Do unions make a difference?

Yes. Safety studies reveal that serious accident and ill health levels are lower in unionised workplaces. You are twice as likely to be injured in a non-union workplace. If your employer recognises a union, you have the right to elect health and safety representatives, and your employer must set up a health and safety committee.

From their earliest days, trade unions have treated health and safety at work as one of their concerns. Today, unions bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to workplace safety:

• Unions offer expertise and legal support to those facing work-related ill health or injury.
• They are represented at the highest levels, for example, on the Health and Safety Executive and government health and safety advisory bodies.
• Union safety research has a long history of influencing new safety legislation.
• Unions seek to work closely with employers to improve day-to-day workplace safety standards.