re-educate ourselves

Re-educate ourselves• Health and safety needs to be a far higher union priority at this

time…

• …as we have not ‘cracked it’; it has not ‘gone off the radar’, and the current political changes are not being sufficiently challenged

• Indeed, much of what is happening is occurring with little scrutiny, and much right wing applause

• We have to act now to stop further damage being inflicted through the back door

How do we do this?• Use the real figures and give a clear picture

• Workplace meetings

• Branch meetings

• Union Congresses and motions

• TUC, Labour Party and beyond

Sparks Dispute

Dave Smith

GMB Carillion Strike

Asda Distribution

• Longstanding dispute over health effects of upping pick rate

• Made pay negotiations conditional on long-term HSL OH study

• Used issue to improve worker involvement, generate momentum and develop joint ways of working

Safeguard Objectives

• Tackling work-related violence against Security Officers (not CVIT)

• Ensuring proper sick pay and IOD schemes• Encouraging robust reporting and thorough

root cause analysis of incidents• Sharing the learning and developing best

practice• Encouraging security companies and their

clients to work together to tackle these issues

Background: The Job• Peripatetic workforce

• Retail Sites• Job Centres• Shopping Centres• Warehouses• Docks• Government Buildings• High Security Installations

• Little to no co-operation between client and security company on H&S arrangements

Background: The issues

• Lack of reporting• Lack of IOD or sick payments• Failure to investigate incidents properly• Failure to apply lessons from one incident to next• Attacks treated as crimes, rather than h&s failures

Background: The workers

• Overwhelmingly male workforce• Typically either ex-Military or Police forces, or

Migrant Workers• Literacy and comprehension issues• Macho culture and tolerance of violence as

“part of the job”• Worker involvement almost non-existent