Hazards issue 93 January-March 2006

contents

6-7 Total suck up The government is introducing a corporate crime bill with no jail terms for corporate criminals. It is ripping up large chunks of its “naming and shaming” database. And the next official health and safety visit you get may be from an “adviser” not an inspector. more

8-9 Taking offence Dave Whyte, a member of Scotland’s expert group on corporate homicide, tells Hazards why he believes the government’s corporate killing bill for England and Wales is an employer-friendly cop out. more

12-19 News in brief TUC wants more penalties. Troublemaker of the year. Dangerous mindset. Union shops enforcement sell out. HSC backs explicit safety duties on directors. Asbestos trade’s lingering death. Nancy honoured. Do you job, TUC tells HSE. Non-union workplaces are clueless. Businessmen behaving badly. Shipbreaking yards kill thousands. Questions asked about depot blast. Softer asbestos laws pose “a threat”. Getting away with murder. Daily grind wears you out. On-call is working time. Night work linked to premature births. Smoking at work.

20-21 Futile exercise? Workplaces make you sick. A new government workplace health strategy could make a difference. But Hazards has discovered the government plan is more concerned with changing your lifestyle than your workplace. more

24-25 China at work Rapid industrialisation has seen China emerge as a major economic superpower. It has also seen an epidemic of workplace injuries and disease, making health and safety a major issue for the government and for unions and campaigners. A Hazards photofile. more

26-33 What the unions say Ministers agree diluted chemicals law. REACH would be good for business. TUC calls for cancer action. Campaign exposes breast cancer links. Safety reps should get noticed! Bosses fail flexibility test. TUC sounds hearing alert. Hazards Questionnaire. Amicus secures huge payouts. Teachers facing work dangers. Work deaths are off the record. What price on your life? Mine tragedy exposes deadly Bush strategy. BP’s deadly crimes could go to trial. Poor little killer companies. Bird flu at work.

36-39 Resources Publications, resources, events and news from HSE.

40 Do you remember who died at work?
28 April * Workers’ Memorial Day poster