Safety reps gather in Birmingham

Unite Health & Safety reps gathered in Birmingham on Tuesday (17 Feb) for the second Unite National Health and Safety Conference.

Over 200 delegates and speakers packed out the conference room to hear presentations from Unite officers, industry experts and NGOs along with a rousing speech from Unite general secretary Sharon Graham.

The day was chaired by Lenford Vassell and he soon got preceding off to an informative start with Shelly Asquith, the TUC Policy Lead for Health, Safety & Wellbeing gave an update on work that the TUC is currently focusing on, including extreme temperature at work and workplace stress, an issue that came up time and time again throughout the day. Shelly also encouraged reps to get involved with this year’s International Workers Memorial Day. 

Shelly was followed by John Rowe from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), John is Deputy Director, Engagement and Policy Division, and a former trade union Health and Safety Rep. John also highlighted stress at work, but also touched on silicosis, an area that Unite is currently campaigning on, and the possible issues around AI being used to produce risk assessments. 

John praised the work of trade union reps, saying that, for the HSE, “engagement with safety reps is hugely important.”

The general secretary then took to the stage, and started her speech by thanking “reps who fight for our members health and safety across the country”, before offering a special thank you to Unite Health and Safety Advisor Rob Miguel, which lead to a standing ovation from the conference to the award winning trade unionist who will be retiring this year.

The general secretary went on to highlight the vital work of reps, saying, “Health and safety is at the heart of wins, and a core part of the unions work. What is the point of better pay if the conditions are killing you?”

“For too many employers Health and Safety is a poster on a wall or a tickbox exercise, but for workers it is a matter of life or death.”

During the speech the general secretary touched on many of the issues that Unite reps deal with on a daily basis, including asbestos, silica dust, and the “mental strain that work takes”, highlighting the tragic case of David Carpenter – and bin worker from Coventry who went to work as normal, but never came home after an industrial accident. 

No Unite event in Birmingham could pass without mentioning the ongoing struggle of the striking bin workers and delegates joined workers outside the conference centre to show solidarity with their comrades from the city. 

The second session started with a bang, literally, as Professor Paul Christensen from Newcastle University gave a talk about the growing dangers of lithium batteries. Though it focused on EV’s (Electric Vehicles) many workers come into contact with batteries at work through power tools and other kit, and the talk was a sobering reminder of what can happen if a battery explodes, but it also gave practical advice that can keep workers safe.

Sam Gale from the Samartians followed Paul and explained their work and how reps can signpost colleagues to support. 

It was then time for Rob Miguel to give his last report to a Unite Health and Safety Conference, and it was a chance to give reps more information on some of the campaigns that Unite is running to support members, such as United Minds, while looking forward to forthcoming work around behavioural safety, occupational hygiene and extreme temperature at work.

Before receiving another standing ovation for his years of work for the union Rob said, “I was a rep for 20 years, I’ve a huge amount of respect for reps and things will get a lot better at work in the future because of the work you all do.”

After lunch delegates reconvened to hear updates from Unite departments about how Unites wider work links in with the health and safety agenda.

Alisson Spencer-Scragg spoke about the importance of taking equalities into account when looking at ways to improve workplace safety, Stephen Pinder talking about the way Legal Services can support members suffering from work related health issues, Mary Williams gave an update on the importance of Unite’s political work in pushing for safer workplaces and Barry Faulkner spoke about the high quality training that Unite gives to all their reps, highlighting some future new training opportunities.

The conference was wrapping for 2026 with Janet Newsom and William Starritt who spoke about the work of the Hazards Campaign and how it can be a vital resource for reps.

Throughout the packed day delegates were given the opportunity to ask questions from the various panel members. The questions reflected the wide range of sectors that Unite has members in. 

Just some of those asking questions from the speakers included Nigel Jones who works in waste services and asked about workplace stress, NHS worker Kieron Jones raising the issue of humidity as well as high temperature being an issue and Iuilan Firea from the FDA sector asked about increasing the amount of training offered to agricultural workers.

This year’s conference was an informative day with lots of chances to share experiences with fellow members that left reps inspired to go back to their workplaces and increase efforts to make them even safer for their fellow workers.

If you want to know more about Unite work around Health and Safety go to its dedicated page here.

By Keith Hatch

Photos by Mark Thomas