WINDRUSH SCANDAL

There were two emergency motions on the ‎Windrush scandal at CWU Conference this week. The motions highlighted the abhorrent and, we believe, racist approach of the government in detaining, deporting and denying access to services like the NHS to British citizens who came to the UK decades ago as part of the ‘Windrush generation’.

The motions called on the union to undertake a range of campaigning activities to ensure that their rights are defended, that the hostile approach is immediately reversed and that the government is held to account. After an impassioned debate in which a number of our reps spoke about the impact of the ‘hostile environment’ the government has created on their lives, the motions were both agreed unanimously and we will be working to carry out the instructions as a matter of urgency.

In response to the debate, in supporting the motions on behalf of the NEC, our SDGS Tony Kearns asked that any CWU members who have been affected by the scandal contact the Legal department for support. We would request that branches publicise this offer of assistance from the union to their members as widely as possible. Additionally, if any of our members do require assistance, you can also contact the General Secretary’s department.

The CWU has a proud record of anti-racist campaigning and ‎we believe the actions of the government with the Windrush scandal have been completely unacceptable in any civilised society. We will be strongly campaigning against the government’s approach and supporting any CWU members who have been affected by this.

Any enquiries on the above LTB should be addressed the General Secretary’s Office gsoffice@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward

General Secretary

18LTB251 Windrush Scandal

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APPRENTICESHIPS IN ROYAL MAIL AND THE PROTECTION OF MEMBERS’ INFORMATION

It has been brought to our attention that Royal Mail management are approaching branch ULRs and / or education providers to obtain information about members who are taking apprenticeships through CWU learning projects. Some managers, despite giving reassurances that they would not share the information more widely throughout the company, have gone on to do precisely that.

As all ULRs will know, learner confidentiality has always, and quite necessarily, been at the heart of what we do. It is essential, not only to maintain the trust of our members but also to stay within data protection laws, that we do not share personal learning information without the explicit consent of the person concerned.

We have been seeking to engage Royal Mail on the issue of apprenticeships and a properly managed exchange of information would obviously need to form a part of this – but an unagreed fishing exercise is not the appropriate way to approach this and we therefore instruct our ULRs and the education providers they work with not to share any personal learner information until the concerns outlined above have been addressed and they receive confirmation of this from the CWU.

Any queries to the content of the above, please contact pdovey@cwu.org

Yours sincerely, 

Ray Ellis – CWU National Officer  

Trish Lavelle – CWU Head Of Education & Training

LtB Royal Mail Apprenticeships

Final day:

North Wales put a motion to conference to instruct the PEC to agree a joint training package with the business around “cutting off?” in deliveries. Their view is members are treated entirely different when not being able to complete their delivery. those willing to extend are praised but those choosing not to extend but cut off are often bullied. The training package will ensure Reps and managers are aware of all procedures in the conduct code (annex 1) covering non completion of delivery.

Terry pullinger spoke at length about conversations he’s had with the business around managers who are intent on bullying staff instead of having reasonable conversations. Terry reaffirmed that he’s been given assurances any such managers are not welcome in the business by Sue Whalley.

Bristol and district Amal moved a motion with concerns around the new grievance procedure. The new agreement gives the business 10 days to respond where the previous agreement give them 5 working days. The new agreement has timescales looser than ACAS guidelines and the paper form is replaced with a form now only on psp (managers computers) They instructed conference to agree new timescales with the business. Ray Ellis CWU assistant secretary opposed the motion but it was supported and agreed.

Highland Amal moved a motion to ‘re examine the b&h procedure as the process tends to be all about sweeping complaints under the carpet. this motion was supported and agreed.

South Central Postal raised a motion with concerns around members being taken off driving due to minor collisions. The branch said it wasn’t in the spirit of the RTA ( road traffic accident) agreement and our emphasis must be to keep drivers driving.

this motion was supported and agreed.

Newcastle amal branch instructed conference to seek agreement that both overtime and SA rate is always above the basic hourly rate. this was supported and carried.

