The safety reps’ view

The TUC’s 2012 biennial survey of safety reps carried out by the Labour Research Department (LRD), found that stress, already by far the most widespread top-five concern for reps across all industries in 2010, has become an even more pervasive problem. More than three in five safety reps (69%) identified it as a major workplace hazard and TUC surveys since 1996 have all found stress to be the major workplace concern for union safety reps.

The TUC’s 2012 safety reps’ survey findings on stress include the following:

• 69% of safety representatives identified stress as a top five concern, compared with 62% selecting overwork or stress in 2010;

• more than a third (36%) picked stress out as the most important hazard in their workplace, compared with 27% in 2010;

• stress is even more prevalent in the public sector than the private sector, with 75% of safety representatives in that sector saying it is a concern, compared with 62% in 2010;

• stress is now the most or second most common hazard in all 14 industrial sectors; and

• the figure has risen dramatically in small workplaces.

The survey also found that along with stress, bullying and harassment, heavy workloads and overwork and violence and intimidation, were all top concerns among trade union safety reps.

The TUC said the survey findings showed that: “The harsh economic climate, austerity-related job cuts and job loss fears amongst those still in work is having a real impact on the health and well-being of workers.” (See Chapter 2)

www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/tucfiles/safety-reps-survey-2012.pdf