Government Cutbacks on Workplace Health & Safety Inspections

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Letter to Branches




No. 908/11

Date: 28 October 2011

To: All Branches,


Dear Colleagues,

Government Cutbacks on Workplace Health & Safety Inspections Risks Increased Injuries and Lost Lives:
 
In an address to Business Leaders in East London yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced new government proposals to cut red tape ("preventing Regulators from “breathing down the necks” of businesses") which include the government setting a cap on workplace inspections for small companies, limiting them to just two a year', as the Government looks to “liberate” small businesses. Clegg said that regulators will no longer be able to carry out doorstep checks “whenever they want” and added that the likes of the Health and Safety Executive and Environment Agency would have to
fight for priority between themselves under these proposals.

It's ironic that the announcement of these appalling proposals come in the middle of European Health and Safety Week and that this terrible speech should be made at Shoreditch, East London famous for the East End sweatshops exploiting underpaid workers are turning out clothes for High Street shops making massive profits. Past investigations of small and medium sized businesses in the area found workers paid well below the statutory minimum wage and forced to work in conditions breaching health and safety regulations. Investigators discovered workers in dangerous conditions producing the latest fashions for the big high street retail brand names. The appalling conditions endured by workers, included freezing temperatures, electrical hazards of live wires protruding from the walls, lethal blocked ventilation systems, fire escapes padlocked shut, and dust and rubbish covering every inch of the work area.
According to experts, clothing factories are particularly vulnerable to flash fires because cotton can spontaneously burst into flames.

This is another example of the government putting the right to make a fast buck before workers health and safety although at least the Deputy Prime Minister acknowledges the dangers of the 'scrap it all' line peddled by the Tory diehards.
 
Responding to Nick Clegg's speech the TUC issued a Statement, stating that 'Regulation is there to protect us all from businesses that rip us off, trash our
environment, and risk our health and safety - or even our lives. However, it is only of use if it is enforced. Enforcement should not be seen as a burden on
business, but instead a way of ensuring that good businesses are not undercut by cowboys who disregard the law and cut corners, whether it is on safety,
paying VAT or not polluting our rivers. Cuts in enforcement will put even more of us at risk of damaged health or injury or death in our workplaces. A brand
new survey of small and medium-sized enterprises published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), shows that employment law and
health and safety regulation do not even feature in their list of concerns. It would appear that employer organisations are pursuing a fanatical right wing
agenda that does not actually reflect the concerns of their members.'
 


Yours Sincerely


Dave Joyce
CWU National Health, Safety & Environment Officer