The TUC has published a new briefing, Protecting Health and Safety after Brexit, which warns trade unionists and working people that health and safety protections are at risk from the government’s Brexit plans.

Although the government has set out its intention in a white paper to transfer all existing health and safety protections from EU law to UK law, there are no guarantees for what happens afterwards. The TUC says that the next government must make sure that a commitment is written into the Brexit deal to, as a minimum, match present and future EU standards for workplace health and safety. Otherwise existing protections will be vulnerable to erosion and repeal.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Working people must not have their health and safety put at greater risk after Brexit. The next government needs a watertight plan to transfer protections from EU to UK law. “The best way to guarantee all health and safety protections is to put workplace rights at the heart of the Brexit deal. It should be written into the deal that the UK and EU will meet the same standards, for both existing rights and future improvements.”