Workplace Health and Safety by Walters, David -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Workplace Health and Safety

Contents Tables Figures Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Abbreviations

Introduction: Representing Workers on Health and Safety in the Modern World of Work

Representing workers on health and safety in the modern world of work History The model Different experiences of worker representation Changing times – some challenges, solutions and implications Lessons of the past and messages for the future Wider relevance Notes

Part I National Arrangements for Workers’ Representation: Case Studies from Europe and Australia

1 Worker Representation on Health and Safety in the UK – Problems with the Preferred Model and Beyond

Health and safety arrangements in the UK The preferred model in practice Notes

2 The Australian Framework for Worker Participation in Occupational Health and Safety

Workplace participation provisions in the Australian OHS statutes

(a) The Northern Territory (b) New South Wales (c) Worker representation and participation in the other Australian OHS statutes

Health and safety committees Research into the operation of the HSR and HSC provisions Vesting HSRs with enforcement powers Coverage of workers who are not ‘employees’ Union right of entry for OHS purposes Conclusion Notes

3 Health and Safety Committees in France: An Empirical Analysis

Conceptual model and empirical data Labour pressure and managerial policy ease the setting up and working of the HSC (H1 and H8) The existence of major risks favours the setting up of an HSC (H6) HSCs are associated with a better quality of prevention (H7) HSCs improve risk awareness (H4) Conclusion Notes

4 Characteristics, Activities and Perceptions of Spanish Safety Representatives

Safety representatives in Spanish workplaces Objectives of the research Methods

The qualitative study The survey

Results

General characteristics of Spanish safety representatives

Activities carried out by Spanish safety representatives Obstacles and supports

Risk perception Health and safety management in the company

Discussion Notes

5 An Afterword on European Union Policy and Practice

Workers’ safety representation and the development of EU policy Workers’ health and safety and the legacy of 1960s radicalism Developments at European level The Framework Directive and worker representation Workers’ representation in national prevention systems A grey area in strategies … and research Notes

Part II Challenges and Strategies for Worker Representation in the Modern World of Work

6 Precarious Employment and the Internal Responsibility System: Some Canadian Experiences

Worker health and safety representatives and the Internal Responsibility System in Canada The Internal Responsibility System and precarious employment The project Characteristics of the sample by employment relationship and sex Do workers in precarious employment face different work-related health and safety risks? Can workers in precarious employment assert their right to know through health and safety training and access to information? Can workers in precarious employment exercise their right to participate in health and safety matters at work? Conclusions Notes

7 Employee ‘Voice’ and Working Environment in the New Member States: Translating Policy into Practice in the Baltic States

Methodology The post-Communist ‘Baltic Tigers’ Work intensification in the new market economies Working conditions and perceived health impacts Workforce voice in health and safety Individualism and collectivism Conclusion Note

8 Health and Safety Representation in Small Firms: A Swedish Success that is Threatened by Political and Labour Market Changes

A full-scale support system for external worker representation on health and safety in small firms The structure and function of the regional safety representative system

The origins and motivations for regional safety representatives Regulatory requirements Numbers and coverage Different types of regional safety representative in different unions Resourcing Role

Why it works: The Swedish model of cooperation between social partners

Occupational health and safety issues are legitimate Dialogue within the Swedish industrial relations model Judgement and competence to achieve an insider dialogue Formal rights and leverage over employers

The basis of the system erodes and difficulties mount

A reduced OHS infrastructure with less support from other actors for small firms Eroding basis and support

Labour market and political changes weaken the position of workers

A globalised and flexible economy and labour market with less secure jobs New job politics further increases job insecurity Many more small firms, especially in private services, with few health and safety resources Outsourcing reduces local OHS dialogue More migrant workers, especially after EU enlargement A similar increase in undocumented illegal labour Foreign construction workers are frequently exposed to high OHS risks Undocumented cleaners at the bottom of sub-contracting chains

More vulnerable workers in need of OHS-support

Labour market changes underline the original purpose of the regional safety representative system

Future developments

9 Trade Union Strategies to Support Representation on Health and Safety in Australia and the UK: Integration or Isolation?

Institutionalising the role of trades unions in workplace representation on health and safety in the UK and Australia: the development of a ‘preferred model’ The operation of trade union-supported representation on health and safety Current limitations to the regulatory model The scope and methods of the study Trade union approaches to supporting safety representatives in the modern world of work: addressing the challenges Health and safety and trade union organising Health and safety, organising and the future of trade union representation on health and safety Notes

10 Worker Representation and Health and Safety: Reflections on the Past, Present and Future

Rights of representation

Representative forms Coverage of representative arrangements Powers of representatives

Implementation of the legislative systems Enhancing health and safety representation

Rights to representation Mechanisms of enforcement Linkages to wider employment relations structures

Future prospects

References Index

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