1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188 
The EU's five-year health & safety strategy 2007-20012 sets out the following objectives for the EC and for member states.
Page 31
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A 25% reduction in workplace accidents O Greater support to help SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) become compliant O Target inspections on high-risk groups such as SMEs/micro-enterprises and high-risk sectors such as transport, construction, fisheries and agriculture • Increase inspectors to a minimum ratio of 1 to 10,000 workers and improve the quality of inspectors by better training in areas such as hygiene, toxicology and environmental risks Member states must provide adequate resources to enforce the regulation of health and safety issues O Tougher sanctions for offenders O A strengthened culture of prevention O Greater involvement of employees O Exchange of best practice O Ensure risk assessment is continuous O Ensure employees have a responsible attitude to their own health and safety its targets unless resources are increased and workers' representation is strengthened.
The European Trade Union Confederation, through its research body, European Trade Union Institute Research, Education, Health & Safety, outlines the problem. "Without a significant extension of workplace democracy, and especially the ability for workers to be in control of their working conditions, sustainable progress in prevention is unlikely. Only extending and entrenching systems for workers' representation in health and safety will deliver that objective." The body believes the previous health and safety strategy 2002-2006, failed because it was lacking hard objectives and was under-resourced. "The new strategy needs to be much more concrete and specific, set priority measures, allocate resources that match the needs, and be audited at regular intervals."
WilImott sympathises. She says: "Evidence shows that strict health and safety policies lead to lower accident rates and that unionised workplaces are safer." to