favours the employer and holds workers and unions in
suspicion, that believes employers are benevolent and responsible,
and that accidents and sickness only happen to the feckless. I
believe it is repugnant.
A strong economy needs a safe and healthy workforce to deliver
profitable business growth and resilience.
Responsible organisations invest in health and safety training across the entire workforce, including
directors and managers. Well-trained staff save money, boost productivity and add competitive value.
Britain’s health and safety system is envied all over the world. We think it’s one of the best. We make
it our mission to help keep it that way.
Talk to us about how health and safety training can protect your people, transform your organisation
and secure your future.
You can reach the IOSH training team on
hstraining@iosh.co.uk and
+44 (0)116 257 3163
POL2392/040814/PDF
Institution of Occupational Safety and Health
www.iosh.co.uk
118 Politics First September/October 2014
www.politicsfirst.org.uk