Drive to increase worker involvement in safety
September 1st 2009 The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is using its presence at September’s TUC conference in Liverpool to promote plans to get more employees involved in health and safety where they work.
HSE research suggests that involving workers has a positive effect on health and safety performance, and there is strong evidence that unionised workplaces with health and safety representatives are safer and healthier as a result.
Accident rates in workplaces where employees genuinely feel they have a say in health and safety matters are 14 per cent, compared to a significantly higher rate of 26 per cent in workplaces where employees are not involved. The TUC plans to recruit more safety representatives from a range of industries – a move supported by HSE.
Increasing worker involvement in both unionised and nonunionised workplaces is a key principle of HSE’s new strategy. It envisages management and the workforce sharing concerns, ideas and solutions through their involvement in joint training, inspections, investigations and risk assessments.
HSE is working on the next phase of a campaign to promote the benefits of worker involvement and increase the numbers actively involved in health and safety in the workplace. HSE is set to deliver a package of new subsidised training initiatives, including a new joint training course for managers and health and safety representatives. More articles from HSM News Desk: | 
