Yesterday marked fifty years since the UK’S Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) received Royal Assent. Since this historic Act was passed UK’s peak union council, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) estimates there have been at least 14,000 fewer workplace fatalities as a result.
However, the TUC says that more than a decade of cuts to health and safety enforcement is has increased the risks to workers.
In 1970, Employment Secretary Barbara Castle commissioned Lord Robens to chair a committee to review provisions for the health and safety of workers.
The Robens Report, published in 1972, laid the groundwork for what became the HSWA and recommended a new health and safety authority, which was enabled by the Act and became the Health and Safety Executive. In 1977, the Act was accompanied by the Safety Reps and Safety Committees Regulations, which gave rights to trade union safety reps (for example, the right to inspect workplaces).
Australia’s peak union body, the ACTU, developed a list of fundamental OHS principles based on the recommendations of the Robens Report. These included the importance of a systematic, preventative, risk management approach to health and safety, implemented through participation and consultation between workers and management, and government regulators empowered to issue sanctions and prosecute for breaches. Our current OHS/WHS laws, and the rights of HSRs stem from the Robens Report and the union movement fighting for legislation.
Read more: TUC media release: Trade unions mark 50 years of life-saving legislation
ACTU Workplace Health and Safety in Australia - Australian Council of Trade Unions (actu.org.au)