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ARCHIVED NEWS - January - December
2006
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More recent news
Hazards news, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Safety must stay top of the council agenda
Retail union Usdaw has said health and safety must remain top
of the agenda for local authorities. The call follows the announcement
of a government review of local council statutory responsibilities.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
USA:
Asbestos hazard warning survives challenge
An official warning to mechanics that exposure to asbestos in
brakes can cause deadly disease will not be removed from a US
government website, and official safety watchdog the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will not now suspend a
scientist who had refused to water down the warning.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006 •
OSHA
asbestos brakes warning
Britain:
Teachers back NUT on workload action
Members of the teaching union NUT have responded positively to
their union's campaign to tackle excessive workloads. A ballot
of members showed “overwhelming majorities” in support
of the NUT workload guidelines and possible school level action.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
USA:
Asbestos hazard warning survives challenge
An official warning to mechanics that exposure to asbestos in
brakes can cause deadly disease will not be removed from a US
government website, and official safety watchdog the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will not now suspend a
scientist who had refused to water down the warning.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006 •
OSHA
asbestos brakes warning
Britain:
Six figure payout after injury travelling home
An electrical worker who suffered career-ending injuries on a
ferry when travelling home after working away has been awarded
£140,000. Amicus member George Shimmans, an electrical craftsman
from Denbighshire, received the payout after being medically retired
as a result of back injuries sustained on the Condor Ferries’
craft.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Fat cats clean up as cleaners are washed out
Bankers at multinational firm Goldman Sachs have been warned they
could end up clearing up their own rubbish and cleaning their
own toilets by the over-stretched cleaners who work at their City
of London offices.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Safety watchdog acts after union safety claims
A London food firm targeted by the union GMB after a series of
safety violations has received an official safety warning. A Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation at one of three London
factories run by Katsouris Fresh Foods, owned by the giant Icelandic
Bakkavör Group, has resulted in an improvement notice, after
the safety watchdog found a machine that removed a worker’s
finger tip was inadequately guarded.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006 •
Hazards
migrant workers' webpages
Global:
Workplace risks increasing worldwide
Long hours and longer working lives in developed countries is
leading to greater lifetime exposures to health and safety risks,
a paper in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine has warned.
Finnish researchers also say that due to industrialisation, workers
in developing countries are facing new conditions without the
relevant knowledge and skills to minimise risks.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Union attacks hospital’s xmas puddings
A union has attacked scrooge hospital bosses who say there will
be no staff canteen facilities on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Amicus says Bedford Hospital Trust must provide staff working
over the festival days with the opportunity to have a hot Christmas
lunch and dinner on these days, especially as canteen facilities
will be providing patients with hot traditional Christmas dinners.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Questions asked about Corus ‘justice’
The day steel giant Corus received what has been described as
a “pinprick” fine for criminal safety offences which
led to the deaths of three workers, three sub-contract migrant
workers at another Corus plant were jailed and told they would
be deported for working illegally in the UK. The cases have thrown
into stark relief concerns about the adequacy of existing workplace
health and safety penalties, with the father of one of the dead
men backing a campaign calling for the jailing of company directors
found guilty of deadly safety crimes.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006 •
Fack website
• Hazards
deadly business webpages • Hazards
Corus webpage
Britain:
Building bosses fined after fall through floor
Two Bristol building companies have been fined after a pair of
workers fell through a floor that had been overloaded with bricks.
Mark Anthony Steventon-Smith of Mass Development and Tim Woodman
of Westfield Roofing both pleaded guilty to breaching health and
safety regulations.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Firm fined over lift shaft horror
A Runcorn company has been ordered to pay £30,000 in fines
and costs after pleading guilty to health and safety breaches
which left two staff seriously injured. TJ Morris, trading as
Home Bargains at Halton Lea, allowed two employees to attempt
to hand-wind a stuck goods lift; both fell down the lift shaft
and suffered serious injuries.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Teenage apprentice crushed to death
A teenager has been crushed to death at work. Apprentice plumber
Michael Scott, 18, died after the accident at Anderson Plumbing
and Heating Services in Aberdeen.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006 •
Hazards
young workers webpages
Global:
International contractors sign up to safety
A groundbreaking global agreement will commit construction contractors
worldwide to providing improved and properly costed and resourced
health, safety and welfare standards on public contracts. Global
building workers’ union federation BWI and the international
contractors’ association CICA struck the deal last month.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006 •
BWI news release • Full text of the agreement [pdf]
Britain:
Firms warned over road crashes
More than 1-in-4 road deaths in Britain last year involved an
at-work driver, official figures show. Department for Transport
(DfT) data issued by road safety charity Brake indicate 850 people
died and 6,012 were seriously injured as a result of the crashes.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Jingle hell, jingle hell, jangling nerves all day
Christmas music in shops is stressing out shopworkers, a noise
campaign, a trade union and a peer have warned. The relentless
march of the Little Drummer Boy down Britain’s high streets
and the associated seasonal jingle hell over an ever-extending
festive period amounts to “torture”, some campaigners
say.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Global:
Temporary work is bad for you
A study of the health of workers has found that men in temporary
jobs are more likely to suffer health problems than men in secure
employment. Dr Vanessa Gash from The University of Manchester’s
School of Social Sciences spent two years examining health statistics
of Spanish and German workers.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006 •
Hazards get-a-life
news and resources
Britain:
Kitchen assistant awarded £60,000 after fall
A kitchen assistant who fell after being distracted by a faulty
hot drinks machine has been awarded more than £60,000 in
compensation. Helen Given, 61, broke her hip and right wrist in
the fall, spent 10 weeks in hospital and was bed-ridden for six
months.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Victory for Scotland's asbestos families
Families of Scottish asbestos disease victims are celebrating
an early victory in their fight for compensation. Changes in Scottish
law to help people with asbestos-related cancer claim compensation
have been brought forward to this week, the Scottish Executive
has announced.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006 •
Hazards asbestos
news and resources
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EARLIER NEWS
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Hazards
news , 16 December 2006
Britain:
Scientist played down work cancer risks
A world-famous British scientist failed to disclose that he held
a paid consultancy with a chemical company for more than 20 years
while investigating cancer risks in the industry. Sir Richard
Doll, the celebrated epidemiologist, was receiving a consultancy
fee of $1,500 a day in the mid-1980s from chemical multinational
Monsanto.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006 •
Hazards
occupational cancer and work and health webpages • HSE
occupational cancer estimates
USA: Construction firms push unions as safer choice
With the number of construction deaths on non-union sites skyrocketing,
New York's largest building contractors’ association has
launched a $1 million (£0.5m) ad campaign to underscore
the importance of hiring union workers. The year-long media blitz
is aimed at “public policymakers and real estate developers,”
said Louis Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers'
Association (BTEA).
Risks 287, 16 December 2006 •
Hazards
union effect webpages
Britain:
Don’t sell safety down the river
Maritime union RMT has called on MPs to reject changes to boatmen’s
training and licensing that could have disastrous consequences
for tidal river safety. It says despite vocal objections from
Thames boatmasters, safety campaigners and survivors and relatives
of victims of the 1989 Marchioness disaster, the government is
pushing threw a law RMT says would seriously water down riverboat
safety standards from January 2007.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Britain: Factory blast families angry at prosecution delay
Families of workers who died in the 2004 Stockline factory explosion
in Glasgow have expressed anger at a delay in the prosecution
of the firm that owned the factory. Lawyers acting on behalf of
ICL Tech and ICL Plastics have been given more time to prepare
their defence.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Canada:
Work-related deaths rising sharply
The number of work-related deaths in Canada is rising sharply,
revealing a dark side to the boom in the oil fields, mining and
the construction sector. The escalating work deaths figure also
reflects a steady increase in the number of workers dying from
long-ago exposure to dangerous products such as asbestos, according
to a report from the Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006 •
Hazards asbestos,
work
and health and work
and age webpages
Britain:
Overworking AA staff ‘will lead to fatalities’
AA patrol staff and recovery vehicle drivers are being forced
to work dangerously long hours, their union GMB has said. The
union says compulsory overtime introduced after staff cuts means
its members are to be forced to work up to 11.75 hours per day
for five days in a row, which the union says “will lead
to fatalities and serious injuries to AA patrol staff and to members
of the travelling public who will be the innocent victims.”
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Britain:
Migrant workers facing exploitation and danger
Migrant workers in the UK are facing exploitation and danger at
work, the TUC has warned.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Europe:
Cooperation is key says EU employment chief
High quality industrial relations including safety measures make
a significant contribution to economic performance, from company-level
to the economy as a whole, says a new European Commission report.
It highlights health and safety agreements as prominent examples
of cooperation at work, including Europe-wide deals on telework
and stress and silica dust and ongoing discussions on violence
at work.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Britain:
Firefighters remember biggest blast
A year after the Buncefield oil depot fire, which raged for days
following Britain’s biggest peacetime explosion in December
2005, firefighters’ union FBU has been paying tribute to
the efforts of its members and the public who rallied to tackle
the disaster.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Australia:
Self-insurance for firms to hurt workers
A new Australian government move encouraging big businesses to
self-insure for workers’ compensation could mean substantially
reduced payouts for injured workers and could significantly lower
the national standard of workplace health and safety, union federation
ACTU has warned. It said the federal government is supporting
moves by large businesses to withdraw from state-based schemes
linked to enforcement, and instead sign up as self-insurers under
the national Comcare scheme.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006 •
Hazards
compensation webpages
Britain:
Legal win for widow of youngest mesothelioma victim
The widow of a 32-year-old man who died after inhaling asbestos
on his stepfather's work clothing as a child, has succeeded in
her legal battle for compensation. Claire Welch from Braunstone
in Leicester continued the legal action originally launched by
her husband Barry after he was diagnosed with mesothelioma in
May 2004.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Europe:
MEPs pass diluted REACH solution
The European Parliament has brought the passage of European Union
(EU) legislation on the trade in chemicals close to completion.
A plenary vote by members of the European Parliament leaves the
REACH proposal requiring just the backing of the Council of Ministers,
the final hurdle before implementation.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Global:
IFJ hails UN action to protect journalists
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has welcomed
a move by the United Nations Security Council to press governments
to give more protection to journalists in conflict zones and to
fully investigate cases where media staff are killed under fire.
A draft UN resolution sponsored by France and Greece and backed
by Britain, Slovakia and Denmark says attacks intentionally directed
against journalists covering armed conflicts are war crimes.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Britain:
Blair unveils massive attack on ‘red tape’
Tony Blair has outlined 500 measures the government says will
cut the £14bn cost of red tape to individuals, firms and
charities. A number of safety measures are included in the plans,
which aim to cut red tape by 25 per cent across all government
departments.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Europe:
Cancer problems hidden at work
Occupational cancers are being missed because of flaws in the
reporting system, according to a new report. It says a major factor
in the near invisibility of occupational cancer is that the related
tumours in the great majority of cases only occur after the worker
has retired - however, a pilot scheme by France’s health
protection agency which started in 2005 is using post-occupational
monitoring for employees and self-employed skilled workers.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006 •
Hazards work
and cancer webpages
Britain:
All sides say stop sniping at safety
Safety, enforcement, union and employers’ organisations
have ganged together to call for an end to the “unremitting
criticism” of health and safety and the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE).
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Global:
Finger points at Browne on BP safety
BP chief executive Lord Browne was aware of safety concerns at
the company’s Texas City refinery for at least two years
before a deadly explosion at the plant. An internal email suggested
Lord Browne, the London-based global head of the company, knew
of problems at Texas City as early as 2003 and that he was personally
monitoring the site's monthly safety statistics.
Hazards BP webpages
• Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Britain:
Insurance firms aim to add insult to injury
New research has shown that four out of five personal injury victims
don't trust insurers to compensate them fairly without legal representation
and over three quarters are not confident of bringing a claim
themselves. The Law Society says it research shows an insurance
industry proposal to increase the current limit of £1,000
for personal injury cases on the small claims track, where people
are expected to represent themselves, will effectively leave thousands
of victims unable to pursue justified claims, making insurance
companies the big winners.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Britain:
Fat chance this will work?
The government's health advisers are urging companies to do more
to get their staff on their feet in order to combat a nationwide
epidemic of unfitness. A raft of recommendations from the National
Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) range from
providing bike sheds for those who want to cycle to work to encouraging
staff to take the stairs instead of the lift.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Britain:
New guide to the new asbestos regulations
The TUC and HSE have produced a brief guide for safety representatives
on asbestos and the new Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.
The online resource, which does not cover the legal functions
of safety representatives, gives basic answers to the following
questions: What is asbestos; why is it dangerous; where do you
find asbestos; who is likely to be exposed to asbestos fibres;
what’s new in the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006;
what is a licence; what do the Regulations say and what should
I do; what should I do if I suspect asbestos materials are present;
and how do I find out more? You can start by reading this guide.
TUC
alert and full guide [pdf]
• Hazards
asbestos webpages
Australia:
Call to tailor safety laws for young workers
A children's watchdog in Australia has called for a change in
workplace health and safety laws after a study found four in every
10 employees aged 16 or under had been injured at work. “Specific
consideration” should be given in law to the health and
safety of workers under 18, the New South Wales (NSW) Commissioner
for Children and Young People, Gillian Calvert, reported in recommendations
on children at work tabled in the state parliament on 13 December.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006 •
Hazards young workers’ webpages
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EARLIER NEWS
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Hazards news, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Scrooge rail bosses in brush with cleaners
Rail and Tube cleaners fed up with dirty and dangerous work for
poverty pay have taken their campaign to rail company HQs. Rail
bosses on 4 December were treated to special performances of the
Cleaners' Christmas Carol at the offices of Network Rail, the
Association of Train Operating Companies and Metronet.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
USA:
BP neglects victims, kills some more, spies on critics
The already tarnished image of London-based oil giant BP is taking
further flak, after the deaths of more workers at its US installations,
accusations that it has reneged on promises to the injury victims
of last year’s Texas City blast, and allegations it spied
on a bereaved daughter and her lawyer.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006 •
Confined
Space on recent BP deaths and the
Texas City aftermath • More
on BP’s health and safety record
Britain:
Radiation advice agreed for airline staff
Cleaners and security staff who came into contact with planes
linked to the London radiation poisoning death of ex-spy Alexander
Litvinenko are to be given help and advice. The deal struck by
the union GMB with aircraft cleaning contractor OCS means employees
who have cleaned the three planes taken out of service for radiation
checks will be contacted and given support.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Europe:
Unions deplore “inadequate” chemical compromise
A deal on Europe’s long debated REACH chemical safety legislation
is a “decisive step” but does not do enough to protect
workers’ health, unions have warned. The European Trade
Union Confederation (ETUC) said the compromise position on REACH,
agreed by the European Parliament and the Finnish Presidency of
the Council last week, “enables Europe to adopt a more socially
responsible approach to managing chemical risks” but added
“ETUC deplores the inadequacy of the text with regard to
protecting the health of workers.”
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Call to cut working hours at sea
Urgent action is needed to tackle excessive working hours at sea,
maritime trade union Nautilus UK has said. The union was commenting
after a survey of 1,800 seafarers found that almost half of respondents
had a working week in excess of 85 hours; half of those who took
part in the study also agreed their working hours were a danger
to their personal safety.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Asia:
Mobile phone factories poison workers
Workers manufacturing mobile phones in Asia are being poisoned,
according to new report. Research by SOMO – the Netherlands-based
Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations – reveals
safety and labour standards abuses in factories producing phones
for the five largest mobile telephone companies, Nokia, Motorola,
Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Bus drivers put industry on hours warning
Bus drivers have backed a call for a major cut in their driving
hours. At the union TGWU’s passenger transport conference
last month, the drivers supported a demand for the maximum driving
time to be cut by an hour to four and a half hours in one continuous
period.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Outrage at “terrible” school asbestos message
The union GMB has said the clearing of a former headmaster of
safety charges after a Derby school was contaminated with asbestos
dust sends out a “terrible message”. In a case brought
by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Phillip Robinson, 50,
denied a charge of failing to ensure the health and safety of
others.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
GMB fingers food firm on union rights
The union GMB has told a food multinational to “get real”
after it defended a safety record that includes several recent
serious injuries. The London plants of Katsouris Fresh Foods,
owned by the Icelandic Bakkavör Group, has 2,500 mainly Asian
and mostly migrant workers producing ready meals for supermarkets
including Tesco, Sainsbury and Waitrose.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006 •
Hazards migrant
workers’ webpages
Britain:
Blast deaths fireworks firm was fined before
Two firefighters have been killed and 12 people injured in a massive
explosion at a Sussex fireworks depot whose owners had a previous
conviction for safety offences. The firm was fined for storing
explosives without a licence in 1999.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Tell your MP to support directors’ duties!
Get your MP to sign up to Early Day Motion EDM 359 on directors’
duties. The motion sponsored by Labour MP Ian Stewart is designed
to send a message to the government on the strength of feeling
on the issue “and calls on the government to introduce appropriate
legislation to ensure that company directors who neglect health
and safety to the point of causing death or serious injury can
be prosecuted.”
EDM
359 on directors’ duties - check to see if your MP has
signed. If not, ask why not. Find
your MP - you just need to know your postcode, MP's name or
constituency name
Britain:
Union seeks answers after officer is stabbed
A Greater Manchester police community support officer (PCSO) who
was in intensive care after being stabbed in the neck is recovering
in hospital. Ben Priestly, UNISON national officer for PCSOs,
said the union is seeking the standardisation of “powers
and training to ensure that every PCSO, wherever they work, has
the tools, ability and confidence to do the job they are asked
to do.”
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Safety is ‘No.1 priority’ for London Olympics
Health and safety will be the “number one priority”
for London’s 2012 Olympics, the organisations responsible
have said. The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and CLM, the consortium
that won the tender to build the venues and infrastructure, made
the commitment to health and safety as CLM signed up to the ODA’s
health and safety standard.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Smoking ban dates announced
The smoking ban for all enclosed public places and workplaces
will begin in Wales from April and England from July, the health
secretary, Patricia Hewitt, has announced. “Thousands of
lives will be saved and the health of thousands more protected,”
she said.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006 •
Hazards smoking
news and resources
Britain:
Work safety system has saved over 5,000 lives
The UK’s workplace health and safety system has saved over
5,000 lives, according to a new official report. The Health and
Safety Commission’s (HSC) Measuring up… Performance
report 2006 estimates this is the number of lives saved since
the introduction of the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act, as
a result of measures to reduce the number of workplace accidents.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006 •
Measuring
Up… Performance Report 2006, HSC, December 2006
Britain:
HSC consults on safety structure reforms
The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has published a public
consultation document seeking views on merging health and safety
oversight body HSC and its enforcement arm the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) into a single health and safety authority. HSC
says a merger with HSE “will modernise our corporate governance
and provide a stronger voice for health and safety.”
