home | contact us | feedback | help 11 March 2010
Health and safety

montage of safety imagesCampaigning for health and safety

Protecting the health, safety and welfare of members at work is a key Prospect objective. We are committed to improving working conditions for all members. Prospect’s health & safety reps play the lead role in achieving these aims.

These web pages are for members, reps and Prospect staff and are about supporting you with your health and safety concern. These pages provide:


GOSH!

Women make up 42% of the employed population in the EU. Men and women are not the same and the jobs they do, their working conditions and how they are treated by society are not the same. These factors can affect the hazards they face at work and the approach that needs to be taken to assess and control them.

Factors to take into account include:

  • women and men are concentrated in certain jobs, and therefore face hazards particular to those jobs
  • women and men are physically different, including in regard to reproduction
  • women and men have different responsibilities in the home. Working women may have two jobs, at work and in the home.

It is therefore important to recognise these differences and take a 'gender sensitive' approach to health and safety at work.

Women and work

Find out more on Gender Occupational Safety & Health in the European Agency for Safety & Health at Work Factsheet 42.

Branch organisation

Remember, health and safety is not separate from other trade union activity. Many of the issues that unions tackle within the workplace have health and safety implications, for example:

  • work organisation/change
  • poor staffing levels
  • shift systems
  • sickness absence management
  • harassment and bullying.

This is why it is so important that we all pull together in a coordinated approach between H&S reps, branches and HQ.

Branches, make sure you know your H&S reps. H&S reps, please liaise with your branch!

And everyone: please make sure our membership records are kept up-to-date. If you are an H&S rep, this must be recorded on Prospect's membership database to ensure you to receive circulars, newsletters, other updates and invitations. And if you stand down, please contact our membership department by email or phone 01932 577007.