Health and Safety Reps Charter

Transcription

1 Health and Safety Reps Charter

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3 UNIONS MAKE US SAFER It is a long-standing RMT demand that its members are entitled to work in safety without having their health damaged or safety compromised. All our experience tells us that the only way to begin to realise that demand is to have well-organised workplaces which, as well as winning decent wages, conditions, pensions, and sufficient time off, achieve a safe and healthy working environment through well-structured health and safety procedures, proper facility time and resources for Health and Safety Reps, and proper investment in safe and efficient plant and machinery. As trade unionists we have learned that we can never rely entirely on the law to protect us not least when we have a right-wing government intent on weakening health and safety legislation. But where we can we should use the law to protect us, and one weapon we do have is the protection provided to RMT health and safety reps by the Safety Representatives and Safety Committee (SRSC) Regulations, or Brown Book. RMT is committed to developing support for its health and safety reps, and this Charter has been produced as a result of a decision of RMT s Council of Executives responding to RMT s 2010 National Health and Safety Conference. The Charter is designed to support and assist accredited H&S reps in the workplace and I hope that it will be a useful tool in making workplaces safer places. This charter should be read in conjunction with the RMT Health and Safety Handbook, which contains details of the more common legal requirements relative to health and safety in the workplace. As with all RMT publications, the feedback from those who use it will help us improve future editions, so please do not hesitate to let me know how it can be improved. Yours sincerely General Secretary 3

4 UNION WORKPLACES ARE SAFER WORKPLACES TUC RESEARCH on the impact of health and safety reps in the workplace has underlined that union workplaces are safer workplaces, and that, among many other things, trade union safety reps: help reduce injuries at work help reduce levels of ill-health caused by work encourage greater reporting of injuries and near-misses help create a more confident workforce RMT STRIVES TO ENSURE THAT HEALTH AND SAFETY REPS: have their rights respected promote safety culture are trained and supported by the union develop and promote strong union organisation at the workplace help reduce injuries and occupational disease at work receive paid time away from normal duties to carry out their functions campaign for continuous improvement in their rights and safety at the workplace 4

5 SAFETY REPS HAVE RIGHTS Detailed legislation that lays out health & safety rights can be found in the RMT Health & Safety Handbook. In summary, the primary legal rights of health and safety reps is found in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and the Safety Representatives & Safety Committees Regulations 1977: Recognised trade unions have the legal right to appoint workplace health and safety reps Those reps have a number of rights. H&S reps have a legal right to information about accidents and must be given it. H&S reps have the right to the necessary time off from work to perform their duties. Some shipping companies make slightly different provisions for health & safety reps, details of which can be found in the RMT Maritime Health & Safety Handbook. Further legislation exists in the Employment Rights Acts 1996 (section 27) that protects H&S reps from suffering detriment for carrying out their functions. This legislation covers all UK employees, including offshore workers and seafarers on UK-flagged ships, or ships within UK waters. If you suspect your rights are being breached contact your branch or regional office for legal assistance. H&S REPS FUNCTIONS. Under the Safety Representatives & Safety Committees Regulations H&S reps have a number of functions which are essential in ensuring safe and healthy workplaces: investigation of complaints relating to health, safety or welfare at work; investigation of potential hazards and dangerous occurrences and to examine the cause of accidents at the workplace; making representations to management about health hazards, accidents and dangerous occurrences, and raising with them any matter of concern relating to health, safety or welfare at work; carrying out inspections of the workplace and receiving information from inspectors; consulting with inspectors from the relevant enforcing authority regarding any information acquired by inspectors in the course of their activities, or action that they have taken or propose to take against their employer; attending safety committee meetings, and 5

6 assisting in the promotion, development and maintenance of effective measures designed to safeguard the health and safety of the employees they represent. Safety representatives are legally entitled to inspect records of accidents that employers have to keep under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR). THE HSE WEBSITE STATES: Employers have a responsibility to provide information to all workers that will enable them to participate fully and effectively in any consultation about their health and safety H&S reps must be given information necessary for them to fulfil their function, for example: Proposed changes to current working practices which may affect the health and safety at work of their employees Technical information about hazards to health and safety and the necessary precautions to stop or minimise them Information on equipment, materials or substances The results of any action taken by the employer in the course of checking the effectiveness of their health and safety arrangements. RMT H&S reps do not have any legal duties or responsibilities for health and safety beyond those that exist for all employees. The legal liability for worker health, safety & welfare rests with the employer. H&S reps therefore cannot be held legally responsible for failing to carry out their functions. 6

