Jack Mckenzie discusses his first 18 months as a health and safety representative
I saw the opportunity of becoming a health and safety rep as an exciting challenge to broaden my understanding of ongoing change within the NHS. It’s the perfect opportunity to work alongside our members to understand their perspectives and drive positive change in the working environment.
My aim is to ensure the welfare of our members is at the forefront of everything we do.
In the infancy of my role a large proportion of my time spent was less on health and safety specific roles and more working alongside our team of reps in ensuring a smooth and safe period of industrial action for our members – a proverbial baptism of fire!
The industrial action last year was deemed to be positive and successful, where members felt, they were truly supported to stand up for their beliefs of being overworked, understaffed and underpaid.
Following the industrial action – and on the completion of the CSP’s training in health and safety assessments – I conducted my first health and safety inspection.
This inspection highlighted areas for improvement, which leads me onto my first workplace win: the procurement of equipment, such as window blinds, to protect our members from over-heating and glare within the workplace. This was highlighted to management as a concern from our members and has now been actioned with success.
I truly believe the culmination of small wins can lead to larger positive change and I see this as the start of a bigger project of optimising the working conditions and safety for our members in my trust, and across Yorkshire and the Humber.
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