Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support the health of night shift workers in West Bromwich constituency.

Reducing ill health at work is an important area of focus for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). HSE published its 10 year strategy ‘Protecting people and places’ in 2022 and this includes a strategic objective to reduce work-related ill health. HSE works closely with other government departments to ensure that they cooperate and collaborate on matters concerning their respective health responsibilities.

The Department for Business and Trade has overall policy responsibility for the Working Time Regulations 1998. However, both HSE and Local Authorities (LAs) enforce certain aspects of the Regulations and night work is one of the requirements that HSE enforces.

The Working Time Regulations require employers to ensure workers do not exceed night work limits, and to provide night workers with the opportunity to have a free health assessment at regular intervals.

When organising and planning night work, employers must also comply with their general duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR).

HSWA places a duty on all employers, so far as is reasonably practicable, to protect the health, safety, and welfare at work of all their employees. MHSWR places a duty on all employers to make an assessment of the risks to their employees from work activities and introduce measures that are ‘reasonably practicable’ to remove or control these risks.

This includes any health and safety risks associated with the number of hours worked, how these hours are scheduled and hazards such as fatigue, and its likelihood of occurring because of night shift working.

HSE has published guidance for employers to support them in managing the health and safety of shift workers (Managing shift work [HSG 256]) and Hints and tips for shift-workers (hse.gov.uk) to improve sleep quality, increase alertness and reduce health risk.