A
stronger voice for health and safety - A Consultative Document
on merging the Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety
Executive, CD210. Comments on the consultation should be sent
to Ami
Badmus, HSE, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London. SE1 9HS.
Closing date for comments, 5 March 2007.
Britain:
Greedy boss fined over death of worker
A businessman has been called “greedy and ruthless, with
no moral scruples” by a judge after a fatal workplace incident.
Shaun Riley, aged 31, from Leigh, died in January 2003 after a
dumper truck overturned during drainage work at Heskin Hall Farm,
Heskin, Lancashire, where he had been assigned to operate a dumper
truck carrying two-and-a-half tonnes of soil.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Firm fined after two lose hands
A company has been fined £175,000 for selling a grass collector
which it had been warned posed a safety risk and which subsequently
chopped off the hands of two workers at separate firms. Agricultural
machinery firm Kubota UK was warned in 1999 that its bladed grass
collector had injured a man, but continued to supply the product
unaltered until it was forced to stop in May 2004.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Czech worker injured by unsafe saw
An Oldham firm has been fined £10,500 after a Czech employee
suffered serious hand injuries in a circular saw. Factory Reconstruction
Co (Manchester) Ltd was also ordered to pay £1,956 costs
at Trafford Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to three criminal
HSE charges.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Weak killing law won’t work
The draft corporate killing legislation debated in parliament
on 4 December would have made no practical difference to the four
major railway disasters since 1997 had it already been in place,
a study for rail union RMT has found. The “corporate manslaughter”
label is the only achievement the government can claim if the
Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill passes unamended,
concludes the report, prepared for RMT by Thompsons Solicitors.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Families vow to continue killing campaign
Relatives bereaved by workplace tragedies have vowed to continue
their campaign for companies and their directors to be made more
responsible for safety crimes. The call came after the 4 December
Commons debate on the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide
Bill.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006 •
Fack
website
|
LATEST NEWS
|
Hazards news, 2 December 2006
Britain:
Union exposes evidence of “doctored” DHL timesheets
Union officials have discovered drivers’ timesheets at distribution
firm DHL Exel in Redditch have been deliberately changed by managers
without the drivers' knowledge. TGWU said the changes were made
in red ink by local managers to show the drivers as being on a
"period of availability" instead of driving.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards stress
webpages
USA:
Non-union workers at greater risk on site
Union members in New York are less likely to be injured or killed
at work, US safety officials have said. Richard Mendelson, the
Manhattan director for OSHA, decried the lax safety enforcement
at construction sites, and acknowledged a connection between union
presence and worker safety.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
union effect webpages
USA:
DaimlerChrysler to make $20m asbestos payout
Global car giant DaimlerChrysler must pay $20 million (£10.3m)
to a retired police officer and brake repairer whose right lung
was removed because of cancer caused by asbestos. The automaker
was responsible for the amount owed by the now-defunct companies
because the jury found it acted with reckless disregard for the
safety of others, the lawyer for the victim said.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006
• Hazards
asbestos webpages
Britain:
Teachers ‘victims of sexist bullies in class’
Young teachers are increasingly seen as “fair game”
by some pupils for sexual harassment including touching and innuendo,
according to a report from teaching union NUT. The union’s
study found young female teachers in particular are frequently
confronted with sexist language and bullying in school.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards women
and hazards webpages
China:
Spate of mines tragedies sparks fury
China's top safety official has blasted “unscrupulous”
mine owners and local officials after a string of incidents killed
at least 88 miners in recent days. State media reported that an
angry Li Yizhong, director of the state administration of work
safety, launched the attack on the mine owners and officials in
a teleconference with safety officials around the country.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
CWU rams home workplace rights message
Communication workers’ union CWU has repeated its call for
new rights for union safety reps and for them to be given better
official support. CWU national health and safety officer Dave
Joyce said: “Trained safety reps are at the cutting edge
when it comes to addressing the new health and safety hazards
of the 21st century.”
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Safety
reps’ news and resources • Hazards
union notices webpages
Britain: Union calls for action on cash van robberies
Criminal gangs of robbers attacking security guards must be taken
off the streets, the union GMB has said. The union says it intends
to raise with Britain's chief police officers the “growing
problem” of “cash-in-transit” (CIT) attacks.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006
Sweden:
Work still hurts one in four Swedes
Almost a quarter of Swedish employees (24 per cent) had suffered
from a health problem caused by their work in the preceding year,
an official survey has found. More women reported work-related
health problems, with over a quarter (27 per cent) saying work
had affected their health, compared to 21 per cent of men, the
figures representing a 1 per cent drop on last year’s report.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
work and health webpages
Britain:
Government promises to cut red tape
The government has delighted the business lobby by promising to
slash red tape. Prime minister Tony Blair told the CBI conference
this week he plans to order every government department to cut
regulation by 25 per cent - the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
is the UK’s second largest official regulatory and inspections
body, after the Environment Agency.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
enforcement webpages
Britain:
HSE action “too late” says grieving family
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) improvement notice came “too
late”, a grieving family has said. The action to improve
electrical safety on Camden council sites came two months after
the electrocution of scaffolder Ralph Kennedy on a construction
job.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
Family’s grief after preventable site death
A family mourning the loss of a construction worker in a tragedy
the workplace safety watchdog said “could easily have been
prevented” have told of their grief. The family’s
comments came after Christopher Lucas pleaded guilty to safety
offences and was fined £15,000 at City of London Magistrates
Court.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006
Britain:
Firm fined £100,000 after worker, 21, is killed
A Chorley company has been fined £100,000 after pleading
guilty to three criminal charges brought by the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) after the “entirely preventable” death
of an employee. Pin Croft Dyeing and Printing Co Limited was also
ordered to pay the £18,895 costs of the case which followed
the death of 21-year-old Daryl Wayne Lloyd in a tow tractor incident.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
young workers webpages
New
Zealand: Reports warn of under-reporting problem
The New Zealand authorities are urging family doctors to improve
their reporting of work-related diseases or injuries, and to encourage
their patients to do likewise. Two reports released by the Department
of Labour (DoL) detail the diseases linked to workplace exposures
that have been registered with the department, and notes doctors
are failing to attribute work-related ill-health to the jobs done
by their patients.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
work and health webpages
Britain:
Iceland fined after preventable accident
A Plymouth store employee was left trapped and injured when a
cage fell on her in a stock room in a “preventable”
accident, a court has heard. Food giant Iceland was fined £12,000
plus costs following the incident on 23 October 2005.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006
Britain:
New warning on insurers
Injured people should not be pursued and pressured by third party
insurers who offer them upfront cash to “deal direct,”
the president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL)
has warned. Unions have also raised concerns about their members,
who are entitled to union legal cover for workplace and frequently
out of work accidents, getting poor treatment at the hand of no-win/no
fee outfits.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
compensation webpages
Britain: Government promotes school trips action
Teaching union NASUWT has welcomed new government policy which
it says while help protect teachers and pupils alike. HSE has
launched new “getting it right” webpages providing
guidance for education staff.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006
Britain:
Security guards to protect train staff
Private security guards are to ride trains in the north of England
to crack down on the abuse of rail staff. The action follows more
than 300 incidents of abuse and assault on Northern Rail staff
so far this year. Rail union RMT says some of its members have
been kicked in the head, punched in the face and so badly assaulted
that they have taken weeks off work, prompting a union campaign
for a zero tolerance approach to violence on Northern Rail.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006
Global:
Intensive mouse use is harmful to health
Intensive computer use appears to be associated with hand, arm,
neck and shoulder symptoms, with mouse work worse for health then
general computer use. A review of the occupational health literature
by Dutch researchers concluded there was moderate evidence linking
mouse use and hand-arm symptoms, with the likelihood of symptoms
increasing with use in a “dose-response” relationship.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
computer workstations checklists webpage
Britain:
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease webpage
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published new webpages
on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). These “obstructive”
conditions are commonly caused by workplace exposures, a problem
Hazards magazine last year warned was massively under-estimated
by UK authorities, with possibly hundreds of thousands of cases
missed in workers in dusty trades.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
HSE
COPD webpages • A
job to die for?, Hazards 92, November 2005
Canada:
Government lied on asbestos motives
Canada uses its international prestige to promote asbestos worldwide
in an informal marketing deal which means low-cost foreign producers
in exchange don’t drive Canada’s asbestos producers
out of business, according to an official federal government document.
The document was produced by a group that included assistant deputy
minister Gary Nash, the former head of the Montreal-based Chrysotile
Institute, the government-backed industry association spearheading
promotion of asbestos trade worldwide.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
asbestos news and resources
|
LATEST NEWS
|
Hazards
news, 25 November 2006
Britain:
One in three workers fear being unfit for work by 60
Over one third of UK workers believe they could be unable to do
their job at 60, according to new statistics. A report in Hazards
magazine shows that in just six years the UK has slipped from
being number one in the European league table for the proportion
of workers who are confident they will be up to their current
job when aged 60, to sixth.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006 •
Hazards age and
work and older
workers webpages
Britain:
CWU wins £8m mail terror risk action
Royal Mail has bowed to demands from the communication workers’
union CWU and agreed to introduce an £8 million package
of anti-terrorist equipment. The new kit, to be deployed in 70
major mail-processing plants, will be used to “detect any
contaminated packages and letters which may be carrying threats
to postal workers and the public,” says CWU.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
USA:
Multinationals blame workers for chemical cancers
Nine former employees of a US tyre plant who developed occupational
cancers as a result of toxic exposures have been told by chemical
giants it was their own fault. The group, who all worked at Uniroyal
Goodrich Tire Co. in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, were exposed
to benzene but have been told they caused their own cancer because
they “voluntarily used the chemicals knowing the dangers
and risks, and they failed to take precautions which could have
avoided injuries.”
Risks 284, 25 November 2006 •
Hazards workplace
cancers webpages
Britain:
Union calls for action on asbestos by post
Royal Mail union CWU has called for an end to the potentially
illegal use of the mail to send asbestos samples, a practice which
could place both the public and postal workers at risk. Royal
Mail has launched an investigation after it was revealed a South
Wales company was encouraging the public to take their own asbestos
samples and stick them in the post.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
Poland:
Rescuers confirm 23 deaths in mine blast
Mine rescue workers have confirmed 23 workers died in an underground
explosion on Tuesday 23 November, making it the worst mine accident
in Poland for many years. The accident happened at Halemba mine
in Ruda Slaska, about 300km (190 miles) south-west of Warsaw.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
Britain:
One in three journalists bullied at work
Almost one in three journalists complain of bullying in the workplace.
The NUJ 2006 Membership Survey found in the newspaper sector,
40 per cent had been bullied, in TV and radio 21 per cent and
a quarter in magazines and press and PR.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
Britain:
Increasing workloads stressing out lecturers
Disturbing levels of sleeplessness, anxiety and exhaustion are
affecting lecturers in colleges and universities, according to
a new union study. Provisional research findings released by college
and lecturers’ union UCU reveal high levels of stress as
workloads increase.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
Britain:
Warehouse worker, 45, killed by asbestos
A warehouse worker in hospital for surgery for a workplace lifting
injury was told he was suffering from a deadly asbestos cancer.
Peter Nicholas Wilkinson, 45, who died on 2 September, had been
admitted to hospital last July after tearing a hernia at work
but tests revealed he had contracted the asbestos cancer mesothelioma
Risks 284, 25 November 2006•
Hazards
asbestos webpages
Britain:
Uninsured boss fined £11,500 after teen injury
A company owner who did not have the legally required injury insurance
has been told to pay up £11,500 in fines, costs and compensation
after a teenage mechanic was injured. Andrew Richardson was found
guilty of not having Employers Liability Compulsory Insurance
after 17-year-old mechanic Yana Jones, who he paid £3 an
hour, suffered injuries to her left leg resulting in a hospital
stay and permanent scarring.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006 •
Hazards
young workers webpages
Global:
More inspections equals few injuries, lower costs
Beefed up health and safety inspection systems reduce costs and
injuries, the International Labour Organisation has said. The
ILO report proposes a series of measures designed to “reinvigorate”,
modernise and strengthen labour inspectorates worldwide, including
tripartite labour inspection audits to help governments identify
and remedy weaknesses in labour inspection, the development of
ethical and professional codes of conduct, labour inspection fact
sheets, global inspection principles, and hands-on tools for risk
assessment, occupational safety and health management systems
and targeted training for inspectors.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
Britain:
Call centre staff face 'hearing risk'
Two-thirds of UK call centres fail to protect their workers against
hearing damage from noise, a report has warned, with many of the
UK’s 900,000 call centre staff at risk. Experts say increasing
numbers of injuries and illnesses are being caused by acoustic
shock and other noise related hazards.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
Global:
Five-step check for nano safety
A team of experts has drawn up five “grand challenges”
to evaluate the safety of nanotechnology. Writing in the journal
Nature, the team says that fears about nanotechnology's possible
dangers may be exaggerated, but not necessarily unfounded.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006 •
Hazards nanotechnology
webpages
Global:
Fatal errors put BP’s reputation ‘in the toilet’
BP’s carefully nurtured ethical reputation has been seriously
damaged by a series of safety and environmental catastrophes.
Athan Manuel, director of lands protection at the Sierra Club,
a North American environmental network, said: “Their reputation
is pretty much in the toilet.”
Risks 284, 25 November 2006 •
Hazards’
BP webpages
Britain:
Firefighter sees off compensation threat
An injured Surrey firefighter has defeated a Court of Appeal challenge
which could have overturned his compensation payout. Surrey Fire
and Rescue Service (SFRS), which had argued John Pennington “should
not have attempted to save a driver’s life”, lost
its appeal which would have stripped the firefighter of £3,115.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
Global:
Union safety reps want Hazards
The latest issue of the award-winning Hazards magazine –
the only magazine written especially for trade union health and
safety reps –asks whether workplace health and safety has
had its chips, as healthy lifestyle and “work is good for
you” initiatives come to the fore, and looks at issues from
work and the older worker, to deadly shipbreaking hazards in Asia.
Hazards magazine,
No.96, 2006 • Subscription
information, including online or print-off-and-post order forms
Britain:
Danger, cancer at work
Hazards magazine is campaigning for greater recognition of the
occupational cancer risk. It needs evidence from UK workplaces
to add additional weight to its arguments and wants to hear about
any cancer risks where you work, compensation payouts made to
people developing occupational cancers, union guidance on the
issue or union initiatives to remove or reduce workplace cancer
risks.
Hazards cancer
webpages
Australia:
Hardie campaigners sign final compo deal
After six years of campaigning and two and a half years of intensive
negotiations with the James Hardie company, unions and asbestos
victims groups have secured a final deal from the company to compensate
Australian victims of its asbestos products. Greg Combet, secretary
of the national union federation ACTU, said the deal “is
a final, open ended, un-capped and importantly tax-office approved
funding agreement from James Hardie which will see the company
pay in excess of $4.5 billion [£1.83bn] into a fund to compensate
current and future Australian victims of its asbestos products.”
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
Costa
Rica: Pineapples take a bitter toll on workers
The workers harvesting the pineapples found on UK supermarket
shelves are working in desperate conditions, an investigation
has found. The fact-finding mission made up of Costa Rican trade
unionists, representatives from the non-governmental organisation
Banana Link and the UK’s GMB trade union carried out their
own independent tour of one particular plantation this month visited
the Pinafruit SA plantation in Limon province on Costa Rica's
Atlantic coast.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006 •
Banana Link website
and
Union to Union initiative.
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards
news , 18 November 2006
Britain:
Verbal abuse mars working lives of teachers
Chris Keates, the general secretary of teaching union NASUWT has
warned: “Constant challenges to authority, refusal to obey
school rules, offensive remarks and swearing are marring teachers'
working lives.”
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
USA:
What a difference a vote makes - hopefully
An end to Republican attacks on workplace safety standards could
be a major outcome of the US elections, in which Democrats gained
control of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Reports
say Democratic senator Edward Kennedy, who will chair the Senate
labour committee, will reintroduce legislation to reform OSHA,
the official safety watchdog, and increase penalties and provide
coverage to many workers who are not currently covered by OSHA,
including public employees.
Confined
Space
Britain:
Scots campaign against betting shop abuse
Betting shop union Community is backing a Scottish Executive campaign
to encourage workers to report all incidents of abuse. Heather
Meldrum, Community organiser for Scotland, said: “We're
launching this campaign to raise awareness of the issue of violence
against betting shop workers and encourage them to report it,
however small and insignificant they think it is, because only
then can we get a picture of the scale of the abuse.”
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Egypt:
Thousands walk out after dock death
About 3,000 workers at Egypt's largest shipyard downed tools last
week in protest against the death of a colleague who was killed
in a crane accident. The 8 November strike brought Port Said shipyard
to a standstill.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Britain:
End of the line for rail violence
Rail workers are demanding more be done to tackle violence on
trains and at stations across the north of England. Staff at Northern
Rail, which operates services across the region, are calling for
a zero tolerance approach, according to the RMT union.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Britain:
Support for Scotland’s seasonal shop shutdown
Retail union Usdaw has welcomed a report by MSPs backing a new
bill that aims to stop large stores from opening their doors on
Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Thousands of Usdaw members
have lobbied their MSPs to back the bill put forward by Labour
backbencher Karen Whitefield.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Britain:
Poisonous package leads to payout
A TGWU member who was taken ill after being exposed to toxic fumes
at work is to receive £1,200 compensation. Tony Green from
Solihull was employed as a stock controller by Yuasa of Birmingham,
one of the world’s largest manufacturers and suppliers of
valve regulated lead-acid batteries.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Britain:
Union cuts traffic accident deal for teenage butcher
A teenage TGWU member from Devon has secured £4,000 in compensation
after being hit by a car as he used a zebra crossing. Butcher
James Broom, 19, was injured in August 2004 when a driver failed
to give way at the crossing.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Global:
Asbestos touts get official backing
The governments that blocked an October bid to get right-to-know
warnings on asbestos exports are ratcheting up their global promotional
activities for the deadly fibre. Canada, which led the campaign
to derail a widely supported push for more stringent export controls
under the Rotterdam Treaty, has now approved a continuation of
the Can$250,000 (£116,000) annual funding for the asbestos
industry front organisation, the Chrysotile Institute.
