The Quality of Working Life: Promoting a Healthy Agenda This equipment was donated by Thompsons solicitors The Quality of Working Life: Promoting a Healthy Agenda Wednesday 6th February 2008

Trends in work-related harm and how to improve them Professor Phil James Institute of Employment Rights Quality of Working Life Wednesday 6th February 2008

Themes of presentation Revitalising improvement targets Recent trends against targets Future prospects – worries Addressing the worries Improving the operation of the current legal framework Revising the structure/content of this framework Institute of Employment Rights Quality of Working Life Wednesday 6th February 2008

Revitalising targets Secure by 2010: 30% reduction in working days lost per 100,000 workers 10% reduction in the incidence rate of fatalities and major injuries 20% reduction in the incidence rate of cases of work-related ill health Institute of Employment Rights Quality of Working Life Wednesday 6th February 2008

Progress against targets Needs to be recognised that assessing progress against targets is problematic Annual assessments of progress have also been inconsistent Taken together, however, progress made is far from reassuring: On track in respect of target for fatalities and major injuries Of track in terms of ill health and working day targets Should be noted that HSE commissioned work suggested that ‘occupational changes’ will lead to a 7.6% reduction over the period 2004-2012 Institute of Employment Rights Quality of Working Life Wednesday 6th February 2008

Progress against targets Taken together, annual trends against targets indicate no ‘step change’ in health and safety performance This conclusion exists alongside data indicating that in 2006-07: 646,000 new cases of work-related ill health 241 workers were killed 28,267 major injuries to employees 274,000 reportable injuries occurred Institute of Employment Rights Quality of Working Life Wednesday 6th February 2008

Future prospects - worries Current performance needs to be considered alongside a number of worrying and ongoing trends: --Outsourcing of work to smaller organisations and on the basis of price-based competition --Growth of SMEs and smaller workplaces --Rising work intensity --Increase in migrant labour --Widespread workforce vulnerability --Growing proportion of workforce without access to health and safety representation --Market pressures in construction industry Institute of Employment Rights Quality of Working Life Wednesday 6th February 2008

Future prospects - worries Little cause to assume that trends in work-related harm will improve Indeed, it would not be unreasonable to see them as potentially likely to worsen This despite ‘favourable’ changes in the occupational and sectoral composition of employment Institute of Employment Rights Quality of Working Life Wednesday 6th February 2008

Future prospects - worries This prognosis reinforced by a number of very questionable policy assumptions: Routine inspections should only be carried out where there is a clear need Deliberate non-compliance exists among a very small minority of ‘rogue’ employers Better compliance can generally be achieved otherwise by education, advice and persuasion HSE and local authority resources are adequate, cuts in these resources can be addressed through ‘efficiencies’ The current legislative framework is ‘fit for purpose’ Institute of Employment Rights Quality of Working Life Wednesday 6th February 2008

Future prospects - worries None of the above assumptions seem sound Existing evidence, for example, suggests that: Legal compliance is supported by a ‘real threat’ of enforcement action SMEs respond best to ‘face-to-face’ contact Trends in work-related harm would seem to place doubt on how far the current legislative framework is ‘fit for purpose’ Institute of Employment Rights Quality of Working Life Wednesday 6th February 2008

Addressing the worries Challenge the ‘flawed logics’ underlying government and HSC/HSE policy Seek improvements in both the structure and operation of the current legislative framework Operationally, the most important tasks would seem to be: Re-balancing compliance based activity towards inspection and associated enforcement action Supporting the above by a substantial increase in local authority and HSE inspection resources Institute of Employment Rights Quality of Working Life Wednesday 6th February 2008

Addressing the worries Structurally, legal reforms are needed to: Better regulate such issues as work-related road transport, the operation of ‘high risk’ supply chains and agency working Increase worker access to health and safety representation and improve the effectiveness of such representation Require employers to make use of adequate health and safety services Impose health and safety duties on employers Increase the range and level of health and safety penalties The current legislative framework is ‘fit for purpose’ Institute of Employment Rights Quality of Working Life Wednesday 6th February 2008

Addressing the worries More generally, given the scale of MSDs and stress-related conditions, a more holistic regulatory approach is needed to the links between work and health That is an approach which links worker health and safety to the issue of work quality and thereby better addresses such issues as: Length and distribution of working time Design of work tasks and processes Balance between work and wider social life The current legislative framework is ‘fit for purpose’ Institute of Employment Rights Quality of Working Life Wednesday 6th February 2008