Grants to fund safety reps in smaller firms

Two new partnerships between employers and unions providing roving worker safety representatives - or safety advisers - will focus principally on small and medium-sized firms in a bid to improve their all-round health and safety performance.
Secretary of state for work and pensions Andrew Smith has confirmed that government grants have been awarded to partnerships between the Construction Confederation (CC), through its National Federation of Builders (NFB) affiliate and UCATT, and between the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) and the TGWU and UCATT. The grants are worth £69,000 and £89,000 respectively for the first year.
The grants are part of a national £3m challenge fund established by the government to progress the development of worker safety advisers in the wake of a successful pilot project last year.
"The challenge fund recognises that strong, viable partnerships between employers and workers make our workplaces safer," Smith declared.
"Employees are often best able to spot issues and bring about real improvements. They can also influence health and safety through their own actions and by accepting personal responsibility."
Health & Safety Executive chief inspector for construction Kevin Myers said: "I was delighted to learn that there were two bids to the challenge fund from the construction industry." He said he was particularly pleased that the CC was participating, as it "had previously set its face against exploring this new approach for worker engagement."
A spokesman for the confederation, however, denied that the employer body had done a U-turn. "We were never against the concept per se," he said. "We were concerned about the pilot project for specific reasons. We felt it was fundamentally flawed.
"We feel we were unfairly treated as Luddites. This new bid meets our concerns."
UCATT is the lead partner in the first scheme, which is being rolled out through the NFB's Midlands region. It starts with two full-time and one part-
time adviser.
FMB director of external affairs Andrew Large said his federation's partnership would run initially through to the end of the financial year. Here the FMB is the principal partner and the scheme will involve three full-time and one part-time safety adviser working in the Bristol and Plymouth areas.