IBAS
report • Risks 283, 18 November
2006
Britain:
Work injury forces octagenarian’s retirement
A Sheffield octogenarian has had to give up work after sustaining
a serious workplace injury. John Moffatt, 80, received a £5,000
out-of-court settlement from his former employer after suffering
the shoulder injury at work in January 2005.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Global:
Using maps to find problems
Workplace mapping techniques have become a highly popular and
effective union tool to identify health and safety problems in
the workplace and the measures necessary to resolve them. Dorothy
Wigmore, a Canadian safety specialist who has been a key advocate
of the technique, working with unions in North and Central America
and Europe, has now written a clear and concise guide to what
it is all about.
Labor
Notes • More on mapping
techniques and other workplace
tools – try out the Hazards
detective
Britain:
Government not doing enough for older workers
The government should set itself more challenging employment targets
if it is to successfully cope with demographic trends and an ageing
workforce, older workers’ campaign TAEN has said. TAEN says
the government’s ‘Health, Work and Wellbeing’
agenda must be seen to address the 50+ workforce “because
the extension of working life requires action on well adapted
workplaces, occupational health and the reduction of ill-health
as a reason for early retirement.”
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Global:
Concern over chemicals brain risk
Industrial chemicals may be causing a pandemic of brain disorders
because of inadequate regulation, researchers have warned. An
online report in the Lancet identifies 202 chemicals, including
metals, solvents and pesticides, which have potential to damage
the brain.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Global:
HSE’s cancer favourite had “secret ties to industry”
Researchers have revealed that the co-author of the most frequently
cited but much criticised estimate of occupational cancer prevalence
had “secret ties to industry”. An analysis of the
academic literature on occupational cancer found: “The most
striking case is that of Sir Richard Doll, co-author (with Richard
Peto) of one of the most influential papers in cancer epidemiology,
one that concluded
Risks 283, 18 November 2006 •
Hazards cancer
and work
and health webpages
Global:
Raised cancer risk in firefighters
Firefighters are at a far higher risk of developing certain cancers
than people in many other professions, according to new research.
A University of Cincinnati team said exposure to substances such
as benzene, chloroform and soot posed a threat.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006 •
Hazards cancer
and work
and health webpages • US
firefighters' union IAFF webpages on presumption laws in the
US and Canada
Britain:
Firefighters welcome new legal protection
Firefighters have welcomed a new law to help protect emergency
services workers from abuse and attack and which will make it
an offence to “obstruct or hinder” emergency service
staff. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said the Emergency Workers
(Obstruction) Bill will extend the protection to emergency workers,
introducing measures in England and Wales similar to those which
recently took effect in Scotland.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Britain:
BT cleared over engineer’s death
BT has been cleared of safety charges brought after the 2001 death
of telephone engineer Tara Whelan. The company was criticised
at the 2003 inquest into the death by a coroner, the police and
Ms Whelan’s union, CWU, which expressed surprise at the
verdict.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Britain:
Firms fined after railway death
Network Rail has been fined £130,000 and a sub-contractor
£33,000 for the death of a worker who was hit by a train
near Edinburgh in April 2005. Scotweld Employment Services and
Network Rail both admitted at Edinburgh Sheriff Court breaches
of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Britain:
Widows appeal for asbestos help
Widows who lost their husbands to asbestos-related disease are
appealing for help from their former workmates.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Global:
Gender equality, work and health
‘Gender equality, work and health’, a new review published
by the World Health Organisation (WHO), documents the relationship
between gender inequality and health and safety problems. It reviews
gender issues in research, policies and programmes on work and
health, and highlights some specific issues for women, including
the types of jobs they do, as well as their need to reconcile
the demands of work and family.
Gender
equality, work and health: A review of the evidence, WHO,
2006 • Full report [pdf]
|
EARLIER
NEWS |
Hazards
news, 11 November 2006
Europe:
Union dismay as working time opt-out stays
Ministers from European Union (EU) countries have been unable
to agree an end to the UK opt-out from Europe’s 48-hour
working week ceiling. Commenting on the failure of the Social
Affairs Council to resolve the issue, TUC general secretary Brendan
Barber said: “This was a missed opportunity to ensure that
UK workers are properly protected against the dangers of overwork.”
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards
get-a-life webpages
Britain:
Work vehicles in 150 smashes a day
New evidence revealing the massive number of work vehicle crashes
each day highlights the need for urgent Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) action, the union GMB has said. Department for Transport
(DfT) annual road casualty statistics showed work vehicles were
involved in over 54,000 crashes in 2005, or 150 per day.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006
Japan:
Suzuki liable for overwork death
The family of a Suzuki Motor Corporation employee who killed himself
in April 2002 due to work pressures and depression are to receive
compensation for karoshi, death from overwork. A lawsuit brought
by the family was settled on 30 October 2006 when it was determined
Suzuki had not implemented appropriate policies to reduce employee
workloads and so was liable.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006
• Hazards
worked to death webpages
Britain:
Semiconductor cancer deaths inquiry call
The UK semiconductor industry and the official safety watchdog
must take urgent action to address cancer risks in the semiconductor
industry, a union has said. Manufacturing union Amicus has called
for an inquiry into cancer risks in the computer and semiconductor
manufacturing industry following damning new research from the
United States.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards
work cancer webpages
Global:
Major push to stop paraquat poison
Unions and health campaigners are calling for a ban on all uses
of the pesticide paraquat in agriculture and an end its “devastating
health impacts”. Sue Longley of the global farmworkers’
union federation IUF said: “Paraquat not only kills weeds,
it kills workers, which is why our members, agricultural workers'
unions around the world, are committed to its elimination.”
Risks 282, 11 November 2006
Britain:
Ladder fall victim lands £90,000 payout
A GMB member who suffered a serious wrist injury in a workplace
fall has received £90,000 compensation. Ian Mitchell suffered
“terrible injuries” in a fall from a ladder caused
by dangerously uneven flooring.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards
compensation webpages
Britain:
Welder receives £100,000 in injured hand case
A welder who suffered an horrific hand injury leading to the amputation
of a finger has received a £100,000 payout. Amicus member
Donald Ford received the out-of-court settlement from Langley
Holdings plc after suffering a serious injury to his left hand
in December 2003.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards
compensation webpages
Europe:
Work still risky, now more frantic
Over a quarter of Europe’s workers believe their job places
their health and safety at risk and over a third believe it is
affecting their health, according to the first findings of the
fourth European Working Conditions Survey. Interviews carried
out with 30,000 workers in 31 countries late in 2005 found that
27 per cent felt they were at risk at work.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006
Britain:
Employers urged to tackle office bullies
Bullying is steadily increasing in UK workplaces, according to
new TUC figures released on 7 November to coincide with National
Ban Bullying at Work Day. Fifteen per cent of the union safety
reps questioned in the latest TUC biennial survey of union safety
reps said bullying was a major problem in their workplace, up
from 12 per cent in 2004 and 10 per cent in 2002.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006
Britain:
Amicus slams falling enforcement
A major drop in official enforcement action could lead to an increase
in work-related injuries and illnesses, the union Amicus has warned.
Calling for more inspections, better enforcement and stronger
laws, the union said the statistics from the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) released last week show that enforcement notices
and prosecutions have now fallen for the last three years.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards commission impossible webpages
Britain:
Older women’s workplace health “neglected”
Too little is known about the work and health of older women,
according to a new report. ‘Older women, work and health’,
a research paper jointly commissioned by Help the Aged and TAEN
– The Age and Employment Network - shows that few studies
have explored the links between the work and health of older women
despite their increased participation in the labour market.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards women
and work hazards webpages
Britain:
Granddaughter gets asbestos cancer
A 45-year-old woman dying as a result of exposure to asbestos
from her grandfather’s work clothing has been awarded a
£145,000 payout. Michelle Campbell said she loved sitting
on granddad Charles Frost’s knee and enjoying a chat when
he popped in to visit on his way home from his job at Portsmouth
dockyards.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards asbestos
and cancer
webpages
Britain:
Assaults against NHS staff fall
The number of NHS staff being physically assaulted has fallen,
official figures have shown, although NHS hospitals have bucked
the trend. NHS Security Management Service data showed there were
58,695 physical assaults against NHS staff in England in 2005/06,
down 1,690 from 2004/05.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006
Britain:
Hospital troublemakers face spot fines
Individuals who abuse staff at a Greater Manchester hospital face
on-the-spot £80 fines in a bid to crackdown on yobs on its
casualty ward. The Royal Bolton Hospital has launched the initiative
as part of a three-month pilot to curb misbehaviour.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006
Britain:
Paralysed refuse worker, 21, gets £3.75m payout
A 21-year-old refuse collection worker has been awarded £3.75m
compensation after an accident which left him paralysed. Birmingham
High Court heard Richard Taylor was in a refuse lorry which overturned
last year.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards
compensation webpages
Britain:
Site firm fined after teen injured in fall
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned construction
firms of the dangers of working even at relatively low heights
after a teenage worker suffered multiple fractures when he fell
from the open edge of a first floor working platform. Lotus Construction
Limited of Otley, West Yorkshire, was fined £5,000 and ordered
to pay full costs of £1,143 and compensation totalling £500,
for failing to provide an edge protection barrier would could
have prevented 17-year-old sub-contractor Richard Green from falling.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards
young workers webpages
Britain:
New safety qualification for young people
A new qualification has been designed to improve young people’s
understanding of safe working when taking part in work experience.
Last week the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), in partnership
with the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH),
British Safety Council Awards (BSC Awards) and ENTO, unveiled
the new workplace hazard awareness course and qualification.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards
young workers webpages
Britain:
HSE and young people at work
The Health and Safety Executive has produced new “young
people at work” webpages. HSE says that inexperience and
others factors mean workplace novices – and that frequently
means young workers - are at a far higher risk of workplace injury.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards
young workers webpages
* Britain:
6th Scottish Hazards Conference, Glasgow
The 6th Scottish Hazards Conference will take place at STUC’s
Glasgow offices on 16 November. Speakers include occupational
medic Dr Thora Brendstrup, who works with trade unions in Denmark
and top asbestos campaigner Tommy Gorman will speak on occupational
cancer risks and the lessons of Scotland’s asbestos disease
epidemic.
6th
Scottish Hazards Conference.
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards news, 4 November 2006
Britain:
Preparing for Hazards Campaign Wales
The first workplace hazards campaign group in Wales is swinging
in to action. Hazards Campaign Wales wants interested individuals,
union branches, regional and national unions and others to get
in touch now.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
Hazards
Campaign Wales
Britain:
Stress still the biggest problem at work
Stress is still the biggest problem facing UK workplaces, with
excessive workloads, job cuts and rapid change the most common
triggers for rising stress levels amongst employees, a TUC survey
has found. Six out of 10 union safety reps (61 per cent) questioned
by the TUC for its 2006 biennial safety reps’ survey reported
stress to be their most pressing concern at work, up from the
two previous surveys.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
Hazards
worked to death and get-a-life
stress webpages
Global:
Multinationals accused of China hypocrisy
US and European multinationals have been accused of double standards
for adopting codes of conduct requiring their suppliers behave
ethically on the one hand, while on the other lobbying against
China’s proposed new labour laws which, if implemented,
would greatly clean up the country’s supply chain.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006
Britain:
Union action on soaring lecturer stress
Lecturers’ union UCU is taking action to tackle workplace
stress and nerve-fraying workloads, problems it says have made
nearly half of lecturers ill. The new UCU-backed College and University
Support Network (CUSN) will be the first dedicated national counselling
telephone support line for university and college lecturers and
their families.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006
Canada:
Union body says no to drug and booze tests
Unions should oppose mandatory drug and alcohol testing, a top
Canadian union body has said. The call came in a new policy statement
from the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), the province’s
largest union body, which says testing does not improve safety
performance but does impinge on workers’ rights.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
AFL
news release • Workplace drug and alcohol policy statement,
AFL, October 2006 [pdf]
•
Hazards workplace testing webpages
Britain:
Vibration plus repetition equals compensation minus job
A worker who suffered career-ending ill-health caused by exposure
to vibration and repetitive work has received a £20,000
compensation payout. Amicus member Michael Jones, 63, developed
vibration white finger (VWF) then carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)
while working at a GE Engine Aircraft Services plant near Caerphilly,
and received compensation for both.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
Hazards
compensation webpages
Australia:
Mine survivor insists bosses must take rap
Brant Webb, trapped with a colleague for 14 days in the Beaconfield
gold mine disaster earlier this year that killed his friend Larry
Knight, has called for directors to be jailed if their companies
are found responsible for workplace deaths. He told a workplace
safety forum: “If they made not the top management but the
directors accountable for a life - so if you take a life, you
go and sit inside a pen or jail for 15 years - things would change.”
Risks 281, 4 November 2006
Britain:
Supermarkets face action over fruit pickers
A rolling programme of trade union pickets at Sainsbury's and
Tesco stores began this week as the supermarkets were urged to
act to ensure fair treatment of workers employed by strawberry
supplier S&A Produce. Farmworkers’ union TGWU raised
concerns about S&A's Herefordshire farms in July, after being
contacted by staff concerned about health, safety and welfare
issues, accommodation standards and problems with bullying and
disciplinary procedures.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
Hazards migrants
webpages
Britain:
Tube gas risk ‘gambled with lives’
Engineering company Balfour Beatty took a “massive and unacceptable
gamble with people's lives” by taking two 54kg containers
of highly flammable acetylene gas into the Victoria Line, London
Underground union RMT has said.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006
Britain:
TGWU calls for road regulation not racism
Problems related to long driver hours and poor vehicle standards
need to be addressed without the scaremongering of xenophobia,
according to transport union TGWU. Ron Webb, the union’s
transport national secretary, said recent media reports focusing
on eastern European drivers masked a more widespread problem.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006
Britain:
Road crash payout won by union
UNISON member Neil Bartlett has secured nearly £2,000 in
compensation following a road traffic accident outside of work
hours. The highways maintenance officer from Swansea secured the
compensation after receiving free union legal support.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006
Britain:
Accidents, ill-health and enforcement all fall
New Health and Safety Commission (HSC) figures show reported major
injuries to employees in 2005/06 were down seven per cent on the
previous year to 28,605, compared to 30,451 in 2004/05. The same
statistics report reveals, however, that last year safety prosecutions
taken by HSE again fell markedly, down by 23 per cent drop on
the then record low previous year.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
Hazards
commission impossible webpages
Britain:
Good news on safety, not on safety crimes
The TUC has welcomed new statistics showing a decline in the number
of people injured or made ill by their jobs. But it has expressed
alarm over a further fall in the number of employers being prosecuted
for breaches of safety law, with a new TUC survey of union safety
reps showing enforcement is the most effective way of ensuring
employers comply with health and safety laws.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
Hazards
commission impossible webpages
Britain:
Network Rail admits crash errors
Network Rail is facing an unlimited fine after admitting health
and safety breaches relating to the 1999 Ladbroke Grove rail crash
with killed 31 and injured over 400. The company, which inherited
liability from the now defunct Railtrack, pleaded guilty this
week to charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
Hazard
deadly business webpages
Finland:
Work strain causes burnout causes depression
Workers with high levels of job strain are at a massively increased
risk of burnout, a study of Finnish workers has found. Researchers
also found that job burnout was the most significant risk factor
for depression among the study participants.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
Hazards
get-a-life webpages
Britain:
Unions criticise “weasel words” sentencing cop out
Unions have said fines alone will not deter dangerous bosses.
Speaking after Network Rail pleaded guilty to health and safety
charges, rail unions RMT, TSSA and ASLEF and Scottish union federation
STUC all called for jail terms for negligent bosses.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
Hazard deadly business webpages
Global:
BP ‘knew of Texas City worries’
An investigation into an explosion at BP's Texas City oil refinery
has pointed the blame at the company's London-based global management
for failing to heed warnings of catastrophic safety problems,
aggravated by a “cheque-book mentality”. Chemical
Safety Board chair, Carolyn Merritt, blamed the explosion on “ageing
infrastructure, overzealous cost-cutting, inadequate design and
risk blindness.”
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
More on BP’s recent safety record.
Britain:
Renewed government call on health and work
Safety minister Lord Hunt has told public health professionals
to ensure they recognise the health benefits of work, as part
of the government’s “work is good for you” push.
The call came in the week HSE confirmed that 2 million UK workers
report suffering a health problem caused or made worse by their
work, over half a million had developed the problem in the last
year, and 30 million days of sick leave were the result of work-related
ill-health and injuries.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
Hazards
work and health webpages.
Britain:
Government praised for asbestos payouts decision
The government will not clawback benefit payments made to victims
of asbestos giant Turner and Newall (T&N), part of US multinational
Federal Mogul. Compensation payouts were delayed for five years
while administrator Kroll negotiated a payout scheme. Amicus general
secretary Derek Simpson, commented: “People who are suffering
and the families of people who have died from this awful disease
deserve to have peace of mind that they will not lose a huge amount
of their compensation payments to the government.”
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
Hazards asbestos
news and resources
Britain:
Coroner warning on school asbestos risks
A Cumbrian coroner has called for asbestos to be removed from
all schools to protect pupils and staff. Speaking at the inquest
into the death of a teacher killed by school asbestos exposure,
David Osborne said it could require the demolition and re-building
of some schools – but the huge amount of cash required should
be found.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
Hazards
asbestos news and resources
Britain:
Companies fined over sewer death
Two companies have been fined for health and safety breaches after
a labourer died in a fall while on his way to work on an underground
sewer. Future Environmental Services from Preston, and Bethell
Construction, of Kearsley, pleaded guilty to two health and safety
breaches and were fined £150,000 each plus costs.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006
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EARLIER NEWS
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Hazards
news, 28 October 2006
Britain:
TUC explodes dangerous safety myths
The TUC has warned health and safety myths including schools banning
conkers, safety inspectors banning ladders and acrobats being
forced to wear helmets risk undermining genuine safety concerns.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006
Britain:
Lecturers seek answers on safety training cuts
Lecturers’ union UCU has said it is “astonished”
at the Learning and Skills Council’s reasoning for axing
health and safety training courses. The union has written to LSC
querying whether it consulted the Health and Safety Commission
(HSC) before announcing it was to cut the “vital”
courses.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006
USA:
Asbestos campaign goes into cyberspace
A top US asbestos disease campaign organisation has launched an
online awareness campaign designed to spread the word about the
dangers of asbestos. The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization
(ADAO) says the initiative is built around a “powerful”
educational video that can be easily forwarded via email.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006 •
ADAO
“Survivor” video • ADAO
website • Hazards
asbestos webpages
Britain:
Amicus takes on “terrible” silica problems
An Amicus campaign is seeking to minimise the risks of “terrible”
diseases caused by workplace exposure to silica. Crystalline silica
can cause silicosis and other respiratory disease and has been
linked to lung cancer, kidney and autoimmune system problems.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006
Britain:
Humber pilots should be given a break
Marine pilots employed on the River Humber are not being given
the breaks necessarily for safe working, their union has warned.
