ARCHIVE - February 2002

Corporate health and safety crime at work

Latest news from Hazards magazine on the corporate safety criminals. Also see related websites and New UK campaign

more Huck/Konopacki labor cartoons

---

Employer sentenced for forced overtime China Updated: 25 February 2002

The director of a privately-owned garment plant in the coastal province of Zhejiang received a suspended sentence of one year imprisonment and a fine for forcing his employees to work overtime in conditions which resulted in injuries. See: China Labour Bulletin Hazards - Get a life!

---

Workers take employers to court over birth defects USA Updated: 26 February 2002

USA companies are facing court action from workers who say exposure to reproductive hazards has caused birth defects. See: USA Today Table: Reproductive risks at work

---

"Dirty little secret of high-tech revolution" USA Updated: 25 February 2002

US recycling of "e-waste" is harming people overseas, says report. See: Seattle Post-Intelligencer Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition

---

Whistleblower may win £600,000 Britain Updated: 25 February 2002

A Connex train driver who was forced to quit his job after exposing safety lapses could win up to £600,000 damages. Laurie Holden, 49, is the first person successfully to sue a rail operator under the 1998 Public Interest Disclosure Act, designed to protect employees who expose public scandals. See: Associated Newspapers October 1999 background to the case

---

Son of asbestos victim vows to fight on Britain 23 February 2002

The son of a Teesside asbestos victim has vowed to fight on to ensure those responsible for his dad's death are brought to justice. On his death bed, Jack Wray told his son, Billy, and daughter he wanted someone to "pay the price". This is Teesside

---

Delays to vibration directive are slammed by T&G Britain Updated: 22 February 2002

The Transport and General Workers' Union has reacted angrily to a decision to delay implementation of new vibration controls on workplace agricultural and forestry equipment. Agricultural and forestry equipment will be covered by the new law from 2013. In other work areas, the law will be phased in from 2004, taking full effect in 2010. See: T&G news release

---

UNISON whistleblowers teach college a lesson on asbestos Britain Updated: 21 February 2002

Fareham College has been fined £23,000 and costs of £18,000 after UNISON reps revealed the college had for years required staff to employ unsafe work methods with asbestos. See: UNISON news

---

Labour minister out to get bad employers South Africa Updated: 20 February 2002

South Africa's labour minister has warned employers to stop mistreating workers, start training them and help the country by creating jobs. Membathisi Mdladlana said his department would launch a "national inspection blitz" in April, focusing on the security, construction and farm sectors.This follows a crackdown on clothing firms after a woman gave birth to twins on a factory floor because she had been locked up for the night.The twins died because they could not get medical assistance. See: Business Report

---

Union and Msauli discuss liquidation and asbestos compensation South Africa Updated: 20 February 2002

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Msauli Asbes, the soon to be delisted Mpumalanga asbestos mining company, have met in a bid to avert possible litigation initiated by former workers seeking compensation. The two parties had an "informal meeting" to discuss the union's threat to request a court interdict preventing Msauli from liquidating without compensating workers who had contracted asbestos-related diseases. See: Business Report

---

Thirteen officials punished for Lianyuan mine explosion China Updated: 20 February 2002

Hunan Province's Safety Inspection Department says 13 officials had received disciplinary actions after they were found responsible for the explosion which killed 11 miners in the Luanyi coal mine last December. The investigation found that illegal and dangerous operations caused the fatal accident. See: China Labour Bulletin

---

Shaanxi Gold Miners Contract Acute Pneumoconiosis China Updated: 20 February 2002

Tests have established 32 migrant miners in the Chener gold mine have occupational pneumoconiosis, an incurable condition that affects the tissues of the lungs. The number represents a startlingly high proportion of the mine's total of 44 workers. See: China Labour Bulletin

---

Unions seek child labour bans Australia Updated: 18 February 2002

Unions in the Australian state of Victoria are demanding a ban on the employment of children in the state's four most dangerous industries, agriculture, transport and storage, construction and manufacturing, with penalties of up to one year in jail for transgressors. See: The Age

