Fight For Your Rights To Safety’ – A TUC (North West Region) and Greater Manchester Hazards Training event For Trade Unions, June 8th, Manchester:

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

The Health, Safety and Environment Department has been notified by the TUC North West Region and Greater Manchester Hazards Centre that they are organising a special ‎Health and Safety training event to celebrate 150 years of the TUC.

The safety and health of workers is good for the workplace, society and the economy. This event will look at what can be learnt from the past to show what improvements need to be made to ensure workers leave the workplace healthy and uninjured now and in the future.

Speakers will address the challenges Trade Unions face and what needs to be done in response to keep workers safe.

The event will take place on ‎8th June at the Mechanics Institute, Manchester, 10am – 5pm with lunch provided.

The Speakers are:-

• Paul Holleran – GMB – How do we tackle health and safety in the GIG economy/Uber?

• Adam Lincoln – UCU – How do we tackle work related stress and workload in all our sectors?

• Lizanne Davenport – Unison – How do we improve the health and safety of unorganised and precarious workers like care workers?

• Suzanne Humphreys – Thompsons Solicitors – How can the law support workers challenging unacceptable and health damaging working conditions?

• Kevin Rowan – TUC & HSE Board Member – Safety Reps Organising for Safety

The event will be chaired by Doug Russell, National Health and Safety Officer USDAW and Frances O’Grady, TUC General Secretary, will open up the conference. To apply please register using Eventbrite on the link at: https://www.tuc.org.uk/events/you-gotta-fight-your-right-safety-health-safety-workplace

Contact Janet Newsham: email: Janet@gmhazards or 0161 636 7558 for more information.

The Event Flyer is attached.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB308 ‘Fight For Your Rights To Safety’ – Training event For Trade Unions, June 8th, Manchester

flyer You gotta fight for your right to safety

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Government U-Turn on Grenfell Tower Fire Inquiry Panel:

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

In what is a welcomed announcement, the Government has made a U-Turn and agreed that two independent experts will now be appointed to join the panel presiding over the Grenfell Tower Fire Inquiry.

They will join Judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick for the second phase of the Inquiry, which is due to commence later this month. The announcement comes after pressure from campaigners who claimed the Inquiry would be a whitewash and not take into account key concerns from campaigners, families, survivors and residents.

A petition, which asked for additional and more independent expert panellists, was launched following concerns that Sir Moore-Bick was unable to relate to survivors. It attracted 156,000 signatures. The Prime Minister Theresa May had originally dismissed the request but has now relented and changed her mind. She has confirmed that two additional panellists will be appointed before Phase 2 of the Inquiry begins.

The Prime Minister stated that in order to ensure that the inquiry panel has the necessary breadth of skills and diversity of expertise relevant to the broad range of issues to be considered in Phase 2, and to best serve the increasing scale and complexity of the inquiry, she had decided to appoint an additional two panel members to support Sir Martin Moor-Bick’s chairmanship for Phase 2 of the inquiry’s work onwards.

Sir Moore-Bick awaits the names of those appointed for his consideration under section 7(2)(b) of the Inquiries Act 2005.

The news of the U-Turn has been welcomed by campaigners who are desperate to make sure the Inquiry delivers truth and justice for those lost in the fire and those that survived.

Campaigners thanked the 100 MPs who came to meet them in Parliament recently and the 156,000 people across the country who signed the petition.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB306 Government U-Turn on Grenfell Tower Fire Inquiry Panel

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Independent Review (Hackitt Report) on Fire Safety Published

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

The independent review into building regulations and fire safety has been published and calls for a “radical rethink” but does not ban the use of combustible materials.

The independent review was commissioned by Prime Minister Theresa May last July following the Grenfell Tower fire and it has been conducted by EEF chair Dame Judith Hackitt. It looked at current building regulations and fire safety with a particular focus on high rise residential buildings. It examined the regulatory system around the design, construction and on-going management of buildings in relation to fire safety, related compliance and enforcement issues and international regulation and experience in this area.

As part of the review, Dame Judith consulted the Buildings Regulations Advisory Committee, which advises the government on changes to building regulations as well as the construction and housing industry, the fire sector, international experts, MPs and the public. The review also worked closely with other government departments and the devolved administrations and considered the implications of changes to the regulatory system on other government objectives.

Dame Hackitt published her interim findings on 18 December 2017 in which she called on the construction industry, building owners, regulators and government to come together to address the ‘shortcomings’ identified so far.

