Assaults survey: full findings reveal rising abuse of frontline housing staff

“He came right up to me and had his finger within inches of my face – it was awful.”

Alison* is describing an experience she had while working as a frontline housing officer in the North East of England. She was leading a public meeting for her local authority when one resident began complaining that he was having difficulty contacting the council. The incident quickly escalated and the resident became threatening.

“I started to have a panic attack,” she recalls. “It is not something I’ve ever experienced before – I had to leave the room.” Hat tip reporter Jack Simpson

The trade magazine for Council and Housing Associations "Inside Housing" has carried out an annual confidential survey of workers and freedom of information requests on "violence at work".

They found (pay wall) :-

"Our 2019 assaults survey shows violence against #ukhousing frontline staff on the increase

Welfare reform agenda, social media and mental health concerns blamed for rise in assaults on #ukhousing workers
There are nearly eight assaults for every 100 frontline #ukhousing workers – read the shocking results of our exclusive survey

I was interviewed as a branch officer of UNISON London Housing Associations. When I was a front line housing officer in East London for 25 years,  I had been punched, spat at, abused and even threatened with an axe attack. While physical attacks and threats were thankfully rare, verbal abuse was sometimes commonplace.

My response to the rise was “We are pretty sure that the problem is far, far worse than even these shocking statistics lay out...The sector is plagued by under-reporting".

With regard to modern day social media abuse I said “There used to be the occasional instance where tenants would follow workers home to sort of say ‘we know where you live’,” he says. “The social media stuff is a different form of that.”

"there is a problem with training throughout the sector and that associations need to work harder to ensure workers are prepared for situations where they are at risk.

But most of all employers need to act. “This is really, really crucial. If an employer doesn’t act, staff are brutalised and this will ultimately affect the service it provides to tenants.”

I also recommended to the reporter that a possible solution is employers signing up to the simple but effective UNISON "End Violence at Work" charter. 

Violence at work: When someone with a grudge against a Housing worker takes a can of petrol...

Last week was European Health and Safety week. This is a time to think about work related safety matters.

Early this month I was rang by the radio programme "BBC 5 Live investigates". They asked if I was available to be interviewed by the programme about housing officers facing violence at work.

My name and contact details had been given out by UNISON. They were not sure if I would be needed but wanted me as a reserve. Which is fair enough and the way media works.

The programme went out live on Sunday 2 October and I had to wait to see if I was called. As it happened they did not ring me about my experiences of violence at work as a housing officer. I have no complaints about that since they did interview Joanne, a housing worker in the South East of England and her story was simply shocking.

She described how a resident had thrown a chair at her in a meeting and had waited outside her office for her with knives. The police had also contacted her to warn that this person had been caught with a canister of petrol and admitted that they had intended to attack her, pour petrol over her and set her alight.

This is obviously an extreme event and thankfully very rare. However, the programme also referred to a recent Inside Housing survey where 7/10 Housing officers said that they had been punched, attacked with a weapon or held hostage. Violence at work is completely unacceptable and while some housing organisations work well with staff and unions to make safety a top issue, some don't.

I was quoted in the article about the survey:

"John Gray, housing association branch secretary at Unison, fears that as staff cutbacks continue, staff safety could end up getting overlooked.

“Organisations are cutting jobs, they’re merging, they’re reducing the number of employees,” he says.

“A housing manager has a huge amount of work to do. Will they be updating the risk assessment every year? Will they be encouraging staff to report properly on assaults or near misses, after which they would have to generate a report? Will they be going to health and safety committees or will they be going to the void panels? Generally there is less infantry to deal with the problem.”

According to the TUC in a unionised workplace you are twice as safe as in one where unions are not recognised.

Violence at Work: Unison Community Conference 2016

The UNISON community conference started on Saturday afternoon after the close of the seminar. I spoke in favour of this motion below.

"Conference, President, John Gray, one of your elected Community ＮＥＣ members and proud to be a health and safety rep. Moving motion 2 "Violence at Work" on behalf of the SGE.

