Hazards 92, issue 92 October-December 2005

contents

4-5 Burying the evidence Work cancers are killing unprecedented numbers in the UK. So why does the Health and Safety Executive stick with a 25-year-old guesstimate of the occupational cancer risk, which grossly under-estimates the real extent of the problem and ensures prevention doesn’t get the resources it deserves? more

6-9 Corporate crime news Transco fined £15m for killer gas blast. UK giant BP fined £12m in US. Boss jailed after worker crushed. HSE failing on safety enforcement. Firms fined £13.5m over Hatfield crash. Safety officers back killing law. Government’s deadly overseas role. Businessmen behaving badly.

10-15 News in brief Call for end of “deregulation fetish”. Deregulation is the treacherous choice. Pilot scheme on inspection opt-out. Victimisation and whistleblowing. Union rep faces sick sacking threat. Sick record used to refuse job applicants. Work smarter not longer. HSE worlds wide-of-the-mark web. Jobs linked to deadly brain diseases. British firms in US welding fume test case. PAHs increase laryngeal cancer risk. The case for compensation.

16-17 Campaign! The Hazards Campaign’s Hilda Palmer warns that safe workplaces don’t come about by accident – workers have to organise for the sake of their health. more

Centrepages A job to die for? Britain is facing an occupational disease epidemic, but you wouldn’t know it from the official statistics. Whether it is cancer or heart disease, strain injuries or neurological disorders, work is claiming a massive, deadly and largely ignored workplace toll. more

20-21 Union solution TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson says changing union safety strategies are needed for a changing world of work.

22-23 Get safe, get organised TUC’s new organising strategy recognises union workplaces are safer because unions have the numbers, support and skills to makes sure the safety message is driven home. And TUC says workplace activism is the key to the union safety effect. more

24-31 What the unions say Casinos want get-out-of-jail cards. Union warning on gangmasters. Pregnant woman fired after work injury. Hazards questionnaire. Big payout for wood dust disease. Drivers in laptop injury victory. Union wins bakers’ asthma dough. Union issues voice loss warning. What price on your life? Union push brings move on work hours. PCS alarm at jobcentre violence. Guards will stop rail attacks. Terrorism and the workplace. Union denounces DuPont’s bad behaviour. Garment workers face deadly lung disease. Gold miners return home to die. Global danger from “savage capitalism”. Nano loopholes may hurt workers.

Pages 32-34 Resources Publications, resources and news from HSE.

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