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DEADLY BUSINESS FEATURES
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Chris Knoop died in a workplace explosion. The directors of
the company responsible didn’t turn up for the court
case. And the fine was just £2. It's no wonder deaths
at work outstrip murders by two to one.
Hazards, issue 103, August 2008 |
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It took a five year campaign before Anthea and Peter Dennis
got company boss Roy Clark to admit the workplace manslaughter
of their teenage son, Daniel. Clark got 10 months. Daniel’s
family got a ‘life sentence’.
Hazards, issue 102, May 2008 |
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When
a worker dies, someone should pay. But as a new manslaughter
law takes effect, a Hazards poster warns it takes
more than a law to get justice.
Hazards poster, issue 102, May 2008 |
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When dozens of US popcorn workers had their lungs destroyed
by a flavouring chemical, it caused a national scandal. But
it was seen as a US problem. It wasn’t, as Yorkshire
factory worker Martin Muir can now testify. Hazards
issue 101, February 2008 |
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It was not just the ICL/Stockline
factory that was ‘a ticking timebomb.’ A major
inquiry into the blast that destroyed the Glasgow factory,
killed nine and maimed dozens of others will hear evidence
the system regulating workplace safety in the UK is in a serious
state of disrepair.
Hazards, issue 100, November 2007 |
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The resource-starved Health and Safety Executive can no longer
investigate some of the most serious workplace injuries. Fatalities
are rising. HSE needs help. It just doesn’t seem to
see it. Hazards editor Rory O’Neill says not
only is HSE failing, it is shunning its best possible ally
– trade union safety reps.
Hazards, issue 99, August 2007 |
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As workplace deaths rise dramatically and the Health and Safety
Executive’s austerity programme leaves it haemorrhaging
staff, mothballing work programmes and shutting offices, Hazards
looks for clues on what unions – snubbed and so far
refused any new rights by HSE after its worker involvement
consultation - should do next.
Hazards, issue 98, May 2007 |
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Some of Britain’s biggest companies have seriously neglected
their safety responsibilities, with deadly consequences. Hazards
editor Rory O’Neill asks how bad it has to get before
a top boss ends up behind bars.
Hazards, issue 97, February 2007 |
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The official safety watchdog is broke, can’t do its
job and is haemorrhaging staff. Hazards editor Rory
O’Neill predicts over-stretched and under-protected
workers will soon get sick of being fed the government’s
healthy lifestyle and “work is good for you” line.
Hazards, issue 96, November 2006
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HSE top brass say the enforcement-lite safety watchdog is
performing well. But Hazards reveals HSE is facing
a deepening crisis, with workplace inspections hitting a new
low and HSE inspectors rapidly becoming an endangered species.
Hazards, issue 95, August 2006 |
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What would criminals think
if the knew the police presence had dropped by over 25 per
cent in three years, and more cuts were planned? That’s
exactly what has happened at the workplace, where Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) workplace inspections have plummeted
to a new low and HSE is increasingly relying on companies
to just say they’ll be safe.
Hazards, issue 94, May 2006
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Britain has got one of the most unregulated economies in
the industrial world. Tony Blair says so. But his government
is still embarking on a dangerous deregulation exercise
that could remove essential safety protections, says Hazards
editor Rory O’Neill.
Hazards,
issue 91, August 2005 |
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If directors faced the prospect of a jail term or even the
loss of their boardroom seats for poor safety performance,
then safety might be a more pressing corporate concern.
As it is, they don’t even lose their bonuses.
Hazards,
issue 90, May 2005
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Safety controls are being undermined at work, and it's the
safety watchdog that is responsible. As the UK drops down
the world's safety rankings, Hazards looks at the
dangerous thinking behind its policy shift.
Hazards,
issue 88, November 2004
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Every week an average of five workers are killed at work.
Almost all of these are the result of management failures,
and all of them are avoidable. Frances O'Grady, TUC's deputy
general secretary, says bosses guilty of safety crimes must
face justice.
Hazards,
issue 87,
August 2004 [pdf]
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The government says HSC's new safety blueprint is a "radical
new strategy." Business loves its hands off, no hassle,
no commitments language. But for you and me, the new strategy
offers nothing new and abandons hard won protections.
Hazards, issue 86, May 2004
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Later this year the UK government says it will publish a
draft corporate killing bill... Not a law, just another
consultation.
Hazards,
issue
83, August 2003 [pdf]
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About two million people are killed by their work every
year. This latest global estimate comes from the International
Labour Office (ILO) - and it says that's just a small part
of the carnage at work, says Jukka Takala, Director of ILO's
SafeWork programme.
Hazards
81, January-March 2003
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Average annual pay of
Britain's top bosses. £1.5 million. Average fine for workplace
safety offences, £12,194. Do the maths. Hazards argues
that small fines alone are not an adequate deterrent for
Britain's workplace safety criminals.
Hazards,
issue 81, February 2003
[pdf] • The
writing's on the wall
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If you kill, maim or hurt someone,
you can expect to go to jail. Except if you employ that
someone. Unions worldwide say employers shouldn't be allowed
to get away with this workplace assault - and have the workplace
safety criminals in their sights. TUC's Owen Tudor reports.
Hazards,
issue 80, November 2002
[pdf]
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The global trade union movement
has decided to make corporate accountability for workers'
health and safety the theme for International Workers' Memorial
Day on 28 April 2003. On the day when trade unionists around
the world remember the people who have died because of their
work, this TUC/Hazards guide calls for those responsible
to be held to account.
Hazards, issue 80, November 2002
background • poster
• resources [all
pdf format]
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