National Health and Safety Advisory Conference, 23rd and 24th February 2021

Our ref: HSR/2/23
Head Office Circular: NP/50/21
4th February 2021
To: The Secretary
ALL BRANCHES
ALL SHIPPING BRANCHES
REGIONAL COUNCILS

Dear Colleague,

NATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ADVISORY CONFERENCE, 23rd AND 24th FEBRUARY, 2021

Further to Head Office Circular NP/313/20, dated 24th December 2020, I attach to this Circular the provisional agenda with timetable.

Your National Health and Safety Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet on February 10th to agree the final version of the agenda and take a view on the motions submitted.

A further Circular will be issued prior to the Conference containing log in details together with the final agenda.

I will be in contact individually to members to advise them of the details of the training session they will be joining and to provide them with a copy of the finalised agenda.

Please bring the contents of this circular to the attention of relevant members.

Yours sincerely

Mick Cash
General Secretary

RMT NATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ADVISORY CONFERENCE
23RD/24TH FEBRUARY 2021


Please note Conference is taking place remotely using the Zoom meeting process. If delegates do not have a suitable device to participate an RMT supplied device can be provided. These will be allocated on a first come basis.

You will be sent an invitation containing all necessary links ahead of Conference. You may be given separate links for the training session you have been allocated.

Some speaker sessions may be done in webinar format when only the Conference organiser and presenter will be heard. Other sessions will give delegates the opportunity to engage in debate but please respect the following points:



TRAINING COURSE No.1 – 23rd February 2021

Delegates will have been allocated to one of four RMT tutors who will be delivering the Conference training programme.

The training course will run from 09:30 – 12:30 and delegates are asked to log in to Zoom from 09:15 to allow the training to commence promptly at 09:30.



Health and Safety Advisory Conference Session 1
23rd February 2021



13:00 Welcome from Conference Chair – Willie Strang.

13:05 Introduction to Conference – Senior Assistant General Secretary – Steve Hedley

13:15 National Executive Committee report

13:30 Conference Motions:

1. Mental Health in a Covid World (1)

“This Branch notes that the subject of this year’s conference is again Mental Health but also includes the role of safety representatives in the COVID pandemic, this is most appropriate given the current pandemic and the certain effect of the lockdowns on the mental health and wellbeing of our members. We are also aware that one of the supposed initial super spreader events occurred on the day of this conference last year in Edinburgh.

We are also acutely aware of various instances where mental health has been missed within the various discussions around COVID and also the fact that the mental health issue is perhaps being used as a smokescreen to alter ways of working and perhaps cover up deficiencies within the employer’s business including COVID-19 issues. We must not fall into any traps that could well be hidden within the makeup of the Rail Industry Recovery Group that was set up recently, there is absolutely no room for collaboration with bosses at this time more so where the make-up of the employer’s side is predominantly from organisations and people we have had issues with since the onset of privatisation. Our members must have our full support in these trying times when stress and strain will be brought to bear on their Mental Health & Wellbeing.

This H&S conference calls upon the NEC to conduct a survey of all employers we have recognition with as to what measures they have in place to protect the mental health and well being of our members. Secondly using the results of that survey conduct a survey of membership to see what knowledge is out there of these procedures and how effective they may be for our members. The results of these surveys to be shared with and discussed by members from the Health & Safety Advisory Committee in conjunction with the NEC.

There are anomalies within agreements set up by the original RICF that are still to be debated at the reconvened AGM let’s not continue on the same road, we must also remember that the RICF chair was reluctant to deal with an issue due to the myriad and complexities of agreements at company level yet he now wants to get involved in these. The loss of any work can and will impact greatly on Mental Health we cannot allow this to happen, this conference further calls on the NEC to instruct that any negotiations under this forum must take full cognisance of all our campaigns and policies especially those around protection of jobs we must not alter any of these strategies they must be encompassed into any agreements made. This will not be an easy task given the make-up of the group being heavily weighted towards employers.