Conference, the general public is beginning to understanding how vulnerable social care users are to potential abuse. However, what the public doesn't understand, is how due to the lack of investment in training, support and staffing, we now routinely have staff at risk too.

This too is a national scandal. While the HSE, which relies on employers reporting incidents, claim that only 1.3% of workers in caring professions suffer violence at work in one year. Unison’s own research of community members found that nearly half of our members, suffered an incident of violence or aggression over the last 2 years.

Conference, why is this? Why such massive under reporting by employers? Why such under reporting by staff as well? Equally, Why to be honest, did I as a young housing officer, in East London, shrug off the threat by a gang member to put an axe in my head during a messy eviction and not report it? The truth of the matter is that in too many workplaces, and not just social care, there is a problem that violence and aggression, is seen as just being "Part of the job". or“it goes with the territory”. How many times will we hear this?

Even worse than this. Members often mention that the reason why they do not report violence at work, is that they fear being blamed for "allowing" the incident to happen and being told by managers, that if in some way, they were more professional, it wouldn't have happened in the first place.

To top even this, many staff also say that the reason, why they don't report incidents is that they have little or no confidence whatsoever that the employer will do anything about it. So it is a waste of time to report anything.

Conference, while it is a fact that we will face violence and aggression in our work, it is also a fact that something can be done to tackle this and prevent many incidents happening again. If employers (and trade union safety reps) Investigate every incidents and learn what went wrong and what went right. We can learn and do things differently and stop many assualts happening again and again.

Your employer as a legal duty to protect you at work. To protect you at work they need to provide a safe system of work. That safe system of work must be based on them providing proper support and resources to workers to do their job - safely

 Conference we must do 3 things Firstly, make the public aware of what is going on.

 Secondly, we must campaign for zero tolerance of violence at work and make it clear that safety is a collective issue and raise expectations of our members that they feel empowered to report every single incident.

Thirdly, We must try to work with our employers but after a point, as a union, we must name and shame employers who don't provide such support, allow under reporting, don't investigate, don't take action to protect their staff and then also demand that the HSE and Local authorities prosecute the senior managers, executives and board members, who put members health, safety and even lives at risk.

 Conference, I move

Assaults on Housing staff survey: Why health & safety is a trade union matter

My grown up job is a housing officer in East London. It was about 10 years ago during an eviction in a flat which had been taken over by violent criminals that I was assured by one of them that he would come back and put an "axe in my F......... head".

Thankfully such direct threats of violence against housing staff doing their job are rare - but they do happen.

Well done to Inside Housing for their latest annual surveys of assaults and abuse on housing workers.  They report some horrific stories and accounts of at best incompetent or at worse callous responses by some employers.

After a 22% increase last year there is a welcome 3% decrease this year. However, it is pretty clear that there is a massive problem with under reporting of incidents.

I was quoted in the article "John Gray, who represents housing staff (they should have referred to my branch role not NEC) of Unison, says this issue is often raised by members of the union. ‘There’s a cultural problem,’ he says. ‘Staff feel that if they put a complaint in about a resident, the organisation is so pro-resident they would get the blame for causing the problem.’ This, he points out, is not the way to keep staff – or tenants - safe. If a resident is threatening staff, it is a good bet they are also threatening their neighbours.

And candid assessments by housing professionals cast some doubt on the reliability of the figures supplied by social landlords who told us they had no incidents of verbal or physical abuse to report this year. ‘There’s nowhere where it’s zero,’ is Mr Gray from Unison’s assessment. ‘Zero means that stuff is not being reported.’

I had quite a long interview with Inside Housing. I also mentioned that Housing organisations that report little or no assaults, or do not collect data, are clearly failing in their legal duty to protect staff and putting themselves and senior managers at risk of criminal prosecution. 

Organisations and senior managers face unlimited personal fines and imprisonment for failing to have an effective health and safety management system in place. A failure to properly record, investigate and respond to assaults which is later linked to a death or serious injury will (and should) result in the risk of jail for the CEO and senior management team. 