Anglia division and Eastern number 3 and 4 raised a composite motion (when more than one branch raises the same motion) to instruct conference to enter into negotiations before October 31st 2018 so that S.A. holiday payments (Xmas, boxing and new years day) is paid in the proper timescales as last year many people were still chasing up payments into the new year. They also instructed conference to reach agreement that all pre scheduled over the Xmas pressure period is paid at S.A. rate. This motion was supported and carried.

In Terry Pullingers closing speech at conference he thanked many people including the negotiatiors and staff at CWU and all the local reps but saved the biggest thanks of all to each and every member. Terry said it’s all our responsibility to go back into our workplaces and talk up this union and be proud to be part of the best and most powerful industrial trade union in the UK. He said when all the other trade union officials hear the name CWU at the TUC, their ears instantly prick up as is the strength and weight of our support from members. Terry sent out a final message to Royal Mail and all the senior managers sitting in the observers isle “THIS UNION COMES IN PEACE BUT IF IT’S NOT PEACE AND AGREEMENTS THE BUSINESS ASPIRES TO , WE HAVE A BIG BASTARD STICK TO BEAT YOU WITH”

this concludes my final daily report from conference 2018.

Lee Walsh

Letter Section Secretary

Branch Treasurer

Peterborough Delivery Representative

Newcastle Amal branch instructed conference to force Royal Mail to restrict the amount of d2d to one lot over the Xmas pressure period. this was opposed for various reasons which included “turning business away isn’t in the interests of our members and “having d2d at Xmas doesn’t change your finish time.

South East Amal instructed conference to agree a new policy with the business to set up a working party to include women’s Reps to monitor the recruitment in royal mail deliveries. currently only 15% of workers in royal mail are women.

Women’s conference instructed conference to make it compulsory for royal mail to have a list of toilet facilities attached to every walk log for women members. lots of discussion around the many issues our women members face which include women’s monthly cycles, the menopause and the problems with speaking to someone about such issues. Personally I thought this debate opened the eyes of many people including myself and we as a union should be more considerate and acommading in dealing with such issues.

5 different branches submitted an instruction to conference to agree a new updated policy around severe weather conditions. We all know how difficult it become only recently in our own Branch with the severe snow and bad weather. This motion was overwhelming supported.

Kent Invicta raised concerns around quadrant members. Royal Mail own 51% of quadrant yet their staff are on minimum wage. Kent wanted conference to ballot quadrant but Davie Robinson PEC raised concerns about getting a yes vote with the membership but said the top table would be putting pressure on the business in pay talks regarding quadrant members.

Durham county Amal instructed conference to force the business to get a minimum font size on Chinese packets as members eyes are being strained every day by sorting and delivering them. This motion was overwhelming supported.

South East number 5 instructed conference that the current transfer policy is no longer fit for purpose. members are unable to transfer despite numerous requests. This was supported and conference instructed to negotiate a new agreement.

cheers lee

Lee Walsh

Letter Section Secretary

Branch Treasurer

Peterborough Delivery Representative

CWU Conference 2018 – Health, Safety and Environment Department Fringe Meeting Monday 23rd April 2018:

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

Over one hundred and twenty Communication Workers Union health and safety reps and branch officials packed the Health, Safety and Environment Fringe Meeting at the CWU’s Annual Conference in Bournemouth on Monday 23rd April 2018.

This year the delegates were delighted to hear from the excellent guest speaker Andrew Kingscott from the HSE Transport and Public Services Unit, Engagement and Policy Division at HSE Headquarters.

Opening the meeting, CWU NEC Health, Safety and Environment Committee Chair Shelly Banbury introduced CWU Health Safety and Environment National Officer Dave Joyce and Andrew Kingscott from the Health and Safety Executive HQ.

Dave Joyce started off by saying that we were celebrating 40 years of Trade Union Safety Representatives and the introduction of the SRSC Regulations. He said that Trade Unions came out of the struggle for proper Health and Safety at Work and that the Health and Safety at Work Act was one of the most important pieces of legislation ever to be introduced.

Dave also reminded the meeting that Workers Memorial Day would take place after Conference on Saturday 28th April and called for delegates to support Workers Memorial Day events, remembering those killed at work and committing ourselves to fight for the living and to protect health and safety.

