Safety, Health and Security
Employers who consult their employees over health and safety issues involve the whole of their organisation in a health and safety culture. Both in human and financial terms, this benefits everyone. In legal terms, this consultation is now compulsory.
In Northern Ireland and Great Britain, the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations gives trade unions the legal right to appoint workplace Safety Representatives.
In the Republic of Ireland the legislation also provides for extensive rights for employees including the right to appoint Safety Representatives.
Health and safety legislation covers a wide range of work-related hazards. In the financial services sector, this may include standard office-based issues such as inadequate lighting or heating, unsanitary working conditions, improperly calibrated equipment (such as computer monitors/visual display units), dangerous electrical installations and so on. It may also include work-related stress, bullying and harrassment as well as threats of violence from would-be bank robbers and even dissatisfied customers.
The health and safety of our members at work is a priority for IBOA and to achieve this IBOA is organising and training Safety Representatives in the workplace. For example, IBOA appointed Health and Safety Representatives to each region in Northern Bank – each of whom successfully completed an initial three-day training programme. The training programme was subsequently rolled out in National Irish Bank. Following this positive development in the Danske Bank Group, IBOA initiated discussions with the other employers to try to implement similar structures and training programmes in order to develop a broader health and safety culture.
