Nearly two years from the start of the pandemic, we have seen and heard how covid has disproportionately impacted on our Black members in the workplace, with sometimes devastating consequences.
But even before the pandemic, racism at work exacerbated the health and safety risks Black workers face. Third party racial harassment and abuse; bullying and precarious employment contracts leading to stress and long hours or are all workplace health and safety issues that can cause harm and symptoms of wider structural disparities, entrenched disadvantages, and discriminatory practices.
UNISON is involved in a TUC led project looking at the health and safety of Black workers. As part of this project, academics at Greenwich University will be researching the experiences of Black workers through the pandemic. The findings will help inform the union movement’s strategies to tackle health and safety issues affecting Black workers including recruiting more Black members to union health and safety rep roles.
While we wait for the research to report, as part of our ongoing Be on the Safe Side campaign, UNISON remains committed to increasing the diversity of our health and safety representative community. We have seen more women coming into the role, but we can’t stop there.
Lived experience of the impact of poor health and safety during or pre-pandemic alongside a passion to improve working conditions for members is the best starting point to becoming a health and safety representative.
UNISON will provide you with training and support to carry out the role and you have a number of rights in the workplace including paid time to do the role, to be consulted on matters affecting the health and safety or members and to make representations on behalf of those members.
You can find out more about becoming a health and safety representative by visiting this page Become a Safety rep | UNISON Health and Safety | UNISON National
If you are already a UNISON health and safety representative, we’d like to hear about your journey to becoming a rep. Contact us via healthandsafety@unison.co.uk.
