HEALTH AND SAFETY LOBBY

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2011 :: RMTnews 16 RMT was one of the many unions which backed a lobby of Parliament called by the Trade Union Co-ordinating Group (TUCG) in defence of health and safety enforcement in the teeth of a co-ordinated assault by the government and right-wing commentators. The lobby demanded a halt to cuts at the Health and Safety Executive - the organisation that inspects and enforces minimum standards of safety. The HSE has revealed that between April 2009 and March 2010, 152 people were fatally injured at work, 26,061 suffered major injuries at work and 1.3 million people who worked during the last year were suffering from an illness believed to be caused or made worse by their current or past work. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that commentators and politicians who try to trivialise and denigrate health and safety enforcement would be the first to run to their lawyers and the press if it was one of their relatives killed in a preventable accident at work or on public transport. “I will tell you what happens when corners are cut on safety regulations - you end up with the carnage of Potters Bar and Hatfield and our trade union will fight tooth and nail to stop our industry from being dragged back to that cavalier approach to maintaining safe standards. “In the services where RMT organises - transport, shipping and out on the oil rigs - safety is the watchword and if people like Jeremy Clarkson think it’s a big joke they should have the guts to meet the families of those who have lost their lives because some employer decided health and safety was a soft touch for cuts. “No one should be under any illusions - the ConDem cuts will kill,” he said. Current health and safety legislation and enforcement is failing to protect workers. Over 150 people were fatally injured at work in the last year and there were over 26,000 major injuries. The ConDem government is threatening to make things even worse by diluting health and safety standards and slashing the funding of the Health and Safety Executive by 35 per cent. TUCG, which brings together ten unions which represents almost 1 million workers, called a health and safety week of action and called the lobby to take the message to MPs that workers demand fair and adequate protections at work and that health and safety breaches are crimes. TUCG convenor and RMT Parliamentary group convenor John McDonnell MP has tabled the Early Day Motion number 1302 which over 50 MPs have signed. CUTS MEANS STRESS AT WORK A new survey undertaken by the TUCG has revealed that stress levels at work have soared over the last year as job cuts hit. The survey revealed that as a result of worsening conditions at work over one in four workers are more stressed now than a year ago. The survey carried out by the Electoral Reform Society revealed that one in five workers have to work harder as a result of job cuts in their workplace, with one in seven in fear of losing their jobs. Eight out of ten of these workers feel things have got worse at work over the last 12 months. As a result of worsening conditions at work 26 per cent of all workers feel more stressed now than a year ago. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said that the survey revealed the rising levels of stress and insecurity in the workplace. “With government plans for further cuts to jobs, pensions and pay on the horizon this situation is only going to deteriorate in the next 12 months," he said. Bob Crow said that the research revealed that a culture of fear is sweeping through Britain’s workplaces as employers use the threat of the sack to demand longer hours for less money. “Bullying and harassment is rife and the first thing to take the hit is safe working practices as the ConDem cuts agenda threatens to turn the tide on all the gains on worker’s rights and workplace safety that have been secured since the Second World War,” he said. RMT BACKS HEALTH AND SAFETY ENFORCEMENT LOBBY