Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Councils’ (The Council) Public Health, Protection & Community Services department has agreed to support an initiave proposed by Unite Union to campaign for workers within the night-time economy to be able to get home safely.
Some workers may be concerned about their safety travelling to and from work at night, some will not know how they will get home until they leave work. But while some employers may feel that their duty of care to staff ends when an employee finishes a shift, it is felt by the Council that an employer should also take into consideration how their staff member will get home, especially during unsocialable hours.
The guiding principal of the Get me home safe campaign is for every worker to have access to safe transport at all hours of the day and for employers and staff alike to develop solutions for ensuring those who work past 11pm are able to use transport to and from work safely.
To this end, the Council is committed to taking positive action to ensure people feel safe in public areas across all areas of RCT. To achieve this the intention is to work with the licensed trade to operate a safe night time economy in line with our Licensing Policy Objectives, working with licencees, employers, the Police and Community Safety partners to ensure our communities are safe places late at night.
The aim of the Council is to encourage licensees and employers to consider staff transport as an integral part of operating a safe and sustainable business, helping to ensure workers in these sectors are valued. This will significantly benefit the safety and wellbeing of hospitality workers, and benefit our community and the business through improved staff recruitment and retention.
The Council strongly encourages all businesses to engage in this campaign and to consider what can they do to make their staff feel safe. Examples to consider are:-
- The cost of travel which is often unaffordable to those who work shift patterns and are on low pay and zero hours contracts
- The lack of available public transport at end of shift
- The distance to walk to their car, taxi, train or bus
- The route the staff member will need to take
- How will they get home
- Ask staff of their concerns
To achieve a workforce that is reassured and confident of their safety, businesses are asked to identify workable solutions to facilitate safe travel home, by introducing measures such as:-
- Shift patterns where no individual leaves alone
- Suitable times for end of shift for those requiring public transport to ensure they are able to make the journey
- Buddying up, so that no individual staff member is to travel alone
- Providing transport such as a taxi or minibus to convey staff home
- Providing contact numbers of taxi companies within the area
- Getting supplemented taxi travel for late shift workers.
- Include the above in a risk assessment
The Council also encourages businesses to think of their own initiatives and if proved successful, to share with other businesses through collaboration with the Council.
Get ME Home Safely | Make Our Communities & Workplaces Safer (unitetheunion.org)