7 SAFETY CULTURE One of the functions of H&S reps is to assist in the promotion, development and maintenance of effective measures designed to safeguard the health and safety of the employees they represent. Positive safety cultures are encouraged where there are effective joint safety committees, and where health and safety reps are active in the workplace, ensuring union safety notice boards are prominently displayed that contain up to date information. Information on hazards and what is being done to mitigate them should be covered by risk assessments, copies of which should be made available to all staff that the hazards could potentially affect. Positive safety cultures exist where H&S reps interact with the members they represent and provide an effective link between workers and employers. H&S reps should meet regularly with members and, where possible, attend branch meetings to discuss members concerns and report back on workplace issues. Effective tools for finding out about members' health and safety concerns in the workplace include 'body mapping' and surveys. Further details of these tools can be found on the health and safety pages of the TUC website. Ian Prosser, the chief inspector of railways and director of railway safety at the Office of Rail Regulation, has said that excellence in business goes hand in hand with excellence in health & safety and that union H&S reps are a key component of an excellent safety culture. TRAINING AND SUPPORT RMT is fully committed to supporting its H&S reps: By sending a welcome pack to all newly appointed reps With personal issue RMT H&S handbooks and accreditation ID Card By arranging a full range of specialised health and safety reps training Offering advice, information and support on a local level via the branch, on a regional level via their regional office and Regional Organiser and from Head Office via the RMT Health & Safety section. With dedicated H&S pages on the RMT website where various invaluable resources are held as well as access to many publications: Via discussion groups on the RMT Junction social networking website: In addition RMT subscribes to many specialist occupational health and safety journals and websites and can access information for RMT reps, where appropriate by contacting Inspectors from regulatory authorities 7

8 RMT H&S reps must, where possible, attend meetings of their local RMT branch (which is the only body entitled to nominate them) to report back to members. RMT branches can also send delegates to RMT s National Health and Safety Conference and to Hazards Conference. H&S reps are entitled to paid time away from work to take part in any training as is reasonable. RMT expects H&S reps to undergo as much training as they feel they require but we would advocate as a minimum TUC Stages I and II. RMT offers full legal support to health and safety reps whose management deny them their rights to health and safety training. The TUC runs a full range of health and safety training courses for new and advanced reps. Some regional colleges (for example in Glasgow) have adapted the basic TUC Stage I H&S course to include legislation that is specific to the maritime sector. RMT supplements the education programme provided by the TUC with a number of advanced health and safety courses designed by the union with regard to the scope of our membership and the industries in which we organise. We have also developed (and are continuing to do) some industry specific courses to meet the needs of all reps across the various sectors that we organise in. In recent years the RMT has additionally committed to providing every delegate to the National Health and Safety Advisory Conference a training course around the selected theme of the Conference. Topics covered have included Accident Investigation, Fatigue and Occupational Health. Employers need to understand that all of the health and safety training provided by the TUC and RMT is free to RMT reps. This ensures that employers have within their organisations reps who have an excellent understanding of H&S legislation and of the hazards within the workplace and the knowledge and experience in how to mitigate them. They can identify potential hazards before they become an accident and/or result in injury. 8

9 ORGANISATION While trade unions appoint H&S reps, the constituencies they cover should be a matter of agreement between the union and employers. The constituency should take into account the number of workers at a particular site, the shifts worked, the variety of different occupations and the type of work activity and the degree of danger that may exist in the workplace. The vast majority of RMT members do not work in one fixed location or on one fixed shift and it is vitally important that they have easy access to the rep responsible for them. It is therefore crucial that they can get to speak to their rep on health and safety matters. This is why RMT s network of 240 local branches is so important. Every RMT member is automatically a member of a local branch. RMT branches are responsible for electing nominees for H&S reps appointed by the union. Only recognised unions are entitled to appoint H&S reps. This prevents unrepresentative individuals being appointed by the employer, or by organisations that do not represent workers interests. RMT s policy is that H&S reps should attend their branch meetings where possible and make reports on workplace issues. RMT H&S reps must stand for election at their branch at least every three years. 9

