Damage to Health and Safety during the 2010 – 2015 period

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Letter to Branches





No. 368/15
Ref: C1/15
Date: 6 June 2015


To: All Branches


Dear Colleagues

Damage to Health and Safety during the 2010 – 2015 period of Conservative/Liberal Democrat Government:

In May 2010, after a general election, the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition Government soon made it clear that it was set on undermining current levels of health and safety provision for UK workers and workplaces, despite having neither a public mandate, nothing specific in their election manifestos or anything set out in the Coalition Agreement. Here's a summary of what they have done over their 5 years in office and why the Tories’ anti-Union, anti-Health and Safety dogma is set to continue.

May 2010 General Election brings David Cameron to power pledging to attack health and safety, a pet hate he blames everything on for holding back the UK and in August 2011 he even made a crazy statement that health and safety was one of the key reasons why rioters and looters felt able to act like they did!

Oct 2010 - Tory Lord Young's Report (Oct 2010) – ‘Common Sense, Common Safety’ – Recommends the weakening of RIDDOR, Risk Assessments, Introduces disputes panel empowered to overturn HSE Inspectors’ expert opinions and enforcement, weakening of schools safety and removal of Health and Safety cover for self-employed.

Oct 2010 - Government impose 35% cut to HSE’s already inadequate budget announced Oct 2010, subsequently increased to a 44% cut, for its law enforcement and operations roles equating to £85 million rising to £106 million of cuts from the annual Government funding, for the period 2010-2015. 210 HSE staff made redundant on 28 February 2011. From a 1994 peak, HSE staff numbers have fallen from 4,550 staff to less than 3,000 today. Local Authorities’ health and safety enforcement budgets cut by 30%. HSE and Local Authorities told to introduce business-friendly reforms to their approach and H&S policy making.  

March 2011 - Tory Minister Chris Grayling’s Report/strategy (March 2011) - “Good Health & Safety Good for Everyone”– Announces that apart from construction, agriculture, quarrying, waste and recycling industries, the majority of HSE covered 900,000 workplaces are non-major hazard workplaces or low risk and these sectors will no longer receive proactive inspection by HSE and Local Authorities because they are not justified in terms of outcomes. These include textiles, clothing, footwear, light engineering, electrical engineering, transport (e.g. air, road haulage and docks), local authority administered education provision, electricity generation, postal and courier services. Introduces 'Fee for Intervention' (FFI) making the HSE recover their costs from employers, companies and organisations in an unwieldy bureaucratic system. HSE and Local Authorities ordered to implement a 33% cut in proactive safety inspections equating to cuts of 11,000 safety inspections by HSE Inspectors and 65,000 by Local Authority (EHO) Inspectors.

April 2011 - The 'Red Tape Challenge' initiated (April 2011) - 3 rounds followed - Tory/Lib.Dem Coalition declare that businesses face the obstacle of excessive regulation and administrative burden which is too great, and the number and scope of individual rules and regulations should be reduced. HSE owns over 200 regulations and 53 approved codes of practice which they want cut in half despite the fact that Official Government advice states that "Health and Safety legislation and Regulations are designed to protect employees, employers and the public from harm arising from work activities." Nevertheless, they say they have concerns that businesses, particularly SMEs, are disproportionately targeted. 27 January 2014, the Prime Minister David Cameron announced that he had achieved the target of identifying 3,000 pieces of regulation, including health and safety to be scrapped or improved.

Sept 2011 - HSE Infoline is shut down (September 2011) by HSE/Government Minister and all HSE Telephone Numbers are removed from the HSE website.

Nov 2011 - Tory appointed Professor Ragnar Lofstedt's Report (Nov 2011) - ‘Reclaiming health and safety for all’ – concludes much to the shock of the Tory/Lib.dem Government that; ‘There is No Need For Radical Change to the UK's Health and Safety System’ BUT the Tory led Coalition Government use the report to pave the way for the Government to announce:-
- There would be no new UK health and safety laws - only those from Europe but with the UK Government opposing everything progressive proposed and no 'gold plating' or improving of EU directives when transposing into UK Regulations.
- The UK Government would call for an EU deregulation programme.
- There would be a ‘One in, one out' and the UK Government would only introduce a new Health and Safety law or Regulation if one or two of the existing Laws/Regulations were removed under the new ‘Sunset’ clause.
- No new ‘burdens’ on Small and Medium Enterprises for 3 years - (HSE and Local Authorities were to be told to leave them alone regarding health and safety etc - A New 'light touch' approach would be adopted).

April 2012 - Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) has been changed three times by the HSE under Coalition Government direction. This has a negative effect on the information available and makes the statistics look better for Government and HSE. Sept 2011 the reporting mechanism changed. In April 2012 the reporting threshold for non-fatal injuries to workers changed from over-3-days’ incapacitation to over-7-days’ reducing the number reported by a third. In October 2013, RIDDOR was substantively changed again affecting many of the RIDDOR statistics for the latest year (2013/14) and onwards.

May 2012 - Tory appointed businessman Adam Beechcroft Report (May 2012) - Despite the UK having the lowest level of employment regulation in the developed world, the Tory led Coalition declare we are over-regulated and call in Beechcroft. Recommendations include; Lowering protection for vulnerable Agency workers, cuts in Legal Aid, introduction of charges for workers going to Employment Tribunals (up to £1200), caps on ET awards, a proposal for employers to have the power to make “no-fault dismissals”, which was branded “firing at will”. Small companies to be exempted from seven employment regulations.

