Courageous conversations with labour on hire workers

In November last year, Libi Carr (our Charter Officer) was invited to speak at a get together for Labour on Hire (LOH) workers on the topic of: Courageous conversations in health and safety. The event was organised by the Canterbury Labour Hire Safety Forum and attended by around 150 LOH workers from different recruitment agencies.

Libi was struck by the diversity of the people and accents in the crowd – a mix from around the world, enjoying the sun and some dinner.

There are some issues particular to LOH workers that can make them more vulnerable then directly employed workers. One of the reasons for this is employers control the work and recruitment agencies control their access to the work. LOH workers can find it hard to speak up about a health and safety concern or their rights when they believe it may risk their chances of getting further work.

Many recruitment agencies and consultants are working really hard to build good relationships with clients and LOH workers to encourage both to talk and work through health and safety issues together. For those that are on sites with LOH workers, work to support to speak up about health and safety issues – you could be saving a life.