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11 As a minimum RMT believes that there should be one H&S rep for each workplace/grade but there will be many workplaces that need a higher level of representation. It should also be remembered that employers can be forced to establish a safety committee, under the SRSC Regulations, if two safety reps make a request to the employer in writing. For seafaring members the arrangements are slightly different as health and safety reps are appointed by the company, and the Captain remains the person responsible for the health and safety of all the ship s crew. Refer to your RMT Maritime Health & Safety Handbook for full details. REDUCING INJURIES AND OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE AT WORK By exercising their functions H&S reps have a positive effect on the levels of accidents and occupational ill health at work. A number of research studies have proved this to be the case. In 1995 a study found that those employers who had trade-union health and safety committees had half the injury rate of those employers who managed safety without unions or joint arrangements. In 1998 a further study confirmed that unions gravitate towards accident-prone workplaces and react by reducing injury rates. This study showed that where there is a union presence the workplace injury rate is 24 per cent lower than where there is no union presence. In 2000 a study found that The proportion of employees who are trade-union members has a positive and significant association on both injury and illness rates. It went on to say that the arrangements associated with trade unions... lower the odds of injury and illness when compared with arrangements that merely inform employees of occupational health & safety issues'. However it is not only academic research that points to the union effect. The Health and Safety Executive has produced a declaration on worker involvement that states that trade union safety representatives, through their empowered role for purposes of consultation, often lead to higher levels of compliance and better health and safety performance than in non trade union systems. We recognise this, support the invaluable contribution they continue to make to health and safety and want dialogue between us to continue and where possible expand into new areas. 11

12 TIME OFF RMT has over 1,500 H&S reps representing 80,000 members across the industries in which it organises. RMT reps are located up and down the country, on off-shore installations around the globe and out at sea. Many of these are unpaid volunteers and far too many are taking their workplace issues home with them. RMT will support any H&S rep who fails to get time away from normal duties to undertake his or her functions. One of the ground-breaking cases considered by the courts which established the right of H&S reps to undertake TUC Stage II training was RMT member Denys Rama, who was told initially that he would be given paid leave to attend a TUC stage II health and safety course. His employer, South West Trains, later withdrew the offer so Denys attended the course in his own time. Supported by the union, Denys claimed for loss of earnings at a tribunal. 12

13 The tribunal found in favour of the employer, saying that stage II training was not necessary for the rep to be able to perform his functions. However, an RMTbacked appeal overruled this judgment. It said the original tribunal had misinterpreted the law in placing the emphasis on what the employer felt to be necessary rather than what was reasonable. Further case law has been developed since that now gives H&S reps the legal right to attend further advanced training. CAMPAIGNING RMT H&S reps clearly make a difference in the workplace, and ensuring that RMT members return home safely at the end of their working day is best be achieved by having a well-organised network of reps with the support of the national union. RMT and the wider union movement have made a number of demands for improvements to the existing health and safety structure. The demands call on the enforcing authorities (HSE, ORR, Department for Transport and Local Authorities) for: All employers to be asked how they consult with their workforce A campaign to show employers the value of consultation and remind them of their legal obligations More support for safety representatives from the HSE/ORR/MCA Recognition that the union model is the most effective one in protecting the health and safety of workers Free access to all approved codes of practice and guidance for H&S reps Increased training for HSE and local-authority inspectors on the role and function of safety representatives. Greater enforcement of the consultation regulations Sanctions available against employers who deny H&S reps paid release for training Penalties against employers who victimise H&S reps A new legal duty on employers to respond to issues raised by H&S reps A duty on authorities to react to a complaint from a H&S rep that an employer has not responded adequately A specific requirement for employers to consult H&S reps on risk assessments and controls arising out of them An extension of Regulation 8 to cover other industries with large numbers of short-term, temporary self-employed or freelance workers 13

