Unions pledge to fight HSE cuts

Health & Safety update 05/10/2011

Delegates at the TUC Congress have unanimously supported a motion condemning the cuts to the HSE's budget and warning to fight any "watering-down of health and safety" imposed through the Government's reform agenda. They are concerned about the 35% budget cut and the potential impact that this reduction will have on the Executive's capability to regulate worker safety.

Unions point out that the cuts to the HSE's budget come at a time when long-standing financial pressures have already impacted heavily on the organisation's enforcement activities.

According to Paula Brown, vice-president of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), who spoke at the Congress, HSE inspections have plummeted in the last decade – from 75,272 inspections in 1999/2000 to just over 23,000 in 2008/09.  She also stated that there are falling HSE Inspector numbers- 4,282 in 2004, which dropped to 2,995, as of July this year.

It also raised fears that the Löfstedt Review will result in safety laws being scrapped "in the name of cutting red tape."

In tabling the motion, Dennis Doody, a member of UCATT's Executive Council, said: "It is a fundamental right to be safe at work. This Government is destroying that right. The vast majority of workplace accidents are easily preventable. Government policies will increase accidents."

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