TGWU is urging Associated British Ports (ABP) to remedy inadequate
rest breaks and compensatory breaks for marine pilots working
on the Humber, recognised as among the UK’s most dangerous
waters.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006
USA:
BP faces more safety woes
BP expects to pay up to another $400m (£214m) to cover compensation
claims arising from the fire at its Texas City refinery last year
that killed 15 people and injured over 170. It now puts the total
bill, including repairs and lost profits, at around $2bn (£1.07bn).
Risks 280, 28 October 2006 •
More on BP’s
safety record
Britain:
Union warns on sea fatigue dangers
Fatigue is now the number one health and safety issue in shipping
- and regulators need to respond to the very real risks of a major
disaster, maritime professionals’ union Nautilus UK has
warned.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006
Britain:
Checkout this checkout workers
Checkout workers should checkout their checkouts or risk back
pain, retail union Usdaw has warned. It says its simple 10 point
‘Checkout Checklist’ will help stamp out back pain
for till operators who are shifting several metric tonnes of goods
during an average shift.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006 •
More
tools for checking out your workplace
Britain:
Payout for woman filmed by her boss
A woman whose boss bombarded her with love notes and who rigged
up a CCTV camera to watch her at work has been awarded £16,500
compensation. Amicus member Heather Harrop, 42, became sick with
stress and was forced to leave her job after she attracted the
unwanted attention of Michael Richardson, 66.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006
Britain:
Union safety organisation goes west
Union reps in the South West are clamouring to find out more about
how to organise for safer workplaces. A South West TUC conference
in Bristol this week was the second this year to be packed out
with union safety reps, after a February event was attended by
more than 150 reps.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006
Britain:
Unions raise safety concerns on nuclear sell off
Unions have warned that safety in Britain’s nuclear facilities
must not be a casualty of government plans to break up and sell
off British Nuclear Group (BNG) and establish a new National Nuclear
Laboratory.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006
Britain:
Campaigns aim to protect young workers
Young workers should be protected in the workplace was the message
of events nationwide this week.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006 •
Hazards
young workers news and resources
Britain:
Boss fined for teen injuries
The boss of a young worker who suffered horrific injuries when
he fell through a roof on a building site has been hit with a
£10,000 fine. Stephen Edkins, 19, shattered his wrist and
needed plates inserted into his jaw and cheek after the warehouse
roof collapsed in September.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006
Britain/USA:
Asbestos deal agreed - but who will pay?
A US company that has taken control of Equitas, the firm set up
by the Lloyd's insurance market to handle billions of pounds in
asbestos claims, has substantial interests in the asbestos industry
it has been revealed. Berkshire Hathaway is the owner of former
US asbestos conglomerate Johns-Manville, a firm which now pays
its own asbestos claimants receive a small fraction of the value
of their claims.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006
Britain:
Will nano products come off the rails?
If you thought nanotechnology was space age, think again. It could
be going down the Tube. Rail union ASLEF reports that Transport
for London (TfL) is considering the use of nano-based anti-flu
disinfectants on its trains, with reports they could be applied
on an industrial scale in both mainline and tube trains and stations.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006 •
Hazards
nanotechnology news and resources
USA:
Cancer risk 'higher' for computer factory workers
Staff at computer factories could be at increased risk of contracting
cancer because of working environments containing high levels
of chemicals, metals and electromagnetic fields, according to
findings of a long suppressed US study. IBM has fought for several
years to prevent release of the study done by Richard Clapp, a
Boston University professor of environmental health.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006 •
Hazards cancer
webpages
Britain:
Lidl unsafe as safe falls on worker
Supermarket chain Lidl has been fined £75,000 after a 1.5
tonne safe fell on top of an employee in a London store. Merton
Council prosecuted the company after a deputy manager of Lidl
was seriously injured in an accident in November 2004, suffering
a broken ankle, severe abdominal injuries, a split liver and damage
to his pancreas and bowel.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006
Britain:
Multinational pays £100k for work death
A multinational firm has received a £100,000 fine and has
been ordered to pay £32,607 costs following the death of
an employee on a West Midlands construction site. Cementation
Foundations (Skanska) Limited pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown
Court to a breach of health and safety legislation.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006
Britain:
Workplace bullying affects one in five
One in five employees has been a victim of bullying or harassment
at work in the last two years, according to a new report. The
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which
carried out the research, said black and Asian employees, women
and disabled people were most likely to face the problem.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006
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EARLIER NEWS
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Hazards
news , 21 October 2006
Global:
Terry Lloyd’s death “a war crime”
Journalists’ unions in the UK and worldwide have called
on the United States to “tell the whole truth” about
a series of media deaths in Iraq at the hands of US troops. The
call came after a British coroner ruled that the death of ITN
reporter Terry Lloyd in Iraq during a fire-fight between Iraqi
and US troops was an “unlawful killing.”
Risks 279, 21 October 2006
Britain:
Union secures payout for debilitating asbestos disease
The union GMB has secured a £30,000 payout for a former
Yorkshire Water employee with an asbestos-related disease. The
pipe layer developed bilateral diffuse pleural thickening –
an illness caused by exposure to asbestos.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006 •
Hazards
asbestos webpages
Sweden:
Gender analysis lacking in research
Occupational medicine fails to take account of risks to women,
according to a top occupational health research unit. Sonya Bylund,
a researcher at Sweden’s globally respected National Institute
for Working Life, said research in the field of occupational medicine
is largely carried out on men, with the findings assumed to apply
to women as well, adding legislation, risk assessment and measuring
standards are often based on men.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006 •
Hazards women’s
webpages
Britain:
Amicus prepares Lords appeal on pleural plaques
An appeal to the Law Lords to reinstate compensation for sufferers
of the asbestos related condition pleural plaques has been set
for summer 2007.The move by Amicus is seeking to overturn a Court
of Appeal ruling this year which stopped compensation payouts
to those with the condition.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006 •
Hazards
asbestos webpages
Global:
Shipbreakers positive after meeting with minister
Shipbreaking workers from India, who last week told the world
of the horrific and often deadly conditions under which they work,
have welcomed “positive” talks with a British government
minister.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006
Britain:
Boatmasters warn of hazards ahead
Boatmasters on the Thames have urged the government to rethink
plans to reduce drastically the training standards for those skippering
passenger and cargo vessels on the river. Their union RMT has
teamed up with safety campaigners to urge MPs to retain stringent
safety standards for the training of licensed watermen and lightermen.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006
Britain:
Abuse is not part of the job
Shopworkers’ union Usdaw has given a cautious welcome to
new retail crime figures which show a fall in the number of attacks,
threats and abuse against staff, but has warned this could just
reflect employees’ reluctance to report “commonplace”
incidents of abuse.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006
Britain:
UCATT memorial for dead workers
A bronze statue that celebrates the lives of workers killed on
building sites has been unveiled. About 200 people gathered in
Tower Hill in the City of London as the £100,000 ‘Building
Worker’ was uncovered. Construction union UCATT had the
sculpture made as part of a campaign for a new corporate killing
law.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006
Sweden:
Gender analysis lacking in research
Occupational medicine fails to take account of risks to women,
according to a top occupational health research unit. Sonya Bylund,
a researcher at Sweden’s globally respected National Institute
for Working Life, said research in the field of occupational medicine
is largely carried out on men, with the findings assumed to apply
to women as well, adding legislation, risk assessment and measuring
standards are often based on men.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006 •
Hazards women’s
webpages
Britain:
HSE promises action on migrant safety
Migrant workers are facing higher workplace accident levels because
they are concentrated in more hazardous jobs without adequate
training and are working longer hours and shifts, research for
the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has found. The findings
have prompted an HSE promise to step up inspections and enforcement
in sectors “where vulnerable workers are most likely to
work.”
Risks 279, 21 October 2006 •
Hazards
migrants webpages
Global:
UN zero violence call for working children
A new report by the United Nations says there must be zero tolerance
of violence against working children. ILO’s Frans Roselaers,
a member of the team that produced the report, said violence has
not been given much attention by programmes against child labour.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006 •
Hazards
young workers’ webpages
Britain:
Schools told weapons scans are OK
England's schools have been told they can install airport-style
security scanners in a bid to tackle knife culture. Education
secretary Alan Johnson gave schools the go-ahead to carry out
spot searches using metal detectors which can show up weapons
under clothing.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006
Russia:
EU urged to act on Russian media crisis
The European Union was urged this week to put the crisis of press
freedom in Russia and the need for urgent action over the killing
of leading journalist Anna Politkovskaya high on the agenda of
the 20 October summit meeting with Russian leaders in Lahti, Finland.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006
Britain:
New £5,000 fine for emergency crew attacks
Emergency crews in England and Wales will win more protection
against attack if a Welsh MP's bill becomes law. The Emergency
Workers Obstruction Bill could be on the statute book by the end
of the month and would allow fines of £5,000.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006
Britain:
Pen pushers face bad backs
People who work in offices are among the most likely to suffer
from back pain, according to the British Chiropractic Association.
It says poor posture while sat at a computer can cause more back
problems than the excessive lifting and carrying done by manual
workers.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006 •
Hazards
work and health webpages
Britain:
Sellafield firm fined over leak
The operator of the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant has
been fined £500,000 following a radioactive leak. The operator
of the Cumbrian site, British Nuclear Group Sellafield Ltd, pleaded
guilty at an earlier hearing.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006
• Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
School asbestos killed joiner
A former joiner who came into contact with asbestos while working
at a Peterborough school died from industrial disease, an inquest
has heard. David Baxter, 57, lost his battle against cancer caused
by asbestos on 3 March this year.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006 •
Hazards asbestos
webpages
Britain:
Renewed push for asbestos cancer treatment
Asbestos victims and their families lobbied parliament on 17 October,
calling for funding for an asbestos cancer treatment. The groups
are urging the NHS to make available Alimta for the treatment
of the asbestos cancer mesothelioma.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006 •
Hazards asbestos
webpages
Global:
Breast cancer linked to jobs
Women who have worked, or grown up, on a farm have a much higher
risk of getting breast cancer, a study suggests. Stirling University
researchers said women who then worked in healthcare further increased
their risk, although more research is needed to explain why.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006 •
Hazards
work and health webpages
Global:
Treaty is latest victim of asbestos disease
An international treaty designed to protect developing nations
from toxic trade has become the latest casualty of the global
asbestos industry. Failure to list chrysotile asbestos under a
global right-to-know scheme has left the Rotterdam Convention
“discredited” health campaigners have warned.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006 •
Hazards asbestos
webpages
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Global: Rotterdam Treaty a “casualty” of asbestos
disease
An international treaty designed to protect developing nations
from toxic trade has become the latest casualty of the global
asbestos industry. Failure to list chrysotile asbestos under a
global right-to-know scheme has left the Rotterdam Convention
"discredited" health campaigners have warned. They are
calling on the United Nations to take urgent action to restore
the treaty's credibility.
Hazards magazine/IBAS/BWI 13 October
2006
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards
news , 14 October 2006
Britain:
Improvements promised on work deaths law
A draft law to make companies more accountable for workplace deaths
passed its latest procedural hurdle this week, with the government
pledging to change the bill to make it easier to prosecute companies
following fatal accidents.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006 •
Hazards
deadly business webpages
Sweden:
Free bus travel after horrific attack on driver
Members of Sweden’s Kommunal union have taken a novel form
of industrial action in protest at violence against bus drivers
in Stockholm. Passengers who do not have a pre-purchased ticket
or travel card will be let onto buses free of charge as drivers
refuse to handle cash, in a move triggered by a “brutal”
assault on a bus driver during a robbery.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006
Britain:
Corporate killing law must target bosses
Trade unions and health and safety campaigners will be seeking
changes to the corporate killing bill to make dangerous bosses
accountable for deadly workplace crimes. Representatives of national
unions and campaign groups Families Against Corporate Killers
(Fack) and the Hazards Campaign lobbied MPs ahead of the 10 October
House of Commons vote on the Corporate Liability and Corporate
Homicide bill.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006 •
FACK website
Britain:
NUJ protest after police hurt photographer
The heavy-handed policing of a demonstration outside the Houses
of Parliament during which a professional photographer was injured
is a cause for “deep concern”, journalists’
union NUJ has said. The union is gathering evidence to mount a
possible claim against the police.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006
Global:
Road transport women put safety first
Women road transport workers are “very worried” about
health and safety issues, a new survey from global transport union
federation ITF shows. Initial results of an ongoing study found
43 per cent of respondents “expressed the highest level
of concern,” it says.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006
Britain:
Smoke out work policies now
Employers in England are being urged by the TUC not to wait until
next summer before banning smoking in their workplaces. From summer
2007, all workplaces in England - with a few minor exceptions
- must be smoke-free or employers will face prosecution.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006 •
Hazards
smoking webpages
Britain:
Worn out doctors a road ‘accident danger’
One in six junior doctors has suffered a road accident in the
past two years, many of whom were on the way home from hospital
after long shift, according to new research. A survey by the Royal
College of Physicians (RCP) found 16 per cent of specialist medical
registrars, doctors in training to become consultants, had been
involved in a crash while commuting.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006 •
Hazards
get-a-life webpages
Global:
Plea on deadly shipbreaking risks
Shipbreaking workers from India have exposed the deadly risks
commonplace in the industry and have called for urgent reforms
to save lives. A global unions’ backed delegation attending
a meeting of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in
London called on IMO members to regulate the industry.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006
Britain:
Man develops illness with photochemicals
The former employer of a photo booth engineer whose health was
wrecked by toxic chemicals has been fined £100,000. The
problem only came to light after Stuart White, 37, blew the whistle
on the workplace dangers.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006 • Hazards
work and health webpages
Britain:
Cancer patients face ‘misery at work’
Cancer patients are facing unfair dismissal and discrimination
at work, despite a new law meant to offer employment protection.
A disability rights watchdog says some have even been sacked after
being refused time off for treatment.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006 •
Hazards
work and health webpages
France:
Major Paris rally calls for asbestos action
Thousands of protesters last month gathered at a landmark Paris
tower once lined with asbestos to demand a nationwide lawsuit
against those who allowed workers to be exposed to the deadly
substance.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006 •
Hazards
asbestos webpages
Britain:
New explosion hits Welsh steel plant
An explosion ripped through part of Port Talbot's Corus steel
works last week and put four workers in hospital with burns. Ambulance
and fire crews raced to the number four blast furnace, which was
being worked on following a shutdown for a £16 million overhaul..
Risks 278, 14 October 2006 •
Hazards Corus
webpages
Britain:
BP chief in US court escape bid
BP chief executive Lord Browne has been granted a reprieve from
giving evidence in a US federal court over a March 2005 fatal
explosion at the oil company’s Texas City refinery, after
52 claimants agreed to seek a settlement with BP. The chief executive
had been due to give a six-hour deposition within the next three
weeks after being ordered to testify by a US federal court, but
could still be ordered to give evidence to a Texas court.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006 •
Hazards BP webpages
Britain:
Death firm evades defective product rap
A firm that supplied defective equipment which failed causing
a workplace death has escaped prosecution because it is no longer
trading. HSE enquiries to Interpol established the firm, Johannesburg-based
McKinnon Chain, was no longer in business.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006 •
Hazards
young workers webpages
Britain:
Harassed woman awarded second payout
A woman made sick by sexual harassment at work has been awarded
compensation. An Exeter employment tribunal this week ordered
Councillor Tony Prior, the former mayor of Chard, Somerset to
pay £33,697 in damages to former town clerk Sally Bing.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006
Britain:
Design a nano-hazard symbol
They’ve all got one – everyone can recognise the nuclear
hazard symbol and even the Cap’n Jack Sparrow generation
are more likely to think “toxic” than “pirate”
when they see a skull-and-crossbones. But there’s nothing
out there to warn you when you are about to dip into a barrel
of nano-nasties – so top nano-hazards campaigning organisation
ETC Group has launched an international design challenge.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006 •
Further
details of the Nano-Hazards symbol design competition •
More on nanotech
hazards
Britain:
National Inspection Day, 25 October
National Inspection day this year is on 25 October, the Wednesday
of European Health and Safety Week. The TUC, ever keen on getting
safety reps inspecting, has produced a poster for the day, and
there is a page on the TUC website publicising the event. workers
- a guide for safety representatives.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006 •
Hazards
young workers news and resources
Europe:
Substitution principle gets more backing
A top European committee has endorsed tough new laws on chemicals.
The European Parliament's environment committee backed a law which
would require companies to replace dangerous substances where
safer ones exist.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006
Britain:
New REACH helpline
The government has designated the Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) the UK’s “competent authority” for REACH
(Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals), the
forthcoming European regime for the regulation of chemicals. HSE
this week launched a helpdesk to support UK business in the run-up
to the regulations coming into force.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006
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EARLIER NEWS
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Hazards news, 10 October 2006
Global
unions' action on shipbuilding
Shipbreaking workers have revealed the horrific and often deadly
conditions they work under and are urging the International Maritime
Organisation (IMO) to speed up reform that could save lives across
the industry.
Hazards magazine, 10 October 2006
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards news, 7 October 2006
Britain:
Big win on key corporate safety crime vote
Company directors should made liable for the deaths of employees,
the Labour Party’s annual conference has agreed. The resolution,
proposed by the union TGWU and seconded by construction union
UCATT, was passed despite not having the support of Labour’s
national executive committee (NEC) at last week’s conference
in Manchester.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006 •
Hazards
deadly business webpages
Kazakhstan:
Mittal bosses to blame for mine disaster
An explosion last month that claimed 41 lives in a Mittal-owned
Kazakh mine and promoted widespread industrial action was the
result of criminal safety violations by mine bosses, an official
commission has found.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006
Britain:
Scots continue corporate homicide pressure
The Labour conference vote in support of a beefed up corporate
killing law adds weight to the Scottish campaign for stronger
legislation north of the border, union body STUC has said. STUC
deputy general secretary Grahame Smith said the conference decision
created an “opportunity of strengthening the Westminster
Bill on corporate manslaughter, particularly in holding individual
directors to account if their negligent behaviour results in the
death of a member of the public or a worker.”
