Category: Health & Safety

Categories
Health & Safety National Union News Rep Update University Community

Free Vend Sanitary Products for Staff

Unite Demands Period Dignity

Unite The Union reps at Lancaster have worked with colleagues from across the University to make free sanitary products accessible to staff. From September 2021 sanitary products will be available from five vending machines at locations across Bailrigg campus. The University’s announcement can be seen by staff on the Intranet. Some quotes from the article:

We have been collaboratively working on this project after presenting the idea at a communication and consultation meeting in September 2019. This was prompted by Unite’s national period dignity campaign and is a positive step in changing attitudes around periods. It’s also been an excellent example of partnership working between Unite the Union and Lancaster University as an employer. This is a fantastic step forward for Lancaster University, and Unite are very happy we are now at a stage to implement free sanitary products for staff.

Jessica Fisher – Unite Health & Safety Rep

As an employer committed to advancing equality for our staff, this is an important step for us to take. It is also a great example of how our University and its Unions can work well together. I’d like to thank everyone involved in this project.

Russ Quigley, Deputy Director of People and Organisational Effectiveness

The free vend products are available in five locations across campus chosen for their proximity to high-footfall areas, and are in the following gender-neutral facilities:

  • Bowland North- B077 accessible washroom
  • Health Innovation One – D15d5 accessible washroom
  • Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC) – C22 accessible washroom
  • Management School West Pavillion – WP C037 accessible washroom
  • InfoLab21 – C09 accessible washroom

You can locate the free vend machines via the Mazemaps family friendly site.

What is Unite’s Period Dignity Campaign?

Unite launched it’s Period Dignity Campaign in 2018 and got its first win at the Rolls Royce Washington site in the same year. The campaign demands that women and girls have period dignity and calls for sanitary products in the workplace and places of education to be as normal as having access to toilet roll.

By making changes in our workplaces, places of education and in society, Unite believes women and girls will be able to have a positive period knowing that they are able to access sanitary products.

If you have any comments on the campaign or on how the free vend is working on campus please get in touch with one of your reps.

Categories
Health & Safety Rep Update

Tom Marsh – A Fond Farewell

After 5 years at the University Tom is moving on to a new job as a hospital porter in Kendal. During his time at Lancaster Tom has been a Health and Safety Rep and a valuable member of Unite’s Health and Safety Committee. He has undertaken Trade Union training courses to develop his skills and expand his knowledge. Tom has been involved with many successful projects and building inspections. When asked which he was most proud of Tom mentioned the Cleaners Welfare Facility:

Most notable was the refurbishment of the welfare facility for the cleaners in south west campus. What was a Health and Safety hazard was transformed after we responded to our members regarding the state of it and made representations to management. Finally it was refurbished and decorated with new flooring, new worktops, more electrical sockets and a new sink and drainer.

It’s been a pleasure and privilege to represent staff as a Rep. I hope I have made a small contribution to supporting staff with union and Health & Safety issues.

The Health and Safety Committee certainly think that Tom has made significantly more than a small contribution to supporting staff and making conditions better for members across campus!

I would like to thank Tom on behalf of our members for all the hard work he has done, especially with his role as a Health and Safety Rep. He will certainly be missed at the branch meetings and its been a pleasure working along side Tom both as a colleague and as a union rep.

Ian Curwen – Unite Health and Safety Committee Chair

Tom has been a real asset to the branch and its members and we’ll miss his input, dealing with issues and advice.

Andy Baker – Branch Chair

All reps wish Tom well in his new job and thank him for all the hard work he has done for Unite on campus. He is a real example of how important it is to have active reps, supported by the Union, to represent and improve the working conditions of members.

If you would like to find out more about being a Rep then please contact one of our current reps on the Reps Page or Health and Safety Page and they will be happy to discuss this further. There are many different roles that can be taken on to fit around your availability.

Trade unions DO make a difference, and WE are the union.

Categories
Health & Safety

International Workers Memorial Day (IWMD) 2021

Workers Memorial Day Banner

Every year more people are killed at work than in wars. Most don’t die of mystery ailments, or in tragic “accidents”. They die because an
employer decided their safety just wasn’t that important a priority.
International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD) commemorates those workers.
Unite has a dedicated team of Health & Safety Reps who on your behalf investigate accidents or near miss reports you submit. It is
important that you request a copy of the form to be sent to your Health and Safety Representative when you submit a form to the
University. You don’t have to be a member of our union to get the incident investigated independently, just tick the box. It’s essential we
report all accidents of incidents to the employer, and this form can be found using this link

Trade unions DO make a difference, and WE are the union.
Workplaces where there are unions are safer workplaces! (TUC)

Categories
Health & Safety

Be Safe When You Return To Work

Covid Register

If you are returning to work on Campus please print off this POSTER and display in your area. It’s a reminder of the 3 main things we can do to remain safe and well and includes contact details for Reps so that you and your colleagues can contact us if you have any concerns.

The national Unite website has a section ‘Coronavirus COVID-19 advice’ with lots of information about living and working with Covid-19, including details of your rights and support available. Follow the link highlighted for more information.

Categories
Health & Safety

VC Start of Year Message

We have all had the opportunity to read or listen the message from Andy Schofield (new VC) to recognise the start of the new year. Unite along with UCU and UNISON have responded to the message with a statement as follows to the VC, Steve Bradley, Nicola Owen and Paul Boustead.

Joint union statement responding to VC’s start of year message

On 2 Oct 2020 the Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University stated, in his start-of-year message, that the University have been “…working with trade unions to risk assess all that we are doing.”

The three campus unions (UCU, UNISON and Unite) cannot support this statement, especially the implication that the trade unions support the University’s current approach to institution-wide health and safety. We do not support this approach, and wish to make it clear to members and the wider staff of the University our reasons why:

  • The unions raised serious concerns about the University risking failing to adhere to its legal obligation to consult with unions regarding Health & Safety measures which led to an Emergency Health & Safety Consultation Committee on 10 Jun 2020.
  • Following this meeting it was agreed that a weekly meeting would be established to scrutinise risk assessments and ‘re-opening’ plans for the entire campus following their approval by the PIPR group (Pandemic Institutional Planning & Response Group).
  • Whilst the unions have scrutinised a large number of risk assessments since mid-June 2020 via this meeting, we are aware that there has been a significant amount of activity in the University that hasn’t passed through this mechanism, despite our best efforts.
  • With growing concerns about the safety of staff, students and the wider community, on 25 Sep 2020 UNISON, Unite and UCU issued a notice of unsatisfactory working conditions to the Vice Chancellor, as the individual with overall responsibility for Health & Safety at Lancaster University, citing two overall concerns:
    • that the promise that students would receive in-person teaching this term would put staff at increased risk of infection from Covid 19, and
    • the decision by PIPR to open a number of University buildings to the general public, thereby making it impossible to control the numbers of people passing through them, undermined the hard work that colleagues had put into risk assessing their work, and also increased the risk to staff of Covid-19 infection.

To date the Unions have not received a satisfactory response to the Notice, and are awaiting a follow up meeting.

We urge members of staff not to come to work on campus unless they are absolutely confident that they are being adequately protected against risk of infection from Covid-19. If you are unsure whether your particular area of campus is safe or not, please contact your union H&S officer. If you’re not in a union, please, join one.

The Lancaster University branches of UCU, UNISON and Unite