Dave also informed the meeting of health and safety fines recently imposed. Although high – they were nowhere near as significant as those imposed on Royal Mail and BT, both £40 Million plus for regulatory offences. He said there were big gaps that needed to be addressed by the courts.

Dave informed the meeting that the HSE has just published its 2018/19 Business Plan which follows the HSE 5-Year Strategy “Helping Great Britain Work Well” and outlined the priority areas in the strategy which he pointed out were very relevant to CWU members; Work Stress, MSDS and Lung Disease. He then introduced the guest speaker.

Andrew Kingscott then addressed the meeting and gave a power point presentation.

Andrew said that he enjoys working with Trade Unions and has 26 year’s experience as an operational Health and Safety Inspector with the HSE with a good knowledge of the HSE front line work.

He is now in HSE Headquarters leading on sector based work and was previously involved in the HSE’s first Corporate Manslaughter prosecution. He said that the HSE was not scared to enforce the law.

Andrew said that we don’t tend to celebrate our successes and that there are pockets of good practices that he seeks to share with others.

All HSE strategies are on the HSE website covering 21 sectors.

He praised the good publications that the CWU had made available to the fringe meeting.

Andrew then talked about the strategy for Helping Britain Work Well. He spoke about tackling ill health and a Health Priority Plan with three priorities:

• Occupational Lung Disease;

• Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) and

• Work-related Stress.

Andrew spoke about the Utilities Sector Plan where the HSE will lead and engage with others to improve workplace health and safety by supporting and promoting strategic industry initiatives that show leadership in tackling key problems and also work with key stakeholders, such as BT and Openreach and the Mast and Tower Safety Group.

On the HSE Transport Sector Plan he said this would include improving poorly secured loads, reducing the rate of ill health caused by MSDs and increasing engagement with work-related road risk.

The Chair then invited questions from the Delegates as follows:

Question: Are HSE inspections proactive or reactive?

Answer: Some are proactive but the HSE needs to know they are going to the right place. There are high risk areas such as food, agriculture and construction that are visited more. Much work is done on the back of reactive work.

Question: There is a big disparity between fines for Health and Safety breaches and financial ones. An example of an incident in Falmouth was given where very small fines were given when the matter came to court which was a serious injustice.

Answer: A lot of training goes into HSE inspectors to make sure that evidence is gathered and a good job is done. It was now more down to prosecution to make a submission of culpability and there are set tariffs on fines. He would have a look at that example of Falmouth.

Question: On proactive inspections, 10 years ago the HSE audited Royal Mail systems such as dog attacks, this no longer takes place and the feeling is that the HSE is failing.

Answer: Andrew said he would take that on board. The need was to balance priorities. He would take away the CWU publication on dogs to look at this situation.

Question: Where is the HSE going post Brexit?

Answer: Andrew doesn’t see any step backwards on Health and Safety legislation. No one was working on this.

Question: On HSE re-inspections why doesn’t the HSE inspector ask for a CWU Rep to be present?

Answer: Unfortunately this can happen but it is wrong, Andrew ensures that inspectors know to talk to safety reps on site.

Question: Does the HSE self-fund?

Answer: The HSE as a regulator does self-fund and seeks to recover costs through Fee For Intervention (FFI). It works on the same principle as “polluter pays”.

Dave Joyce summed up the meeting and thanked Andrew Kingscott for attending and for his interesting and informative talk to the CWU Health and Safety Fringe meeting.

On the question of Brexit, Dave hoped that Health and Safety legislation doesn’t change but he warned that Unions and the TUC will need to be ready for a battle to protect Health and Safety legislation.

Dave also said that the best way to achieve health and safety compliance is through enforcement and regulation and that the CWU will continue to support the return to a pro-active enforcement strategy by the HSE.

Dave also said that HSE funding had been slashed by Government and it was ridiculous that the HSE had to become a ‘commercial organisation’ to raise their own funds.

On the question of fines Dave said that progress had been made on increasing health and safety fines because of pressure by the Unions but were still too far short of competition and regulatory fines. The CWU would continue to campaign for appropriate fines.

