Training for health and safety reps
Courses to help new and existing health and safety reps carry out our organising approach
Health and safety training
Our training programme is designed to give UNISON activists the skills you need and to ensure you can perform them with confidence. All courses are free for you to attend, although there may be a charge to your branch. You can find a full list of national and regional courses relevant to your role in our Learning Hub.
Organising for health and safety
If you are a new Health and Safety Rep, this three day course should be the first you should take. It will help you understand your role and the rules and regulations governing health and safety and to organise around health and safety issues in the workplace.
You will receive a resource pack and details of the UNISON support for Health and Safety reps and issues.
The course will cover:
- the role of the health and safety rep
- organising around health and safety
- health and safety law
- SRSC Regs
- inspections and safety committees
- risk assessments
Risk assessments
This one day course is aimed at new or inexperienced health and safety representatives. You will learn how risk assessment legislation can be used to organise more effectively in the workplace for safer working environments. It can also be used as a refresher for more experienced representatives.
This course will cover:
- the range of risks in the workplace
- UNISON's approach to risk assessments
- key legal requirements and criteria
- developing a risk assessment resource pack you can use in the workplace
Tackling stress at work
This two-day follow-on course is aimed at health and safety reps who have completed the Organising for health and safety training. It will help you understand what stress is and what the causes and effects of stress are on the health of members in the workplace. You will learn how risk assessments can be used as part of a stress prevention strategy and become familiar with statutory and common law.
This course will cover:
- stress and its effects
- employers’ legal responsibilities
- how to prevent and control stress
- how to improve policies and procedures
- UNISON’s stress protocol
Bullying at work
This two-day course will help will help representatives identify, prevent and tackle bullying in the workplace. You will learn how to identify potential cases and how to deal with bullying and harassment issues in the workplace. It will help you understand how bullying and harassment affects everyone and can be seen in a wider context beyond just a health and safety issue.
This course will cover:
- negotiating with employers around these issues
- identifying issues that contribute to bullying and harassment
- understanding employment law and health and safety legislation
- making employers aware of what they can
- developing a workplace strategy and policy to address bullying and harassment
Sickness absence policies
This course is designed for activists who have some experience of dealing with sickness absence issues and wish to understand the issues in more depth. It can also be used by activists with less experience but who are faced with an unfair sickness absence policy and wish to know more.
This course will cover:
- identifying common problems
- ways to improve policies
- becoming aware of the impact of stress on sickness levels
- attending a sickness monitoring interview
- putting together an action plan for the branch
Training for reps: