HEALTH AND SAFETY SURVEY

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2013 :: RMTnews 8 RMT has carried out a survey of all of our 1,800 Accredited Health and Safety representatives last year and the results have revealed a number of factors faced by reps in the field including: • the risks faced in the workplace with a ranking placed on the most severe risks • what company safety management looks like and the involvement of RMT reps • what level of occupational health provision is provided • how well trained our reps are • what level of safety inspection is carried out by reps • whether the workplace has been inspected by the enforcing authorities and what action employers have taken as a result WORKPLACE HAZARDS Respondents were asked to list the major risks in the workplace and their top five concerns which were: • “slips, trips and falls” • stress • back strains • working alone • handling heavy loads However when asked to rank their top concern it was asbestos which shows that although not seen as a frequently occurring problem in the workplace when it does occur it is a serious problem. The second ranking goes to violence in the workplace and when this is combined with the sixth ranked issue of ‘working alone’ this emerges as the top risk faced by RMT members. The results will be used to help plan national health and safety campaigns for the future which will be discussed at the 11th national health and safety advisory conference to be held this month on February 27. The theme of this year’s event is “slips, trips and falls” and all delegates will be offered a place on a training course which will equip them with information and skills necessary to reduce the burden of this hazard in the workplace. EMPLOYERS SAFETY MANAGEMENT The picture painted by the survey on employer safety management is much more worrying. While the survey indicates that over 90 per cent of employers have a written health and safety policy, the results on risk assessment and RMT reps’ involvement in the risk assessment process are a real concern. Only two thirds of employers have carried out an ‘adequate risk assessment’ and in 20 per cent of cases the risk assessments were deemed by the rep to be ‘inadequate’. In other words one in five risk assessments don’t consider all the risks and don’t consider all the necessary mitigations. The involvement of reps in risk assessments is a key issue for the union as a risk assessment without safety rep involvement is an inadequate risk assessment. Only 18 per cent of responders were satisfied with their involvement in the risk assessments, 27 per cent were involved in risk assessments but not in a satisfactory way and a massive 55 per cent were not involved at all. OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH Occupational health service provision appears to be very good across all industries in which the unionorganises with 90 per cent of firms offering occupational health provision with 56 per cent of that provision being provided by an external provider and 44 per cent provided in house. The range of services provided include: • Health surveillance • Treatment • Rehabilitation • First aid • Sickness monitoring • Advice • Pre-employment screening Of great concern is that 34 per cent of occupational health services are involved in discipline of staff. WORKPLACE INSPECTIONS AND SAFETY REP TRAINING Over 90 per cent of RMT safety reps have participated in trade union organised health and safety training with the remaining 10 per cent having been trained by management. This goes to show that union training equips our safety reps with the necessary skills to deal with members’ health and safety concerns effectively and in a proactive manner. Over 85 per cent have attended the TUC Health and Safety Stage I course. A further 45 per cent have gone on to take the TUC Stage II course and nearly 20 per cent have then been able to go on to take the TUC Certificate in HEALTH AND SAFETY SURVEY