14 An extension of the ability of H&S reps to act outside their immediate workplace or employer in certain circumstances The right for H&S reps to stop unsafe and dangerous work taking place A legal requirement on all employers with more than 20 employees to have H&S reps and all employers with more than 50 employees to have a safety committee. Continuation of the Workplace Advisors scheme in construction A national worker advisor scheme for SMEs using union-appointed and supported safety representatives 14

15 MAKING AN ACCIDENT OR OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE CLAIM This section is intended to provide some guidance about the types of claims that could be brought by RMT members when health and safety is breached by the employer. It should be noted that under the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations (SRSC) 1977, health and safety reps have a right to investigate notifiable accidents in line with Regulation 6. WHAT TO DO IN THE EVENT OF AN ACCIDENT 1. Carry out an early and thorough investigation into the cause of the accident and where possible assist the member in completing the accident/incident report form 2. Ensure that key witnesses (names and addresses) are recorded and kept. Witnesses can be eye witnesses and also witnesses to previous similar accidents and safe working practices 3. Ensure that the accident is recorded correctly in accident reports. Provide as much information as possible as to what happened. The cause of the accident should be recorded. 4. Locate/retain relevant documents. Examples of relevant documents will be accident report form, risk assessments, RIDDOR form, health and safety minutes, safe system of work documents. 15

16 5. Take photographs if necessary to provide evidence of the cause of the accident, location, relevant equipment etc. 6. The Health and Safety Rep should ensure that the member is immediately referred for free legal advice about making a claim for compensation. 7. The Health and Safety Rep should keep all documentation regarding the member s accident as it is likely that this will be requested by the member s legal advisor at a later stage. The Health and Safety Rep is encouraged to contact the member s legal advisor or Thompsons at the outset. Details of all Thompsons personal injury representatives and the branches they cover are provided in this manual. 8. It should be remembered that some accidents occur outside the member s usual place of employment. These accidents should be treated in exactly the same way. A member may suffer an accident whilst not at work. Such accidents should still be referred for free legal advice using the above procedure. HOW TO MAKE A CLAIM For all accidents that members are involved in, you should encourage members to pursue a claim. This will not only help the injured person to obtain compensation but may also help in persuading your employer to make the workplace safer. RMT - Methods of Making Claim Accident Claim (L1) forms are also available from your local branch office By Telephone call WHAT TYPES OF CLAIM COULD EMPLOYEES BRING? Employees can bring either a claim for an accident at work or, alternatively, could bring a claim for an industrial disease which was caused by their work. An accident claim: the date on which the member had an accident at work is clear and injury resulted A disease claim: a claim where an employee has gradually begun to suffer from symptoms such as a repetitive strain injury or an asbestos related condition WHAT TIME LIMITS APPLY TO CLAIMS? Accidents: the three year time limit starts to run from the date on which the member has the accident. Disease: the three year time limit starts to run from the date on which the member knew or ought to have known that he or she has a significant injury related to his or her employment 16

17 HOW WILL A CLAIM SUCCEED? If there is no legal blame for an accident or condition, then there is no claim. Whether or not there is blame that can be attributed to the employer can be resolved by RMT s solicitors. Members must prove on the balance of probabilities that the accident or injury was more likely than not to be the fault of their employer in order to succeed. WHAT WE NEED TO PROVE TO SUCCEED IN A CLAIM 1. That the employer owes a duty of care to an employee 2. That the employer breached the duty of care 3. That the breach of duty caused the injury 4. That the accident or injury was foreseeable USEFUL ADDRESSES AND PUBLICATIONS RMT TUC The Health and Safety Executive Office of Rail Regulation Maritime and Coastguard Agency - British Standards Thompsons Solicitors Hazards Campaign Labour Research Department - WEBSITES:- BOOKS:- Hazards at Work Organising for Safe and Healthy Workplaces TUC ISBN Redgrave s Health and Safety Michael Ford & Jonathan Clark ISBN Hunters Diseases of Occupation Peter J Baxter and others - ISBN

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19 19 RMT Health and Safety Reps Charter

20 Members Helpline, Freephone February 2012 National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers, Unity House, 39 Chalton Street, London NW1 1JD.