The Scottish Trades Union Congress has condemned proposed job cuts at the Health and Safety Executive(HSE) and expressed fears that any reduction in front line enforcement activity can only put more workers at risk of fatal or serious injury.
Ian Tasker, STUC Assistant Secretary said
“This announcement defies belief and it is unacceptable that the health and safety of workers can be compromised in this way by a Government that starves the Health and Safety Executive of adequate funding and continues to promote a wide reaching and extremely concerning deregulation agenda”.
“The STUC supports Prospect and their campaign to double the amount of frontline inspectors based on the evidence that routine inspections and enforcement lead to safer workplaces. The Government, however, has an unfortunate history of ignoring this evidence and the recommendations of a supposedly influential DWP select committee that looked at this issue in 2004”.
“That report also recommended an increase in frontline inspectors and funding to ensure the targets set for the HSE had a chance of being met. The committee produced an excellent set of recommendations that were glossed over by a Government apparently intent on developing an increasing business agenda in all areas of regulation”.
“We will be writing to the HSE seeking clarification on the impact of these job losses in Scotland and particularly how they relate to frontline inspection activity in Scotland”.
“It is a sad indictment on our society that resources given to workplace health and safety law enforcement are under threat when the figures in Scotland for fatal and major injuries have actually increased”.
“This announcement strikes at the heart of two issues that are core values of the trade union movement, job security and protecting workers safety. We will support Prospect’s campaign to ensure that their members are fully supported and provided with resources to guarantee that adequate and regular enforcement activity remains the cornerstone of our enforcement regime and the increasing drift away from the protection of workers is halted”.
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Note to editor
Links to the report of the DWP and the Scottish Statistics are attached for information
For further information please contact Ian Tasker STUC Assistant Secretary 0141 337 8100 or Steve Kay Prospect HSE Branch Chair 0113 283 4209