May 2012 - Social Responsibility and Heroism Bill announced May 2012 (Became Act Feb 2015) so called Good Samaritan law introduced on basis of arguments which the Government had admitted was a myth! Legal profession conclude its effect will be very limited. Government’s own official impact assessment for SARAH admits there is likely to be little impact. Criminal liabilities for breach of health and safety law unaffected.
Alternatives to Regulation pushed by Coalition Government - Responsibility Pledges, Self-Regulation and 'Earned Autonomy' promoted rather than legal compliance and enforcement.

Oct 2012 the Coalition Government Attacked Union and Safety Rep paid time off facility time in both central and local Government, aided and abetted by right wing pressure groups, such as the Taxpayer’s Alliance, and in Parliament by the Trade Union Reform Campaign, chaired by the Tory MP Aidan Burley. An arbitrary 50% cut across the board was announced by Tory Francis Maude Minister for the Cabinet Office. The Government's ideological attack on facility time chose to ignore the benefits that facility time brings.

April 2013 - Two Health and Safety Acts and 20 sets of Health and Safety Regulations repealed by Coalition Government (April 2013).  Approved Codes of Practice (ACoP) reviewed- including downgrading the Management Regulation ACoPs to guidance. Large swathes of HSE Legal Guidance removed or watered down.

April 2013 - Enterprise & Regulatory Reform Act (April 2013) - S47 of Health and Safety At Work Act amended - removing 'Strict' - Civil Liability from health and safety legislation making if far more difficult for injured workers to obtain compensation and easier for employers to escape prosecution and civil claims on the basis of having done all that was reasonable - so weakening employer’s safety law compliance requirements and lowering associated costs.

April 2013 - Government attack traditional 'tripartite' make-up of the HSE Board when they step in and block the traditional TUC nominee to fill one of the three Trade Union seats, Matt Wrack, FBU General Secretary. Instead they appointed a Senior Management, Civil Service Commissioner, retired Trade Unionist Jonathon Baume who did not have the backing of his own Union.

Jan 2014 - Tory appointed Martin Temple from the EEF (Engineering Employer’s Federation) appointed to undertake the Independent Triennial Review of HSE with ‘abolition of the HSE’ as one of the options! Publishes his report, concluding the HSE and its tripartite board should continue as now. However the Government welcomed the report but ignored it.

July 2014 Government gives the green light for HSE to begin developing commercial revenue streams, including a paid-for inspection service, stating that Government would “go further” than recommended in the Temple Triennial HSE Review. There was a complete failure to mention improving workers’ safety.

Aug 2014 - Dr. Richard Judge from the Government's Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science body is appointed HSE CEO.

Oct 2014 - New Government "Fit For Work" Service announced to help get sick workers back to work.

March 2015 - A ‘Growth Duty’ is placed on the HSE and other non-financial regulators by the Deregulation Act (March 2015) binding the enforcement body to have regard to the desirability of promoting economic growth when performing their duty of law enforcement and to ensure action is taken only when needed, and it's proportionate.

March 2015 - Deregulation Act (March 2015) removes Self-Employed workers from the Health and Safety at Work Act unless on a prescribed list.
Coalition continues to push for EU wide Deregulation.

March 2015 - Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) threatens to reduce workplace, environment and health and safety standards, over-riding democracy with corporate, business and trade interests.


 "CWU Protect Health & Safety Campaign" - Health & Safety Election Manifesto:

In line with CWU Conference Polices carried since 2010 and TUC Congress Policies, supported by the CWU during the same period, the CWU Health, Safety & Environment Department has and will continue to campaign to protect, restore and improve health and safety at work in all areas. The result of the UK General Election on 7 May 2015 was disastrous for Workers, Unions and Health and Safety. The CWU Health, Safety and Environment Department had been campaigning hard within the Labour party in a bid to ensure that the attacks on Health and Safety (H&S) by the Tory/Lib.Dem Government were reversed by an incoming Labour administration and good progress had been made in that regard with firm manifesto commitments given to Trade Unions. However that is now academic and the Unions face another five tough years defending health and safety as best we can. The TUC (Union Health and Safety Specialist Committee) has already commenced the debate regarding strategy.

The Communication Workers Union Health, Safety & Environment Department manifesto which was developed and discussed with the Labour Party shadow Health and Safety Minister and his team contained the following demands:-
 
All workplaces should be inspected regularly by the enforcing authority.
There should be revised regulations on safety representatives and safety committees to increase coverage and effectiveness.
Occupational health should have the same priority as injury prevention.
There should be a new, legally binding dust standard.
Exposure to carcinogens in the workplace must be removed.
There should be a law governing a maximum temperature in the workplace.
There should be increased protection for vulnerable and atypical workers.
There should be a legal duty on directors.
Health and safety to be a significant factor in all public sector procurement.
The UK Government should adopt, and comply with, all health and safety conventions from the International Labour Organisation.
There should be an improved approach to occupational road risk with all ‘at work’ road traffic accidents to be reportable under RIDDOR.
To revoke the changes made to RIDDOR by the coalition Government.
To increase the legal minimum tyre depth tread for commercial vehicles to improve road safety.
To reverse the negative changes to health and safety in the UK introduced by the Government in response to the Young and Lofstedt reports.
To revise the Mesothelioma Act, extend the compensation arrangements and to introduce further medical research into the disease.
To introduce regulations to control the growing problem of work related stress.
To introduce strengthened and consistent enforcement of the amended Dangerous Dogs Act and to introduce Dog Control Notices (DCNs).
To introduce new regulations for an approved code of practice to protect outdoor workers from the growing risk of skin cancer as a result of sunlight exposure at work.
To introduce protection for ageing workers.

Yours sincerely
 

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer