Health & Safety
Update 6 August 2010
UNISON City of Edinburgh Branch is becoming
very concerned about the way that the Council
is dragging it's feet over implementing the
Committee structure that it promised in March
2009.
The Branch is now actively seeking
safety reps who are able and willing to undertake
the detailed consultation with each Department
and with the full Council to help make the City
of Edinburgh Council a safer place to work.
If you are a safety rep and you
are interested in getting involved please contact
the Branch Health and Safety Officer (Dave McConnell)
via the Branch Office.
If you aren't a Safety Rep but are interested
in becoming one please also contact the Branch
Health and Safety Officer (Dave McConnell) via
the Branch Office.
The Branch Health & Safety
Committee comprises branch officers and
reps from stewards committees. Its job is to
oversee health and safety issues, to advise
stewards committees and officers, to support
health and safety reps and to campaign on health
and safety issues.
Shop Stewards are encouraged to
be safety reps as well, although there is also
a parallel system where members can be elected
or appointed purely as safety reps. They have
a statutory role and 20 days accredited training
is available via TUC courses. Further specialised
training is available through UNISON and other
TUC courses.
Safety reps would typically monitor
health and safety in the workplace, carry out
inspections and ensure proper risk assessments
are carried out. Support comes from the health
and safety committee and from an extensive database
held in the branch office on health and safety
legislation and regulations.
Following the introduction of
the Council's new Health and Safety Policy in
March 2009 the Council and each individual Department
should have joint management/union health and
safety committees. Currently these committees
have not been set up however UNISON is pressing
for this to happen and we will need to have
trained Safety Reps in every workplace to make
these into effective forums.
Similar structures should be developed
in the community sector and in associated bodies.
The role of health and safety
is becoming more crucial as cuts start to bite
and the pressures and stresses on our members
increase.
Anyone who is interested in becoming
a Safety Rep should contact the Branch Office
for more information.
Updates
Look out here for major issues
or recently discovered risks.
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