This conference also notes that this group is for the Rail Industry the NEC should also instruct the General Secretary to look at what is happening within all sectors we organise in; these members must also be afforded the same as far as organising for post COVID recovery and job retention is concerned as their Mental Health and Well being is equally important.”

Moved: Edinburgh and Portobello Branch


2. Mental Health in the Covid World (2)

“Branch notes that the subject of this year’s conference is again Mental Health but also includes the role of safety representatives in the COVID pandemic, this is most appropriate given the current pandemic and the certain effect of the lockdowns on the mental health and wellbeing of our members. We are also aware that one of the supposed initial super This spreader events occurred on the day of this conference last year in Edinburgh.
We are also acutely aware of various instances where mental health has been missed within the various discussions around COVID and also the fact that the mental health issue is perhaps being used as a smokescreen to alter ways of working and perhaps cover up deficiencies within the employer’s business including COVID-19 issues. We must not fall into any traps that could well be hidden within the makeup of the Rail Industry Recovery Group that was set up recently, there is absolutely no room for collaboration with bosses at this time more so where the make-up of the employer’s side is predominantly from organisations and people we have had issues with since the onset of privatisation. Our members must have our full support in these trying times when stress and strain will be brought to bear on their Mental Health & Wellbeing.
There are anomalies within agreements set up by the original RICF that are still to be debated at the reconvened AGM let’s not continue on the same road, we must also remember that the RICF chair was reluctant to deal with an issue due to the myriad and complexities of agreements at company level yet he now wants to get involved in these. The loss of any work can and will impact greatly on Mental Health we cannot allow this to happen, this conference further calls on the NEC to instruct that any negotiations under this forum must take full cognisance of all our campaigns and policies especially those around protection of jobs we must not alter any of these strategies they must be encompassed into any agreements made. This will not be an easy task given the make-up of the group being heavily weighted towards employers.
This conference also notes that this group is for the Rail Industry the NEC should also instruct the General Secretary to look at what is happening within all sectors we organise in. Within the Maritime sector depression is widespread. Working hours can be as bad as a 14hr split shift with the law offering little protection. You could legally be asked to have a 4- or 6-hour break in any contributing 24-hour period. Long trips away from loved ones can be difficult if you are already suffering. Ships can be a lonely place and individuals can feel isolated without friends and family. Quite often the combination of being away, fatigue and mental health issues can be enveloping and debilitating. On vessels and installations, it is difficult to rest due to work and home often being the same place.
Our members within the bus industry must be on the front line every day and are exposed to infection regularly. Anxiety brought on by this fact causes mental health deterioration on a scale that our generation have never witnessed. These members must also be afforded the same as far as organising for post COVID recovery and job retention is concerned as their Mental Health and Wellbeing is equally important.
This H&S conference therefore calls upon the NEC to conduct a survey of all employers we have recognition with as to what measures they have in place to protect the mental health and well-being of our members. Secondly using the results of that survey conduct a survey of membership to see what knowledge is out there of these procedures and how effective they may be for our members. The results of these surveys to be shared with and discussed by members from the Health & Safety Advisory committee in conjunction with the NEC to ascertain current best practise and develop a strategy for providing the help and assistance necessary to help our members combat the widely acknowledged increased prevalence of mental health issues in a post pandemic world.”
Moved: Liverpool No. 5 Branch




3. Inshore Diving Health and Safety Representation

“The Offshore Energy Branch calls on the Health and Safety Conference to lobby the Health and Safety Executive and the Association of Diving Contractors for the establishment of workforce elected Health and Safety Representatives across the sector.

Recent engagement with a growing membership of Inshore Divers has brought into sharp focus the absence of any structures whereby these workers can engage with industry and the regulator around issues impacting their health and safety. This needs to be addressed not only for the immediate urgency of concerns raised by members, but also to establish a system which drives continuous improvement in standards across the sector.