Dave concluded that yet again the Health Safety and Environment Department’s Fringe Meeting had been the best attended fringe meeting at CWU conference and he thanked all the delegates for their support and participation.

The Chair closed the meeting by thanking everyone for attending.

[Report by Steve Mann Policy Assistant, CWU Health, Safety & Environment Department]

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB249 CWU Conference 2018 – Health, Safety and Environment Department Fringe Meeting Monday 23rd April 2018

HSE – AC presentation CWU – Utilities incl 23 April edit

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Terry Pullinger opened conference by obviously thanking all the members for backing their Reps and giving them the mandate to take on the business who let’s make if very clear were only intent on worsening all our terms and conditions and destroying our union. there is no doubt we stood together as one and won the fight and we should rightly be proud of ourselves in telling everyone were part of the CWU.

There was a debate about people getting older in deliveries and having to do more and more walking. The average age of a person in deliveries is 48 and a speaker from the rostrum commented on how many people were hobbling up to the rostrum to speak. debate about whether an ageing workforce should be given less delivery work or would this break the law on ageism. 

1024 delivery staff were Ill health retired last year but Ray Ellis said paragraph 19.3.1 of the new national agreement covers this off and will ensure the business is fair and considerate in resource meetings and subsequent workload

A one day resourcing course is to be rolled out to all reps by the education department as this agreement is all about getting the resourcing right and making sure employees are working without undue pressure.

Wessex South central moved a motion instructing conference to agree policy with the business around the streaming of mail to hit targets and yet still ensure absorption/lapsing is done on a daily basis. Mark Boulch outdoor secretary said royal mail’s aborhant attitude to the failing of mail and the uso will change with this agreement. paragraph 7 section 9 instructs the business to delivery all mail on hand every day and mark said the CWU are intent on making the business follow this agreement. 

Ernie Area processing rep from our branch got up to move motion 29 regarding the business abusing the attendence procedure by dishing out “line in the sand” letters to members who are covered under the equality act telling them any further absences will not be discounted. Ernie spoke about managers not making decisions on their own merits but instead taking advice from “faceless ” advisors from royal mail HR only interested in removing our members from off the pay roll.

Following on from that motion Carl maden PEC member CWU HQ  advised all reps whose members were being given stage reviews but were covered under the equality act, to put in an employment tribunal against the business. 

cheers lee

CONFERENCE REPORT :

GENERAL CONFERENCE: SUNDAY/ MONDAY 22nd 23rd April.

The first two days of conference were about the union as a whole and the way we are going forward and manovering ourselves to meet the challenges ahead in this ever changing society. The 4 pillars campaign proved communication is king amongst members and we must build on that and engage as a union. But only half of our branches have a website which shows how much more work we need to be doing going forward.

Only 23% of the workforce are members of a trade union in the UK and it’s expected the CWU will lose approx 3000 members in 2019. The CWU will be going through a redesign this year and attempting to streamline their finances and make the union more efficient, whilst keeping the strenght to enable us to tackle the employer. The 4 pillars campaign alone cost over 1 million pounds to fund and as subscriptions haven’t gone up in 3 years we need to save money to fund such campaigns. The salary bill in CWU HQ has been reduced by £900,000 a year due to EVR packages and streamlining of staff. HQ are asking every Branch to look at the ways they are spending money to come up with ways of being more efficient financially. We are a cash poor but asset rich union and need to continually invest in training for our Reps. The ultimate goal is to have a Rep in every workplace fighting for members and changing and shaping the business for the better. THIS COSTS MONEY.

CWU HQ are maybe looking to sell Wimbledon HQ, Alverscot training centre and the elstead hotel in Bournemouth it owns to release cash. There will be a redesign conference in November this year.

Jeremy Corbyn was a guest speaker at conference Monday and got a rousing reception as expected. He said in the last 8 years alone £37 BILLION POUNDS HAS BEEN PAID OUT IN DIVIDENDS BY COMPANIES PREVIOUSLY IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR.

He said under a Labour government royal mail would be put back into the hands of the public where it belongs and run firstly and foremost as a public service.

