European Health and Safety Week 23-27 October 2023 – ‘Safe and healthy work in a digital age’

The campaign is actually a nexus for thousands of local actions in workplaces, within unions, in towns and in cities. Typical events are exhibitions, training events, film screenings, photo calls or ‘stunts’ to raise awareness, training events, briefings and conferences.

It is an opportunity for for workplace and local campaigning and awareness raising about the positive role of unions and the difference we make to safety, health and well-being at work in a period of rapid technological change.

The TUC LESE executive committee wished to make sure that unions, union activists and trades councils in our region are aware of the campaign week.

It is short notice but here are a few ideas for things you, your branch or your trades council might do to support the week, and indeed raise the union movement’s profile using the campaign week as an asset:

• Use union noticeboards and email networks, and similar, to promote awareness of the issue and the campaign week.
• Send an alert about the campaign week to branch members, delegates and contacts.
• Send social media messages, and post on Facebook, including forwarding other organisation’s tweets.
• Mapping to scope problems caused by the digital age and search to see if there is a case-study of a worker whose health, safety or well-being has been negatively affected by the ‘digital age’. And even better, if that impact has been mitigated by positive action by a trade union, and write it up.
• Write to the local press about the issues and the importance of the trade union response.
• Arrange a photo call/photo stunt on the theme, using a bit of artistic creativity.
• Add a small element about the issue to an existing event or action.

If your branch or trades council does decide to do something, please let TUC LESE know (email [email protected]), so we can capture and publicise it.