The interim report identified that the current system of building regulations and fire safety is not fit for purpose and that a culture change is required to support the delivery of buildings that are safe, both now and in the future.

The final report calls for the creation of a new Joint Competent Authority (JCA) to oversee the management of buildings and calls for tougher penalties for those flouting the Building Regulations. It outlines a new structure for how to manage building safety and calls for more effective testing of products (such as cladding) but does not ban the use of combustible materials. The key recommendations include:

• A new regulatory framework focused, in the first instance, on multi-occupancy higher risk residential buildings (HRRBs) that are 10 storeys or more in height;

• A new Joint Competent Authority (JCA) comprising Local Authority Building Standards, fire and rescue authorities and the Health and Safety Executive to oversee better management of safety risks in these buildings (through safety cases) across their entire life cycle;

• A mandatory incident reporting mechanism for dutyholders with concerns about the safety of a HRBB;

• A set of rigorous and demanding dutyholder roles and responsibilities to ensure a stonrger focus on building safety;

• A series of robust gateway points to strengthen regulatory oversight that will require dutyholders to show to the JCA that their plans are detailed and robust;

• A stronger change control process that will require robust record-keeping by the dutyholder of all changes made to the detailed plans previously signed off by the JCA;

• A single, more streamlined, regulatory route to oversee building standards as part of the JCA to ensure that regulatory oversight of these buildings is independent from clients, designers and contractors and that enforcement can and does take place where necessary;

• More rigorous enforcement powers. A wider and more flexible range of powers will be created to focus incentives on the creation of reliably safe buildings from the outset. This also means more serious penalties for those who choose to place residents at risk;

• Clearer rights and obligations for residents to maintain the fire safety of individual dwellings;

• A regulator for the whole of the building (the JCA) in relation to fire and structural safety in occupation; and

• A more effective testing regime for cladding with clearer labelling and product transparency

In the Report summary, Dame Judith Hackitt stated that the above issues have helped to create a cultural issue across the sector, which can be described as a ‘race to the bottom’ caused either through ignorance, indifference, or because the system does not facilitate good practice. There is insufficient focus on delivering the best quality building possible, in order to ensure that residents are safe, and feel safe.

It goes on to state that just as the process of constructing the building itself must be subject to greater scrutiny, the classification and testing of the products need to undergo a radical overhall to be clearer and more proactive.

Hackitt adds that the ultimate test of this new framework will be the rebuilding of public confidence in the system. The people who matter most in all of this are the residents of these buildings. The new framework needs to be much more transparent; potential purchasers and tenants need to have clear sight of the true condition of the space they are buying and the integrity of the building system they will be part of.

Hackitt concludes that one of the greatest concerns which has been expressed to me is whether there is the political will to achieve radical and lasting change. I believe that we have a real opportunity to do this, and to create a system in which everyone will have greater confidence.

The review had received criticism for not being inclusive of some key associations in the fire sector. In February, the All Party Parliamentary Fire Safety and Rescue Group revealed that it had been excluded from being part of key advisory groups within the review.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) responded to the Hackitt Review by agreeing that the fire safety testing regime for building materials needs to be considerably clearer, more rigorous, and based more closely on real world conditions. The ABI provided evidence to Dame Judith Hackitt about the inadequacy of parts of the current regime. The ABI stated that an improved testing regime must be established as soon as possible.

The ABI added that the Report does not tackle the fundamental issue of combustible materials used on homes and businesses and called for a total ban on combustible materials being used on the outside of buildings. Without a ban, they said, there would be a lack of confidence in the regulations.

The full report is attached to this LTB.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB304 Independent Review (Hackitt Report) on Fire Safety Published

Building A Safer Future – Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety Final Report

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Fatal Fires increase in UK – 2017 Government Statistics published:

To: All Branches

Annual statistics released by the government have shown that the total number fires and the number fatal fires have increased in the UK over the last year.

The report, “Fire and rescue incident statistics: year ending December 2017”, gives in-depth details into incidents attended by fire and rescue services between 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017. It is the third set of statistics published by the Home Office which cover the Grenfell Tower fire.

While the number of fire related fatalities have been on a downward trend for the past three decades, this last year saw a 15 per cent increase, which includes the 71 fatalities at Grenfell Tower. This means in the last year there were 321 fatalities compared to 278 in the previous year.