The company is profit first only and these stats glaringly hilight this:

Last year the Royal mail were fined 40 million pounds and BT 42 million pounds for failing to comply to the regulator regarding price fixing.

Royal mail were fined 1.6 million pounds and BT only £900,000 for health and safety failures.

MAKES YOU WONDER IF HEALTH AND SAFETY IS ACTUALLY TOP OF THEIR AGENDA?

Tuesday onwards is postal conference which where  everyday workplace issues will be discussed and debated. The issues that effect us all at work every day as members of a trade union.

I will be hoping to do some more reports to keep you all up to date.

cheers Lee

HSE Business Plan 2018/19

Dear Colleagues,

The HSE has published their Business Plan for 2018/19, signed off by HSE CEO Richard Judge and HSE Chair Martin Temple.

The Business Plan 2018/19 (copy attached) brings together the HSE’s key actions and priorities as the national regulator for health and safety, drawing on the recently published HSE ‘Helping Great Britain Work Well 5-Year Strategy’ and its Industry Sector Plans. The Plan highlights specific priorities, reinforces the HSE’s ongoing commitment, brought together under the four themes:

• Lead and engage with others to improve workplace health and safety. Leading and engaging those who undertake or influence health and safety, for example through engagement with stakeholders on priorities like health at work or through award-winning campaigns;

• Provide an effective regulatory framework. Ensuring the regulatory framework remains effective, bringing a greater focus on supporting small firms and helping duty holders understand how to manage the risks they create in a proportionate way;

• Secure effective management and control of work-related risks – through a range of proportionate approaches including face-to-face contact, licensing regimes in certain higher-risk sectors, dealing with reported concerns efficiently and effectively, and holding people to account by enforcing the law in a firm but fair way;

• Reduce the likelihood of low frequency, high-impact catastrophic incidents. Continuing to promote leadership throughout the higher-hazard industries and projects, as well as dealing with emerging risks such as cyber security.

The Business Plan framework and approach is consistent with previous years which aim to help show how HSE approaches develop over time. The plan aims to gives a sense of balance across the breadth of HSE work – from leadership & influence through to direct interventions. The contents reflect priorities set out in the core strategic Strategy “Helping Great Britain Work Well”, Sector Plans, and the Health and Work programme.

The plan doesn’t attempt to capture everything that the HSE does. Instead, it focuses on priorities where specific action or attention is needed. However, this year the HSE has expanded the overview and priority section for each theme to give a better sense of the total activity. This is based on feedback about what is expected in the Business Plan.

The HSE response to the Government Spending Review settlement is covered. The HSE states that they intend to continue to address the reduction in taxpayer funding through a combination of enhanced cost recovery, commercial growth and efficiencies to support the delivery of the Plan.

The Plan again sees the HSE claim that Great Britain has a health and safety record to be proud of and Great Britain is one of the safest places in the world to work in. Nonetheless, the Plan states that health and safety statistics have plateaued and so this is a stark reminder of the safety and health challenges in the world of work with the impact of work-related injuries and ill health costing the nation£14 Billion a year. This Plan outlines what the HSE will deliver in 2018/19.

The HSE states that the year ahead will also be significant in terms of supporting the Government in its preparations for the UK’s exit from the European Union and any changes that may follow the Grenfell tragedy. It also refers to supporting the Government’s regulatory agenda and business improvement. The CWU, TUC and other Unions will be watching carefully to ensure that doesn’t mean weakening regulations and protections at work.

It concludes that the HSE leads the way, but doesn’t act alone. Everyone has a part to play – Employers, Trade Unions, Trade Associations, Professional Bodies, Academics and others and the HSE thanks them for the commitments they have made to improve health and safety standards, and the HSE welcomes fresh action in the year ahead.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB245 HSE Business Plan 2018-19

HSE Business Plan 2017-18

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UK National Work Stress Network – New ‘Work Stress Guide Handbook’

Dear Colleagues,

The UK National Work Stress Network is a voluntary organisation that campaigns to secure proper recognition of the damage caused by work-stress and to prevent work-related stress. They aim to educate and raise awareness of work-stress and to improve legislation on health, safety and employment rights in the UK and Europe. The organisation is part of the ‘Hazards Campaign’ and has close links to the Trade Union movement. The UK National Work Stress Network consists of unpaid volunteers, bringing together workplace trade union and health and safety representatives, academics, safety professionals and others to campaign for the better protection of workers against stress-related mental and physical illnesses caused by poorly controlled workplace psycho-social hazards.

