Health & Safety Update (September 2010)
TUC report highlights importance of workplace health
and safety
A new Trade Union Congress (TUC) report published today, Tuesday
7 September, highlights the importance of health and safety in the
workplace following revelations that 20,000 people are killed as a
result of their work every year.
'The Case for Health and Safety' report contests claims that the
workplace is now safer than ever and that H&S regulations
should be reduced.
The report found that many victims die early as a result of
exposure to chemicals or fumes at work and many are killed in work
accidents. It also revealed that 1.2 million working people in the
UK believe they are suffering from a work-related illness, such as
heart disease, stress or depression.
While the TUC does agree that workplace incidents are falling,
it emphasises that employees still face dangerous hazards, diseases
and illnesses at work.
Thus, the body is calling upon the government to ignore calls to
reduce regulation and enforcement of H&S rules and to appoint a
Government 'tsar' to champion the issue.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said, "For those who are
made ill or injured at work and for the relatives of those who have
died as a result of their work, health and safety is no joke.
"Regulation works, as long as it is enforced, and it saves lives
and prevents the contraction of unnecessary illnesses. That is why
the UK continues to need strong regulation and enforcement.
"Every one of the 20,000 annual workplace-related deaths could
have been prevented and if the level of HSE and local authority
funding is cut, the effects will be even more catastrophic," he
added.