We hear it all the time – myths about outlandish restrictions placed on ordinary people by bureaucratic buffoons, in the name of ‘health and safety’.

Since taking power in 2010 the government has launched no fewer than three reviews of health and safety legislation – including the infamous ‘red tape challenge’.

In January 2012, Cameron announced he was ‘waging war on the excessive health and safety culture that has become an albatross around the neck of British businesses.’

Given this tone, it is perhaps unsurprising that the government is cutting the Health & Safety Executive’s budget by 35 per cent over the next three years. As of this month, the Tories have also changed RIDDOR (the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) so that reportable incidents now require a worker to be incapacitated for seven days rather than three (not counting the day on which the accident happened). At the same time, the HSE is being instructed to reduce the number of proactive workplace inspections by a third (This means that in certain ‘low risk’ sectors, including transport, the HSE will only carry out an inspection after an injury has been reported).

It is sobering to reflect on the most recent HSE figures, which show that in 2010/11, 171 people were killed at work.

This Saturday, 28 April, is Workers’ Memorial Day, a day of remembrance for workers killed, injured or made ill by their work. Its slogan is ‘remember the dead: fight for the living’.

Workers in the transport sector include the ones that members of the public see – ticket sellers, bus drivers, train operators and more – but there is also an array of roles that are less high profile.

Vehicle and track maintenance staff work with toxic chemicals and in close proximity to high voltage electrical currents. I am not saying the rail industry is unsafe – far from it – but this is the result of workers and managers having a healthy respect for the hazards involved in working in such an environment, and taking a proactive approach to managing risk.

In addition to passenger transport, there is of course freight – which takes in rail, road and the docks. In these environments the greatest risk is in loading and unloading what can be extremely heavy cargoes.

Groups like the Taxpayers’ Alliance and individuals like Guido Fawkes make a lot of noise about ‘Pilgrims’ – staff in the public sector who are released for trade union duties. It’s vital that progressives push back on this rhetoric, and recognise the vital role played by well trained trade union health and safety reps in fostering a positive safety culture in the workplace.

The majority of health and safety regulations come from the European Union, so it is no surprise that this is one of the Tories’ favourite bogeymen. As Glenis Willmott, leader of the European Parliamentary Labour party, points out: ‘when the government calls for ‘repatriation’ of health and safety laws to the UK, they are really calling for important rights to be stripped away from workers.’

Ed Miliband has talked about building a more responsible capitalism. Alongside encouraging businesses to think longer term and invest in training their staff, this should include a commitment to maintaining and improving workplace safety.

Replicating CIRAS – the Confidential Incident Reporting and Analysis System for the rail industry – in other industries, and securing more effective safeguards for whistleblowers would be a good place to start.

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Chris Clark is a Labour and Cooperative member of Ashford borough council and a founding executive member of the Labour Transport Group