Protect workers from dangerous weather conditions at all costs
Wednesday 28 February 2018Mandate urges retail employers to exercise caution regarding extreme weather conditions and workers health & Safety
Mandate Trade Union, who represents over 45,000 workers across the retail sector, have today joined the growing number of voices who are asking business to give primary consideration to their workers’ health and safety needs as the country faces into the uncertain and hostile weather conditions, particularly towards the end of the week.
Gerry Light, Assistant General Secretary, said:
“We very much support the call made by Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoin Murphy on the national airwaves this morning when he called for employers to put the interests of their staff “first and foremost”. Our experience arising from the Storm Ophelia experience shows that most employers when called upon will do the right thing by their workers as they obviously recognise that their duty of care extends beyond the physical workplace. However, there are a minority of employers who will seek to defend the bottom line at all costs and this is unfortunate to say the least.
Mr Light added “Clearly the general thrust of what we are calling for is reflected in the current post on the IBEC website where they urge employers to put ’employee safety first’.
Mr Light continued “In responding to this call employers should do so in a way that does not seek to penalise workers either through their pockets or disciplinary action if they are not in a position to attend work during the worst of Storm Emma”.
