Judith Hackitt, chair of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) addressed attendees at the Health and Safety and Worker Involvement conference held by the TUC’s Southern and Eastern Region (SERTUC) at Congress House in London on Friday, November 14th, according to a recent press release. Hackitt discussed HSE’s views of worker involvement, and how the organization intends to build on the success of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to continue to improve workplace health and safety in the 21st century.

Hackitt noted that in the past 30 years Great Britain had seen a huge reduction in workplace deaths and attained one of the best health and safety performances in the world. Regarding the December launch of the consultation on HSE’s new strategy for health and safety, Hackitt said:

“The strategy will set out to optimize the performance of the overall health and safety system. It will clarify the roles of the regulated, the regulator, the workforce and the many others who are part of the system. HSE will make it clear that worker involvement and consultation are important in every organization — where trades unions are present and where they are not — and in all organizations irrespective of their size or dispersal of work locations.”