This year the European Trade Union Institute published a paper on work-related cancers in the EU. It showed that 102,500 deaths take place each year because of exposure to carcinogens in the…Read more…
Using agency workers to break strikes will threaten safety
I have already written about the effect that the Trade Union Bill will have on health and safety by restricting the right to strike and limiting the amount of time off that trade union health and…Read more…
Using agency workers to break strikes will threaten safety
I have already written about the effect that the Trade Union Bill will have on health and safety by restricting the right to strike and limiting the amount of time off that trade union health and…Read more…
A nation on the brink?
I’m in a deep sleep after a restless night with the baby waking constantly when the alarm goes off. Its 05.45, its dark outside and the rest the house is silent as they all sleep peacefully. …Read more…
Progress made on new safety fund by G7
In May I wrote a blog about a new fund that the world’s main industrialised countries (The G7) were setting up to help prevent workplace deaths and injuries. The catalyst for this was the large…Read more…
Asbestos: Remove it NOW.
We’ve been saying it for years, and finally an All-Party Parliamentary Group agrees we’re right. Asbestos must be removed from schools.
More than 90% of schools in my Division have asbestos present….Read more…
Asbestos. Time to grasp the nettle.
It is said that if you say something often enough and loud enough everyone believes it is true regardless of the facts. This is the case with asbestos. We have been told for decades that the safest…Read more…
European regulation is good for you – Part 2.
Earlier this week I posted a blog about an EU evaluation of the European occupational safety and health directives. I complained that the Commission had not published the report, although a joint…Read more…
2nd Delegate’s Report On Hazards Conference 4-6 September 2015
And here is the report from our second delegate, Nickoli Wilde. This is a very detailed and comprehensive report on a whole myriad of topics. The key sections are: What is Unison National Health & Safety Unit doing? Organising Space … Continue reading →Read more…
UNISON relaunches stress survey
UNISON is calling on the union’s safety reps to get organised – and members to get involved -in this year’s European Health and Safety week. We want safety reps to ask members and…Read more…
Report on Hazards 2015 Conference Keele 4-6 September 2015
This branch sent two delegates to the Hazards Conference at Keele University 4-6 September 2015. A report has been produced by the first delegate which contains information on: The plight of hotel workers in low paid jobs. The functions of Safety … Continue reading →Read more…
Get your nominations in for UNISON’s top H&S rep
UNISON is celebrating the sterling work of our health and safety reps with an awards ceremony to highlight what they do
The article Get your nominations in for UNISON’s top H&S rep first…Read more…
Government threat to safety reps – get the message out there!
The TUC is running a major campaign against the Trade Union Bill. I have written on it previously on this site, and there is an excellent article from the TUC General Secretary, Frances O’Grady in…Read more…
Changes could mean sick staff being bullied back to work
UNISON voices concern over government’s changes to fit-for-work service
The article Changes could mean sick staff being bullied back to work first appeared on the UNISON site.Read more…
Stopping the Job – collectively
There should be a health and safety law poster in every workplace in the country. This is produced by the HSE and tells workers what their legal rights are. It is simple and well-written. There is…Read more…
Hitting the gangbusters
Jim Sheridan, the former Labour MP whose law targeted illegal gangmasters exploiting migrant workers and ripping off the tax and benefit system says the law must be updated and extended. Jim…Read more…
Top tips for introducing night shifts
Last week I wrote a blog about the health effects of working shifts, in particular nights. Well today the TUC has followed up on that with a report on night working and “work-life balance”….Read more…
‘Sick and tired’
Over 1,200 construction workers involved in the decommissioning and renewal project at Sellafield in Cumbria have begun a work to rule and overtime ban in a campaign to improve health and safety and…Read more…
US says trade trumps safety
I have blogged here several times about the possible effects on health and safety of the proposed free trade agreement between the European Union and the United States – the Transatlantic Trade…Read more…
What can we do about shift work?
There has been a lot of research published in the past few years around the effect of shift work and our health since the World Health Organisation classified night shift work as a probable…Read more…