The best response to violence at work is trade union recognition and a partnership approach by employers and workers towards health and safety. Research quoted here by UNISON has shown that having trade union safety representation can cut workplace deaths and accidents by up to 50%.  

It is better to work together to prevent the problem occurring in the first place than letting workers be harmed then punishing those who allowed it to happen. 

1200 dead so far & 7 years to go? Qatar: The human toll of FIFA’s corruption

Shocking chart and story from Washington Post. Hat tip TUC Risks. People quite rightly go on about the corruption and money but what about this waste of human life? Support the TUC "Play fair" campaign.

"The Washington Post has flipped the focus from the financial corruption gripping football’s global governing body, instead highlighting concerns about the considerable and deadly human price paid as a result of FIFA’s failings.

“In the end, it only took a $150 million scandal to make Americans care about soccer,” the paper notes. “FIFA, the notoriously corrupt and yet seemingly invincible governing body of world soccer, has finally landed itself an indictment that some would say is worthy of its reputation.

The charges against a handful of senior FIFA officials include money laundering, racketeering, bribery and fraud. In short, the federal lawsuit alleges what millions of soccer fans have suspected all along: that FIFA officials have been using the organisation's massive influence to line their pocketbooks.”

 But the Washington Post adds “a closer look suggests that there is a lot of real-world suffering happening as a direct result of FIFA's decisions. For the most obvious example of this, look to Qatar… a report by the International Trade Union Confederation has estimated 1,200 deaths so far, with up to 4,000 additional worker deaths by 2022.”

 Commenting on the corruption charges laid by the US Justice Department against several FIFA officials, the paper notes “as the families of 1,200 dead workers can attest, in many ways the damage has already been done. If FIFA board members did indeed accept bribes from Qatar to let it host the 2022 cup, it would show how backroom corruption can have widespread and fatal consequences.”

Why Coke, VISA, McDonalds, Adidas, Kia & Hyundai are nothing more than human rights abusers

I have just sent this email below to the CEO's of human rights abusers - Coke, VISA, McDonalds, Adidas, Kia & Hyundai.

The TV news tonight begins with the arrest and charges of FIFA officials with corruption. This is serious but the needless deaths of hundreds of construction workers Qatar is an unforgivable disgrace. International law is clear. You cannot pick and choose which human rights your company's support.

"The Hypocrisy World Cup? FIFA sponsors must tell Qatar to play fair on workers' human rights

62 workers may lose their lives for each game played during Qatar’s 2022 World Cup, a tournament likely to be sponsored by FIFA partner companies Coke, VISA, McDonald’s, Adidas, Kia and Hyundai. Without sponsorship, this multi-billion dollar tournament couldn’t take place.

Due to poor health & safety, shocking living conditions and almost total absence of rights, more than 4,000 of Qatar’s workers will die before the first ball is kicked. Hundreds have already died through a combination of accidents, heart attacks and suicide. Because of Qatar’s laws, migrant workers are trapped with a single employer, barred from changing jobs or even leaving the country without permission. Wages are paid sometimes months late, leaving trapped workers starving. Labour courts are costly and complicated, with little language assistance, and workers are banned from forming or joining trade unions to negotiate better conditions.

There has been almost no pressure from FIFA to fix this, nor have sponsors taken a stand, despite their professed commitment to human rights and workers’ welfare.

Most sponsors commit themselves to respecting the UN Declaration of Human Rights – which guarantees the right to join a union - and have specific policies banning forced labour and slavery in their supply chains. However, none of them seem to have considered that paying FIFA to host a tournament built on slave labour goes against everything they claim to believe in.

As a customer or potential customer of these multinational companies, can you help us pressure them to live up to their own ethical standards in how they spend their sponsorship funding?

We know money talks in FIFA. If one of these sponsors were to speak up it would be hugely influential in guiding FIFA and Qatar into ensuring that labour standards for people preparing the country to host the World Cup meet international standards of safety, decency and human rights".

