HSE Cuts Infoline Risking Workers Safety Says UCATT

Construction union UCATT are warning that planned cuts in how dangerous incidents are reported will greatly increase dangers in the workplace.

Last week the Health and Safety Executive announced that from September 2011 it was closing its infoline and that in future the reporting of accidents and dangerous incidents could only be undertaken online.

UCATT accept that while it may be appropriate that accidents are recorded online, this is not the case for the reporting of dangerous incidents. While it is employers who report accidents, it is workers and the general public who need to report dangerous working practices.

In order for workers to be able to report dangerous working practices without the fear of reprisals or victimisation, there needs to be an easily accessible method to ensure that concerns about a dangerous issue can be raised in the knowledge that a worker cannot be identified.

While the vast majority of workers have access to a mobile phone, far fewer have access to email and internet. Also workers are far more likely to report an incident shortly after witnessing it rather than waiting until later, especially if they are concerned that an email could be traced back to them.

George Guy, Acting General Secretary of UCATT, said:

“Workers hardly ever see an HSE inspector, unless an accident has occurred. If there are dangerous working practices or a dangerous incident occurs it is essential that workers know how to contact the HSE and know that the information they have supplied will be treated with complete confidence.”

The concerns about how dangerous incidents are reported is made more pressing due to the Conservative-led Government’s decision in March to end unannounced safety inspections in many industries. Although inspections will remain in dangerous industries such as construction it is expected that their frequency will dramatically decline.

Mr Guy, added: “Given the cuts in inspections that the Government has already announced, it would be logical for the HSE to be making it easier for workers to contact them to report their concerns. The HSE should be better publicising the infoline number not cutting the service. By increasing the difficulty of reporting workplace dangers, they are risking the safety of workers.”

UCATT have already written to Judith Hackitt the Chair of the HSE, expressing their concerns about this matter and requesting that the decision to end the ability of workers to contact the HSE by phone about workplace safety issues is reversed.

Source: UCATT

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