While health and safety reps run the Health and Safety Matters campaign throughout the year, Usdaw is encouraging a focus on workplace events in the week of 26 February. In 2025, we're theming the campaign on:
- Raising awareness and highlight to members the importance of the health and safety rep role.
- Running body mapping exercises with members to identify aches and pains and show how mitigations can be delivered.
- Improving the workplace safety culture.
- Answering members’ questions about health and safety.
- Discussing with non-members the value of joining Usdaw.
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw general secretary says: “It is over 50 years since the Health and Safety at Work Act came into force and we are celebrating this landmark legislation, that enabled the introduction of workplace safety representatives and committees to improve members’ work conditions. Today we are raising awareness of their all-year-round work and the difference they make in unionised workplaces.
“All our members have the right to safe working conditions, our health and safety representatives do a brilliant all-year-round job of delivering this by reducing injuries, lowering ill-health and making a positive change to the workplace safety culture. Research shows that unionised workplaces and those with health and safety representatives are safer and healthier as a result.
“This year our campaign day is focussed on manual handling and delivering improved standards in workplaces, because manual handling injuries are the second most common cause of worker ill-health. Too many think these aches and pains are part of the job and quite often they do not believe anything can be done and it is only them suffering in the workforce. We can help ensure workers are healthy by preventing injuries and representing members who may otherwise be suffering in silence. This campaign will help deliver a positive change to our members’ lives.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
Usdaw health and safety matters campaign: https://www.usdaw.org.uk/campaigns/health-and-safety-matters/
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion