Public Concern at Work say that giving workers the confidence to speak out is in the interest of employers (Seq, Flickr)

Broadcast on 27th Nov 2013 on VoR.

A new report says that current safeguards fail to protect whistleblowers when they speak out, and may even discourage them from coming forward in the first place.

The report – published by the charity Public Concern at Work – says the British government should introduce new measures to safeguard whistleblowers from retribution.

Nima Green reports for VoR.

Whistleblowers need to be protected from harassment and bullying by their employers and co-workers after criticism that the main UK law that’s supposed to protect them is failing.

That’s according to an independent commission established by the charity that helped draft the statute 15 years ago.

Cathy James is the CEO of Public Concern at Work.

She wants a robust code of practice to be introduced arguing that whistleblowers act as “a barometer” for the culture of the organisation they work in.

The commission’s report follows several high profile scandals in the financial sector and the NHS, where warnings from whistle-blowers were ignored.

Debbie Hazeldine is a member of the campaign group Cure the NHS, which helped to expose the Mid-Staffs scandal, where neglect in hospitals cost up to 1,400 lives, including that of her 67 year old mother.

She says that speaking out has come at a cost.

[LISTEN HERE->]