Hazards, number 170, summer, 2025
FEATURES
Living hell? Poisonous tobacco leaves? Beastly bugs? Bacteria, viruses, food dust, vermin or other creatures? No problem. Hazards editor Rory O’Neill says unions have just negotiated a stunning new ILO biological hazards law to protect workers worldwide from the occupational risks arising from plants, infections and animals or associated with other living things. more
Bathroom break Sometimes, when you’ve got to go, you’ve really got to go. But, warns union organising expert Dave Smith, while the law requires employers to provide toilets for their staff, it doesn’t give workers the right to use them. This legal absurdity is humiliating – and can also lead to serious ill-health. more
Real rights On 28 April 2025 – International Workers’ Memorial Day – workers worldwide made a stand for real rights on artificial intelligence, algorithmic management and automated decision making at work. Just weeks later unions won agreement that there should be global rules to protect platform workers. more
Divide and kill President Trump’s immigration raids on workplaces and plan to expel millions of undocumented workers has another unwelcome consequence – it makes work more dangerous for all Americans. more
CENTREPAGES
Don't sweat it Britain is facing record temperatures and more frequent heatwaves, making work not just unpleasant, but sometimes downright dangerous. Hazards editor Rory O’Neill says a TUC campaign has given union safety reps new tools to get bosses to cool it at work. more
POSTER
An inspector calls? Don’t bargain on it. Unions are your best protection. Health and safety inspections have nosedived. Prosecutions are at an all time low. You could be at death's door and HSE would not come knocking. A Hazards pin-up-at-work poster. more
ELSEWHERE IN HAZARDS
News in brief. 10-13 Work and health 14-15. Hazardous substances. 16-17 Mental health. 24-25 Work suicides. 26-27 Violence. 28-29 Deadly business. 30-31 International news. 32-35