If you agree then click on link to send the same email (http://act.goingtowork.org.uk/page/speakout/fifa-sponsors-must-tell-qatar-to-play-fair-on-workers-human-rights) to these highly paid human rights abusers. 

Personal Injuries, Workers Memorial Day & Bite Sized Intro to Health and Safety at Work

The picture is from a course I helped run last year for my UNISON branch on Health and Safety. It was organised by our Outreach Worker, Andy Robinson and the guest speaker was Personal Injury lawyer from Thompsons solicitors, Shamoona Sheikh (right of photo).

Shamoona spoke about the free legal help and support that Thompsons give UNISON members. This includes personal injuries and accidents inside and outside of work. Unlike other law firms they will not take part of any damages awarded and they - not you - will pay for medical reports and any costs.

Thompsons also provides employment law advice to UNISON on unfair dismissal, discrimination, TUPE etc as well as as 24 hour criminal law helpline. They also give out free wills, advice on Criminal injuries compensation claims and run a conveyancing service. If you are an UNISON member you can get a free 30 minute telephone advice session on practically any legal matter.

I gave a talk about carrying out union workplace safety inspections then took people around on a "walkabout" inspection. I recommended that activists should try and hold a workplace safety inspection during the forthcoming "Workers Memorial Day" on 28 April 2015. This is not only a day to remember those who have been killed at work or died of industrial injuries but is also a campaigning day for health and safety. So it would be fitting to try and do something practical regarding health and safety on or about Tuesday 28 April 2015.

(black and white picture because the yellow fluorescence safety vest I was wearing made me look somewhat radio active!)

Asbestos Killing British Military Veterans but does the Government give a damn?

"As the country this month remembered those who have died in conflicts, the TUC has said those who suffered and died as a result of hazardous exposures while serving in the forces should not be forgotten. Many contracted diseases they contracted while serving in the military, including the deadly asbestos cancer mesothelioma.

According to TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson: “Around 2,500 people develop mesothelioma every year in the UK and a large number are ex-military. Many are ex-navy as most ships were literally covered in asbestos until the 1980s. It was used as a coating, insulator and flooring. Navy personnel were frequently exposed to high levels of asbestos dust in boiler and engine rooms, but even in their sleeping quarters and mess halls.”

Academics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have predicted that over 2,500 naval veterans will die from mesothelioma between now and 2047.

TUC’s Hugh Robertson said many will be denied compensation as the Mesothelioma Act, which provides compensation to sufferers who can’t trace their former employer or their insurer, exempts the armed forces. He added that ex-service personnel who were exposed before 1987 - which is most of them - will not be able to make any claim, because the “Crown immunity” from prosecution covers all cases up to that date.

Instead, they are given a War Disablement Pension during their lifetime – but mesothelioma victims typically survive only months after diagnosis, so this is unlikely to amount to a great deal. If they live for a year, the maximum they can receive is around £31,000.

This compares with an average civil payment for mesothelioma of over £150,000. Hat tip TUC risks

TUC Stronger Unions blog.

Essential cover at work. Join UNISON now on 0800 328 11 22 or http://joinunison.org

Another powerful TV advert from UNISON explaining the many advantages from joining our union. One of the worse things about being a union rep is explaining to people facing redundancy, bullying, disciplinary or sickness proceedings, that I am unable to help them because they are not members or have only joined after they were aware of an issue. (UNISON has like every other union has a waiting period before representation).

If you value your job then join a union. Union reps do not have any magic wands but believe me it can be so frightening and scary if you have a problem at work and have no one to turn to for help. Even in the very best of employers.

Of course, the key thing about joining a trade union is that the more of us in the union in any employer, the better the deal we will get - the better the pay, the better the health and safety, the better the pension, the better the maternity pay, the better the sick pay' the better the flexible working - the better all fringe benefits and employment policies.

This is something our Grandparents knew but has sadly be lost in recent decades but I think workers are beginning to realise again that they cannot rely on their employers or the courts for justice at work, they can only rely on their union and their work colleagues.

