Sky Osterley to receive safety

visit - but not until they're ready!

BECTU representatives were astonished to hear that a recent visit by a Health and Safety Executive inspector to the Osterley site had not involved a safety inspection chiefly because the safety managers were new!

As part of an initiative to improve London broadcasters’ safety performance trade unions were asked to submit their concerns to the HSE in April. The union welcomed the invitiation and consulted its members across LWT, ITN, Channel 4 and Sky.

In response Sky members highlighted many problems at Osterley which included:

The HSE has the power to issue prohibition notices where safety breaches are evident and can even order compulsory closure where there are acute risks. However, the emphasis is mostly on prevention of risk and BECTU hopes that the DTI-prompted broadcasting initiative will lead to a better safety regime at Sky.

When the HSE visited Osterley last month, Sky’s newly appointed safety managers presented the government body with a newly drafted two-year safety plan and policy. As a result the HSE agreed to delay its proposed inspection until the end of October when the plan’s first ‘milestones’ should be reached.

On hearing of the delay in addressing staff’s concerns, BECTU contacted the HSE to seek its views on the situation. The union’s representative received the following assurance from the inspector concerned:

“As with any employer that I inspect I will only be very happy with Sky when they are doing all that they reasonably practicably can do to ensure the health and safety of everyone affected by their work activities”.

He went on “Sky has recognised that it needs to review and reorganise its health and safety management system and it is at the beginning of a process that will take at least two years. During this time, I, and other HSE Inspectors, will be giving the company a great deal of attention. We will not only keep employee representatives informed throughout this time, but will also be looking for their input to assist us in our efforts. You and you colleagues have already contributed to this process and once again I thank you for this. I can assure you that any specific concerns you may have will not be ignored”.

One of BECTU’s key objectives now is to work to ensure that a robust health and safety committee is established; the union’s representatives hope that this can be achieved with union and management working together. Sky’s health and safety plan recognises that such a committee is necessary and sees this development as one of its ‘2nd milestones’.

Best practice is for safety committees to be joint employer/union bodies to enable staff interests to be independently and centrally represented. However despite the current absence of union recognition at Sky, BECTU will work to ensure that the committee has employee concerns at its centre and that employee views are effectively represented.

HSE representatives plan to meet with the new safety committee, monitor implementation of the safety plan and conduct a full safety audit in about 18 months’ time.

Information about safety at work and your rights can be found at :

www.hse.gov.uk
The UK Health and Safety Commission (HSC) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are responsible for the regulation of almost all the risks to health and safety arising from work activity in Britain.

www.lhc.org.uk
The London Hazards Centre is a resource centre for Londoners fighting health and safety hazards in their workplace and community. This site is for union and community organisers anywhere who need health and safety information.

www.hse.gov.uk/workers/index.htm
Individual workers have a responsibility too! The HSE Workers Webpage provides information on your responsibilities as a Sky worker and on what to do if you are concerned about a specific safety issue.

Help improve your health and safety at work -
If you have any comments or if you would be interested in supporting BECTU’s work on this area - (you don’t need to be an expert – you can get training – you just need to believe in your right to a safe and healthy workplace!) please let us know: email your reps at or contact the BECTU Head Office on 020 7346 0900.