This Branch calls on our Maritime Health and Safety Conference to write to the Industry and Regulator to seek a meeting with both organisations. RMT should produce a report based on the concerns and issues raised by members and this report should serve as the agenda for those meetings. Given the peripatetic nature of our member’s employment, which like other sectors is short term/self employed/fixed term by nature, we should seek to create a National Committee of elected RMT Health and Safety representatives.

Moved: Offshore Energy Branch


4. Inshore Diving Site Visits/Inspections

“This Branch calls on our Health and Safety Conference to establish a network of “Diving at Work” trained health and safety advisors/inspectors able to visit work sites where our members are engaged in Inshore Diving activities. The creation of a ‘union inspectorate’ group would act as a significant deterrent to the litany of bad practice being reported by our recently recruited Inshore Diver members.

This Branch considers the establishment of regional trained activists forming a ‘union inspectorate’ as a practical means of supporting this vulnerable itinerant, largely self employed workforce. The Branch believes that a number of our Senior, long serving members from the offshore diving sector of the industry would be willing participants in such an exercise. The Branch considers this group would be separate and distinct from the concept of Elected Safety Representatives and fulfil different roles and functions. The elected reps would engage with industry and regulators to drive improvement whereas the inspectorate group could be called upon by workers at a specific site and provide support and report if necessary to the regulator, employers association and the Elected Safety Reps.”

Moved: Offshore Energy Branch


5. Strategy to Campaign for a Green Transport Revolution

The past decades have seen a dramatic rise in the distances generally being travelled and a great shift towards the use of less equitable and unsustainable methods of transport. Thus, while the number of trips has not changed significantly, there has been a decrease in walking, cycling and the use of “public” transport and an increase in trips by car and air. Road freight and air freight have also increased at the expense of rail and water-borne freight.
Air and road traffic are major and increasing sources of many of the worst pollutants, including carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide, carcinogenic particles, and noise. These emissions cause massive damage to the natural and built environment and have serious effects on human health.
During the current COVID 19 pandemic our health services have discovered that the capacity available in these services did not have the resilience to cope with such an event. One of the emerging policies being drawn up to contend with any future outbreak is that resilience and capacity should be built into any post pandemic health service.
This conference believes that similar progressive ideas will need to be employed in the transport sector if we are to build a society which was better than before and if our commitment to achieving our environmental targets is to be maintained. When our economy and balance sheets are examined in the coming years there will be calls to decimate our transport infrastructure for both passenger and freight.
There will be many who will look to decimate the industries we work in. The future health of our communities and our families will depend on us resisting and providing a coherent alternative.
We call upon our National Executive Committee to instruct the structures within the union to develop a strategy to campaign for a Green Transport Revolution with its focus on integrating our transport system and focussing on the use of public transport (Train, Bus, and Sea) and away from the car and air. The uncoordinated privatisation and deregulation of many parts of the UK transport industry has contributed to a lack of coherent transport policy for freight and passenger movements. The strategy therefore should be based on a model of public ownership and publicly accountable regulation.
Moved: Liverpool No. 5 Branch



14:30 Closing remarks – Assistant General Secretary –
Mick Lynch



Health and Safety Advisory Conference Session 2
24th February 2021

10:00 Introduction to Speaker Session – Chair Jonathan Havard

10:00 Speaker No.1: Janet Newsome, Institute for Employment Rights

10:20 Speaker No.2: Dr Richard Peters, Chief Medical Officer, Network Rail

10:40 Speaker No.3: Mushin Manir, Health & Safety Rep, Unite the Union

11.00 Personal needs break

11:10 Speaker No.4: Shelly Asquith, Health, Safety and Welfare Officer, TUC

11:30 Speaker No.5: Hilda Palmer, Hazards Campaign

11:50 Personal needs break

12:00 Q+A Session – Chair Jonathan Havard

13:30 Close of Conference Session 2.


TRAINING COURSE No.2 – 24th February 2021

Delegates will have been allocated to one of four RMT tutors who will be delivering the Conference training programme.

The training course will run from 14:00 – 17:00.