So if you work for any (none civil service) employer providing public services, don't delay and look to join UNISON now! (online 24/7). Do not leave it until it is too late!

"Workplace safety law is top life saver" says Daily Telegraph

A very surprising article by a Torygraph Leader writer. What next I wonder? "Paying taxes is good for you!"? Hat tip TUC Risks e-letter 

"Britain’s workplace safety law has probably saved more lives than any other piece of legislation, an article in the Telegraph has said.
Telegraph leader writer Philip Johnston noted: “Health and safety has become synonymous with nanny statism, interfering jobsworths, ludicrous litigation and risk aversion.

And yet the Health and Safety at Work Act (HASAWA), which is 40 years old this summer, has arguably saved more lives than any other piece of legislation, including the ban on drink driving or the compulsory wearing of seat belts in cars. It may well have reduced deaths by 5,000 or more.”

He added: “Forty years on, the Act has achieved what it set out to do, which is to insist upon high standards of health and safety in places of work. All we need do now is to apply the law with the common sense that inspired it in the first place.” The article mirrored comments earlier this year by HSE chair Judith Hackitt.

In a January blog she wrote: “This year will mark 40 years since Health and Safety at Work Act received Royal Assent. Arguably it is one of the best pieces of legislation on the statute books – although we know it is often misunderstood and misinterpreted. It has protected millions of British workers, and driven sharp reductions in incidents of occupational death, serious injury and ill health.”

This week the government’s latest attempt to weaken the lifesaving law, measures in the Deregulation Bill to exempt most of the self-employed from HASAWA’s scope, returned again to the House of Commons.

Ÿ  HSE news release.Ÿ  The Telegraph.Ÿ  IOSH news release.

"Cut Stress Not Jobs" - how to use H&S issues in workplaces to aid Organising and Recruiting #uNDC14

I went to the lunchtime fringe on health and safety. This was Chaired by Malcolm Harrington, from the National H&S committee. First speaker was Hilda Palmer from National Hazards campaign  & FACK (Families against Corporate Killers).

Hilda introduced herself as a "trouble maker and shit stirrer". She promoted the Hazards conference which takes place 29-31 August at Keele university (which UNISON is a strong supporter)

Health & Safety faces a perfect storm of attacks by this right wing government. As well as attacks on public services and the benefit safety net there is a  "Neo feudalism" race to the bottom.

The attack on H&S is not just about cuts but the government wants more power for employers and to get rid of minimum standards.

The Government say we should be competing with countries such as Turkey, where 200 miners were recently killed to due management negligence; Qatar, where it is estimated 1400 workers will die building the football stadiums for the next world cup and China were they have to fit suicide nets outside factories to stop workers killing themselves by throwing themselves off the roof.  Instead why don't they want us to complete with countries such as Norway which has a successful economy with high H&S standards.  

There has been neo liberals in Government since the 1970's but this one is on steroids, rowing back a century of progress. We didn't vote to die at work. It is worse now than we possibly thought. All the evidence is that regulation saves lives and money

We love red tape. Better than bloody bandages. Remember that its not 148 who die at work each year (HSE) but nearer 50,000 who die each year from work incidents and disease. Compare this is the 532 murders. Don't forget the impact of ill health on peoples lives.

While the Health and Safety Executive estimate it costs £8 billion per year due to cancer deaths, Hazards think it is nearer to £60 billion.

The damage by Con-Dems since they took power in 2010 is immense. They have had 4 "reviews". The requirement to report accidents (RiDDOR) has been reduced resulting 30,000 less reports per year. There has been a 44% cut in the HSE. While there has been a 90% reduction in pro active inspections by local authority inspectors.  The Lofstedt report said that there was no need for radical change in H&S but the self employed are being exempted from the law and if they hurt anyone they cannot be prosecuted under H&S.

Tracey Harding, the Head of UNISON H&S unit spoke next on the new campaign "Cut Stress Not Jobs". Stress is one of the top 5 hazards identified by members. Cutting jobs and increasing work load leads to stress on those workers who are left. There are 2 main aims. Campaign against cuts and support for those affected.

