FACK Meet With Head Of Government's Health And Safety Review
Workplace health campaigners, Families Against Corporate Killing (FACK) met the government's reviewer of health and safety legislation, Professor Ragnar Lofstedt, yesterday (25th June) to warn, and provide evidence of, the impact that slashing Health and Safety legislation will have on workplace injuries and deaths.
This is in stark contrast to the fact that Employment Secretary Chris Grayling, who is spear heading the decimation of health and safety legislation, has twice refused to meet with FACK. Indeed despite being literally in the same building as him when meeting Professor Lofstedt, he still frefused to meet with the delegation. This clearly raises fear that the government is only listening to the opinions of business and insurers who have a vested interest in legislation being cut.
Hilda Palmer from Hazards campaign headed the group which included members of FACK, at the meeting with Professor Ragnar Lofstedt. She says she felt that the meeting was positive in that they were warmly met by the professor.
Commenting on the meeting via her campaigning ‘We Didn’t Vote To Die At Work’ Face Book group, Hilda said:
“… it went well and though we must be cautious not to be naive, he was open, receptive and charming - some FACKers felt he was more interested than several Labour ministers we'd seen!”
Hilda added:
“He seemed genuinely shocked and surprised as Dawn, Linzi, Mike and Linda told him of how Sam, Andy, Andrew and Craig, and other people were killed at work, who bears the real burden and the behaviour of the whole system, appealing for no more deregulation or cutting of enforcement.”
Hilda says that Professor Lofstedt suggested they also talk to both Judith Hackett and Geoffrey Podger from the HSE:
“Interestingly Professor Lofstedt- call me Ragnar- kept saying "Have you talked to Geoffrey Podger and Judith Hackitt about this?" I said yes, but they weren't very interested and that Grayling had refused to meet us. He seemed surprised.”
She concluded her comments on the meeting with:
“Sarah Veale, the TUC rep on his Advisory Board was also there. He gave everyone a hug, we left him with much evidence, and will submit a written response. Job done, well done FACK!"
Fack co-founder Dawn Adams was quoted last week (22nd July) by the Morning Star newspaper which ran a main headlined story on FACK’s forthcoming visit to The Lofstedt Review:
"The reality is that far more people are killed and harmed by work than is publicised by government or reported in the press.
It is victims, their families and the state that pay the vast majority of the burden of employers failing to comply with safety laws, while they bear less than 25 per cent of the cost of the harm they cause."
Linda Whelan, whose son Craig was killed due to corporate negligence in 2002, was also quoted:
"None of our family members was killed by too much regulation or employers fearing enforcement.
They were killed because of the exact opposite - too little if any time spent on health and safety, and no fear of being found out.”
Her comments concluded:
"How reducing requirements on employers and almost completely removing any credible threat that they might be inspected and found out by proactive inspections before they kill, maim, or make someone very ill, can improve what we know is a pitifully inadequate system, is completely beyond us."
Derek Maylor, Chair of the NW BTU H&S Co-ord, commenting on the posting from the 'We didn’t Vote To Die At Work' Face Book group said:
“I do respect him [Professor Ragnar Lofstedt] - it's the people who are going to receive his report I don't. If his report is not what they expect they will press ahead with the ‘burdens on business' agenda anyway!“
Derek later told Unionsafety:
“The government’s aims to "reduce the burden" of regulation on business and also made a 35% cut to the Health and Safety Executive.
Appallingly, it is the victims of employers' crimes who pay the price for employers' negligence not business. The Government clearly does not wish to here what FACK and those trying to prevent such tragedies have to say!”
On Face Book? Join the FB group 'We Didn't Vote To Die At Work' here
See also:
July Deadline For Responses To The Löfstedt Review Of Health And Safety Legislation
Grayling Shows Contempt For Workplace Death Victim’s Families
Grayling Misleads Parliament Over Cost Of Workplace Deaths And Injuries
Source: FACK / Hazards / Morning Star / FB
