The government’s cuts in health and safety are putting lives at risk, according to the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
In a report published today Toxic, Corrosive and Hazardous: The government’s record on health and safety, TUC reveals the drastic cuts in Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspections and funding over the last four years.
The report claims the government has blocked new regulations and removed ‘vital’ existing protections. It also says cuts have led to local authorities reducing their workplace inspections by 93%, and made it much harder for workers to claim compensation if they are injured or made ill at work following employer negligence.
‘The government says that the UK is a safe place to work and that we don’t need any more regulation,’ said TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady. ‘If only this were the case. With the UK ranked just 20th in the health and safety risk index of 34 developed nations, we’ve hardly got a record to be proud of.
‘Good employers who work closely with unions improving health and safety at work don’t see regulation as an intrusive burden. But rogue bosses, who are happy to cut corners and take risks with their employees’ lives, do.’
Unions have developed a list of 10 measures, which they believe will vastly reduce the number of illnesses, injuries and deaths caused by work.
TUC is calling on the government to ensure all workplaces are inspected regularly by the enforcing authority and to introduce new laws regarding workplace health and safety such as maximum temperature and dust levels.
‘There is a real danger that further cuts and deregulation will destroy the workplace safety culture that has existed in Britain for many decades – with a disastrous effect on workers’ health and safety,’ O’Grady added. ‘But there’s an alternative – a government that is committed to protecting workers and puts a stop to the large-scale negligence that claims the lives or health of far too many workers and costs the state billions of pounds.’
The report was published today to coincide with Workers’ Memorial Day, which is held on 28 April every year. Over 20,000 people die prematurely every year in the UK as a result of injuries or accidents caused by their work, according to TUC’s calculations.