Risks 277, 7 October 2006 •
Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
Bad gangmasters could move on warns TUC
Unscrupulous gangmasters and employment agencies could move their
focus to other sectors now that agriculture and food processing
are more tightly regulated, TUC has warned. The TUC alert came
as a 1 October change in the law took effect requiring all gangmasters
and employment agencies supplying people for work in agriculture
and food processing to have a licence.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006 •
Hazards migrants
webpages
Global:
Call centres campaign highlights stress
Unions around the world are taking part in an October call centres
action month. The activities, coordinated by the UNI global union,
aim to highlight the issues facing customer service workers, particularly
stress.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006 •
UNI
Stop the BOSS campaign
Britain:
Unions call for safety enforcement rethink
More unions have raised concerns about the strategy of the UK’s
resource-strapped health and safety watchdog. In a “highly
critical” submission to the Health and Safety Executive
(HSE), ollege and university staff union UCU says the health of
thousands of its members “is being put at risk by a shift
in the focus of the HSE from inspection and enforcement to the
offering of guidance to employers.”
Risks 277, 7 October 2006 •
Hazards
Commission Impossible webpages
Britain:
Union safety fears on new nuclear plan
Any break up of the British Nuclear Group (BNG) could have serious
implications for the industry’s safety management, trade
unions have warned.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006
Global:
Spiralling news death toll breaks 100
The news media death toll for 2006 reached 102 last month, in
what the International News Safety Institute (INSI) described
as “another blood-stained milestone for those covering the
news around the world.” INSI has joined with the International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Broadcasting
Union in proposing a UN resolution on the protection of journalists
around the world.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006
Britain:
Rail union launches cab conditions campaign
Rail union ASLEF is calling for big improvements in a small area
– the train cabs where drivers spend their entire working
day. The ‘Squash in my cab’ campaign is pressing for
train cabs that are: Safe; Quiet; User-friendly; Air-conditioned;
Specially seated; and Healthy.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006
Britain:
Drivers will take safe route on Piccadilly line
London Underground union RMT has warned Tube managers against
underestimating a threat to staff and passenger safety, following
the discovery of cracks in a vital component on Piccadilly Line
trains. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said drivers have the legal
right, on health and safety grounds, to refuse to drive a train
which they believe to be faulty and a risk to themselves and their
passengers.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006
Global:
Call for an end to Canada’s asbestos poison
The Canadian government must stop touting asbestos worldwide or
be responsible for an escalation of the global asbestos cancer
epidemic, international groups BWI and IBAS have warned. Chrysotile
asbestos: Hazardous to humans, deadly to the Rotterdam Convention
says the failure to list chrysotile under global right-to-know
rules is undermining - and could eventually discredit - the Rotterdam
Convention, sending a message to those peddling the most dangerous
industrial substances can sidestep the rules with a minimum of
effort.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006 •
Chrysotile asbestos: Hazardous to humans,
deadly to the Rotterdam Convention
[pdf]
Britain:
Only 1 in 50 firms say outright no to bullies
Bosses are failing to do enough to tackle workplace bullying,
according to new research from the union Amicus. The union said
bullying at work could “destroy” lives and urged companies
to take a zero tolerance approach to the problem.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006
Britain:
More revenue staff join lean work-to-rule
A further 7,000 workers in Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
have joined industrial action over the introduction of “lean”
working methods. In a workplace ballot 85 per cent of PCS members
in approximately 250 Distributed Processing Offices (DPOs) voted
in favour of a ban on overtime and a work-to-rule in response
to the introduction of the new ‘LEAN’ work system,
which staff say has led to a culture of corporate bullying, deskilling
and in some cases a risk of repetitive strain injury (RSI).
Risks 277, 7 October 2006 •
Hazards get-a-life
webpages
Canada:
Rise in lung cancer in non-smokers
Doctors who treat lung cancer in Canada are seeing an average
of 65 new cases each week in patients who have never smoked. An
updated report from Canada’s Labour Environmental Alliance
Society (LEAS) last month pointed the finger of suspicion at factors
including occupational and environmental exposures to carcinogens
such as asbestos and environmental radon.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006 •
Hazards occupational
cancer webpages
Britain:
Hunt says age discrimination is a work health issue
Safety minister Lord Hunt has called for support for a new law
barring age discrimination in the workplace. He said there were
proven health benefits of being in work and stressed the legislation
will ensure that older workers are not denied the opportunity
to increase their life expectancy while minimising the risks of
depression, obesity and poverty.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006 •
Hazards
work and health webpages
Britain:
Scots action on asbestos payouts dilemma
The Scottish Executive is seeking to reform legislation which
has left some asbestos cancer victims facing a compensation dilemma.
Victims of mesothelioma have to choose between claiming for damages
or allowing their relatives to lodge a bigger claim after their
death.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006 •
Hazards asbestos
news.
Britain:
BBC alert over studio asbestos risk
The BBC has issued a public notice to warn current and former
staff and freelances of the possibility they may have been exposed
to deteriorating sprayed asbestos insulation while working at
three Television Centre studios. The alert, which also announced
the launch of a BBC asbestos exposure register, says exposure
could have taken place over a 15-year period, from 1990 to 2005.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006
Britain:
Fired smoking workers lose appeal
Workers at an Aberdeenshire supermarket sacked for breaching company
rules on smoking during breaks have lost their appeal against
dismissal. Seven employees of the Morrisons branch in Inverurie
were caught by CCTV cameras having a cigarette break during the
nightshift.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006 •
Hazards
smoking webpages
Italy:
Smoking ban ‘reduces heart risk’
A public smoking ban in Italy has led to a fall in hospital admissions
for heart attacks, research suggests. The findings mirror those
of earlier studies in the US, and is attributed to a drop in passive
smoking exposure.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006 •
Hazards smoking
news and resources
Britain:
Asbestos disease treatments lobby, London, 17 October
The Forum of Asbestos Victims Support Groups is to lobby MPs on
17 October in a bid to get better treatment for patients suffering
from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006 •
Hazards
asbestos webpages
USA:
New “CleanerSolutions” database
A new interactive web-based tool can help you find safer industrial
cleaning alternatives that perform as well as hazardous chemicals.
The free ‘CleanerSolutions’ database, produced by
the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at the University of
Massachusetts Lowell in the USA, “helps companies understand
how to choose alternatives so that overall risks to workers and
the environment are reduced.”
Risks 277, 7 October 2006 •
CleanerSolutions
database • TURI
website
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards
news, 30 September 2006
Britain:
Action plans to keep young workers safe
The TUC is stepping up its campaign to protect young people in
the workplace. A new TUC guide, published ahead of the European
Agency for Safety and Health at Work’s ‘Safe Start’
themed Euro safety week in October, says: “As a safety representative,
you can help protect any young workers in your workplace.”
Risks 276, 30 September 2006
• Young workers – a guide for safety representatives
[pdf]
• Hazards
young workers news and resources
Ukraine:
Gas leak kills 13 coal miners
At least 13 miners have been killed by a deadly gas leak at a
coal mine in eastern Ukraine, officials have confirmed. They said
more than 60 other miners were injured in the incident at the
Zasiadko mine in Donetsk on 20 September.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006
• Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
Depressing shifts to blame for disability
A North East factory worker who became depressed because of the
wearing effect of alternating shifts was discriminated against
by his employer, a tribunal has found. Craig Routledge, 41, became
depressed after working alternate day and night shifts for TRW
Systems in Washington.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006 •
Hazards
get-a-life webpages
Pakistan:
Journalists and their families under threat
Pakistan has reached “a new low” in its attempts to
silence the press, including killing members of journalists’
families, the international journalists’ union IFJ has said.
The dead includes the teenage brother of a BBC reporter, Dilawar
Khan, and the child brother of slain journalist Hayatullah Khan.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006
• Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
Union secures brain injury payout
Trade union Amicus has secured “substantial” compensation
for an industrial worker who suffered a brain injury at work.
Richard Howells, 40, suffered serious head and other injuries
in July 1999 when he stumbled and hit his head at work.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006
Britain:
New baggage rules leave workers over-burdened
The government’s decision last week to relax hand baggage
restrictions at airports will not help the airline industry’s
overloaded staff, transport union TGWU had said. Brendan Gold,
TGWU national secretary for the civil aviation sector, said the
paramount issue was security at UK airports and safety not just
for passengers but for airport workers.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006
Japan:
Deadly wait for asbestos compensation
At least 170 people have died in Japan in the six months since
a compensation law took effect while waiting to hear if the qualify
for asbestos disease payouts, a survey has found. The government-affiliated
Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency (ERCA) research
also showed that only 242, or 20.9 per cent, of the 1,160 applicants
were given official approval for medical expenses and other benefits
as of 12 September.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006
•
Hazards
asbestos webpages
Britain:
Young worker was unlawfully killed
A young factory worker was crushed to death after vital safety
equipment was switched off on a stone cutting machine, a Hampshire
inquest has heard. The Southampton Coroners Court inquest followed
a court case in August, when company boss Michael Shaw was found
guilty of the manslaughter of David Bail, 22, but escaped with
a two-year suspended sentence.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006
• Hazards
young workers news and resources
Britain:
Teenage squaddie crushed to death
A 19-year-old soldier has been crushed to death at a base in Wiltshire
as he took part in a military exercise. Private Michael Minns
was performing a check on an eight-wheeled military vehicle with
another soldier at the base in Ludgershall. Wiltshire Police say
the tragedy is being treated as an “industrial accident”.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006
• Hazards
young workers news and resources
Global:
Challenging the chip – hazards in electronics exposed
Challenging the chip: Labor rights and environmental justice in
the global electronics industry is the first comprehensive examination
of the impacts of electronics manufacturing on workers and local
environments from Silicon Valley in California to Silicon Glen
in Scotland, from Silicon Island in Taiwan to Silicon Paddy in
China.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006
• Challenging the chip: Labor rights and environmental
justice in the global electronics industry, Edited by Ted
Smith, David A Sonnenfeld and David Naguib Pellow, Temple
University Press, 2006. ISBN 1-59213-330-4. US$25.95 •
Foreword,
contents and chapter 1 and order details • Question
and answer with co-editor Ted Smith
Britain:
Police probe into young worker electrocution
Police and safety experts are investigating how a scaffolder was
electrocuted while working on a London council estate. Father-of-two
Ralph Kennedy, 24, died on 15 September after touching a live
light fitting. Mr Kennedy’s relatives said they had not
been allowed to see the site’s accident log.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006
•
Hazards
young workers news and resources
Britain:
Boy, seven, dies in farm tragedy
A seven-year-old Devon boy has been crushed to death under machinery
on his family’s farm. Lewis Brook died under a roller attached
to a tractor believed to have been operated by a family member
at Mount Pleasant Farm near Winkleigh.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006
• Hazards
young workers news and resources
Britain:
Firm fined £3,500 after slurry pit death
A Gretna firm has been fined £3,500 after it admitted breaching
health and safety regulations over the death of a worker at a
farm near Annan, Scotland. Arthur Graham, 42, died and Brian Reilly,
23, was injured when a wall collapsed.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006 •
Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
Company pays £10k after mechanic’s death
Plant hire firm Go Plant has been fined £10,250 for breaking
health and safety laws following the death of a worker at a depot
it had not registered with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Mechanic Alan Garner died on 1 September last year after a steel
frame carrying a lorry engine fell over and hit him on the back
of the head.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006 •
Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
TUC warning on take-it-or-leave it nanotech scheme
The TUC has said that a new voluntary scheme on reporting of nanotechnology
related risks is not sufficiently robust a system. The TUC warning
came after last week’s Defra launch of its Voluntary Reporting
Scheme.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006
• Hazards
nanotech news and resources
Britain:
Union scepticism on migrant worker project
A government-sponsored pilot project to curb the exploitation
of migrants and other vulnerable workers in the construction industry
has been dismissed as “rubbish” by a union. The scheme
is scheduled to launch early next year in London docklands and
will run for two years.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006
•
Hazards migrant
workers webpages
Britain:
Raised lead levels linked to heart disease risk
Two new studies have linked even relatively low lead exposures
to a higher rate of heart disease.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006
• Hazards
work and health webpages
Britain:
Is workplace stress a fad or just plain bad?
Workers are being asked about how modern work practices are affecting
their health and well-being. Researchers conducting this year’s
“24-7 survey” say they “hope employees in the
UK will share their good and bad experiences in an attempt to
discover more information about the true nature of modern working
life”.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006
• Hazards
get-a-life webpages
Britain:
Corporate killing lobby at Parliament 10 October
Families Against Corporate Killers (Fack) is co-ordinating a lobby
outside the Houses of Parliament on 10 October calling for improvements
to the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill to make
dangerous directors accountable for workplace safety crimes.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards
news, 23 September 2006
Britain:
Saturday job boy loses arm in mincer
Surgeons had to amputate a teenager's arm in a butcher's shop
after it became trapped in a mincer. Sam Ashworth, 15, was stuck
in the machine for two hours at the business where he had a Saturday
job.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
• Hazards
young workers safety webpages • TUC
and European
Agency 23-28 October European Week 2006 webpages
USA:
How to make injury reports disappear
When one of the USA’s largest construction sites boasted
injury rates a fraction that on comparable jobs, it looked too
good to be true - and it was. There had been a systematic falsification
of injuries and illness numbers by KFM - Kiewit Pacific/FCI Constructors/Manson
Construction - a joint venture to rebuild the eastern span of
the San Francisco Bay Bridge.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
• Hazards
behavioural safety webpages
Britain:
Teenage victims of forklift peril
Evidence that dangerous machines and teenage workers do not mix
have been demonstrated in three separate safety prosecutions this
month. Poorly trained and supervised teenagers have been injured
or prosecuted.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
• Hazards
young workers safety webpages
France:
Union action day on hazardous jobs
A French union has called a day of action next month in protest
at an employers’ organisation’s failure to negotiate
on the issue of hazardous jobs. The glass and ceramics union CGT
Verre et Céramique said the decision to declare the 9 October
action day – which could include activities ranging from
petitions to strikes - follows the withdrawal by French employers’
association MEDEF from a legally required “hazardous jobs”
dialogue in the glass and ceramics sector.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
Britain:
Firm fined £20,000 after young worker fatality
A firm in has been fined £20,000 after a young employee
was crushed to death. Barkston Plastics Forming, of Westhoughton,
near Bolton, appeared last week before magistrates in Trafford
following the death of 22-year-old Philip Ashcroft.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
• Hazards
young workers safety webpages
Europe:
Chemicals law must mean safer workers
Workplace health and safety must be a key component of forthcoming
European chemical safety laws, Europe’s top union body has
said. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) said REACH
proposals could, if not introduced in a responsible manner including
a substitution clause, undermine existing safety law.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
Britain:
Holiday joy beckons for 2m employees
Plans to increase holiday leave for around two million full time
employees next year will bring huge benefits to workers and employers
alike, the TUC has said. Its submission to the government's consultation
on increasing the UK's statutory minimum annual leave says increasing
the minimum amount of annual leave to 28 days for full-timers
is a completely affordable move and the government should ignore
employer claims that the proposed changes will prove too expensive.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
• Hazards
get-a-life webpages
Australia:
Injured, fired and told he’ll be deported
A Chinese worker who sold his family home to get to Australia
has been left destitute and injured in suburban Melbourne. Fu
Zhihong, 49, became the latest victim of the federal government’s
cheap labour visas, when he was fired by employer Lakeside Packaging
after breaking both wrists and informed in the same note he would
be deported.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
• Hazards
migrants webpages
Britain:
Labour to be told to make bosses accountable
Trade unions are to make a last-ditch attempt to persuade ministers
to strengthen corporate killing laws so that negligent employers
can be jailed. The Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU)
has tabled a motion for next week's Labour party conference demanding
changes to the corporate manslaughter bill going through parliament.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
• Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
Unions back call for beefed up killing law
Unions have backed a call for company directors to face the prospect
of jail terms if they are implicated in workplace deaths. An Amicus
resolution passed at last week’s TUC Congress in Brighton
expresses concern the Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill
introduced to parliament in July has no provisions to deal with
guilty employers.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
• Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
Action call to protect safety enforcement
Trade unions have called for action to prevent widespread job
cuts in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and have expressed
concern at the shift from enforcement towards a more advisory
HSE role. An emergency resolution from HSE unions Prospect and
PCS passed by unions at last week’s TUC Congress expressed
“deep concern” at HSE’s announcement that a
funding shortfall means up to 350 jobs are to go by 2008.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
• Hazards
“Commission Impossible” webpages
USA:
New union disaster response manual
US unions have learned some valuable lessons about what works
when disasters strike and about what unions need to do to prepare
more effective responses – and national union federation
AFL-CIO has written those lessons down. Its free nuts-and-bolts
manual gives a solid overview of disaster response plans at all
levels of union organisation, from national to local.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
• Action in the aftermath: An AFL-CIO disaster preparedness
and response manual [pdf]
Britain:
Amicus demands offshore action
Offshore union Amicus is to call on the UK safety authorities
to explain their safety performance in the sector and to ensure
a great role for union safety reps. Amicus says members have expressed
“dissatisfaction and concerns” with the approach adopted
by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) offshore division.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
Britain:
Pilots map out airline security route
Britain’s pilots have written to transport minister Douglas
Alexander urging him to make major changes in airline security
practices. “These changes are desperately needed to allow
pilots to more easily undertake their critical safety role,”
said Jim McAuslan, general secretary of the pilots’ union
BALPA.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
Britain:
Over stretched NHS can’t reach strain victims
The health service is too stretched to deal with the one million
plus workers with a musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) caused or made
worse by work, physios’ union CSP has warned.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
• Hazards
work and health webpages.