---

Improvement Notice issued on workstation assessments Britain Updated: 15 February 2002

UNISON safety reps at Manchester Metropolitan University revealed serious weaknesses in the University's display screen equipment risk assessments that led to government inspectors issuing a legal improvement notice. See: MMU notice

---

Developer who exposed workers to asbestos running out of appeals USA Updated: 15 February 2002

A developer convicted of exposing workers to cancer-causing asbestos has been refused a second appeal. Unless he wins a rare high court hearing, he will likely spend a year and a day in prison, the sentence he received in May 2000. See: New Haven Register

---

Asbestos victims still lose out Britain Updated: 14 February 2002

Organisations representing asbestos disease victims have said the government's mesothelioma compensation fix does not go nearly far enough. Guilty employers get off scot free and too few victims get too little too late. See: Government announcement GMB news release Occupational and Environmental Diseases Association and Greater Manchester Asbestos Victims Support Group

---

Five thousand people die every year from asbestos, says TUC Britain Updated: 14 February 2002

At least five thousand people died in 2001 of asbestos-related diseases, according to TUC analysis of official figures. The figure is up from 3,000 a decade ago - an increase of two thirds, and now 50 per cent more people die from asbestos than die on the roads every year. The TUC warns that the death toll will continue to rise if measures are not taken now to control asbestos exposure in British buildings. See: TUC news release

---

Unions take on liqueur maker Haiti Updated: 14 February 2002

Workers who harvest and process oranges used to make Cointreau, a luxury cognac-based liqueur, have been involved in a long and sometimes violent struggle for union rights, better pay and improved conditions and health and safety. See: Latinamerica Press Hazards 77 Haiti page

---

Sick former nuclear workers await aid USA Updated: 13 February 2002

Six months after sick US nuclear weapons workers and their families could begin applying for $150,000 federal compensation payouts, thousands of applicants are still waiting, with older workers wondering if they will live long enough to see a payout. See: Yahoo health news

---

Company fined £200,000 over fatal accident Britain Updated: 12 February 2002

A company has been fined £200,000 after a man's life was "wasted" at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane ground. Two men have been killed while carrying out work for Billington Structures in the last three years and the company has also been fined and warned about two other breaches of safety rules. See: Yorkshire Post Earlier Yorkshire Post story

---

Will Enron bosses pay for deadly failures? UK/USA Updated: 11 February 2002

Jeff Skilling, a key player in the collapse of US energy giant Enron who may yet face perjury charges, was the man sent to the UK to explain an August 2001 fatal explosion and prior prosecutions for safety crimes at its UK energy plant. Skilling resigned six days after the August blast. See: BBC News Online BusinessWeek Risks 14 Ananova coverage of the explosion

---

US automakers lose bid to combine asbestos cases USA Updated: 8 February 2002

US automakers fighting asbestos liability claims have lost a battle when a federal judge rejected their bid to transfer thousands of lawsuits into a single federal court. General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and the Chrysler arm of DaimlerChrysler AG had asked for some 15,000 to 20,000 brake-related asbestos claims to be consolidated into the bankruptcy proceedings of auto parts maker Federal Mogul Corp. See: Reuters Health

---

Asbestos victims take compo protest to the company Britain Updated: 8 February 2002

Angry asbestos victims robbed of their compensation, their families and campaigners are to lobby the first major Turner & Newall creditors meeting. On Monday 11 February they will hand a letter of protest to the company's administrators. See: Asbestos campaign news release

---

Asbestos bale-out rumours drive shares up USA Updated: 2 February 2002

Rumours that President George W Bush will try and limit asbestos compensation liability have reignited interest in shares in chemical companies. Randall Bono, a lawyer representing asbestos victims, said: "It seems likely that he will want to try and help his political contributors and his corporate friends." See: Risks 39 BBC News Online Bloomberg.com FT.com

---

TUC reveals "soaring" union stress cases Britain Updated: 2 February 2002

The number of new personal injury claims taken by UK unions has dropped slightly but work-related stress cases have soared, according to a new TUC report. See: Risks 39 BBC News Online FT.com

---

earlier stories

corporate crime links