Everyone should be able to go to work without having their health damaged or made worse.
Yet every year around two and a half million people are made ill because of work.
This is a huge number. Around half of these people are in pain because of injuries such as back pain, neck pain and Repetitive Strain Injury. A further half a million people have to take time off work because of stress.
Yet work does not make people ill. Bad working practices and poor safety are the cause. Almost all work related illness is avoidable, most of it through forward planning and good safety practices.
Within the community and voluntary sector there are particular problems. Management committees are there to provide a service and often have little experience in health and safety. Resources are often tight and many smaller organisations have no dedicated health and safety officer or safety committee.
However lack of experience or resources is no excuse for not taking health and safety serious. If you are a manager in a voluntary organisation, or sit on a management committee, you have responsibility for the health and safety of your staff. It is a responsibility you cannot delegate.
That is why UNISON has produced this site. It is to help community and voluntary organisations get the information they need on health and safety.
There are sections on
- How to write a health and safety policy
- The law
- Risk assessment
- Consulting the workforce
- Stress
- RSI
- Violence
- Lone working
- Other issues
- Working in partnership with UNISON
- Getting help
Have you got an up to date safety policy?
