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May/June 2023 issue

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Sector: Central government
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TUC attacks HSE board appointment

Open-access content Wednesday 7th September 2016
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

hse-logo-hero_

The Department for Work and Pensions has appointed Susan Johnson, former chief executive of the Durham and Northern Business Forum, and previously a director of the food retailer Greggs, to the HSE board in one of three positions that have been reserved before for TUC nominees.

The tripartite structure of the HSE board (formerly the Health and Safety Commission), representing employee, employer and government interests, was provided for in the Health and Safety at Work Act. Section 2(3)(b) in Schedule 2 of the Act says the secretary of state "shall appoint three members after consulting such organisations representing employees as he considers appropriate".

A similar clause provides for three employer representatives among the total of up to 11 members.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady attacked the appointment saying: "The government cannot appoint an employer to represent workers. It's a blatant abuse of rules that are there to ensure a fair balance between workers and bosses.

"The HSE works best when employers and unions work together as equal partners, as intended by the Health and Safety at Work Act. By rejecting the consensus approach, the government is sending out a dangerous signal to bad bosses who put staff at risk by cutting corners."

Johnson is a non-executive director of the Sports Ground Safety Authority and a commissioner with the Equality and Human Rights Commission. She replaces Sir Paul Kenny, former general secretary of the GMB general union, who leaves the board at the end of September. The two remaining employee representative members of the board are Jonathan Baume, former general secretary of the FDA civil service union and Kevin Rowan, head of organisation and services at the TUC. Baume's appointment in 2013 was also criticised by the TUC as it was made despite the congress's recommendation of another candidate, Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack.

In the first triennial review for the government of the HSE's work and functions in 2014, Martin Temple, since appointed as HSE chair, said the board needed a broader range of skills to help steer the regulator. Temple recommended a relaxation in the fixed numbers of employer and employee representatives if the DWP found it was "not possible to achieve the appropriate balance of skills/competences and required experience/background of HSE Board members and retain the current statutorily specified number of board members."

The government's response said it did not see a need to change the prescribed numbers of representatives, but the TUC argued that it has effectively done so now by appointing Johnson to one of the employee representative positions and that the decision "upsets the statutory balance of representation between workers and employers on the HSE board".

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 TUC and ex-HSE chief criticise board make-up and secrecy

Monday 5th September 2016
Former HSE chief executive Geoffrey Podger has added to the criticism by accusing the board of “hiding” in closed-session meetings.
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 Rise in fire deaths bucks long-term trend

Wednesday 31st August 2016
Data published by the Home Office, Fire Statistics Monitor: April 2015 to March 2016, showed that 303 people had died in fires in England during the period covered, 15% more than in 2014-15.The report says the number of deaths bucked a broadly long-term downward trend. But, despite the rise, the figure for 2015-16 is 22% less than ten years ago, 46% less than 20 years ago and 61% less than 30 years ago.
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 Balfour Beatty sets aside £25m for OSH penalties

Tuesday 23rd August 2016
The sentencing guidelines have elevated penalties for OSH regulatory breaches and corporate manslaughter offences. Since their introduction on 1 February this year, there have been as many £1m-plus penalties as there were in the previous 20 years.  In May, one of the group’s divisions, Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions, was fined £2.6m after an unshored trench collapsed on a worker, fatally crushing him.
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 Brexit should not trigger OSH law review, says EEF

Monday 26th September 2016
The entire “acquis” of OSH legislation made under the EU framework directive should be transposed wholesale into UK statute, says the EEF.
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 Ejector seat maker faces prosecution over death of Red Arrows pilot

Tuesday 27th September 2016
Flt Lt Sean Cunningham, 35, was carrying out pre-flight checks of his Hawk TMk1 XX177 jet while stationary on the Royal Air Force Scampton airbase in Lincolnshire. But the ejector seat accidentally fired, sending the pilot into the air. The parachute did not deploy and he fell to the ground still in his seat. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has told Martin Baker Aircraft that it will be prosecuted over the incident on 8 November 2011.
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 Crown censure for MoD over death of 21-year-old soldier

Friday 30th September 2016
Fusilier Dean Griffiths, 21, died from a gunshot wound in the neck during a live training exercise at Lydd Ranges military firing range in Kent on 14 September 2011. The exercise required troops to enter a compound that had been designed to simulate the type of building they would encounter in Afghanistan. They were divided into two groups: an assault group to enter and secure the site, and a fire support group to provide cover.
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