Health and safety

Many UNISON members work directly with the public in areas where they are often placed at increased risk of being attacked. It is unacceptable that so many workers each year are assaulted for simply doing their jobs. For example, in Scotland alone, more than 75,000 violent incidents were reported in the 12 months up to April 2025, as revealed in a recent UNISON Scotland survey.

Employers are duty‑bound to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees.

This principle applies to psychological hazards such as work-related stress just as it does to any other hazard at work. But all too often we hear from employers, social commentators and even policy makers the idea that “stress comes from a failure to be mindful”.

Work related stress is not self-imposed – it is imposed upon you. Research indicates that the top causes of stress include the threat of losing your job, lack of autonomy in decision‑making, low levels of organisational justice, long working hours, and unrealistic demands at work.

It is simply not good enough when employers impose real‑terms pay cuts, chronically overwork staff, and fail to uphold even basic health and safety standards, whilst at the same time offering mindfulness sessions.

Asbestos in schools, hospitals and public sites is a deadly threat and should be removed. The main cancers it causes are lung cancer and cancer of the lining of the lung. Asbestos in buildings can be disturbed by everyday activities, as well as by maintenance and renovation activities.

Deaths of school staff have been increasing steeply since records began in 1980. All individuals working and learning in schools are at risk, and children particularly so, given the long latency period.