UNISON will relaunch stress guidance in time for European Health and Safety week (EH&SW) and provide leaflets and other information. EH&SW will focus on Stress.

Branches need to try and engage with employers and encourage them to have a stress management strategy, conduct a stress audit and carry out stress risk assessments

Stress audits help employers pin point issues rather use a scatter gun approach. Also look at staff turnover and exist interviews,

Engage with members as well and and urge then to report stress issues and provide them support mechanism.

My comment in the Q&A at the end was that one of the best way to improve all forms of health and safety is to increase union membership and organisation. The more people in the union the safer we all are at work.

Workers' Memorial Day (and stop the Slaughter in Qatar)

Every year on the 28 April it is International Workers' Memorial Day (WMD). A trade union led day of remembrance for those killed at work or who have died of industrial injuries or diseases. Some 50,000 British workers still die every year prematurely due to their work.

It is also a campaigning day for those currently in work and to try and ensure they are safe. I will be wearing my WMD purple 'forget-me-not' ribbon and hope to attend an event later today.

The WMD theme this year is 'Protecting workers around the world through strong regulation, enforcement and union rights'.   I would suggest that you ask all political candidates in the forthcoming Council and European elections - are they in favour of this theme? Then vote accordingly.

See Hazards website for details of UK events.

Last week marked the 1st anniversary of the disaster at Rana Plaza Factory in Bangladesh which killed over 1100 workers. Remember also the estimated 400 workers dead so far in Qatar building the football stadiums for the 2022 World Cup. At the present rate 4000 workers will be dead by then.

While construction deaths in this country are still at a unacceptable level, thanks to regulation and trade unions, not a single worker died in the UK during the building of the 2012 Olympics.

Tackling workplace stress - a one-day course for UNISON Housing Association members and activists

Date: Wednesday 15 January, 9.30-3.30
Venue: Resource for London, 356 Holloway Road, London N7 6PA

"Did you know that 35% of fit notes are written for mental health conditions such as stress, anxiety and depression? With workplace stress a major concern for many UNISON members, the Housing Associations Branch are running a one-day course in how to deal with workplace stress - including how to cope with the stress that being a steward can create.

We will discuss stress and how it affects your working life, what employers can do to minimise stress in the workplace, and Elizabeth Cotton from Middlesex University will give a workshop on how trade unionists can develop their own strategies for dealing with the stress that being a steward can bring. You can have a look at Elizabeth’s Surviving Work online library here: www.survivingwork.org

Also "organising around stress at work" by Tony Power, Branch Chair and "Members with mental health issues" led by Jim Lewis from National UNISON.   Lunch and other refreshments will be provided. As this is a training day, stewards and health and safety reps may be entitled to paid time off to attend – contact the branch office if you have any difficulty getting permission for this.

Contact infoATunisonhablondonDOTorg on or before the 8th January to register - all branch activists and those interested in becoming more involved in their trade union are welcome. Please also feel free to circulate to members in your workplace".

Why Government policy on health & safety is "absolute drivel"

Check out this great post by TUC Hugh Robertson on "Government H&S policy built on myths"

"The Government have set out their policy on health and safety on the DWP website. It is clear, concise and simple and is also absolute drivel.

One of the four points it makes is “We believe that good health and safety is important, but the burden of excessive health and safety rules and regulations on business has become too great and a damaging compensation culture is stifling innovation and growth.” In a nutshell they are saying we have too much regulation and compensation and as a result business is suffering. They give no evidence for this and we are expected to just take it as fact..."

115th company signs Bangladesh safety accord

Good news from Stronger Unions Last "Tuesday, Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) - which runs stores across Great Britain under its own name and as Peacocks – finally signed the union-sponsored Bangladesh Fire and Safety Accord, becoming the 115th company to do so. It was a big win for months of campaigning by unions and NGOs, including another push planned for this weekend, the first anniversary of the Tazreen Fashions factory fire which killed over a hundred people....."

