HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK ACT
31st July was the 40th anniversary of one of the most important and successful pieces of workplace legislation. On that day in 1974, the Health and Safety at Work Act received royal assent.
Since then the number of fatalities in the workplace has fallen by 85% while the number of injuries at work has fallen by 77%. That is a massive achievement. Of course not all of it can be put down to the success of the Act. Much is because of structural changes in the workplace. After all if you are going to close down many of the most dangerous workplaces such as mining, shipbuilding and heavy engineering then it is not surprising that the figures fell dramatically, but, even taking that into account, it is estimated that about half the fall is a result of the changes that the Act brought about.
To celebrate the achievements of the Trade Union movement in securing this vital peice of legislation we will be inspecting workplaces through out October.
To get involved contact info@nwpc.org.uk