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There are over 200,000 safety reps in Britain, and research has found that workplaces with safety reps are safer than those without them. Analysis of accident figures by the TUC in 1995 found a rate of 10.9 injuries per 1000 workers in workplaces without representation or consultation, compared with 5.3 injuries per 1000 workers in workplaces where there were union safety reps and joint safety committees.

"Union safety reps save lives and improve health and safety at work . . . New laws are needed to cater for workers without a recognised trade union and to deal with smaller, more decentralised workplaces with fewer management resources for health and safety" (Hazards 52, Autumn 1995, p. 8, 9, 12).

The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees (SRSC) Regulations 1977 give recognised trade unions the legal right to appoint safety reps. Union safety reps appointed under the SRSC Regulations have important legal rights, including investigating potential hazards, investigating complaints, carrying out inspections, representing workers, receiving information, and attending safety committee meetings.

New regulations came into force in October 1996 covering health and safety consultation rights of non-union members. The Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 were introduced because European legislation required that all workers be consulted on health and safety, not only union members as provided for by the SRSC Regs. The Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 made no major changes to the SRSC Regs, but mean that employers have to consult with non-union members on health and safety either directly or via an elected representative. These representatives, however, have fewer rights than union safety reps. Most importantly, they cannot carry out workplace inspections, follow-up reportable accidents, or investigate workers' complaints (Consultation rights for non-union workers, Occupational Health Rev., 1996, 63, 3).

An important group without safety reps under the SRSC Regs are agricultural workers. Very few have access to safety reps because the Regs say unions must be recognised by employers for safety reps to be elected. Alongside construction, agriculture has the worst safety record in the UK, and the TGWU has been pressing government and the HSE to make provisions for the appointment of "roving safety reps". A pilot roving safety reps scheme was praised by an independent review published by the HSE in 1997. It said, "The representatives' achievements in awareness raising and liaison have been considerable given . . . the absence of support from the influential NFU" (The role of regional health and safety representatives in agriculture: an evaluation of a trade union initiative on roving safety representatives in agriculture, contract research report no. 157/97, HSE, 1997; B. Allen, Roving safety reps praised by HSE-funded study, Occupational Health Rev., 1997, 69, 6; D. Walters, Roving safety representatives, Health and Safety Bull., 1997, 263, 13-15).

Workers who stop the job because of unsafe working conditions are protected by the Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Act 1993. Under the Act, dismissal is automatically unfair if workers are dismissed for leaving the workplace or refusing to return in the event of serious and imminent danger, or for taking steps to protect themselves in such circumstances.

The law applies regardless of length of service. The first person to use it was a UCATT member who won 8,760 compensation at an industrial tribunal after being sacked when he called in HSE inspectors because he had been forced to work with wet wood treated with the chemical lindane (Safety reps in action, Labour Research Department, 1998).

However, it has to be borne in mind that recourse to a tribunal is a very limited remedy and there can be no guarantee of the outcome. Anyone faced with imminent danger should, if the circumstances allow, seek advice from their trade union before deciding on their course of action.

Further protection for safety reps against detrimental action by their employers is afforded by the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Employment Relations Act 1999.

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