health and safety
HAZARDS CONFERENCE 18TH-20TH JULY 2008
Unison /Hazards conference report
The Hazards Campaign is made up from advice centers, victim support groups, local and national campaigns, other sources of information and support The Hazards Campaign is a national network established in 1988, financed by donations from supporting groups and individuals. It draws together Hazards Centre’s, Occupational Health Projects, health and safety groups and Trades Union Councils' Safety Committees, specific campaigns and individual health and safety activists. Specific campaign groups include the Construction Safety Campaign, bereaved relatives groups, asbestos support groups, RSI support groups, pesticide sufferers groups, campaigns against hazards affecting black and ethnic minority groups and toxic waste groups.
The campaign works by: sharing information and skills; campaigning on specific issues; acting as a national voice; issuing press releases; holding conferences; establishing national initiatives, including Workers Memorial Day; lobbying MPs, MEPs and statutory bodies. The Campaign organises the annual Hazards Conference and holds meetings about five times a year which are open to anyone sharing the aims of the campaign.
This year’s campaign took place at Keele University, within beautiful grounds and buildings. The theme was “workers strategies for healthy workplaces” and the opening plenary sessions outlined the message of sensible health and safety through a visual performance play by a visiting theatre company on the subject of “death at work”. The performance was followed by a very moving speech by one of the keynote speakers, Michael Lees, who is an active campaigner on the dangers of Asbestos in primary schools, after the death of his wife from asbestos related disease.
A DVD and speech was made about the Campaign for justice for Simon Jones who was killed whilst undertaking his work with little training and without any regard for his safety or the safety of his fellow workers. Simon Jones Memorial Campaign information can be found by using the attached link.
F.a.c.k. won the Alan Award which is presented to the campaigners showing commitment and Endeavour in searching for justice. Families Against Corporate Killing are a group of bereaved parents, families and partners campaigning to bring the managers of large corporations to justice, who have blatantly disregarded Health and Safety legislation, and have systematically failed the families of workers killed whilst at work.FACK - Families against corporate killers
Over the Saturday sessions debates took place on topics close to all the Delegates hearts and minds, and I attended a very lively debate on the topic of” Elf and Safety gorn mad-reclaiming the brand,” This amusing title was looking at all the tabloid headlines that do much damage to the serious side of Health and safety not only in the workplace but also out there in the community. Other debates included” work at any price” and “The black approach-the way forward for occupational health”
Headlines such as “conkers are banned in schools”,”Firemans poles are banned in stations” do not take account of the actual facts of the situation and seem to bend the subject matter to sell papers. Rubbishing the phrase “Health and Safety “weights the publics perception of the excellent Campaigning and work that the unions and safety reps do to reduce deaths in the workplace, with figures from the HSE not actually reflecting the true statistics of 1,500 deaths from work based illnesss, accidents and diseases each year, it is time to take back the impetus and have Health and Safety clearly back where it belongs, saving lives, preventing accidents, and enforcing current legislation so that employers put the protection of their workforce before profit margins.
Excellent sessions over the course of the weekend looked at risk assessment for stress, Asbestos in the workplace, absence monitoring, organizing for health and safety and many more sessions run across the weekend give the Safety reps the tools and knowledge necessary to represent the members in the workplace. Finding other unison Delegates with the same fervor and passion was very refreshing, as this was my first hazards conference and I didn’t really know what to expect. Unisons stand had a wealth of interesting and thought provoking information and campaign material, and stood proud amongst the rest of the union’s stalls.
UNISON STALL WITH BANNERS AND LITERATURE.
Fringe meetings were also set up for delegates to attend in between the workshop sessions and the “Saturday evening social at the magnificent Keele Hall. I attended the meeting relating to climate change and global warming, which provoked and immense amount of debates and feeling, and all agreed that there is not enough being done by multi national companies to cut carbon emissions, with the opinion that these companies rely on growth and bigger percentage profits, before looking at the devastating impact this has on the planet.
Networking with fellow Unison Safety Reps was invaluable and many new friendships were made over the course of the weekend. It is important to be buoyed up with enthusiasm and to continue to strive to make the workplace safer, with the help of the employer through meaningful negotiation, consultation and through strengthening relationships between the unions and the management. Next Year the Hazards conference will be back at Manchester after refurbishment of the facilities, and it is only through active and prolonged fight as it has shown through the years that major advances on securing safer workplaces can be achieved.
Download the Hazards campaign charter document
Lawrence Wilson
Unison health and Safety representative.