Britain:
Scotland’s public workers under attack
New figures reveal assaults on Scotland’s health and local
government staff over the last three years show no evidence of
decline, according to UNISON Scotland.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
Britain:
Firm fined £16,000 after fall death
A director of a painting and decorating company has been fined
£16,000 with £12,153.10 costs over the death of employee
Lucian Vuta who fell through a roof light. Michael McCarthy of
MJM Ltd, admitted breaches of health and safety rules before Milton
Keynes magistrates court.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
• Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
BP kicks off global safety probe
Fundamental changes to the way BP works could be implemented as
part of a worldwide safety initiative following a devastating
refinery blast in the US, the energy giant has confirmed. The
group, which is facing pressure from major investors, says it
is carrying out a root-and-branch global safety review in the
wake of last year's explosion in Texas City in which 15 people
died and 170 were injured.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
• Hazards
BP safety webpages
Global:
Cancer linked to rotating shifts
Men who work a rotating shift pattern may be at increased risk
of prostate cancer, research suggests. Japanese scientists found
that staff working rotating shifts were three times as likely
to develop the disease as those working day or night shifts.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
• Hazards
occupational cancer webpages
Britain:
Welsh smoking ban to start in April
A smoking ban in enclosed public spaces will be introduced in
Wales next April, before similar laws in England, first minister
Rhodri Morgan has announced. The ban will begin on 2 April, at
the same time as Northern Ireland; a smoking ban will start in
England on a so far unspecified date next summer and a ban which
took effect in Scotland in March has generally been judged a success.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
• Hazards
smoking news and resources
Britain:
Better backs tools for safety reps
As part of its better backs campaign, HSE has published two new
tools for safety reps, a checklist for workplace manual handling
inspections and a practical guide to managing sickness absence
and return to work. HSE says the “documents have been put
together in partnership with the TUC to help safety representatives
get involved with the campaign.”
Risks 275, 23 September 2006
• Hazards
work and health webpages
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards
news, 16 September 2006
Britain:
Six figure payout for teacher’s asbestos death
The relatives of Tameside teacher John Murphy, killed as a result
of exposure to asbestos in his classroom, have received compensation.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
• Hazards
asbestos webpages
USA:
Most Ground Zero workers now suffering
The majority of the 40,000 rescue and recovery workers who responded
to the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in
New York could be suffering health problems as a result of toxic
exposures. A new study by doctors at Mount Sinai Medical Center
has found nearly 70 per cent of firefighters, police officers,
emergency medical crews, construction workers, utility workers
and volunteers have suffered new or worsened lung and other health
problems.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
Britain:
Union warning on classroom killer
Unions in the north of England have warned that teachers are contracting
fatal asbestos cancers by putting children's work up on walls
using drawing pins. Eight school staff in Northumberland, Gateshead,
North Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham are seeking compensation
from education authorities after getting asbestos-related cancers
and a number of claims have been settled already.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
• Hazards asbestos
webpages
USA:
Safety No.1 reason to join a union
American workers rank workplace safety as the top reason to join
a union, according to new research. A poll by the Employment Law
Alliance, a network of management side employment lawyers, found
63 per cent of workers surveyed identified health and safety as
an important factor in deciding to join a union, followed by getting
better benefits (60 per cent), obtaining higher wages (57 per
cent) and increasing job security (54 per cent).
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
• Hazards
union safety effect webpages
Britain:
Stair trip worker awarded £30,000
A social worker who broke her arm in a work fall has been awarded
£30,000. UNISON member Morag Holtes, 49, thought she caught
her heel on a bulge in the stair carpet when she fell at the Aberdeenshire
Council offices in Stonehaven in 2003.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
• Hazards
compensation webpages
Global:
Mines tragedies highlight deadly practices
Major mines disasters in India and Russia have highlighted the
high price paid by workers in the industry.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
• Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
Union wins Phantom of the Opera payout
A member of film and theatre union BECTU has been awarded compensation
after being seriously injured on the Phantom of the Opera film
set.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
• Hazards
compensation webpages
Australia:
Safety in the workplace rights front line
Australian employers are using punitive anti-union laws to victimise
workers raising safety concerns. A judge this week attacked the
laws, while dismissing an official agency’s bid to fine
union officials and a building firm that paid workers while they
stopped work to honour a dead colleague.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
Britain:
One in five a “vulnerable” worker
More than five million workers in the UK – one in every
five employees - are being ripped off by rogue bosses, according
to a new report. Some employers break laws by paying cash in hand
below the minimum wage or forcing staff to work unpaid overtime,
said TUC leader Brendan Barber.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
Britain:
Dismissed Tube worker is reinstated
A dispute over the sacking of a Jubilee Line train operator has
been resolved after a London Underground director’s appeal
decided the dismissal of Raj Nathvani should be suspended for
12 months.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
• Hazards
victimisation webpages
Britain:
New official “work is good for you” push
A government commissioned review has concluded being out of work
is bad for both mind and body, progressively damaging health and
decreasing life expectancy. ‘Is work good for your health
and well-being?’ concludes that overall, the beneficial
effects of work outweigh the risks of work, and are greater than
the harmful effects of long-term unemployment or prolonged sickness
absence.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
• Hazards
work and health webpages
Britain:
“Obscene” fees consume asbestos fund
Accountants and lawyers claimed a staggering £70m in fees
to administer a compensation scheme which left cancer victims
with just 20 per cent of the money they should have received.
The deal means victims of terminal cancer who are entitled to
compensation fees in the region of £100,000 from former
asbestos giant Turner and Newall will receive only £20,000,
20p in the pound.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
• Hazards
asbestos webpages
Britain:
Real losers of Federal Mogul’s bankruptcy ruse
When Federal Mogul used the USA’s business friendly bankruptcy
laws, it knew it could ring fence its substantial assets at the
expense of asbestos disease victims. Hundreds will now qualify
for the drastically reduced payouts.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
• Hazards
asbestos webpages
Britain:
Dying carpenter gets £400,000 asbestos payout
A carpenter dying from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma has been
awarded agreed damages of £400,000 from his former employer.
Field Fisher Waterhouse, the law firm acting for Amargeet Singh
Dahele, 52, said it believed this was one of the highest ever
settlements in such a case.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
• Hazards
asbestos webpages
Britain:
Teen gets payout for work finger injury
A Sheffield teenager has received an out-of-court settlement of
over £2,000 after sustaining a crush injury to his right
middle finger leaving him with permanent injuries. Luke Peace,
19, suffered his injuries in April 2005 whilst employed as a junior
clerk by Transtar International Freight Forwarders.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
• Hazards
young workers safety webpages.
Britain:
Company fined over sea death plunge
A Texas-based oil and gas multinational has been ordered to pay
fines and costs totalling £290,000 after a rig worker plunged
to his death into the sea off the Lancashire coast. Russell Bell,
25, died after falling 100ft into the Irish Sea in Morecambe Bay
from a gas exploration platform.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
• Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
Former bosses fined £200 for deadly failings
Investigations into the death of a paper mill worker uncovered
“crucial failings” in risk assessment – but
because the firm responsible has gone into administration, its
former owners have escaped with a £200. Dean Thomas, 42,
was crushed to death at the former RJ Crompton plant in Lydney,
Gloucestershire, on 3 May 2003.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
• Hazards
deadly business webpage
Britain:
Family’s fury at “misadventure” verdict
An engineer, described by colleagues as “very safety conscious”,
fell to his death when he slipped and crashed through a skylight,
an inquest has heard. The family of Timothy Kynaston, 50, said
they were upset at the verdict of misadventure as they felt it
suggested he had done something wrong by following instructions
and getting on with his job.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
• Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
Pubs ‘healthier’ after smoke ban
The vast majority of bar staff in Scotland believe their workplaces
are healthier since the March introduction of the smoking ban,
according to a new survey. The Cancer Research UK poll of 545
workers revealed that threequarters thought the legislation would
improve their health in the long term.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
• Hazards
smoking news and resources
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards
news , 9 September 2006
USA:
Air traffic controllers robbed of sleep
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has imposed new work
rules on air traffic controllers, a move which unions say will
leave a dwindling band of over-tired controllers monitoring US
skies. The move was a “brazen, arrogant trampling of the
collective bargaining process,” National Air Traffic Controllers
Association (NATCA) president Pat Forrey said.
Risks 273, 9 September 2006
Britain:
UK forced to tighten rules on work breaks
The TUC has welcomed a European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgment
this week that said the UK government is breaking the law by not
forcing employers to give their staff rest breaks.
Risks 273, 9 September 2006 •
Hazards
get-a-life webpages
USA:
Corporate cancer kills off real prevention
The organisation representing occupational health doctors in the
US has been labelled an “embarrassment” after making
claims about the supposed “success” of occupational
cancer prevention measures. The flak heading the way of the American
College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) has
been amplified because of its support for a “CEO Cancer
Gold Standard™”, backed largely by pharmaceutical
companies and concentrating entirely on lifestyle measures.
Risks 273, 9 September 2006 •
How big a problem
is occupational cancer? - see the Hazards webpages
Britain:
Research cuts put health at risk
Research into serious workplace and public health risks is being
put at risk as a result of cutbacks in government research agencies,
a union has warned. Prospect, the union representing 3,400 scientists
and specialists in Defra, says “a barrage of cuts”
are facing Defra agencies and laboratories undertaking research
into problems including avian flu, BSE, foot and mouth disease
and anthrax.
Risks 273, 9 September 2006
Global:
Asbestos is bad news everywhere
The global asbestos disease epidemic continues to be bad news
worldwide, suggests new reports from India, Japan and Spain.
Risks 273, 9 September 2006 •
Hazards asbestos
webpages
Britain:
Safety rep exposes Romec safety failures
A trade union safety rep has exposed “blatant” safety
failures at cleaning company Romec. Postal union CWU said a “determined
investigation” by CWU area safety rep Andy McArthur has
“uncovered a number of unacceptable health and safety shortcomings
in Romec Cleaning Services”, a contractor providing cleaning
services to Royal Mail and a range of blue chip companies.
Risks 273, 9 September 2006
Britain:
Strawberry firm ‘exploiting migrant workers’
Farming union TGWU has warned that a major UK strawberry grower
is exploiting migrant workers. The union says it has “no
option” but to submit hundreds of grievances on behalf of
workers at the Herefordshire farm of S&A Produce, whose customers
include Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
Risks 273, 9 September 2006 •
Hazards
migrants webpages
Europe:
Europe-wide asbestos campaign launched
The European Commission has launching a publicity campaign in
all 25 European Union member states to raise awareness of the
dangers of asbestos exposure. It says the European Asbestos Campaign
2006 slogan will be ‘Asbestos is deadly serious –
prevent exposure’.
Risks 273, 9 September 2006
• Hazards
asbestos webpages
Britain:
New call for young worker protection
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has warned
that 1,500 workers under the age of 19 are badly injured and five
killed every year through poor training and induction when starting
work. Launching its ‘Wiseup2work’ campaign last week,
safety professionals’ organisation IOSH said the initiative
was necessary because “far more needs to be done to protect
our young people when they are starting work, apprenticeships
or work experience.”
Risks 273, 9 September 2006 •
Hazards
young workers and safety webpages
Britain:
Union welcomes safe Olympics choice
The consortium selected to build the 2012 London Olympic facilities
has been welcomed as a “safe” choice by construction
union UCATT.
Risks 273, 9 September 2006
Britain:
Worker injured after council inaction
A local authority has been fined after its failure to act on official
safety warnings led to a worker being serious injured. Preston
City Council was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay almost
£8,000 in costs after an incident in which plumber Graham
Butterworth fell 12 feet onto a concrete floor from a garage roof.
Risks 273, 9 September 2006
USA:
Workplace lead exposure a brain cancer risk
People who are routinely exposed to lead at work are far more
likely to die from brain cancer than people who are not exposed.
The US study found the death rate among people with jobs that
potentially exposed them to lead was 50 percent higher than unexposed
people, and the number of deaths was larger than in many previous
studies.
Risks 273, 9 September 2006 •
Hazards
cancer webpages
Britain:
Move to stop waste sector’s wasted lives
New guidance aimed at stemming a spate of deaths involving waste
vehicles has been issued by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
It says since December 2005 there have been six fatalities reported
involving reversing waste or recycling collection vehicles.
Risks 273, 9 September 2006
Australia:
Union fears on migrant exploitation
Unions in Australia have warned that a new temporary visa system
is resulting in the exploitation of migrant workers in hazardous
conditions. The alert comes after unions revealed dozens of Chinese
workers were being employed on a construction site in Sydney without
adequate safety protection or the required workers’ compensation
coverage.
Risks 273, 9 September 2006 •
Hazards
migrants webpages
Britain:
One in ten employees injured at work
As many as one in 10 people has sustained an injury in the workplace
in the past five years, according to new research from AXA Insurance.
AXA's study found that whilst employee injuries are most likely
to be caused by work-related accidents (81 per cent), a “shocking”
eight per cent of work-related injuries sustained by employees
resulted from a physical assault.
Risks 273, 9 September 2006 •
Hazards
work and health webpages
Britain:
Offshore deaths show sector ‘must do more’
The offshore industry must do more to improve the sector’s
safety record, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has said.
The call this week came after latest official accident figures
revealed that two workers were killed and 50 suffered major injuries
in 2005/06, up from no fatalities and 48 major injuries in 2004/05.
Risks 273, 9 September 2006
Britain:
Corporate accountability conference, Glasgow, 3 October 2006
A Centre for Corporate Accountability conference in Glasgow on
3 October “will discuss the decision by the UK government
to apply its corporate manslaughter bill to Scotland - preventing
the Scottish Executive from legislating on the issue itself.”
The conference will also look at the role and limitations of Fatal
Accident Inquiries and review claims that work-related deaths
are being under-counted.
Corporate
accountability for work-related deaths conference
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards
news, 2 September 2006
Palestine:
Press safety body calls for Israeli targeting probe
An international press safety body has called for an investigation
into the apparent targeting by the Israeli military of a clearly
marked Reuters news vehicle in Gaza. After the incident in which
two journalists were injured, the International News Safety Institute
(INSI) called on the Israeli government to hold an immediate inquiry
into the targeting incident.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards deadly business
webpages
Canada:
End in sight to asbestos addiction?
For the past 20 years, Canada has had a policy of aggressively
promoting asbestos use. But the country’s federal government
is now considering whether it will continue the country's association
with a known and potent industrial killer and may end its long-running
cash and political support for the industry front organisation,
the Chrysotile Institute.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards
asbestos webpages
Britain:
CPS must explain death case inaction
Parents seeking justice after the death of their teenage son,
killed in his first week at work, have won a major court victory.
In a case backed by the union GMB, legal action by Peter and Anthea
Dennis after the death of Daniel, 17, means the Crown Prosecution
Service (CPS) will now have to explain in court why it failed
to charge their son's employer with manslaughter.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards
deadly business webpages
USA:
One in six working teens injured
One in six working teenagers has been injured at work, a US study
suggests. “The findings clearly indicate that work-related
injuries among youth are a significant health problem,”
said Kristina Zierold, an assistant professor of family medicine
at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and lead author of
the study.
Kristina M Zierold, Henry A Anderson. Severe injury and the need
for improved safety training among working teens, American Journal
of Health Behavior, volume 30, number 5, pages 525-532, September/October
2006 [abstract – pdf].
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards
young workers webpages
Britain:
‘Right to refuse’ victory reversed
TV journalist Richard Gizbert has had his “right to refuse”
legal victory at an employment tribunal overturned by the Court
of Appeal. The former London based ABC News journalist, who has
covered conflicts in Somalia, Rwanda and Chechnya, refused to
go to Iraq in 2004 and was dismissed.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards
victimisation webpages
Ireland:
No room for complacency on work deaths
A short term improvement in Ireland’s workplace fatality
rate does not mean there is room for complacency, a top union
safety official has warned. SIPTU health and safety officer Sylvester
Cronin said after a 50 per cent increase last year, they “are
just getting back to a very bad old level.”
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
Don’t go soft on shoplifters
Retail union Usdaw says shopworkers are angry over a proposal
that some shoplifters should not be jailed. The union says stealing
from stores is regularly a flashpoint for violent assaults and
says its members report that violent shoplifters are responsible
for many of the 20,000 physical assaults on shopworkers every
year.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006
China:
New resources to tackle work deaths
China is to spend nearly US$60bn (£31.6bn) over the next
five years in a bid to improve safety in industrial workplaces,
according to state media. The five-year plan on workplace security,
the first of its kind, will particularly target the coal mining
industry, Xinhua news agency said.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards deadly business
webpages
Britain:
Saws cut butcher’s hearing
A butcher who developed occupational deafness has received a £5,000
compensation payout. UNISON member Eric Stonier worked for a number
of companies in Wakefield and Manchester, including Britt Broadbent
and Louis C Edwards.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards
work and health webpages
Britain:
Severed fingers point to dangerous practices
Two incidents in two months where workers had fingers severed
at a London food firm have prompted a union to call a 9 September
meeting of the mainly Asian workforce. GMB says the meeting of
Katsouris Fresh Foods “will plan a campaign to force Katsouris
to improve the safety” at three sites employing 2,500 workers.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards
deadly business webpages
Global:
Lord Browne ordered to testify in BP deaths case
Injured workers and families of those killed in an explosion at
BP's Texas City refinery last year scored a court victory this
week when a judge ordered the London-based company's top two executives
to give depositions in the case. A Texas State Court ordered that
Lord John Browne, the London-based head of BP’s global operations,
must testify in litigation related to a fatal March 2005 accident
at the Texas refinery.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards
BP webpages
Britain:
Work pressure drove professor to kill herself
A university lecturer killed herself after she became unable to
cope with the pressures of work. An inquest at West Sussex Coroners
Court into the death of Diana Winstanley, 45, heard she hanged
herself at her home on 5 July after struggling in a new post and
becoming depressed.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards get-a-life webpages
USA:
Blood pressure rises along with work hours
Workers who clocked more than 51 hours at the office each week
were 29 per cent more likely to have high blood pressure than
those who worked 39 hours or less, a new study has found. The
study also found lower grade jobs were also linked to raised blood
pressure.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards get-a-life
webpages
Britain:
Working time rules to cover offshore workersOffshore
unions have welcomed a commitment from employment relations minister
Jim Fitzpatrick to extend working time rules to cover all offshore
workers.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards get-a-life
webpages
Britain:
Young worker dies in fairground accident
A teenager has been killed while working at a fairground in Eyemouth,
Scotland. James Laidler, 17, from near Morpeth, was crushed under
a carriage while working at the fair.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards
young workers webpages
Britain:
Handwashing led to asbestos cancer
A retired nurse died from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma after
being exposed to fibres while handwashing her partner's work overalls.
