The London Region places
health, safety and welfare of its members at the top of
the agenda.
As part of our work we produce health,
safety bulletins, covering Asbestos to Bullying, Lone
Working to Ventilation, (each consisting of an A4 page).
You can see these by clicking on the bulletins button
there are currently 40 of them.
In addition the regional health and safety department
also has a health and safety news service with over
90 topics on subjects from AIDS to Chemicals, Welfare
to Work Equipment. Theses are more detailed documents
ranging from 3 to 6 pages.
As part of the service to members, we undertake site
and workplace visits giving advice, support and detailed
reports on all aspects of health and safety.
At the request of branches the department will also attend
branch meetings as guest speakers to deal with issues
of particular concern to their members.
The GMB London region fully supports the "smoke
free London" campaign. Second hand smoke (passive
smoking) is a serious workplace Health & Safety
issue especially for workers in the hospitality sector. The government has accepted the overwhelming evidence
that tobacco smoke is harmful not only to those who
chose to smoke but also to the vast majority of public
and workers who do not, yet the governments proposed
legislation effectively gives no protection to our members
in work places such as casinos with private clubs and
some public houses being able to opt out of their duty
of care. Its estimated that around 1200 non smokers each year
die from smoking related illnesses.
The GMB have always
taken Health & Safety very seriously and this issue
is no different from asbestos or any other work place
hazard.
The Department of Health's Consultation on legislation
for smokefree workplaces has been published. We would
like to encourage as many people to respond to the document.
An online petition has been set up on the smokefree
action web site: www.smokefreeaction.org.uk/action.html
Where the GMB is recognised we can tailor health and
safety training, that meets the specific need for joint
training (reps and managers), these are usually on Risk
Assessments and Safety Reps Rights. This is in addition
to the basic health and safety training provided to
the safety reps in the region.The Health & Safety department is run by Simon
Reed in our Hendon office.
