Improving Health and Safety Through Partnership: WSA Challenge Fund Award Winners Announced

HSC press release C005:05 - 10 March 2005

Bill Callaghan, Chair Health and Safety Commission (HSC), today announced the 11 award winners from the second round of the Workers' Safety Adviser (WSA) Challenge Fund. The aim of the fund is to increase worker involvement and consultation.

Successful projects are based on organisations working in partnerships to generate and improve collaboration between employers and workers in small firms.

The second round winners are from a wide range of industries, including the construction, hospitality, printing, retail and voluntary sectors. Project partners include trade unions, trade associations, local authorities, primary care trusts, voluntary organisations and business organisations.

Each project has been awarded between £44,000 and £99,822 to engage and enthuse employers and workers alike, through the activities of the Workers' Safety Advisers they employ, to establish collaborative environments in which to drive through improvements in occupational health and safety.

Increasing worker involvement has been shown to improve health and safety performance and is a key part of the HSC strategy. Workers who have a voice, influence and responsibility on health and safety matters are safer and healthier than those who do not. An essential part of HSC's vision, is a fully involved workforce and a vibrant system of workplace health and safety representatives operating in partnership with management.

The WSA Challenge Fund was established last year and is funded by the Department for Work and Pensions who are providing £3 million over a three-year period. The focus of the Fund is small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) lacking arrangements for involving their workforce in the management of their own and others health and safety.

Great Britain loses over 39 million workdays through work related accidents and ill health each year. This not only represents a considerable financial loss to business and society but can also have serious financial, physical and emotional implications for the individuals off work and their families. The strategy recognises that to improve occupational health and safety performance, HSC must win the hearts and minds of everyone in the workplace - hence the focus on working in partnership with stakeholders.

Bill Callaghan, Chair of HSC, said:

"We have again had a tremendous response to the WSA Challenge Fund, in terms of both the quantity and quality of bids. Some are built on the good work they did during the first year. All the award winners have presented convincing, well thought out plans for building partnerships and driving improvements in occupational health and safety."

"The 47 influential partners and 21 Worker Safety Advisers that make up the award winners will be able to reach out to about 20,000 workers. Working with employers and employees they will be able to achieve measurable and sustained changes to their organisations' culture and behaviours."

"We're very pleased that the winners represent a good cross-section of Great Britain both sectorally and nationally. Scotland and Wales are represented this year for the first time. We see partnership working as one of our prime vehicles for promoting and persuading stakeholders of the benefits of sensible health and safety. The fund has given us an opportunity to support a wide-range of diverse stakeholders, in often innovative partnerships and we wish them every success!"

Notes to editors

1. The Workers' Safety Adviser Challenge Fund award winners were announced today at a lunch held at the Work Foundation in London. Attendees included, representatives of industry, local authorities, health care organisations, trade unions and the voluntary sector, as well the Challenge Fund award winners.
2. Andrew Smith, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, announced the creation of the WSA Challenge Fund in October 2003. Funds of £3m (£1m in 2004/5, £1m in 2005/6 and £1m in 2006/7) were granted to HSE to take forward the Fund. More detailed information on the Challenge Fund, including previous press releases, is available at www.wsa-cf.org .
3. An independent Management Board appointed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) assessed the applications for Challenge Fund awards against the published criteria and made recommendations to the HSE for approval. HSE received 67 bids for the WSA Challenge Fund. The application from Park Royal and GMB was the only one to receive an award for 2 years. All the other awards are for one year only. Details of all the winning projects, including the amounts awarded, are given in note 7 below.
4. HSC published its Strategy for workplace health and safety in Great Britain to 2010 and beyond on 23 rd February 2004. The strategy aims to promote a vision of health and safety as a cornerstone of a civilised society and to achieve a record of workplace health and safety that leads the world. http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/strategiesandplans/strategy.htm
5. HSC has published a Statement on Worker Involvement and Consultation. The statement reflects the vital importance the HSC places on having a workforce that is fully involved in health and safety. For more details see: http://www.hse.gov.uk/workers/involvement/statement.htm - removed
6. A WSA Pilot run in 2002 introduced new mechanisms for deploying safety representatives into small firms to act as WSAs. This sector is notoriously hard to reach and one that needs particular support in encouraging the partnerships and joint working fundamental for improving health and safety. Some 88 employers participated. Surveys before and after the Pilot showed that WSAs' involvement led to improvements in small non-unionised workplaces' approach to health and safety. Nearly 73% of employers said awareness of health and safety matters had increased and a third said communications had improved. Over 75% of employers said they had changed their approach to health and safety and nearly 70% of workers observed an increase in the amount of discussion on health and safety. The Pilot facilitated the creation of safety committees in some workplaces and joint working on risk assessments and training. For more details see: http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2003/c03045.htm. The full report is published at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2003/c03045.htm
7. HSE Workers' Safety Adviser Challenge Fund - 2005 Winners