LIZ BLACKSHAW
WORK to restore the Tyne Bridge has begun, and will no doubt be disrupting our daily commutes.
If you find yourself stuck in traffic over the next four years, spare a moment to consider the lives that were lost in its construction. The bridge was built at a time when health and safety regulations were virtually non-existent.
We know of two men – Nathaniel Collins and Francis McCoy – who were killed during its construction. Collins, a scaffold erector, and McCoy, a general labourer, both lost their lives in accidents that today would be preventable.
It’s very likely there were more deaths, commensurate with similar construction projects at the time – but this was at time of a tight control over information, and employers would have made efforts to avoid such news being reported.
It is common in the media to hear frustration over the bureaucracy involved in complying with health and safety legislation.
However, looking back is a strong reminder of why it is necessary. It is unlikely that during the current £32 million restoration project, that there will be such flagrant breaches.
Construction companies nowadays must comply with stringent health and safety standards, ensuring the protection of those involved the bridge refurbishment.
This is a direct consequence of decades of labour movement advocacy for safer working conditions, and this year, we mark the passage of the Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974.
It was landmark legislation and a significant turning point in workers’ rights, establishing comprehensive health and safety regulations employers are obligated to follow.
The act was a victory hard-won by the trade union movement and trade unions have advocated for further reforms to address emerging safety and health challenges.
Mental health, once a peripheral issue, has now come to the fore, and a shift towards remote and hybrid working models, accelerated by the pandemic, presents new challenges.
In our region, the Better Health at Work Award is a brilliant programme that extends and supports health and wellbeing provision across 400 regional employers.
All this new work can trace its roots back to those workers who refused to accept the sort of working conditions experienced on the Tyne bridge, and in the region’s coal mines.
As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Health and Safety At Work Act, and International Workers’ Memorial Day on 28 April, let us honour the memory of Nathaniel Collins, Francis McCoy, and all those workers who have suffered or lost their lives due to workplace accidents: by reaffirming our commitment to their safety and well-being for the future.