An inquest held at Northampton General Hospital heard that Myrtle
Octavia Gordon, who died on 21 February, inhaled the deadly fibres
while cleaning the clothes of her partner, who worked in a Northamptonshire
factory for 25 years, or from a short spell working in a car parts
factory in Birmingham.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards asbestos
webpages
Britain:
Mesothelioma UK Day, Manchester, 5 October
The first Mesothelioma UK Patient and Carer Day will take place
on Thursday 5 October 2006 and will be marked by an event in Manchester.
Mesothelioma UK says the aims of event are: To give mesothelioma
patients and carers the chance to meet and share experiences with
others affected by the disease; provide up-to-date, unbiased information
on treatment, benefits, compensation, nutrition and support; and
give mesothelioma patients and carers advice.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards asbestos webpages
Australia:
Protests as safety action is “criminalised”
Trade unionists from across Australia rallied on 29 August in
support of more than 100 West Australian construction workers
whose rowdy court appearance launched their fight against unprecedented
fines for striking. Unions are warning that the industrial relations
changes introduced by the federal government mean strike action
on safety grounds has been “criminalised”.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards union effect webpages
EARLIER NEWS
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| |
EARLIER NEWS
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Hazards
news, 26 August 2006
USA:
Deadly BP gets a visible reminder
A billboard just a block away from the main entrance to BP’s
Texas City plant commemorates two workers, Raymundo C Gonzalez
Jr and Leonard Maurice Moore Jr, who were gravely injured when
a pipe ruptured at the plant on 2 September 2004, both succumbing
to their injuries in the following weeks.
USMWF
report and website
• More
on BP’s safety record
Britain:
Rail union safety plea on track work
All work on Britain’s rail tracks should be brought back
in-house for safety’s sake, rail union RMT has said. The
RMT call came after Network Rail announced that contractor Carillion
had been suspended from bidding for new work until it could show
that its safety performance had improved.
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006
USA:
Why are miners still choking to death?
It's been well over 100 years since the US Congress first told
mine companies to limit coal dust in mines and four decades since
the first efforts were made to reduce the incidence of coal miners’
pneumoconiosis, or black lung, a deadly choking of the lungs with
coal dust. But an official study has revealed miners in eastern
Kentucky and western Virginia are at greater risk than miners
in other coal belt areas and are developing the condition earlier.
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006
Britain:
Cleveland firefighters win safeguards
Cleveland fire crews have won significant safeguards for firefighters
and the public. The union has accepted a new package of changes
to the local fire and rescue service after councillors, facing
the prospect of industrial action, amended their original proposals
which would have seen a cut in the number of firefighters on the
first appliance attending life-threatening emergencies.
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006
China:
Apple admits excessive iPod hours
Apple Computer has said a report of labour conditions at its iPod
plant in China found workers did more than 60 hours a week a third
of the time. Staff making the high priced, massively popular mp3
players also worked more than six consecutive days 25 per cent
of the time, with Apple admitting the hours were “excessive”
and said its supplier would now be enforcing a “normal”
60-hour week.
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006
Britain:
Airport union pushes safety case
The safety of passengers and staff is being put at risk because
of corner-cutting by airline companies, airport union TGWU has
warned. Launching an airport safety campaign, the union said “turnaround
time”, the time allocated to prepare aircraft for departure,
has been pared back and should be fixed at a minimum of one hour.
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006
Britain:
Staffing levels key to airport security
Civil aviation union TGWU has demanded an urgent assessment of
staffing levels in UK airport security to ensure that passenger
safety can be maintained. The union also warned that airline pressure
to speed up security checks could compromise security.
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006
Britain:
True cost of sickness absence ‘close to zero’
The cost of worker absenteeism to British industry could be as
much as £13 billion less than other surveys suggest and
could have “a net cost close to zero”, according to
a new study. The authors say the cost is much lower than estimated
by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006
Britain:
Safety chief says penalties must increase
Employers should face heavier fines for health and safety offences,
Bill Callaghan, chair of the Health and Safety Commission (HSC),
has told the Cabinet Office. The watchdog said the number of people
killed at work in 2004/05 fell by 5 per cent to a record low of
212, with the rate of deaths per 100,000 employees was also the
lowest ever at 0.71, however fatality rates increased in manufacturing
and the extractive industries.
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006
Britain:
Animal diseases kill workers
Two workers have been killed in separate incidents as a result
of “zoonoses”, animal diseases that can be transmitted
to humans. Christopher “Pascal” Norris, 50, a craftsman
who made musical instruments from untreated hides, died from an
anthrax infection and farmer John Freeman, 29, died of rabbit
flu.
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006
Britain:
TGWU says directors should face jail
General union TGWU has said stronger laws and enforcement are
necessary to make dangerous employers take safety seriously. TGWU
general secretary Tony Woodley, commenting on latest fatality
figures from the Health and Safety Commission (HSC), said: “Unless
directors realistically face the prospect of jail when their negligence
causes death, the culture in certain industries will never change.”
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006
Britain:
Student job leads to flattened thumbs
A Sheffield student has had both his thumbs crushed during a part-time
construction job. Neil Goodchild, 22, received an out-of-court
settlement of £6,250 after sustaining severe crushing injuries
to both his thumbs leaving him with residual numbness.
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006
Britain:
Site deaths still at over one every week
Construction union UCATT has called for directors to be held responsible
for safety breaches to end the complacency “rife”
in the industry. Provisional figures on fatal injuries to workers
in construction during 2005/06 put the toll at 59 deaths, down
by 10 on 2004/05.
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006
Britain:
Union dismay at Scots fatality figures
Unions in Scotland have expressed disappointment at the latest
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) fatal accident figures. STUC
said the figures “reveal Scotland still has, yet again,
witnessed a higher fatal injury rate than other countries and
regions in Britain.”
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006
Britain:
Waste firm fined £2,500 after worker injury
A Croydon-based waste management company has been ordered to pay
nearly £5,500 in fines and costs after employee Daniel Bonnell
had his foot crushed by a tractor. Viridor Waste Management was
fined £2,500 and ordered to pay £2,914 in court costs
after pleading guilty to two health and safety charges.
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006
Britain:
Imerys admits charges after near electrocution
China clay giant Imerys has been fined £5,000 for a breach
in safety regulations which put workers’ lives at risk.
The charges related to an incident last December when an articulated
lorry drove through live overhead power cables, pulling them to
the ground.
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards
news, 19 August 2006
Britain:
HSE unions condemn dangerous cutbacks
Plans to drastically cut staffing and budgets in the Health and
Safety Executive (HSE) have been condemned by unions representing
the safety watchdog’s staff. Prospect and PCS say the “crippling”
cuts, which HSE chief executive Geoffrey Podger told staff are
the result of budgeting blunders by the HSE board, will leave
workers at greater risk.
Hazards
news update, 19 August 2006
Britain:
Official safety inspections “in freefall”
The major workplace accident rate has increased as Health and
Safety Executive (HSE) safety inspections, prosecutions, convictions,
notices and contact time with firms have all plummeted, according
to a new report. The Hazards magazine ‘Come Clean’
report predicted the announcement of widespread funding and job
cuts in HSE, and warns that inspections are “in freefall”.
Hazards news update, 19 August 2006
• Full
online report
Britain:
Unions call for inspections not cuts
Unions have said the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) must be
given the resources to maintain an effective workplace inspection
and enforcement role.
Risks 270, 19 August 2006
Britain:
Union push for Scots corporate killing law
TGWU Scotland says it will campaign for a Scottish corporate killing
law that includes duties on both companies and their directors.
It says Home Office proposals are welcome, but are flawed because
they do not address the issue of director culpability.
Risks 270, 19 August 2006
Britain:
NUJ calls for protection of the ‘right to refuse’
UK and international media union organisations are issuing a call
to arms over a journalist’s right to refuse dangerous assignments
like the Iraq war. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and
Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) are
asking their members and fellow unions to contribute to the legal
fund of a journalist who lost his job for refusing assignments
to Iraq.
Risks 270, 19 August 2006
Britain:
Union action over Tube victimisation
Members of Tube union RMT are considering industrial action over
a series of reports of safety-related victimisation.
Risks 270, 19 August 2006
Korea:
Union member beaten to death
Workers taking industrial action over poor safety and employment
conditions at a construction firm in South Korea have been beaten
and jailed. Global construction union federation BWI says the
number in jail now exceeds 100, with dozens now on hunger strike.
Risks 270, 19 August 2006
Britain:
Over-stretched fire staff fight exhaustion
The government is ignoring growing safety pressures placed on
fire and rescue services as a result of climate change, the Fire
Brigades Union has said. The union has called for an immediate
end to cuts in personnel and for a cash injection of £60
million to address the increasing demands.
Risks 270, 19 August 2006
Britain:
AA vehicle faults show safety is in the back seat
Roadside assistance firm AA is putting cost cutting before safety,
the GMB union has warned. The union was commenting after AA was
forced to take 600 new vehicle recovery system (VRS) vehicles
out of service because of serious production faults which could
lead to injury of staff and road users.
Risks 270, 19 August 2006
Britain:
Refuse refusal reverses rubbish ruse
The Transport and General Workers' Union confirmed on 14 August
its striking members at Haringey Accord have returned to work,
following the resolution of a dispute involving refuse collections.
The 48 workers walked out on 31 July 2006 in protest at plans
to reduce the number of refuse vehicles in use, a move the union
said would increase workloads and jeopardise safety.
Risks 270, 19 August 2006
Britain:
Nuclear firms each pay £2m for leaks
Nuclear plants in Cumbria and Caithness have each been fined £2m
after breaching regulations and allowing radioactive leaks.
Risks 270, 19 August 2006
USA:
Community service for double homicide
The former president of a US water and sewer company convicted
of the double homicide of two workers has been sentenced to seven
years on probation and 840 hours of community service.
Risks 270, 19 August 2006
Britain:
Life is still cheap at work
Recent seven figure fines for serious safety breaches have captured
the headlines, but the price paid for killing a worker can often
be considerably lower. Fines can be only a few thousand pounds
and only a minority of workplace fatalities result in any safety
prosecution.
Risks 270, 19 August 2006
Britain:
Grieving dad calls for justice for his son
A grieving dad from Port Talbot is backing a national campaign
to have company bosses hauled into court following deaths in the
workplace. Mike Hutinm who lost his 20-year-old son Andrew in
a Corus blast furnace disaster, has joined forces with other people
from across Britain who have lost loved ones in industrial accidents
to form Families Against Corporate Killers (Fack).
Families Against Corporate Killers (Fack) website.
Hazards young workers health and safety webpages.
Risks 270, 19 August 2006
Britain:
Oil firms failing on North Sea safety checks
North Sea oil companies are failing to keep up with vital offshore
maintenance work, the oil industry’s top health and safety
regulator has claimed, confirming concerns raised by offshore
unions.
Risks 270, 19 August 2006
Britain:
Police promise NHS violence crackdown
Unions have welcomed a promise to crackdown on violence against
health service staff, after an agreement was signed between the
NHS Security Management Service (SMS) and the Association of Chief
Police Officers (ACPO). Police chiefs have promised to investigate
every reported incident of violence or abuse on NHS premises,
and put pressure on the courts and prosecutors “to ensure
offenders receive tougher sentences.”
Risks 270, 19 August 2006
Britain:
Cancer and work conference, Glasgow, 14 September
Unions and workplace health campaign organisations are hosting
a 14 September conference in Glasgow on cancer and work.
Risks 270, 19 August 2006
New
Zealand: Asbestos victim takes on James Hardie
New Zealand cancer victim and former carpenter Ken Hurley is taking
on corporate giant James Hardie Industries. Last year multinational
James Hardie agreed to create a multi-billion dollar fund to compensate
Australian victims of asbestos related diseases.
Risks 270, 19 August 2006
|
EARLIER
NEWS |
Hazards news, 12 August 2006
Britain:
Don't let your first job be your last
Nearly 4,500 young people were seriously injured or killed at
work last year, over 20 per cent more than five years ago, according
to a new report from the TUC-backed Hazards magazine. The report
marked the launch of a TUC campaign to protect young people at
work.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
USA:
Officials failed to act on Ground Zero perils
Emergency crews exposed to dust after the collapse of the World
Trade Center were poorly protected and now have lung problems
equal to 12 years of age-related respiratory damage, new research
indicates. Lung tests of 12,000 rescue workers in the year after
the disaster showed those present in the very early stages of
rescue suffered the most damage.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Britain:
Scottish and Welsh youngsters need protection
Union organisations in Scotland and Wales have backed the TUC
campaign for action on young worker safety. Ian Tasker, safety
officer with the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), said:
“There is a mistaken perception that injuries suffered by
younger workers are as a result of clowning around but this is
purely a smokescreen to cover the inadequate training being given
to young people embarking on their careers.”
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
India:
Dozens feared dead in mafia mine
Authorities in eastern India say they have given up hope of rescuing
a number of workers trapped since 2 August in an abandoned coal
mine. They say between 30 and 40 people are inside the mine in
Jharkhand state.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Britain:
Track union cries foul on toilet waste
Some of Britain's busiest mainline trains have been coating track
workers with an aerosol of human excrement because toilet tanks
have been overflowing and spraying waste on to the tracks, rail
union RMT has revealed.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Britain:
Staff get sun cream to stop skin cancer
Hundreds of council staff are to be given sun cream to protect
them from skin cancer. The move by Argyll and Bute Council follows
a union campaign on outdoor staff safety.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Britain:
CWU exercises its pedal power
Safety concerns have won out over penny pinchers in Royal Mail,
which runs the largest working fleet of cycles in the UK, communications
union CWU has said. After CWU pressure, an injection of £3
million has begun and a Royal Mail embargo on replacement bicycles
has ended.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Britain:
Amicus wants action over offshore safety
Offshore union Amicus is calling for urgent action to address
serious safety concerns in the sector. A meeting of union officers
this week discussed offshore safety and in particular “the
role and effectiveness” of the Health and Safety Executive’s
offshore division.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Bahrain:
India's plea on migrant labour camps rejected
Bahrain has rejected India's request for joint inspection of labour
camps in the kingdom. India’s plea came after a fire killed
16 Indian construction labourers in one of the camps.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Britain:
Fire crews concern at cuts and soaring injuries
Merseyside fire crews have expressed concern at official figures
showing a “scandalous” 118 per cent rise in the number
of local firefighters injured at emergency incidents in the last
three years.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Britain:
Jail terms for attacks on health staff
Two violent thugs have been jailed in Scotland for separate vicious
attacks on health service workers.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Britain:
Violence at work linked to clinical depression
Employees subjected to real or threatened violence at work run
a major risk of becoming clinically depressed or suffering other
stress related disorders, new research has concluded. A study
in the September 2006 issue in the Journal of Epidemiology and
Community Health found the magnitude of the risk was in direct
proportion to the amount of workplace violence experienced.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Britain:
Violent crime payouts move could bring delays
Delays in compensation payments to the victims of violent crime
could rise massively following the Home Office's shock decision
to close the London office of the Criminal Injuries Compensation
Authority (CICA), civil service union PCS has warned.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Britain:
Boss goes free after manslaughter verdict
The owner of a stone-cutting company has received a suspended
sentence after been convicted of the manslaughter of a 22-year-old
employee. Michael Shaw, managing director of Change of Style,
bypassed vital safety equipment on a stone-cutting machine.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Britain:
Lorry drivers jailed after death crashes
Two lorry drivers have been jailed for causing death by dangerous
driving in separate road traffic accidents.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Britain:
Essex fined £15,000 for cement burns
A construction firm has been fined £15,000 and ordered to
pay £7,000 costs after a plasterer suffered serious cement
burns.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Britain:
Alarm sounds on mobile phone tracking
Campaigners have expressed concern about the possible introduction
of new technology that could allow employees to be tracked by
their bosses at any time and place during the working day.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Britain:
Inquest into ConocoPhillips fire death
An inquest has opened into the death of a worker caught in a flash
fire at a Teesside oil refinery. He was one of two workers who
suffered first degree electrical burns in the electrical fire
at the ConocoPhillips site at Seal Sands on 19 July.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Britain:
Negotiating smoke-free workplaces
In summer 2007 all workplaces in England will follow Scotland
and become smoke-free. Wales is likely to follow suit. A new TUC
guide for union reps advises them on ‘Negotiating smoke-free
workplaces’ and says reps should not wait until the new
law takes effect before negotiating their smoke-free agreements.
This guide covers what the new laws say, and what union representatives
need to do now. It includes a draft workplace policy on smoking.
Negotiating
smoke-free workplaces - a guide for union representatives
• Risks 269, 12 August 2006
Britain:
Updated workplace health stats from HSE
A report published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) this
week shows that an estimated two million British workers suffer
ill health, which they believe was caused or made worse by work.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006
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EARLIER
NEWS |
Hazards
news, 5 August 2006
Iraq:
Killings spark new media targeting fears
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called for
an immediate inquiry by Iraqi authorities into the reported killing
of three journalists in just two days. The 1 August call came
after it emerged two of the deaths appeared to be targeted assassinations.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Britain:
Tax office turmoil after “robots” walk out
Civil service union PCS has said the “magnificent”
support for a 24 hour strike should prove to management that workers
will not accept a work reorganisation that would reduce them to
“robots” at risk of repetitive strain injuries (RSI).
