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Gender equality
Practice meets perfect
May/June 2023 issue

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Challenging the misuse of safety for political ends

Open-access content Wednesday 28th June 2017
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

As a result of the lack of a working majority for any party, we have entered a period of political uncertainty.

Without wishing to sound parochial at a time when the future of the National Health Service, provision of decent housing for young people and many other crucial issues are on the agenda, the impact of big politics on how we pursue safer and healthier workplaces is worthy of consideration.

Politics has always affected how we work. The fundamental change in safety and health law in the UK in the 1970s was introduced by a Labour government implementing a report commissioned by the previous Conservative administration. It was with all-party support that the bill that became the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 passed through parliament.

This was a period in which "one-nation" conservatism and a pragmatic social democracy operated in tandem, as they had done in developing and strengthening the welfare state for three decades from the end of the second world war.

In recent years, the banking crash, the period of austerity that followed, and the economic squeezing of the "just about managing" have fractured such informal partnerships, not just in the UK but in the US and elsewhere.

Politicians of all stripes have been known to abuse as well as use safety and health for their own ends

That is the background to the repeated challenge to remove burdens on business, to cut red tape, to reduce the legislative burden. But that drive is surely on hold for a while -- because no group or faction is in control.

Of course, politicians of all stripes have been known to abuse as well as use safety and health for their own ends. I was reminded of this when discussing an event called Palestine Expo being held this month in London. There are people who are opposed to Palestinians organising and speaking together. Some of those who may have legitimate reasons to oppose Palestinian self-determination cited safety and health concerns in calls to cancel the event.

Safety and health considerations are valid for defining the levels of stewarding, security, access and egress and ticketing arrangements, but should not be a smokescreen for an attempted political ban.

We should always be on the lookout for abuse of our legitimate work to reduce accidents and ill-health, by politicians or anyone else.

But politics and safety and health appear inseparable at the moment. The media chatterers suggest that we are aiming for a softer rather than a harder Brexit, that more of the EU approach will be embodied in the UK's future strategy than was envisioned before the election.

This may mean that our health and safety legal framework, even the existence of a non-privatised and properly funded Health and Safety Executive, is safer than before.

These and other issues will be debated in a special session at the IOSH conference in November, live and online, and we are hoping that we will hear the voice of professionals who believe that, rather than a burden on business, good safety and health management is an enabler of better performance.

You may also be interested in...

 After Grenfell Tower we must short circuit the cycle of deregulation and disaster

Tuesday 27th June 2017
In preparation for the change, the head of safety at a university took his freshly drawn-up set of fire risk assessments to his local fire authority, which previously had the task of certifying the premises, and asked if an officer familiar with the campus would give an informal opinion on whether they were sufficient or needed more work.When reminded that it was no longer the fire service’s job, the OSH head persisted until the officer told him: “If you have a fire and we prosecute you afterwards, then you’ll know your assessment wasn’t good enough.”
Open-access content

 How the gig economy brings responsibility to both sides

Wednesday 26th July 2017
As the Gig Guide feature (IOSH Magazine August 2017 issue) shows, in disrupting the markets in which they operate, companies such as Uber and Deliveroo are asking questions of the safety and health profession.Their workers are choosing flexibility and short-term contracts and this creates a fluidity in workforces that tests traditional methods of risk management.
Open-access content

 Threats to the social settlement underpinning OSH law

Tuesday 21st February 2017
Environmentalists are fearful of the implications of the UK leaving the EU and potentially weakening environmental protection. They also despair of President Trump’s denial of climate change and appointments of representatives of “big oil” to key positions. Safety in the workplace may not be immune from these influences.
Open-access content

 The balance of labour regulation and business flexibility post-Brexit

Tuesday 22nd November 2016
They pointed out their administrations had been responsible for enacting Britain’s first UK safety and health statute: the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act 1902. They also claimed credit for successive factories acts and for drafting the Health and Safety at Work Act in the early 1970s – though it was passed into law by a Labour government.
Open-access content

 Health budgets may need defending post Brexit decision

Monday 26th September 2016
They revealed there was no decline in domestic spending in the British economy after the vote to leave the European Union in June. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has now rowed back slightly on its pessimism about the initial impact of the Brexit decision, upgrading its UK growth forecast to 1.8% for 2016. Share prices are buoyant and the pound’s post-referendum slide against the dollar has stopped. So far, so good; those who predicted an immediate economic tumble after the referendum have been wrongfooted.
Open-access content

 What the first fruits of Brexit might mean

Sunday 24th July 2016
The effects on inward investment, the balance of trade with Europe and the rest of the world and overall economic growth rates are almost impossible to predict as they will be influenced by too many variables. But there were a few immediate repercussions. One of these was the change of prime minister midway through  last month, followed by changes at the top of most ministries.
Open-access content
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