Dignity at work in energy

Prospect is launching a dignity at work charter with targets to track real progress – not just warm words – towards establishing a culture of respect and engagement in the energy sector.

The energy sector is in the midst of an exciting transformation that will make a key contribution to delivering the UK’s net zero commitment. This is a transition compelled by science that will be delivered through engineering and technical expertise.

It’s a transition that potentially offers great opportunities for rewarding careers for tens of thousands of people with diverse skills and experience.

But it won’t succeed on the basis of business as usual.

The current combination of political, regulatory and financial pressures means the industry is short-changing its own workforce, and Prospect members are bearing the brunt. Our own survey evidence shows, for example, that nearly one in three respondents have experienced feeling too fatigued to work safely. This is consistent with findings by external agencies and ­cannot be ignored.

We believe employers need to take urgent, concerted action to ensure that workspaces are safe, healthy, diverse and offer training and development opportunities for all employees. That is why we are launching a dignity at work charter with targets to track real progress – not just warm words – towards establishing a culture of respect and engagement. We want to work with employers and are convinced that it makes good business sense for them to do so.

Our comprehensive charter covers six main strands that need to be addressed:

• A culture of respect and ­engagement;

• Fatigue and working time;

• Stress;

• Equality, diversity and inclusion;

• Training and ­development;

• Pay.

But let’s start with the basics.

This week we have launched a survey on provision and use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

A similar exercise in 2016 identified worrying shortfalls in the provision of women’s PPE, with less than 10 per cent wearing PPE specifically designed for women, 54 per cent ­reporting that this either significantly or sometimes hampered their work and 42 per cent experiencing derogatory comments. I hope, but am not confident, that we will find a much better picture this time around.

But this is not only a women’s issue. For example, very recent feedback highlights concerns over the standard 140kg weight limit for fall arrest devices. These are tools of the trade, used every day by linespeople. Bluntly, if you take account of the weight of equipment lifted in addition to that of the human body, this can be insufficient to guard against risk to life.

Having the right kit and equipment should never be in doubt. A safe working environment is the foundation for dignity at work. But it is not the end point, which is why our charter goes so much further.

The past decade has seen the worst pay outcomes for people working in the energy utilities in at least the last 40 years.

Pay is a primary driver of dignity at work in any sector, but it’s not a simple question of “how much?” Many people do a job because they love it and alongside the level of pay received, there is rising concern as to how pay policy is applied.

Openness and fairness are key. To achieve dignity in pay, we ask that companies commit to sharing all relevant pay data, undertake an equal pay audit at least once every three years, and commit to ensuring, as a minimum, that pay awards at least meet the rising cost of living.

Work-related stress is a growing problem in many sectors and is intimately linked to dignity at work. Recent Prospect research highlights the depth of the problem across the energy sector, with one in three people feeling “overwhelmed” at work either every day or most of the time. Three-quarters say their workload is heavy or extremely heavy.

As well as being psychologically and physically harmful, stress is a performance influencing factor, affecting how people behave and the decisions they make, increasing the risk of accidents.

Taking a primary preventative approach to stress using the HSE’s Management Standards methodology is key to this, as well as accurate and open recording of the problem. Of course, companies should deal sympathetically with the symptoms of stress, but this can only be a short-term fix. Our shared goal should be to tackle the root causes.

The workers that Prospect is proud to represent deserve better – and getting it for them is our New Year resolution.