Opening Address by Mr. Tom Kitt, T.D., Minister for Labour, Trade and Consumer Affairs at the ICTU Seminar on "The Role of the Safety Representative and the Changing World of Work" in the Industry Centre, UCD on Monday 19th October, 1998

The title of your seminar captures two of the most pertinent and relevant issues relating to occupational health and safety today - the role of the safety representative and the changing world of work.

The fundamental aim of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989 is the prevention of accidents and ill-health at the place of work. As you will be aware, the Act provides for consultation between employers and employees to help ensure co-operation in the prevention of workplace accidents and ill-health. A spirit of co-operation, consultation and partnership is one of the key provisions of the Act and is a central and essential part of the preventative system. Legislation and enforcement have their role to play, but legislation can only really be effective when it is transferred from the statute books to the workplace. One of the best ways of making this transfer, I firmly believe, is through the Safety Representative system.

We have a strong tradition of partnership in all areas of Irish life as the trade union movement is well aware. The area of occupational health and safety is one of the most important areas in which partnership, consultation and representation should be encouraged and delivered upon, not simply as a cosmetic concession, but as something that is actually essential to the preservation of human safety.

I had the opportunity of addressing the annual NISO Conference over a week ago and the title of their Conference was "New Issues .... New Approaches" which reflects, to a certain extent, your concerns in relation to the changing world of work. What emerged strongly from that conference is that the concept of work is constantly changing and the concept of health and safety must change with it. Health and safety is not a static situation. The reality, to-day, is that not all work can be categorised into an eight-hour day, five-day a week pattern. There are a variety of work patterns and processes including shift work, job-sharing, homeworking, teleworking and so on. As these work patterns change and evolve our concern for occupational health and safety must remain consistent, but the method of managing those concerns must adapt as appropriate. The traditional concept of health and safety may be changing, but the relevance of dealing with, and managing it effectively, remains the same.

The Safety Representative system works neatly in tandem with certain sectors of employment, such as the manufacturing sector, but obviously with other sectors, such as construction or teleworking it does not fit so neatly into the work organisation. However, this does not mean that the system should be abandoned or disregarded - it is up to employers to adapt the Safety Representative system to suit their organisation in co-operation with their employees. Different responses are required in different cases and it may require either a greater commitment from both the employer and the employee or a different form of consultation.

This brings us back, as always, to the basic principle of the proper management of health and safety on a partnership basis.

The question might be asked: "why is there a need for a Safety Representative system when there are clear statutory obligations placed on employers?". As we know, the existence of such statutory obligations is sometimes not enough in itself. The value of a Safety Representative system is that it is an inclusive system which gives ownership of health and safety matters to employees as much as to employers. Therefore, I see the role of the legislation as being to create an environment in which the health and safety culture can flourish at a global level. And the usefulness of the Safety Representative system is that it can further develop and tailor this culture at a local level. I am well aware of the strong commitment of both sides of industry to the improvement of workplace health and safety, but I firmly believe that it is vital that this commitment works its way down to ground level and one of the ways of doing this is through our Safety Representative system.

As with all systems, however, to be fully effective it should be open to review. The 1989 Act itself is now nearly ten years in existence and I think that we would all agree that it has served us well in establishing a solid legislative basis around which workplace health and safety has developed. It is worth remembering that prior to the 1989 Act, only 20% of the workforce was covered by health and safety legislation, but 100% is now covered.

However, as I said earlier, health and safety is not a static situation and I have asked the Health and Safety Authority to undertake a review of the Act, all aspects of which are open to examination. No doubt, the trade union movement will input their views and comments in to this Review.

It is essential that we never allow ourselves to become complacent or ambivalent in our approach to workplace health and safety. Indeed, we need only look at the recent accident and fatality figures to be reminded that there is no room for complacency or ambivalence. Last year there were a total of 48 fatalities and for the period January to October of this year the figure is already 53. Each case is an individual tragedy with huge repercussions for families and workmates and we must always, therefore, ask ourselves if we are doing our utmost to avoid further deaths and injuries.

With some 18 deaths so far this year occurring in the construction sector - in its broadest sense - I am particularly pleased, that in this European Week for Health and Safety, the ICTU and the CIF have agreed a "time out" arrangement whereby at least 1 hour this week will be available for all participants in this sector to increase their awareness of workplace safety matters. This could be a vital opportunity which may prevent an accident or fatality that might otherwise have occurred.

During 1998 there has been extensive media coverage and public debate about workplace safety and, in particular, about safety in the construction sector. This, in its own paradoxical way, has helped to bring home the message that occupational health and safety is very much a legitimate business concern. It is over simplistic to present safety problems as being solely the result of non-compliance with safety legislation by unscrupulous employers. The reality is, that employers, workers and the State all have a finely balanced role to play. It is in the primary interests of all of these players to get the balance right. There is no one single loser when accidents and fatalities occur - we all lose. As I have said elsewhere, occupational health and safety is probably one of the very few areas where you can have a win-win outcome for all players.

In conclusion, let me say, how very pleased I am to have had the opportunity to address you at the start of this seminar - one of the many worthwhile events taking place all over the country during this year's Safety Week. I trust you will have an instructive and productive day and I wish you every success with your work. Thank you very much for your attention.