Politicians should not treat 246,000 workplace injuries a year lightly, says TUC
December 1st 2009 The TUC has called for political parties not to undermine the consensus over health and safety in the run up to the general election.
The call follows reports that David Cameron will call for a review of the ‘strait-jacket of health and safety rules’ and quote a number of newspaper headlines that perpetuate the myth that there is too much regulation in the UK.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “None of the cases mentioned relate to health and safety regulation – they are either distortions of the facts or misunderstandings. People expect political parties to develop policies based on facts, not on half-truths and myths culled from newspaper headlines.
“The idea that employers are being over-zealous in their application of health and safety regulation is simply not true. The reality is exactly the opposite – last year 246,000 people were injured at work. Neither does the UK have an excess of regulation – there were more than twice as many health and safety regulations and laws 35 years ago than there are now. Today’s safety laws are generally simpler and easier to understand.
“Since the Health and Safety at Work Act was passed in 1974 the UK has seen disasters such as Piper Alpha, the Herald of Free Enterprise and Morecambe Bay. Occupational cancers still kill between 10 and 20,000 people every year and around 1.2 million people suffer from ill-health at work.
“Health risks need to be identified and dealt with so that workers and the public are protected. While some organisations use health and safety as an excuse not to do something, and others misinterpret the law, the Health and Safety Executive has tirelessly campaigned to ensure that employers address the real risks at work, rather than concentrate on the trivial.”
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