WELFARE–THE POOR RELATIVE OF HEALTH AND SAFETY

It is sometimes easy to forget when working in the health and safety field to remember that health and safety reps also have a responsibility to look after worker’s welfare. The sixth national health and safety conference in Blackpool on Thursday February 15 2007 aims to re-dress the balance by taking “welfare – the poor relative of health and safety” as its theme. One reason for welfare not featuring on our radar could be that the legal requirement to provide welfare in the workplace is fairly insignificant. The minimal Welfare Standards are set out in the Workplace (Health Safety and Welfare) Regulations in just five short Regulations (Reg 20-25). DUTY OF CARE Employers have a duty to provide toilet and washing facilities, backed by Guidance on the number of facilities that should be required, depending on the size of the workforce. Toilets should be easily accessible, in a separate room, lockable from the inside, supplied with toilet paper and kept clean, ventilated and lit. Washrooms should be close to toilets and supplied with hot and cold water, soap and a means of drying. If the work involves strenuous activity, dirty work or results in contamination of the skin then showers should be provided. Facilities for men and women should be kept separate unless the convenience is in a separate room which is capable of being secured from the inside. They also have a duty to provide a supply of clean drinking water and unless a drinking fountain is installed cups should also be provided. The drinking water supply should not be installed in the toilet and normally connected to the mains. Employers also need to provide clothing accommoda- tion and changing facilities. Accommodation for personal clothing not worn at work and special work clothing not taken home must be provided and if there is a risk of contamination of these clothes then the accommodation should be separate. Where possible the accommodation should include facilities for drying clothing. Changing facilities should also be provided where it is more than outer clothing being changed and separate facilities should be provided for men and women. Facilities should be provided to allow staff to eat meals and rest. These rooms should contain adequate numbers of tables and chairs and kept clean and have a good level of hygiene. Finally, those parts of a workplace that are used by disabled people at work must be organised to specially provide for those people. Of course these standards are only relevant to fixed workplaces. For instance, they don’t apply to mobile workers such as on the permanent way, or road vehicle drivers. The position for offshore workers appears to be even worse. Put ‘welfare’ into the MCA website and the first five responses come out in favour of animal welfare. Is this a case of welfare conditions being better for livestock than humans? But welfare provision in the 21st century isn’t just about toilets and lockers, aren’t we entitled to ask that our employers look after us better in our workplaces? Many staff will, in the course of their employment, have to deal with the effects of suicide and other workplace traumas - a good employer should have practices and procedures in place to support staff at such difficult times. Some will encounter violence in the workplace, how will a good employer support them? Others may be injured, made ill or suffer from work-related stress as a result of their job, what support can they expect employers to provide? RMT’s health and safety conference will provide a platform for health and safety reps to discuss these important issues. Speakers confirmed to attend so far include Hilda Palmer from Greater Manchester Hazards Centre and Dr Olivia Carlton, Head of LUL’s Occupational Health and Safety Unit and a representative from HMRI. Branches who wish to submit motions, which should be relevant to the transport sector as a whole, for debate at conference should do so by the end of January 2007. You still have an opportunity to register to attend conference– see your branch secretary or contact the health and safety team at head office on 020 7529 8838. www.rmt.org.uk :: january 2007 :: RMTnews 15 WELFARE–THE POOR RELATIVE OF HEALTH AND SAFETY Next month’s RMT health and safety conference in Blackpool will be discussing why welfare is so low on the workplace agenda SCENES YOU SELDOM SEE: Toilet provision is not always on offer