There has also been a four per cent increase in fires attended, which increased from 169,588 fires compared with 162,427 the previous year (162,427). This represents a 50 per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (336,233 in 2006/07). The increase in fires is driven by an increase in secondary fires with primary fires showing a small decrease.

The fire and rescue service responded to a total of 563,527 incidents compared to 560,874. This was a less than one per cent increase compared with the previous year and a 34 per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (854,371 in 2006/07).

In addition, firefighters attended 223,383 fire false alarms, which is a one per cent decrease compared with the previous year (224,862), but a 37 per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (352,136). They also attended 170,556 non-fire incidents, which represents a two per cent decrease compared with the previous year (173,585). There had been a general decline in the number of non-fire incidents during the last ten years.

The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) has responded to the latest fire incident statistics released by the Home Office commenting that the trend of incidents and fires attended has fallen over the past ten years but it is disappointing to see an increase in fires attended during the past 12 months, despite it being relatively small. ‎They added that it is also clear more work needs to be done on addressing false alarms, which currently account for 40 per cent of all callouts.

The NFCC said that the 15 per cent increase in fatalities during the last year must be looked at; which includes the devastating loss of life at Grenfell Tower.

The Hackitt Review will make a number of recommendations with regard to current building regulations and fire safety.

In addition, the independent Grenfell Tower Inquiry will look at the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the fire. The Inquiry will then report back to the Prime Minister with the findings and recommendations.

NFCC stated that it will continue to work with the Home Office to ensure fire and rescue services are appropriately represented within government, including presenting clear and concise messages about future needs, resourcing to risk, influencing the wider Fire Reform programme and working on the new inspectorate programme. It is vital the communities the Fire and Rescue service serves continue to have confidence in the service they trust.

The full report can be found at www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-and-rescue-incident-statistics-england-year-ending-december-2017

A copy of the full Report is also attached to this LTB.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB305 Fatal Fires increase in UK – 2017 Government Statistics published

fire-and-rescue-incident-dec17-hosb0818

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ELECTION OF NATIONAL DELEGATIONS – 2018

• TUC Congress

• Labour Party Conference

Further to LTB 258/18, dated 3rd May at the close of nominations the following had been received:

TUC

Postal Constituency

NEC (1 Member)

Mick Kavanagh

South Midlands Postal*ELECTED

Lay Members (7 Members at least 2 delegates must be women)

Katie Dunning

West London Postal*ELECTEDKate Hudson

South Midlands Postal*ELECTED

Ballot RequiredJim McKechnie

Glasgow District Amal Anthony Pedel

York & District Amal Sajid Shaikh

Birmingham & District AmalAmarjite Singh

South East Wales AmalMark Walsh

Greater Mersey & South West Lancs Richard Wilkins

South Central Postal Mark Williams

South West Wales Amal Rob Wotherspoon

Bristol & District Amal

Telecom & Financial Services Constituency

NEC (1 Member) 

Tom Cooper

Leicester & Midshires, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Scotland No 1, South Wales*ELECTED

Lay Members (5 Members at least 2 delegates must be women)

Ballot RequiredJonathan Belshaw

Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Capital, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Northern Ireland Telecom, Scotland No 1, South WalesEugene Caparros

South Wales, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Northern Ireland Telecom, Scotland No 1Fiona Curtis

Northern Ireland Telecom, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Scotland No 1, South WalesDavid Kennedy

Northern Ireland Telecom, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Scotland No 1, South WalesJacqueline Morrey

Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Northern Ireland Telecom , Scotland No 1, South WalesAngela Teeling

Greater Mersey & South West LancsJeffrey Till

Greater London Combined

LABOUR PARTY

Postal Constituency

NEC (1 Member)

Steve Jones

London Postal Engineering, London Regional MT*ELECTED

Lay Members (7 Members at least 2 delegates must be women)

Katie Dunning

West London Postal*ELECTEDKate Hudson

South Midlands Postal*ELECTED

Ballot RequiredPaul Braithwaite

North Lancs & Cumbria Kye Dudd

Bristol & District Amal Peter Firmin

London Phoenix Keith Hamilton

South Central Postal Sajid Shaikh

Birmingham District Amal Alan Tate

London Regional MT, London Postal Engineering Mark Walsh

Greater Mersey & South West Lancs, London Regional MT

Telecom & Financial Services Constituency

NEC (1 Member)