Edinburgh Woollen Mill / Peacocks: 23 Nov Day of Action on Bangladesh

I got this email this morning from the TUC website "Going to Work". I have printed off the letter and will be popping into my local Peacocks store on Saturday.

I hope many others will do the same. We will be discussing this at the West Ham TULO meeting tonight as well.


"Dear John,
On Saturday 23 November, the day before the anniversary of the Tazreen fashions fire, in which over a hundred people lost their lives, we are calling out Edinburgh Woollen Mill and their subsidiary company Peacocks for their continued inaction on their deadly factories in Bangladesh.

Please help us to take the message right into their branches near where you live by printing out and signing a letter, and delivering it in person. We need them to join the overwhelming majority of their competitors in signing up to the fire and building safety plan for their factories in Bangladesh, and to pay compensation to victims of the Tazreen disaster.

Retailers are always concerned about their image locally, and getting a lot of letters passed over the counter around the country, on an important Christmas trading date, will send a very strong signal to the company that their customers won't let them just brush people's lives under the carpet.

To make this a bit easier, we've mapped their branches online, and there's likely one near you. Choose a branch in your area, and click to visit the store. We'll give you a letter to download and print out.

First step is to choose a branch that you could visit on Saturday 23 November...

NB: This action is supported by the TUC, War on Want, People and Planet, Labour Behind the Label, SumOfUs.org, SEAD, STUC and WTUC, so you'll be in good company!"

UPDATE: Great news - EWM have signed the Accord!!!!! check out here

SERTUC Health & Safety Seminar 2013

I arrived late and then had to leave early from this excellent health and safety seminar organised by SERTUC (South Eastern Trade Union Congress) which took place the other week at Congress House.

When I arrived Gerard Stilliard, a partner at trade union solicitors, Thompsons (seen
at London UNISON safety committee earlier this year) was speaking about the removal by the Government of Civil liability therefore returning workers protection to that of pre-1878 and the need to prove negligence. He finished his speech by thanking the audience and wishing us all "Good luck" in the future since "we will need it".

Next to speak was  Mike Wilcock, Head of Operations in the South East Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Mike (see picture above) became interested in health and safety because he trained as an industrial chemist and got blown up in a factory in France. He was unimpressed that the French safety inspector looking into this incident was more concerned about going to lunch with the factory owner.

He is very proud of the work of the HSE and concerned that due to reductions in the number of his staff, they now have act more as Policemen and are not "here to help". Real health & safety is not about banning conkers, its about stopping people being killed and injured. Regarding the recent reviews of safety legislation, he accepts that simplification and clarity is good. We must be careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water. In Qatar 40 workers have already been killed building the 2022 World Cup stadiums. In the UK we had no deaths when building the Olympics. 

He can now only send inspectors into the highest risk employers. Those who kill and injure the most.  But what and who fills the gap? It has to be the professional safety advisers and trade unions safety reps. Use to have 70% proactive inspections now 70% plus are reactive. HSE will now charge employers £122 per hour if they have to write to them or issue a notice.

In Q&A I asked if trade union safety reps were being expected to help fill the gap caused by the reduction in HSE Inspectors, they should be given the power to issue provisional improvement notices? (PINS) This would give reps greater credibility. Martin disagreed and said that safety reps are already credible and often are better trained than managers. He also didn't think it was at all likely in the "current landscape".

Next speaker was Dr Jenny Harries,  Regional director South of England for Public Health. For her  good health is good for business and the workforce. Public health is everyone's business. See the Marmot Review. Clear link with good employment and good health.  Poor employment and unemployment with poor health.  The affluent tend to retire without disability and live longer.

Stress is still the biggest cause of sickness. Companies with higher levels of staff engagement have 13% lower staff turnover, they have less than half the UK average sickness absence rate and consistently outperform on the FTSE 100 (reference Sunday Times : Best companies to work for in the UK).

I then had to leave for another meeting which is a shame since as a union safety rep I want to know more about "well being" at work as well as avoiding direct injuries and diseases. It is an area that I don't think the unions or the employers do anywhere near enough on.

