Hazards and the Troublemakers
5th October 2024: The Hazards Centre had two stalls at this years annual Troublemakers At Work Conference held in Manchester. The event was attended by a range of voluntary and community organisations, trade unions, campaign groups and political figures. Of the visitors to the Hazards stall many were interested in how to organise and enforce their rights to protect workers and volunteers. Workloads and stress came up regularly but there was also interest in how climate change and the diminishing role of the HSE were affecting safer working. The Hazards Magazine was a popular resource as was the easy-to-use guide from the Hazards Centre on organising for safer workplaces.
The main events and workshops included; Fighting Back Under Labour, Precarious and Migrant Workers Organising, Confronting Far Right Ideas in the Workplace and Anti-Union Laws, Lessons from the Strike Waves amongst many others. To see more on this event held on 5th October 2024 and the campaign work of Troublemakers At Work click here.
Calling Safety Reps – How does your workplace record accidents?
October 2024: The GMHC is keen to know if and how you record accidents/ incidents at your workplace. Our short survey is anonymous and will help to inform us about any areas of accident reporting that we should campaign on. Use the link below to start the survey. If you are interested in becoming a health and safety rep (HSR) contact your union. To find out which union covers your workplace please click here.
If you are in the North West of England you can leave your email address if you’d like to join our North West Safety Reps Network. Thank You.
GMHC Support Midwives Campaign
September 2024: The GMHC took its worker-safety messaging to the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) National Conference in York on 17th September 2024. Throughout the day GMHC showed its support for midwives by talking about preventative measures such as managing workloads, ventilation, the value in developing heath and safety reps and how the changing climate affects workers.
Despite the occupational challenges there was also a sense of optimism from delegates through the achievements of workers and their campaign to get better recognition of the risks posed by repeated exposure to Entonox. This issue links strongly with the Control of Substances Hazardous Regs, the working environment and the need for proper ventilation – a strong campaign issues for the GMHC.
With such a valuable grass-roots campaign for workers it was not surprising to see the Hazards Movement recognise their work on Entonox through an award at the Hazards Conference in September 2024. Not only has the Entonox campaign given midwives a say in protecting themselves and others as they go about their duties but it has helped to raise morale and confidence in addressing safety concerns. Ordinary workers having a say and being engaged in meaningful consultation not just protects people but it is good practice and recognised in law. The GMHC wishes RCM members further success with their campaigns and welcomes the growth in new and active health and safety reps across the union.
