E023:07 19th June 2007

HSE 'lightens the load' to support Euro Week

This year's Euro Week is set to 'lighten the load' as it focuses on musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and manual handling which remain the most common cause of occupational ill health with a total of 190,000 new cases reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) last year. HSE will support the 'lighten the load' campaign by boosting its training initiative for safety representatives.

Marking HSE's support to the campaign at an event in Westminster today, Health and Safety Minister Lord McKenzie of Luton said, "MSDs have been a priority for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and government for the last decade. They remain a common cause of sickness absence with 1.02 million cases in 2005/06 that resulted in 9.45 million work days lost. This means that each person suffering took an estimated 17.3 days off work equating to an annual loss of 0.41 days per worker.

Providing indepth practical training for safety representatives and focusing on the importance of worker involvement is vital in driving down MSDs. All workers have a right to work in places where all significant risks to their health or safety are properly controlled."

Over the next few months HSE will work in close partnership with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to boost its current training programme for safety representatives. The training programme provides practical checklists and support material to facilitate risk assessments.

Geoffrey Podger, Chief Executive, HSE said, "HSE is committed to raising awareness and reducing the incidence of work related MSD cases. We will continue to work with employers and workers and their representatives, who are often best placed to spot issues. When employers and employees work together on health and safety issues, there can be real improvements." HSE also launched the UK campaign web page today.

Notes to editors:

1. European Week (aka 'Euroweek') is a yearly campaign run by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.
2. Each year a different theme relating to health and safety at work is chosen for a European-wide campaign to raise awareness and provide information.
3. Recently HSE commissioned Loughborough University to carry out research to assess if some employers were sending staff on manual handling training courses as a substitute for risk assessment and control, effectively pushing all the responsibility for preventing injury onto the workers. The research report is due to be published late summer 2007.
4. In the UK, HSE has worked with a number of stakeholders on previous European Week campaigns including IOSH, the TUC, the Learning and Learning and Skills Council, EEF and the British Safety Council. For European Week 2007, HSE is working with the EEF on the launch of the UK campaign and the TUC on providing training courses on MSDS for Safety Representatives.
5. The first European Week was held in 1996 and has since grown into one of the UK's biggest workplace health and safety initiatives.
6. Further details and action packs for European Week will be available from 19th June 2007 to download from HSE's website http://www.hse.gov.uk/campaigns/euroweek2007/index.htm. Alternatively, a limited number of hard copy Action Packs will be available to organisations who submit a request to: hsebooks@prolog.uk.com, quoting MISC767, telephone 0800 0850050 or fax: 01787 313995 with the following information: Name, company name, address to send the Action Pack(s) to, and the quantity required. Please note there is a maximum of 30 per organisation.

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