"Benefit cuts put frontline housing staff in danger"

A good article in Guardian Housing network page.  Except Councils and Housing Associations shouldn't just wring their hands about the obvious and foreseeable increased risks to their staff .

They should be actively consulting with staff and trade unions on revised risk assessments and violence at work procedures.

Health and Safety enforcement agencies (the HSE for Councils and Councils for Housing Associations) should also be making sure that staff safety is being taken seriously.

Housing managers do not realise that they face imprisonment and unlimited fines for serious breaches of health and safely laws (and that they could even lose their homes since the employer and insurance providers cannot pay such fines).

"Housing providers have become de facto enforcers of many benefit cuts and are finding themselves at greater at risk of harm.
 
The recent shooting of a housing association employee and bailiff during an eviction should be of real concern to housing providers, and a reminder that our frontline workers often have to deal with the consequences of policies created in Westminster.

Reform of our welfare system was long overdue, but the pursuit of savage cuts is having a profound impact. Housing associations are well-placed to understand and explain the real effects of welfare reform in action. This is an important part of our role; acting as advocates for our customers, many of whom are not able to speak out for themselves, is one of the ways in which we can influence policy and support social justice.

Benefit cuts are putting many people in severe debt and, as that debt is often owed to their landlord, an increase in evictions is inevitable.

Housing providers are not the authors of these policies, nor their advocates, but have become the de facto enforcers of the new regime, and it's our colleagues who are having to bear the consequences of people's anger.

'Why are you doing this to me?'

At Curo housing association, our money management adviser has had several meetings recently with tenants in tears who, faced with benefit cuts and caps, don't know how they will pay their rent or clear their existing rent arrears. A question often asked is: "Why are you doing this to me?"
The adviser told me: "In my experience, the tenant will pay the creditor who shouts the loudest, leaving shortfalls elsewhere to cover the rest of essential household expenditure."

As housing associations do not chase debts as aggressively as payday lenders, banks or mobile phone companies, rent arrears can build up as tenants fail to prioritise rent payment when faced with threatening notices from others.

We will do all we can for customers who turn to us for help, but we also have to deal with the realities of running a business and have a responsibility to safeguard the financial viability of our organisations, for the sake of all our customers and for those who will need affordable homes in the future. Evictions are an inevitable consequence of the welfare reforms, and it is our staff who come face to face with the backlash.

We're dealing with rising numbers of people wishing to move, increased arrears and greater demand for debt advice. On an individual level, where the real story is, we're seeing greater levels of anxiety and stress as people, many of them vulnerable, try to cope with serious hardship.

We are concerned for those who are really struggling to make ends meet, but also concerned for our own frontline staff who put themselves at risk of harm through their association with policies they had no part in forming.

Victor da Cunha is chief executive of Curo housing association".

SERTUC Safety Rep Seminar: 31 October 2013

If a "Healthy Workplace"is your thing then keep the date clear for this Safety seminar.

Metropolitan Housing Shooting

This is an article that I wrote today for our branch newsletter. "The exact details of what happened yesterday over the shooting of a Metropolitan HA housing officer and a bailiff during an eviction are unknown.

The use of guns against housing staff is thankfully incredibly rare but don’t forget the recent survey by "Inside Housing" that found yet another year on increase in assaults on staff. In the meanwhile an incident such as this concentrates minds.

Local stewards and safety representatives should be thinking of asking management when did they last review staff risk assessments and safety procedures? Have staff and the union been properly consulted on these documents? Are staff reps invited and enabled to attend safety committees? Do you have a register of residents who may be violent? Is this register up to-date and most importantly is it being used? Is there adequate resources made available for health and safety in your organisation?

The branch is planning to hold a training workshop for all our reps. Details will be sent out soon.
Remember a unionised workplace is a safer work place. The more of us in the union the safer all of us will be in work. If you are interested in being a UNISON safely rep contact the branch. Check out the excellent safety resources on the UNISON website here.