Karen Rose

South Wales, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Mersey, Portsmouth West Sussex & IOW, Scotland No 1*ELECTED

Lay Members (5 Members at least 2 delegates must be women)

Ballot RequiredCraig Anderson

Scotland No 1, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, South WalesGraham Colk

South Wales, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Scotland No 1Kate Hankey

Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Portsmouth West Sussex & IOW, Scotland No 1, South WalesBrian Kenny

Mersey, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Scotland No 1, South WalesJoyce Stevenson

Scotland No 1, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Portsmouth West Sussex & IOW, South WalesAngela Teeling

Greater Mersey & South West Lancs

The ballot timetable is as follows:

Despatch ballot papers 25 May 2018

Ballot Closes 8 June 2018 (14:00)

Any enquiries regarding this Letter to Branches should be addressed to the Senior Deputy General Secretary’s Department on telephone number 020 8971 7237, or email address sdgs@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Kearns

Senior Deputy General Secretary

18LTB303

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CWU/RM – Resourcing & Quality Checklists Review Process in Delivery Units

Dear Colleagues,

Further to LTB 280/18 dated Friday 11th May, which contained the RM & CWU National Joint Statement, regarding updates relating to the Resourcing & Quality Checklists.

Branches and Representatives will be aware that the 2018 Guiding Principles Agreement, contained within Sections 8 (Resourcing) and 9 (Quality of Service) it was agreed that both parties would produce a jointly agreed checklist to assess each Unit against the application of our National Agreements and ensure that all scheduled mail is being cleared on a daily basis.

The purpose of the exercise is to build confidence that all delivery units are compliant with all National agreements and joint statements. Where it is identified there is non-compliance, an agreed action plan will be worked up locally as a priority. In addition we have also included a number of questions within the resourcing checklist pertaining to annual leave in order to avoid further duplication and deal with this element of the National agreement within one combined joint exercise.

Following discussions with Royal Mail we have now agreed the content of both checklists, (which are attached), along with the details and process of how to use the share point process in order to complete these checklists using the online platform.

In line with the commitment within the Guiding Principles Agreement, both the unit manager and local CWU rep will complete this exercise together as a part of the weekly resourcing meeting. Accordingly it is essential that the local, or area CWU representative where there is no local rep in place, is provided sufficient release time to jointly complete this exercise with the Delivery manager.

Units will have a maximum of three weeks to complete this exercise and all returns must be completed online no later than Friday 8th June 2018.

The completed online checklists will be made available to the CWU Area Reps and RM Ops Managers and also the CWU Divisional Reps and RM Delivery Leads both where compliance has been agreed and where non-compliant remedy action plans are jointly being worked up. These will also be made available to the CWU Divisional Reps and RM Delivery Leads for their respective units, as well as the overall outputs being shared with the Department Nationally.

Also attached are the ‘CWU & RM Annual Leave/Resourcing Guidelines’ (LTB 460/17) published on the 23rd of August 2017, which contain:

• Royal Mail & CWU Nationally Agreed Guidelines Covering Annual Leave and Weekly Resourcing.

• Annual Leave Planning Meeting Agenda template.

• 12 Week Resourcing Meeting Agenda template.

• Weekly Resourcing Meeting Agenda template.

In addition the ‘CWU & RM Nationally Agreed Summer Resourcing Guidelines’ (LTB 305/17) published on the 7th of June 2017, which although due for review for operation this forthcoming summer, they also contain important joint commitments which are a valuable reference point for resourcing including:

• A Joint Message from Royal Mail and the CWU.

• Royal Mail & CWU Nationally Agreed Guidelines Covering Summer Resourcing.

Additionally in relation to workload issues and all due mails receiving the correct and appropriate quality of service, the agreed National Joint statement containing the agreed avoiding delay guidelines along with reporting standards of any mail failures and service issues are also attached.

It is acknowledged that this LTB contains a large number of attachments, however it is important that all relevant and necessary documentation linked to the checklists is in one LTB for ease of reference for Branches and reps whilst carrying out this activity.

Any queries to the content of the above, please contact the Outdoor Department, reference 230.05, email address: outdoorsecretary@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

 

Mark Baulch

CWU Assistant Secretary

LTB 301.18 – RM CWU Resourcing Quality Checklists Review Process in Delivery Units (2)

Quality Checklist Final

Resourcing Checklist Final

Resourcing and Quality Checklists QuickGuide

17LTB305

Summer Resourcing 2017 Joint Message from RM & CWU

RM & CWU Nationally Agreed Guidelines Covering Summer Resourcing

17LTB460

RM CWU Nationally Agreed Guidelines Covering Annual Leave and Weekly Resourcing

JS_Avoiding Delay_Commit to Deliver_Accurate Reporting_February17_Final

2018 Hazards Conference – Sponsorship

Further to LTB298/18, in line with Conference Policy CWU/HQ has continued its sponsorship of the Hazard Campaign Conference‎ with a small £300 donation as agreed by the NEC in 2017.

Please find enclosed sponsorship forms in order that branches can consider sponsorship donations also and the Health, Safety & Environment Department would very much appreciate your consideration of this cause in order to help this worthy Trade Union based campaigning organisation.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB302 2018 Hazards Conference – Sponsorship

Sponsorship Appeal 2018(PDF)

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CWU History and Heritage Project

From time to time Branches and individual members contact the General Secretary’s Department regarding the storage and preservation of important historical Branch records and archives, which may be in danger of being lost or destroyed as a consequence of the changes taking place in our industries and the associated relocations of workplaces and Branches etc.

As a result, we have been considering how we preserve the history and heritage of CWU and its predecessor unions; and to do this we are launching a CWU History and Heritage Project.

It is extremely important that the union’s history is persevered and that future generations of trade unionists are given the opportunity to study and learn from the experiences of previous generations of workers.

The union’s archives are currently housed in Warwick University but many Branches have historic documents in their Branch offices and there is a concern that these may be inadvertently lost or destroyed when Branches or workplaces are relocated. Alternatively, such documentation may become damaged as a consequence of their age or how they are stored. We are aware that some Branches have minute books, documents and periodicals dating back to World War I, from the unions that were the forerunners of the CWU. We are also aware that Branch banners are occasionally replaced. With all these items it is important that they are not damaged or destroyed but are instead preserved as a record of the union’s history.

We understand that some Branches may be reluctant to part with what they consider to be part of their own Branch archives. However, other Branches have expressed the view that the national union should provide a facility for Branches to store their historical documentation centrally. This will ensure that documentation and artefacts are catalogued and preserved in a safe and secure environment, whilst also recognising that Branches and individuals would still be able to access their own Branch archives when necessary.

To get this project off the ground, I have asked my former Policy Adviser and Retired Member, Norman Candy, to oversee this important work. Any individuals or Branches willing to assist in developing the project can do so in two ways. Firstly, individuals who want to participate in the project should contact Norman on 07986 846 679 and at a suitable point we will convene a meeting to discuss the best way to shape the project going forward. Secondly, Branches or individuals who have historical documents or artefacts that they would like to store and preserve using a central facility, should also contact Norman on the same number.

I am sure that Branches and representatives will recognise the importance of this CWU History and Heritage Project and your co-operation in making this a success will be much appreciated.

Further information will be sent out in due course.

Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be sent to gsoffice@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward

General Secretary

18LTB300 – CWU HISTORY AND HERITAGE PROJECT

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National Hazards Conference 2018 – Friday 27th to Sunday 29th July 2018, at Keele University, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire:  Safety Reps @40: Vital to the Future of Safe and Healthy Work

The 29th National Hazards Conference takes place at Keele University, from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th July 2018 and the CWU is once again pleased to be supporting and sponsoring this unique and popular event for Trade Union Safety Representatives.

Hazards Conference is the UK’s biggest and best educational and organising event for trade union safety reps and activists. It consists of a mixture of plenary sessions, meetings and a comprehensive workshop programme. It gives delegates the opportunity to exchange experience and information with, and learn from, safety reps and activists from other unions, sectors and jobs across the UK.

2017 was a significant year for our workplace health and safety. The Grenfell Tower fire was a shocking example of the consequences of the government’s ‘bonfire of health and safety regulations’. It was an ‘enough is enough’ moment! After decades of undermining the HSE and LA enforcement bodies through savage cuts in funding and arbitrary policy changes, critical fire, building, product, environmental and workplace safety laws have been unjustifiably and insanely changed and trade unions have been undermined through draconian legislative changes with an aim to shackle their collective and organisational effectiveness. The Government is attempting to silence critics and exclude many experts and interested parties from the public inquiry into Grenfell turning it into a whitewash.

