GMB North West and Irish Region Connect Magazine May 2019 | Page 6

news Spring forward to a busy few months for GMB equality activists The newly formed activist group, who identify as having a disability, have come together as the Disabled Workers Forum and met up for the first time on Wednesday, April 10. The meeting took place in the Dougie Henry training suite in Bill Smith House. GMB SHOUT! LGBT+ second meeting this year took place in the Jack Mercer room in Bill Smith House, on Wednesday 17th April. This is a forum for members who identify as LGBT+ and want to get involved in the union activities. inbrief ... “ Next meeting date Following a successful one day event on Gender Sensitive Health & Safety, marking International Women’s Day on March 8th in Liverpool, the GMB Women’s Network Group is hoping for a good turnout from the sisters in the Manchester area. The group is keen to attract more members to help drive campaigns that specifically affect fellow women members in their branches, workplaces and communities. news This meeting will take place in the Cravenwood Room, Abraham Moss Campus, Manchester, M8 5UF. These meetings alternate between Manchester and Liverpool. JOIN THE GMB Do you know the advantages of joining the GMB? And the beneifts cover both members and their families PAID TIME RELEASE Paid time release should be sought from the employer, reasonable travel expenses will be paid on production of a valid receipt. DO YOU HAVE YOUNG MEMBERS IN YOUR BRANCH? If you have young members (under30) in your branch or Black, Asian and minority ethnicity members (BAME) who might be interested in getting involved in the union, please encourage them to contact me as I am keen to try and establish and develop working groups for these members. For this and to register for any of the above meetings please contact me on Lisa. [email protected] 6 POLITICAL COMMITMENT NEEDS TO REACH NEW HEIGHTS IN THE SAFETY FIELD The GMB’s Regional Political Officer has welcomed a major review of health and safety regulations by Westminster MPs. A report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Working at Height is calling on the government and industry to help change the culture and reduce the number of deaths and accidents caused by falls. Neil Smith based at the GMB Oldham office, is delighted that the report is seeking an improvement in the reporting of incidents and the introduction of a reporting requirement on near misses. “This report has taken 12 months to put together and it quite rightly asks why 18% of people who die at work do so as a result of falling from a height. Hopefully the cross party group of MPs can all agree that improved reporting under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences) along with the appointment of an independent body to monitor these reports and incidents will reduce the number of deaths at work.” DANGERS Glasgow MP Alison Thewliss chairs the APPG working group and has held up the model used in Scotland, giving us an equivalent system to Scotland’s Fatal Accident Inquiry process. She said: “Every fall from height can have life altering consequences for workers and their families. There is an urgent need to improve work at height culture, yet this issue is sadly not at the top of the decision makers’ agenda. “ We want our report to change that culture 7