Union fears government turf war on health and safety

Construction union UCATT is warning that a turf war over which Government Department is responsible for health and safety policy and key employment watchdogs, is developing.

UCATT’s concern was first raised in November last year when the Department for Business Employment and Regulatory Reform surprisingly launched a consultation document, Improving Outcomes From Health and Safety: A Call for Evidence. The document was almost entirely aimed at small businesses and was heavily structured to suggest that health and safety regulations should be lessened. In the construction industry it is the small and medium sized companies, which have the highest level of fatalities and serious injuries. The deadline for submission is January 31.

Union anger about the one sided consultation was further increased when it emerged that the BERR had organised a series of regional meetings and presentation about the document, but only business people were invited. After strong union lobbying the BERR were forced to relent and agree that other interested parties including unions could attend.

Alan Ritchie, UCATT general secretary, said: "The BERR consultation is outrageous; it is entirely unbalanced and takes no account of workers, whose lives are too often placed in danger. In an industry such as construction where 1 or 2 people are being killed every week, you would hope that the primary consideration would be how to make a workplace safer.”

Currently BERR has no role in Health and Safety Policy. The Health and Safety Executive is under the wing of the Department for Work and Pensions. Since 2002 the HSE has experienced annual funding cuts, which has led to a reduction of inspectors, inspections, enforcement notices and convictions. UCATT is also concerned that the HSE’s tactics to reduce a hands on approach in favour of providing more advice and information for businesses, is unnecessarily endangering the lives of workers in dangerous industries such as construction.

As a result of behind the scenes lobbying by UCATT, the DWP select committee has announced a major public inquiry into the HSE. The first public evidence session is on Wednesday 23^rd January. UCATT will also be giving evidence, as part of the inquiry and detailing their concerns about the HSE and Health and Safety Policy.

The Government has previously said that it intends to merge the HSE and the Gangmasters Licensing Authority. It is feared that the BERR would claim responsibility for the new body. UCATT, which is campaigning to extend the remit of the GLA to cover construction, believes this is misguided. A view supported by the wider union movement. Each body has got clear responsibilities and any merger would lead to the creation of generic inspectors who did not have specific key skills and knowledge.

There is deep union suspicion about BERR, formed last summer. It is considered to be entirely pro-business. Its initial prospectus of its roles and functions barely mentioned workers or unions.

If BERR did gain control of health and safety policy it is feared that it would loosen existing regulations and decrease health and safety provision to the minimum standards required by the European Union. In general existing British health and safety policy is far stronger.

Mr Ritchie, added: “An inter-departmental turf war over who controls health and safety policy and other key regulators must not develop. The real priority must be to ensure that spending cuts are reversed and the HSE has sufficient resources to perform all its tasks adequately.”