But 2017 was not all bad news. This was also the year we started our celebrations of 40 years of SRSC regulation. One of the most important pieces of health and safety legislation in the UK. The SRSC give safety reps their statutory rights to inspect, consult their members, challenge their employers and improve health, safety and welfare in their workplaces. We have also seen a number of prominent safety based disputes: the courageous McDonald strikers took industrial action to increase their low pay and improve their health and safety at work, and the determination of the railway workers fighting to keep our guards on the trains.

Technological changes have also featured heavily in the news throughout the year as employers seek to squeeze more and more profit out of their organisations. Automation shouldn’t be a tool to beat or exclude workers, it should be an opportunity to support and improve our society, to cut and improve our working hours, to provide a better life work balance with enough income to support our additional leisure time. It should be an opportunity to improve our health and life expectancy. Automation should be about sharing the opportunities for the community and not grabbing the surpluses for the greedy few. It should aim to improve the health, safety and welfare of all workers.

Hazards 2018 will be addressing some of the most important issues facing workers, it will provide practical skills, improved knowledge and give delegates a new confidence to support their roles in the workplace.

The booking form is up on the Hazards Campaign website now:

http://www.hazardscampaign.org.uk/blog/hazards-conference-2018-booking-form

Also on the Hazards Campaign website http://www.hazardscampaign.org.uk/ sign up for updates on the right hand side of the page.

Hazards 2018 Workshops, Seminars & Meetings:

The opening plenary session with keynote speakers is on Friday evening and the closing plenary is on Sunday morning. There is no Saturday plenary. Saturday is a day for workshops, seminars and meetings ending with campaign sessions.

One of the Campaign Sessions this Year will be organised and presented by CWU Health and Safety Reps on ‘Driving for a Living’. This will be supported by the CWU Health, Safety & Environment Department and additionally there will be a CWU Stall in the Hazards Conference Exhibition Area highlighting safety issues around mental health, dangerous dogs, staying safe in the sun etc. Safety regions are invited to forward any spare literature and merchandise they may have to stock the stall throughout the weekend. Please contact Andrew Hickerman (andrew.s.hickerman@royalmail.com) or Tony Pedel (pedelsafety17@hotmail.co.uk) who will advise on delivery details.

The final plenary on Sunday will pull it all together and send safety reps off with more tools in the kit. This year the workshops, seminars and meetings are themed to provide a concentrated examination of all the key issues. Read the form carefully before you fill it in. Contact the organisers if you need help or further information.

There are three Themes to choose from with 6 workshops in each Theme. Choose 2 workshops and one reserve. Also choose one Meeting. Two weeks before Hazards conference begins, the organisers will send delegates a list of Campaign Sessions to select from with final joining instructions, and delegates can then sign up for the Campaign Sessions at registration. Delegates will be posted the programme and more details to supplement the brief outline on the attached registration form and at: http://www.hazardscampaign.org.uk

Below are the outline details of the Conference keynote meetings and workshop sessions:-

Hazards Conference Keynote Meetings:

Choose ONE Meeting and enter No. 1, 2 or 3 in the box on Registration form

Meeting 1: From menstruation to menopause! Why do we need a gender sensitive approach to occupational safety and health?

Women face similar health, safety and welfare issues as men, and also other hazards due to sex/gender role differences. We will explore the risk to women’s health and safety at work from menstruation to menopause and beyond caused by inadequate gender neutral risk assessments and policies and share good practice, information and action by women safety reps. We will examine the key issues, inadequate protection from chemicals and shift work, poor job design, pregnancy and maternity discrimination, sexual harassment and how we can organise against them, and recruit more women safety reps!

Meeting 2: How do we challenge the consequences of privatisation, commercialisation and marketisation alongside the deregulation agenda and the selective enforcement of health and safety laws?

Privatisation, outsourcing, zero hours contracts, agency workers, many people do not know who they are working for or what contractual rights they have and this is prevalent across all different sectors, professions and jobs. Alongside this a lack of enforcement from HSE, LA’s and other enforcing bodies because of cuts to these services. We need to develop better strategies to keep us all safe at work.

Meeting 3: Why is transparency in the supply chain necessary in advancing the health, safety and welfare of workers both nationally and internationally?

Slavery was outlawed many years ago, but is still an endemic problem in many industries and parts of the world. Here in the UK there have been cases of workers with passports confiscated working and living in slum conditions. There have also been many exposés in the agriculture and clothes industry, where workers are being employed in the most horrendous conditions and their health and safety totally disregarded. This meeting will explore what we can do in the UK to challenge these inhumane practices and advance health and safety for all workers.