The UK Work-Stress Network has been fighting for years alongside Trade Unions and the Hazards Campaign for the protection of Health and Safety in the workplace, action on Stress and Mental Health. The organisation, Trade Unions and the TUC, now have major concerns about the outcome of any shift of EU-based health and safety law into UK law and the very likely future diminution of Health and Safety and other associated laws.

The latest edition of “Work Stress Guide” handbook has been published with the CWU being one of the publication’s sponsors, along with several other Unions; FBU, FDA, GMB, NASUWT, UNISON, Unite and both the Hazards Campaign and Scottish Hazards.

The New handbook examines:

The problem:

• The extent of work-related stress illness.

• The cost of work-related stress illnesses to the individual, society and the economy.

• The causes of work-related stress.

• The effects of stress on the mental and physical health of workers.

• Obstacles to progress.

• The law.

• The solution.

• Preventing work stress (the role of Government, employers, Trade Unions and individuals).

• Conducting a risk assessment.

• Dealing with individual stress.

Appendices

• WorkStress (UK National Work Stress Network).

• Fit notes.

• Sample workplace audit forms.

• The European dimension.

• Useful sources of information.

• References.

The Appendices give further information about the WorkStress Network, examine how other European countries are tackling the problem of psycho-social workplace hazards, give some examples of Workplace Audit Forms and lists some further sources of information.

The handbook should be of use to many, including:

• Employers, managers and human resources staff.

• Trade Union Health and Safety Representatives and Union Reps.

• Trade Union tutors and students.

• Professionals in the field of mental health and occupational health.

• Academics.

• Employees with personal experience of workplace stress and its effects.

Handbook pdf Download Copy:

A pdf copy of the handbook is attached and the Health, Safety and Environment Department will be distributing hard copies of the books to Senior Health and Safety Reps via Regional Health and Safety Forums and there will be copies available at Annual Conference at the Health and Safety Fringe Meeting. Bulk copies can also be purchased by Branches (details below).

Problem and Extent of Workplace Stress-Related Illness:

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines stress as “the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed upon them. Too many workers are trapped in highly stressful environments as a result of poor work organisation and negative behaviours in the workplace. As a result, levels of stress-related mental and physical illness caused or made worse by work are very high. Those at the bottom of the workplace pecking order are often the major victims of stress-related illness. Sufferers are not weak individuals who are incapable of coping with the normal demands of working life. The reverse is often the case, and it can be those who refuse to bend under these pressures and who refuse to admit to themselves that they are being overwhelmed who often succumb to incapacitating stress-related illnesses.

Highly stressful workplaces are ‘dysfunctional’ because they work to the benefit neither of the employee nor of the employer. The former can suffer from a range of stress-related mental and physical illnesses and the latter reaps this harvest in terms of low productivity, low employee morale and rapid staff turnover. Instead of taking measures to prevent this epidemic of injury, too often managers or employers make excessive demands, neglect their common-law duty of care and clearly ignore the cost to their organisations of sick pay, long-term absence, reduced productivity and potential claims for compensation by workers made ill by their negligence. However, it is the human cost of work-related stress, in terms of wrecked lives and relationships, debilitating mental and physical illness and sometimes, tragically, death that should concern us most.

No one should leave work at the end of the day less healthy than they were when they started. All too often we hear of workers trapped in highly stressful environments, often also the subject of bullying, victimisation and harassment or discrimination. When we see how many people are affected by their work (and sometimes by fellow workers), it is heartrending to say the least. We learn that their managers or employers make excessive demands, neglect their common law duty of care and clearly ignore the cost to the organisation through sick pay, long-term absence, reduced production and potential compensation for making their workers ill.

