Health & Safety Update
A great deal of voluntary work and effort is put in by union officers ‘behind the scenes’ to the benefit of Birkbeck and all who work and study here. Health and Safety is one of the most important (though – until something goes wrong, one of the often overlooked) of these. Richard Carabine, UCU’s Health and Safety Officer**, writes:
UCU has traditionally had a good working relationship with College management and with the Health & Safety Officer, Tom McCartney, who has always responded to queries & concerns in a prompt & efficient manner. UCU is working to develop a joint union safety committee with colleagues from Unite, Unison & the Students’ Union. This initiative would allow us to be more effective in coverage of all areas & sites of the college and assist in developing a more coherent approach to issues such as work-related stress & repetitive strain injury. More groundwork needs to be done, however, to move this forward.
Some of the current areas of concern include:
Work-related stress. We know this exists but it is difficult to quantify and we cannot provide much in the way of evidence at the moment. Have you suffered from work-related stress? We need to be able to show staff in particular types of job or at particular grades are being affected. Any information you provide will be treated in confidence.
Staff working in the evenings and at weekends. There is concern that certain staff may be exposed to risk when there are few people on site. Have you ever felt exposed in such a way? Please let me know if this is an issue that concerns you or if you have had experience of this.
On-line marking. There is widespread concern about the move to on-line marking. Spending hours in front of a computer is a sure way to develop the symptoms of RSI and there are other significant dangers associated with the prolonged use of Display Screen Equipment (DSE). Some staff welcome the advent of on-line marking as a useful time-saver, but others find it adds considerably to the workload and prevents the flexibility of being able to mark hard copy. HR have confirmed that on-line marking is voluntary on the part of staff, but the reality is somewhat different - in some Department,s colleagues are being told that on-line marking is a requirement, or that they must print-off hard copy themselves if they do not want to mark on-line. This is particularly difficult for hourly-paid staff who are not paid for the cost of their time, printer and ink. Under SRSC Regulations (Reg 4A(1)(a) & (e) any changes in working practice likely to have a significant impact on health require consultation, and also a formal risk assessment. Please let us know if you are worried by this issue.
Stratford. We need to ensure that the same levels of health & safety practice are evident at Stratford as pertain to the Bloomsbury sites. I would be grateful to hear of any concerns you have concerning Stratford.
Finally, Jenny Pedler has just been appointed as UCU's second Health & Safety Rep. so you can contact either of us if you have any concerns.
Please get in touch if you have any health & safety concerns or if you need advice. If we don’t know the answers, we have access to the UCU advice service and to colleagues in other colleges. All the best,
Richard
** Richard & Jenny's contact details, together with those of all other UCU Officers and committee can be found on the contacts page of this website
You can download the latest UCU Health and Safety News here!
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