Meeting 4: Is mental ill health a consequence of the intensification of working practices and bad management in our workplaces and what should we do about it?

Mental health has become a talking point in the UK. In workplaces we have mental health first aiders, well-being sessions and a growth of individual treatments and solutions for workers unable to cope with the pressures they face. A whole industry has built up around mental ill health with organisations making money through training, publications, treatments etc. This meeting will explore the causes of mental illness at work and the difference between collective and individual solutions in making us better.

Hazards Conference Workshops (Select two plus one reserve from your chosen theme)

Theme 1 Workplace organisation

01 Reps’ functions and employers’ duties

What are health and safety reps functions? How do we ensure safety reps are able to carry them out and be more effective?

02 Safety committees: what do we need?

How do we ensure safety committees work effectively and proactively? How do we ensure that health and safety issues are not marginalised and dealt with as part of the bargaining agenda?

03 Resources and creative action for safety reps

What resources are available for safety reps and how can they be used to support their role. Creating effective newsletters, posters and leaflets.

04 Supporting health and safety reps

Some Trade union reps face victimisation, when they are trying to sup-port their members and also suffering from their own work related stress. How do we support safety reps and what preventative measures can be put in place to protect reps from being harmed?

05 Workplace Inspections

The workshop focuses on preparing for regular workplace inspections; explains the resources and tools you need, plus checklist development; recording & reporting the results of the inspection and follow-up action.

06 Investigating incidents and injuries

Good investigation ensures problems are identified and further harm is prevented. This workshop will look at key steps for incident investigation, and give you the tools you need to undertake inspections effectively.

Theme 2 Dealing with risks

07 Identifying Hazards/Risk, Hierarchy of control

Risk assessment is the statutory foundation for employer working practices. Employer’s duties, how to carry out risk assessment, the hierarchy of control and failures. How do we ensure safety reps play an effective role?

08 Violence faced by workers

Workers are facing increasingly violent situations in their working environment. Care workers, ambulance workers, teachers, lone workers, hospitality workers retail workers etc. are all experiencing violence. This workshop will examine solutions and good practice in keeping us all safe at work.

09 Fire risk Inspections

Fire service enforcers are tough on employer failures to assess fire risks. What are the standards employers must meet? What guidance is available? How to get employers to ensure fire safety at work?

10 Air pollution—external and internal

Exposure to cocktail of chemicals at work, home, and in the environment is making us ill. We need a strategic approach to eliminating & reducing our exposure using REACH, COSHH, Toxics Use Reduction, Zero Carcinogens, and air pollution campaigns.

11 Driving for a living

Long hours, heavy and precarious loads, lack of welfare, bullying and poorly maintained vehicles. Delivering to inaccessible buildings, tracking and surveillance. What can we do to challenge this?

12 New technology and new ways of working

Identifying the hazards and risks from digital technologies, including musculo skeletal disorders, stress, surveillance and control. How can the law help, how to assess the risks and organise to prevent harm.

Theme 3 Challenging Employers agenda

13 Sacked for capability:

How sickness absence is being used as a punitive measure to reduce the workforce and control workers. What can we do to challenge this? Presenteeism is also causing harm and illness, how do we challenge this?

14 Resisting resilience & individual well-being schemes

Resilience and individual wellbeing, counselling & other schemes divert attention from collective preventative action. How do we re-focus action on prevention & ensure reps are not diverted?

15 Getting enforcement to work for us Government restriction on enforcement limit what inspectors can do. There are fewer HSE and local authority inspectors, fewer proactive inspections. What can they still do and how do we get help from inspectors when we need it?

16 Intensification of work and workplace bullying:

Work is intensifying, creating a hostile, bullying working environment and causing long term harm. How do we identify and challenge the hazards causing us real harm at work?

17 Challenging work related stress—mapping and the management standards

Mapping is an effective tool to help reps identify health and safety risks and put pressure on management to carry out effective risk assessments using the Management Stress Standards to prevent work-related stress and other injuries.

18 Precarious work

Zero hours, temporary contracts, agency work, outsourcing and low pay are spreading throughout UK workplaces undermining hard won H&S conditions and standards. How do we use H&S arguments and methods to organise against them.

