PCS Media release: Building sites, farms and quarries must have safety inspections

PCS Media release: Building sites, farms and quarries must have safety inspections

PCS Media release: Building sites, farms and quarries must have safety inspections

PCS is calling on the government to guarantee that health and safety inspectors will not stop making unannounced visits to building sites, farms, waste disposal plants, quarries, or factories using dangerous machinery.

The union is fighting plans to cut the Health and Safety Executive’s budget by more than a third with hundreds of job losses.

BBC Radio’ File on 4 programme will this evening report a leaked letter from the HSE which outlines plans to withdraw inspections from entire sectors of industry, including some where “significant risk” remains.

According to the BBC website only the chemical, offshore and nuclear industries will be protected from the cuts.

PCS – which represents HSE workers – has seen documents which make it clear that minsters want to “modernise” their approach to enforcing health and safety laws in industries which they acknowledge have comparatively high rates of injury or industrial disease.

This would include construction, agriculture, quarrying, waste and recycling, and some manufacturing.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “The cuts are already biting at the HSE where 200 staff took voluntary severance in February. There are plans to close local offices around the country which will delay responses to requests for inspections and make access to health and safety more difficult for come communities.

“If the government is not prepared to guarantee unannounced inspections in dangerous industries like construction, agriculture, quarrying, waste, and manufacturing they are proving that these cuts are ideological.

“They are putting the lives of working people at risk to satisfy their twin agenda of cutting public spending and helping employers to chase profits without responsibility.

“The only model of health and safety regulation that has worked anywhere in the world is a combination of proactive inspections and enforcement.

“The government must guarantee that unannounced inspections are to continue and that the HSE is going to employ enough inspectors and back-up staff to ensure that the job of protecting working people is done properly.”

ENDS

Notes

– For information and interview requests contact Miles Barter at PCS on 020 7801 2744

– The Public and Commercial Services union represents civil and public servants in central government. It has more than 300,000 members in over 200 departments and agencies, and in parts of government transferred to the private sector. PCS is the UK’s sixth largest union and is affiliated to the TUC. The general secretary is Mark Serwotka and the president is Janice Godrich

– Follow PCS on Twitter