Stress is a major cause of sickness absence in the workplace and costs over £5 billion a year in Great Britain. It affects individuals, their families and colleagues by impacting on their health but it also impacts on employers with costs relating to sickness absence, replacement staff, lost production and increased accidents.

The UK National Work-Stress Network is committed to the eradication of the causes of work-related stress and associated illnesses. They campaign to advance this aim through involvement with the Hazards Campaign and in conjunction with the TUC, UK trade unions and European organisations.

The Network consists of many hundreds of like-minded people, some of whom have suffered the consequences of work-related stress. Amongst their numbers are experienced caseworkers, counsellors, occupational health workers, Trade Union officials, and those who are just determined to see effective management which recognises the needs of the workforce as well as of business.

The UK National Work-Stress Network’s website (www.workstress.net.) regularly receives over 40,000 visits each month and is the basis for the information they provide. They also produce three or four electronic newsletters each year. All documents on the website are free to copy and circulate. In addition, they facilitate workshops and seminars as requested and play a significant role at Hazards Conferences in the UK and Europe.

The UK operates in a climate of uncertainty and job insecurity, as the rights of employees have been regularly eroded in favour of a ‘business and enterprise culture’. Short-term and temporary contracts, zero-hours contracts, casualisation, privatisation, the conversion of public services into ‘businesses’ in which a smaller number of workers are expected to deliver the same amount of work, and increased lone working – have all increased pressure on the worker, thus changing the face of employment. Excessive target-setting, bureaucracy and performance measurement now pervade many aspects of work, applying additional pressures to workers, at every level. Coercive management practices (bullying) flourish as pressure increases to cut costs, and to meet targets, often with reduced staffing. This profit-motivated attitude has led to an unacceptable rise in the reported cases of stress-related workplace illness.

The UK National Work-Stress Network calls for:-

• Employers, company directors and managers at all levels to acknowledge their duty of care and their acceptance of their health and safety responsibilities to the workforce.

• Legislation and enforcement procedures to outlaw all forms of workplace stress, bullying and victimisation; also to ensure full corporate liability for workplace injury.

• The creation of a caring supportive workplace culture with ‘Dignity at Work’ and worker-sensitive procedures for all.

• Specific regulations or an Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) or giving clear instructions to management on the necessary actions to remove stress related illness from the workplace, regulations in which the right of people at work to be treated with dignity and respect is explicitly stated to prevent the abuse of hierarchical position, which creates a bullying culture.

The UK National Work-Stress Network provides speakers for local and national events and facilitates workshops and seminars for Trade Union and human resources groups. The Network continues to be closely involved with the Hazards Campaign and takes an active part in both UK and European Hazards conferences.

Purchasing Bulk Copies Of The Work-Stress Guide Booklet

Copies of the Work Stress Guide Booklet can be purchased as follows:-

A box of 55 copies comes at a charge of £1 per copy plus admin and p&p = £80. Orders can be processed via:

Bob Woods (Network Coordinator)

UK National Work Stress Network

Mobile: 07590 598587

Email: ukstresscoordinator@gmail.com

The UK National Work-Stress Network Annual Conference

The UK National Work-Stress Network holds an Annual Conference in November each year at the Hillscourt Conference Centre, Rednal, Birmingham B45 8RS. When details are confirmed and application forms are available, full details will be published via an LTB to Branches, Safety Reps and Regional Health and Safety Forums.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

 

In order that people may be happy in their

work these three things are needed…

■ they must be fit for it;

■ they must not do too much of it; and

■ they must have a sense of success in it.

(John Ruskin, 1871)

18LTB247 UK National Work Stress Network – New ‘Work Stress Guide Handbook’

UK Work-Stress Guide-Handbook

How to Identify Stress CWU Factsheet

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Safe & Well – April 2018

Dear Colleagues,

Please see attached the April edition of Safe and Well newsletter with contributions from our USRs and field teams. This edition has a focus on various aspects of power plus the launch of the new eyewear range. May’s edition will focus in on summer safety topics to raise awareness.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB246 Safe & Well – April 2018

Safe and Well Issue 57 April 2018

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