The government’s “unnecessary, unjustified and misguided” attacks on health and safety regulation mean “it is now harder than ever to get justice after an injury at work and more important than ever to join a trade union”.
That was the message UNISON assistant national officer Robert Baughan delivered at a Westminster Forum seminar on health and safety regulation.
The seminar – on “health and safety reform: regulation, litigation and risk” – also featured speakers from the Department of Work and Pensions and the Health and Safety Executive.
Mr Baughan criticised changes to the law that have made it harder for workers to get compensation for injuries at work.
He also criticised how government cuts have made it harder for the Health and Safety Executive to provide constructive support for good employers, and punish the bad ones.
These changes make it even more important for workers to join a union and get the protection that that provides.
Mr Baughan said that what good employers want is not a deregulated free-for-all, but transparency, so that responsible employers are not undercut by irresponsible ones.