How to apply for Hazards 2018

See attached Registration Form. The closing date for applications is Friday 6th July 2018

Choose 2 workshops plus a reserve within one of the Themes, and one Meeting. Put your choices in the appropriate boxes on the form. Arrange your delegate fee, complete the registration form, and send it to Hazards together with your cheque payable to Hazards 2018. If you want to pay by BACS contact Hazards for their account details to make the payment.

Notification

Hazards will acknowledge your application within a few days of receiving it. If applicants don’t hear from the organisers within two weeks of sending in their form, contact the organisers (contact details below).

Conference timings and registration

Hazards opening plenary starts at 7.30pm on Friday 27th July, and conference ends at 12.30pm on Sunday 29th July, followed by packed lunch. Delegate registration is from 1.00pm – 7.30pm on Friday 27th July, and between 7.30am – 9.00am on Saturday morning, 28th July.

For more information, clarification or queries, contact:-

Hazards 2018

C/o Greater Manchester Hazards Centre

Windrush Millennium Centre

70 Alexandra Road

Manchester M16 7WD

Telephone: 0161 636 7558

Fax: 0161 636 7556

Email: hazconf@gmhazards.org.uk

So there’s a lot to find out, discuss and debate, and a lot to do to defend health and safety and safe workplaces and our union organisation. Attend the Hazards Conference to hear and learn more about the problems we face and what needs to be done.

Full details are contained in the attached pdf Conference Registration Form. Hard copies will be distributed to Branches and Regional Health and Safety Forums.

For more conference event information about the programme visit the 2018 Hazards Conference pages on the Hazards Campaign website at:

http://www.hazardscampaign.org.uk

For clarification or queries, contact Hazards at: telephone 0161 636 7558 or e-mail: hazconf@gmhazards.org.uk

Yours sincerely

 

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB298 National Hazards Conference 2018 – Friday 27th to Sunday 29th July 2018

Hazards 2018 Conference Booking Form

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QUADRANT PAY CLAIM & BALLOT ARRANGEMENTS

Dear Colleagues

Branches will be aware that the department has been in protracted negotiations with the business in respect of the 2017/19 pay review for our Quadrant members.

The negotiating strategy throughout was to ensure that our members were properly rewarded for their efforts and commitment to the business and to ensure that pay in real terms was protected in relation to rises in the cost of living. Discussions proved extremely difficult and were complicated by the fact that in April 2018 the up rating of the National Living Wage required an adjustment to the hourly rate for our C Grade members, which happened in advance of a final agreed settlement.

We are pleased to announce however that our discussions have now concluded with an 18 month agreement negotiated to cover the period commencing 1st October 2017 to 1st April 2019.

The agreement maximises phased, consolidated rises in hourly rates and a reduction in working time for Full Time employees (with associated increases in hourly rate for PT employees). Hourly pay rates rise by 5.4%, which matches the forecast for inflation as measured by RPI over the period of the agreement.

Below for the information of Branches are details of the agreement that has been achieved and endorsed as worthy of recommendation to our members by the Postal Executive:

THE QUADRANT PAY & REWARD AGREEMENT 2017/19

Ø 1% consolidated increase to basic/regional pay rates effective 1st October 2017.

Ø 3% consolidated increase to basic/regional pay rates effective 1st April 2018 (based on 31st March 2018 basic pay rate for Grade C, National Pay Area, employees 2018).

Ø ½ hour reduction in the FTE working week effective 1st January 2019 (the associated consolidated increase in hourly rate applied to basic/regional pay rates from this date).

Ø Additional x2 weeks paternity pay.

Ø Proactive employment enrolment into our ‘Perks at Work’ scheme.

For clarity for our C Grade members the 3% increase from the 1st April 2018 incorporates the increase already applied by the business to align with the National Living Wage from that date.

The next pay review will be 1stApril 2019.

Branches are informed that the arrangements for an individual member’s ballot in respect of the Quadrant Pay agreement 2017/19 have now been finalised with the SDG(S) department and the timetable will be as follows:

Ballot Papers Dispatched: Friday, 18th May 2018.

Ballot Closes: Wednesday, 6th June 2018.

Branch Secretaries are requested to ensure that our members are made aware of the content of this LTB and that every effort is made to encourage our members to use their vote.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: dwyatt@cwu.org or shayman@cwu.org quoting reference number: 301.06.

Yours sincerely

Davie Robertson

Assistant Secretary

LTB 291-18 – Quadrant Pay Claim & Ballot Arrangements 14-05-18

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