Health and Safety Seminar

At the 2008 Water and Environment Service Group Conference the following motion was carried unanimously:

“This Water and Environment Conference recognises that due to the nature of the industry, health and safety compliance is a crucial recruitment and retention tool for UNISON.

Non-compliance within the industry can result in danger to public health, environmental damage, serious injury and even death if corners are cut.

To benchmark which water companies are and aren't complying, we call for a health and safety conference for branches in the Water and Environment Service Group to be convened prior to the 2009 Water and Environment Conference.

This Conference can be extended to Environment Agency branches and also those in Transport if deemed appropriate as part of our working together agenda.”

To ensure a successful event the Executives wish to ensure that the topics for the seminar are those most relevant to branches, bearing in mind the context of the motion. The motion requires the seminar to be held before the next Water and Environment Conference which takes place in June 2009. The UNISON calendar is always crowded by competing events including a National Health and Safety Conference which is to be held on 26 March 2009 at the Sage Centre, Gateshead.

One possibility could be to hold our event on 25th or 27th in Gateshead (subject to venue availability and costs) although that would obviously raise time off issues for many reps and we would need to avoid competing programmes.

To assist us in planning this event I shall be grateful if you will complete the attached questionnaire and return it to me by no later than Monday 8 December 2008.

Yours sincerely,

MIKE JERAM
NATIONAL SECRETARY

PS: Water Company Pension Schemes Please let me have any information on increases to members’ contributions by 1 December, thanks.