The Hazards Campaign
is a network of
resource centres and campaigners
on health and safety at work
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The Hazards Campaign
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Hazards 2005 Conference Press Release for immediate use 4th August 2005 DELEGATES AT HAZARDS CAMPAIGN CONFERENCE CALL FOR AN END TO THE GOVERNMENT’S DANGEROUS “DEREGULATION FETISH” The government’s “deregulation fetish” will cost lives, a top workplace health and safety campaign warned ministers. At the16th national Hazards Conference, held in Leeds from 29th to 31st July, 580 delegates representing hundreds of thousands of workers, discussed the current state of health and safety at a series of plenary, workshop and debate sessions. Concerned safety reps backed an international panel of speakers calling for strong safety regulation backed up by effective inspection and enforcement. They say a government push to reduce inspections and “red tape” on business so Britain can compete in the global market place will only succeed in making Britain a far more dangerous place to work. Fiona Murie Head of H&S at the International Federation of the Building and Wood Workers Union described how international solidarity by asbestos groups in the UK and the Netherlands had supported Australia unions and asbestos sufferers to defeat the James Hardie company. Fiona called for international solidarity on IWMD to win a global ban on asbestos. Tony O’Brien Secretary of the Construction Safety Campaign said there can be no compromise on safety and the only way to reduce deaths on building sites is by on site trade union safety reps and organisation. The call comes as new Health and Safety Executive statistics show official safety action in the most dangerous construction, agriculture and manufacturing sectors are failing to have any real impact. The campaigners fear any reduction in inspections and enforcement could lead to an upward trend in fatalities. Keynote speaker, Rory O’Neill, editor of Hazards Magazine said: “The drive to reduce health and safety ‘red tape’ and the ‘burdens’ on business of inspection and enforcement is an enormous, dangerous red herring. Embracing risk in a bid to compete with China and India, as suggested by Tony Blair, is not the way to improve Britain’s productivity. It is a way to make work in Britain considerably more dangerous though - both India and China have work fatality rates more than 13 times higher than the UK.” Hazards 2005 delegates passed the following resolution to the government: ‘The government’s current focus on deregulation is likely to accelerate ‘the race to the bottom’ in terms of health and safety standards. Hazards 2005 Conference urges the government to abandon its deregulation fetish. Hazards 2005 Conference urges the UK government to use its presidency of the EU to prioritise the improvement of health and safety standards. Hazards 2005 Conference urges the government to support the adoption of the five main proposals in the ETUC memorandum dated 28/6/05, to improve the quality of working life in the European Union. Hazards 2005 Conference also urges the government to play a more positive role within the ILO to ensure that health and safety improvements take place at a global level.’ For more information contact Hilda Palmer Acting Chair of Hazards Campaign, at Hazards Campaign Secretariat, GM Hazards Centre, 23 New Mount Street, Manchester M4 4DE 0161 953 4037 |
The Hazards Campaign,
c/o Greater Manchester Hazards Centre, Windrush Millennium Centre, 70
Alexandra Road, |