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Venezuela:
Charlie Chaplin recruited for safety campaign
Charlie Chaplin's classic black-and-white movie Modern Times highlighted
the exploitation and horrendous conditions faced by US factory
workers during the Depression. Venezuela's leader Hugo Chavez
believes it is as relevant today as it ever was – and the
film has become a staple of safety training sessions as a result.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Britain:
Refuse collectors won’t take employer’s rubbish
Refuse collectors in the London borough of Haringey have taken
strike action in a safety dispute.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
USA:
Call for emergency action on work popcorn peril
Two large US unions and dozens of leaders in public and occupational
health are petitioning the US government to use emergency powers
to control worker exposure to a chemical in butter flavouring
that has sickened hundreds of workers. The government safety watchdog,
though, says it could take two years to consider the request.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Britain:
Body map finds missing toilets
A bodymapping exercise has identified unreported bladder problems
in a group of firefighters with inadequate access to toilets at
work. FBU members discovered while bodymapping that they suffered
from urinary problems they had been reluctant to admit it to each
other.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Britain:
Stressed out nurse awarded £140,000 payout
A member of health visitors’ union Amicus has been awarded
£140,000 compensation after being exposed to a “health-endangering”
workload. The High Court award was made after Melanie Garrod,
53, said she suffered two breakdowns when North Devon Primary
Care Trust failed to bring in temporary staff to cover for colleagues
on sickness or maternity leave.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Britain:
Scots staff “back festive opening ban”
The majority of shopworkers in Scotland support a new bill which
aims to ban large stores from opening on Christmas and New Year's
Day, retail union Usdaw has said. The Christmas Day and New Year's
Day (Scotland) Bill is currently being scrutinised by the Scottish
Parliament's Justice 2 Committee.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Britain:
Worker gets £5,500 for lost hearing
A worker suffering severe hearing loss caused by foundry noise
has received a £5,500 payout. Amicus member David Richards,
58, worked at the former St Gobain foundry in Risca, south Wales,
for 35 years until 2005.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Britain:
UCATT warning after crane deaths “accident”
Construction union UCATT has warned that without adequate workplace
risk assessments workers’ lives will be in jeopardy. The
warning came after an inquest jury delivered verdicts of accidental
death into the deaths of two men who plummeted to their deaths
after an inexperienced workman loosened the bolts to a 100ft crane.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Britain:
Five figure fine after near fatal fall
A Birmingham firm has been fined £10,000 after an employee
was seriously injured in a fall and “could easily have died”.
John Fogarty fell over five metres onto a concrete floor while
repairing a leaking warehouse roof.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Britain:
Roofer pays £5,750 for risky roofing
A Widnes roofer who ignored safety and first aid laws and who
was operating without the legally required insurance cover has
been fined £3,750 and £2,000 costs.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Britain:
Firm fined after worker suffers broken back
A construction firm has been fined £35,000 and ordered to
pay £12,860 costs after mortar tubs fell on a self-employed
worker, breaking his back. Colin Beamish fractured his spine in
three places while on a building site near Huntingdon in March
2005.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Britain:
Temperatures hit workers inside and out
Both indoor and outdoor workers have been wilting in Britain’s
record temperatures.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Britain:
Dockyard laundry may have saved women’s lives
Laundry facilities at Devonport Dockyard may have helped save
women's lives in Plymouth. The suggestion comes in the latest
annual report from the government’s Chief Medical Officer,
noting the “striking difference” between the proportion
of women to men in Plymouth falling victim to the asbestos cancer
mesothelioma compared with other shipyard areas.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Britain:
Bullied bank worker awarded £800,000
A City of London bank administrator who was subjected to what
a judge described as “a deliberate and concerted campaign
of bullying” by four women colleagues has been awarded £817,000
damages over the treatment she endured, which led to two nervous
breakdowns.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Europe:
REACH and worker protection conference
The European Union’s planned chemicals legislation reform,
REACH, should do much to help protect the health of workers who
are exposed to dangerous substances, says the European union confederation
ETUC. The ETUC and its research and training institute, ETUI-REHS,
are hosting a conference on “REACH and worker protection
legislation: two complementary pieces of law for improved worker
protection?” in Brussels on 19 September 2006.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Britain:
New HSE shiftwork guidance
Raising awareness of the health and safety risks of shiftwork
and suggesting sensible measures employers, safety representatives
and employees can use to reduce the negative impact of shiftwork
is the aim of a new Health and Safety Executive publication, the
safety watchdog says.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
Australia:
Smoking ban boost for work in pubs
Hospitality industry claims that jobs would be lost as a result
of Tasmania’s smoking ban in pubs and clubs have been proved
to be just an industry smokescreen. New official figures show
there now are more people employed by Tasmanian hotels and clubs
now than before the state's smoking ban took effect at the start
of the year.
Risks 268, 5 August 2006
|
EARLIER
NEWS |
Hazards
news , 29 July 2006
Britain:
TUC action call as workers feel the heat
Soaring temperatures should not mean baking workers, the TUC has
said. It is warning that as temperature stay high, employers who
fail to protect indoor workers could be breaking the law.
WorkSmart
advice on handling the heat • Risks
267, 29 July 2006
Britain:
Amicus wins payout for bullied reverend
The Church of England has paid compensation running into tens
of thousands of pounds to an evangelical clergyman who said he
was abandoned by his bishop over a dispute with parishioners in
the Algarve expatriate retirement belt. Clergy union Amicus said
the Reverend Eric Britt faced a campaign of abuse and intimidation
by one of his congregations in the Algarve and rather than supporting
him, his bishop withdrew his licence.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
New
Zealand: Action call as work deaths increase
The New Zealand government is calling on all businesses and workers
to make health and safety improvements in the workplace a key
priority this year. This follows workplace deaths investigated
by the Department of Labour rising to 65 in the year ended June
2006.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
Britain:
Cyber-bullying rules “should protect staff”
Teaching union NASUWT says new government guidelines to help schools,
parents and pupils tackle the issue of “cyber-bullying”
should also protect teaching staff.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
Britain:
Union warning on scaffolding qualifications
Firms should check that trainers issuing scaffolding qualifications
are providing the legally-required levels of training, the union
Amicus has warned. The union alert comes after was discovered
a training provider in Scotland had been claiming erroneously
its course reached the professional standard.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
Middle
East: NUJ condemns Israeli attacks on media
UK journalists’ union NUJ has protested to the Israeli authorities
about the targeting of the media in the current escalation of
violence in the Middle East. NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear
has written to the Israeli embassy in support of the International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ), which has condemned the Israeli
bombing of the Lebanese broadcaster Al-Manar.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
Britain:
HSE faces probe call in Shell deaths case
Offshore union Amicus has called for an investigation into the
workings of the Health and Safety Executive’s offshore division,
alleging the safety watchdog failed to take action which could
have prevented two deaths on Shell’s Brent Bravo platform.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
Global:
More profits, more deaths at BP
As the media oozed praise for global oil giant BP this week on
the announcement of record quarterly profits, another BP statistic
went largely unmentioned. A US contract worker became the firm’s
latest casualty, killed at the same BP Texas City plant where
15 died in an explosion last year.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006 •
More on BP’s
safety record
Britain:
Warning on flawed corporate killing bill
Unions and safety campaigners have warned that the corporate manslaughter
bill does not go far enough. A spokesperson for campaign group
Families Against Corporate Killers (Fack) said: “This bill
is not fit for purpose and will not have any major effect in deterring
negligent employers from injuring and killing people as it does
not carry the threat of imprisonment for gross negligence.”
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
Britain:
Scots fury over corporate killing plan
Trade union leaders in Scotland have reacted angrily to plans
for UK-wide legislation on corporate killing, claiming the proposed
bill does not go far enough. The Home Office says the new corporate
manslaughter bill would also be introduced as a corporate homicide
law in Scotland, which would mean a much weaker law than that
proposed by a Scottish expert group.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
China:
The high price of workplace ill-health
The cost of occupational illnesses and work-related injuries in
China has soared to 100 billion yuan (£6.8 billion) in direct
losses every year, underscoring the risk to workers' health, a
senior health official has said. The indirect costs could be double
that the figure, reaching 200 billion yuan (£13.6 billion),
said Li Tao, head of the Occupational Health and Poisons Control
Institute.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
Britain:
Hatfield report criticises firms
A final report into the Hatfield rail crash has found engineering
firm Balfour Beatty failed to manage track inspection and maintenance
at the site. Railtrack, which then controlled infrastructure,
did not effectively manage Balfour Beatty's work, added the Office
of Rail Regulation (ORR).
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
Britain:
Blast highlights Conoco Phillips safety concerns
News that two workers at a Teesside oil plant have been left fighting
for their lives after a flash fire has led to concerns about the
safety record of oil multinational Conoco Phillips. The men received
first degree electrical burns in the fire at the site at Seal
Sands, Middlesbrough.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
Britain:
Firm fined after teen loses three fingers
A teenage construction worker laying concrete on the new Wembley
Stadium site lost three fingers after his employer removed safety
guards from a machine. Ian Goom, trading as Aztec Screeding, of
Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire was fined £3,000 and
ordered to pay £3,028 costs at the City of London Magistrates
Court.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
Britain:
Michelin fined £100,000 for mangling hand
Tyre firm Michelin has been fined £100,000 and ordered to
pay costs of £12,500 after an employee’s hand was
mangled in a machine from which the guard had been removed. The
firm pleaded guilty to a breach of the work equipment regulations
at Stoke on Trent Crown Court.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
Britain:
Roller death brings £75,000 fine
A plant hire firm has been fined £75,000 after one of its
Plymouth employees was killed while loading a roller on to a lorry.
Ashtead Plant Hire Company Ltd, commonly known as A-Plant, was
also ordered to pay £18,500 costs by a judge at Plymouth
Crown Court.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
Britain:
What did HSE ever do for trade unions?
Unions and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) might have occasional
differences – OK, really big bust-ups – but that doesn’t
mean there’s not a lot of good stuff going on too. A new
briefing from HSE lists over 20 positive recent developments,
from the creation of a “worker involvement programme”
with dedicated staff and its own impressive six-figure budget,
to joint working on campaigns and publications.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
Britain:
Meat staff contract Q fever
Eighteen people who work at a meat processing plant in Bridge
of Allan in Stirlingshire have contracted the work-related infection
Q fever. NHS Forth Valley said it was possible others could be
affected by the outbreak of the flu-like illness and can also
lead to Q fever endocarditis, a serious heart condition in a minority
of sufferers.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
Global:
ILO launches child labour web movie
The International Labour Office (ILO) has launched a new online
movie on the plight of more than 200 million child labourers worldwide.
ILO says improvements are achievable, with a recent ILO report
saying the number of child labourers worldwide fell by 11 per
cent between 2000 and 2004, from 246 million to 218 million.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Britain:
Corporate manslaughter bill published
The government has finally introduced its proposed corporate manslaughter
bill into parliament with a view to it becoming law in the current
session. The bill, which was published on Friday 21 July, is little
different from what most safety campaigners expected and contains
no new directors’ duties.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
Britain:
Summer sizzler leaves staff sweating
As Britain experienced its hottest July day on record, trade unions
expressed concern over the effects that the heat was likely to
have on their members. The TUC launched a 'cool work' campaign
urging employers to relax dress codes as the temperature rises.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
Britain:
Betting shop safety campaign launched
The union 'Community' have launched a campaign for safer betting
shops. To kick off the campaign the union sponsored a horse race
at Newmarket. The campaign aims to examine the issues of security
and risk assessment in betting shops with particular reference
to violence at work.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
Britain:
Landmark bullying case welcomed
A landmark decision by the House of Lords that will give extra
protection to staff being bullied at work was welcomed by trade
unions. In the case, brought by a health policy researcher working
for Guys and St Thomas' NHS Trust, the court ruled that the Protection
from Harassment Act 1997, originally introduced to deal with stalkers,
also applies to harassment and bullying at work.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
Britain:
Government makes good for asbestos victims
The government delighted campaigners for justice for the victims
of asbestos by rushing through an amendment to the compensation
bill which had the effect of reversing a House of Lords ruling
which would have reduced the amount of compensation received by
many victims of asbestos or their dependants.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
Britain:
Moves to speed up mesothelioma claims
The government has announced interim measures to speed up compensation
claims for mesothelioma sufferers. In a written ministerial statement
Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton said that a number of
initiatives had been developed as a result of discussions between
the TUC, Association of British Insurers, and Association of Personal
Injury Lawyers.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
Britain:
Welcome for smoke free regulations
The government has issued the proposed regulations on how smoking
will be banned in workplaces and other public places in England
next summer. The consultation has been welcomed by the TUC and
also by health campaigners.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
Britain:
Public sector absence myth recycled
The Chartered Institute of Personal Development have published
their annual absence management survey of more than 100,000 employers.
This shows that, once again, the overall average level of absence
has fallen but goes on to recycle the old lie that public sector
absence is higher than private sector.
consultation has been welcomed by the TUC and also by health campaigners.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
Britain:
Hazards conference wows workers
The seventeenth annual hazards conference in Manchester saw over
500 safety representatives and safety campaigners frantically
learning safety and campaigning techniques to improve conditions
in their workplaces and wider.
consultation has been welcomed by the TUC and also by health campaigners.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
Britain:
Shell criticised following oil deaths
The oil company Shell has been strongly criticised in the Sheriff
court by failing to prevent the deaths of two men on the Brent
level platform. The Sheriff said the deaths could have been prevented
and the risk had been properly assessed, leading HSE’s Ian
Whewell, head of the its offshore division, to comment: “The
HSE believes the industry can, and should, do better.”
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
Britain:
Prosecution of the police following Menezes' shooting
The Crown Prosecution Service has announced it intends to prosecute
the Metropolitan Police Commissioner for offences under the Health
and Safety at Work Act following an investigation of the circumstances
surrounding the shooting death of Jean Charles de Menezes. The
decision to prosecute the police under the Health and Safety at
Work Act has been widely criticised, not only by the family of
Mr de Menezes, but also by safety campaigners who feel that this
is a completely inappropriate use of the Act.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
Britain:
Docs say bosses make you sick
The number of workers being issued with sick notes has increased
recently, according to an insurance industry poll of GPs and human
resources specialists. Doctors made it clear they blame employers
for failing to take responsibility for their employees' health
and wellbeing. The survey also found 40 per cent of companies
had absolutely no system in place for health management and 70
per cent admitted they did not see employees' health as their
responsibility.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
Britain:
Long hours may be worse for women
A University of Leeds, study has concluded long work hours may
affect women worse than men. Research has found that women who
work longer hours were more likely to smoke, take less exercise,
and eat unhealthily, patterns not seen in men.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
Britain:
Rotating shift work may increase heart risk
People who work rotating shifts may face a greater risk of developing
heart disease than those who work fixed days or fixed nights only.
The report, from Japan, showed that men who worked rotating shifts
were 60 per cent more likely to have a disease of the heart and
blood vessels than those who worked day shifts and were over twice
as likely to die of heart disease.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
China:
New network for injured migrant workers
A new support group for migrant workers in China has been formed.
China's record of health and safety has been criticised in the
past and migrant workers are thought to be particularly vulnerable
especially given the lack of support available.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
India:
Ship scrapping yard condemned
Ship scrapping yards across Asia, and particular within India,
have been condemned as 'death traps' by environmental group Greenpeace.
According to Associated Press, 372 workers have died in one shipyard
alone over the past 25 years.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
Australia:
Safety rep seeks to raise support
Only one safety representative is left on a major Australian rail
project following the dismissal of other union stewards and safety
representatives. Mal Peters is to tour Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane
to raise support for colleagues facing $28,000 fines.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
Britain:
New guidance in managing shift work
UK safety watchdog HSE has produced a new guide on shift work
and health and safety. The book draws on evidence available on
the negative effect on workers' health from various shift patterns
and gives advice on how these can be reduced and controlled.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006
Britain:
New RSI support group formed
A new national RSI charity has been established called RSI action.
This aims to help prevent RSI in the UK and also to support those
suffering from RSI conditions. The website has got some useful
information on RSI and also links to local support groups.
RSI
Action website
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards
news , 15 July 2006
Palestine:
IFJ condemns shooting of photographer
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned
the shooting of Palestinian photographer Mohammad Az Zanoun. He
was shot by Israeli forces as he took photographs in Gaza. “The
IFJ is calling on the Israeli government to protect all media
staff covering the conflict in the region,” said IFJ general
secretary Aidan White.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Britain:
Shopwork red card bid to stop red mist
Up to half a million shopworkers suffer verbal abuse every day,
a report by the retail union Usdaw suggests. As a centrepiece
of the union’s campaign against the growing problem, shopworkers
on 12 July - Respect for Shopworkers day - handed customers red
cards to remind them to respect staff.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
USA:
Toxic chemicals more expensive
There’s a high price to pay for toxic chemicals –
literally. A US study has found toxic chemicals are more expensive
than switching to safer alternatives.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Britain:
Union back safety campaign on foreign lorries
Lorry drivers’ unions have joined with vehicle operators
to call for more stringent checks on foreign lorries working in
the UK, after government inspectors found they were three times
as likely to be breaking safety rules.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Ukraine:
Chernobyl thyroid cancer risk confirmed
A new study has confirmed a substantially increased risk of thyroid
cancer among people exposed to radiation during childhood and
adolescence after the Chernobyl disaster.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Britain:
Chauffeurs driven into the ground
A new GMB survey of chauffeur drivers has found they are working
dangerous long hours and are under constant pressure from well
heeled bosses to work in excess of 70 hours per week.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Global:
Greed, aggression, murder and asbestos
Stories of greed, aggression and murder have highlighted the shameful
past, present and future of asbestos, the world’s biggest
ever workplace killer.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Britain:
Unions and Amec set offshore standard
Two offshore unions have hailed an agreement with international
project-management and service company Amec on the use of foreign
workers. GMB and Amicus announced that non-UK labour recruited
for a project in the North Sea this summer would have the same
terms and conditions as people working alongside them from this
country.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Britain:
Union victory on Sunday opening
A campaign by retail union Usdaw to prevent an extension of Sunday
trading hours has been successful. Trade and industry secretary
Alistair Darling announced on 6 July that Sunday shopping hours
for large stores will not be extended.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Britain:
Families unite against work killers
Relatives of people killed at work have created a new national
campaigning group to push for justice for safety crimes. Fack
– families against corporate killers – will campaign
to stop workers and others being killed in preventable incidents
and will direct bereaved families to sources of support.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Britain:
Four prosecutions and almost a funeral
A firm fined four times in its six year history for criminal safety
breaches came close to killing a man in the latest incident. Sonae
(UK) Limited was fined £70,000 and ordered to pay £77,046
costs at Liverpool Crown Court following a fire and dust explosion.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Britain:
Trust fined for latex blunder
The health trust running Swindon’s Great Western Hospital
has been fined after a nurse with a known allergy to latex was
given latex gloves to wear. Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust
was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £10,000 in costs
after admitted failing to properly assess the risk to nurse Wendy
Roberts of wearing latex gloves
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Britain:
Miscarriage welder wins damages
A female welder who raised safety concerns when pregnant and who
went on to win a sex discrimination claim against her father's
company has been awarded £7,500 for injury to feelings.
Suzanne Bunning, 31, took GT Bunning of Dereham, Norfolk to an
industrial tribunal after suffering a miscarriage.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Britain:
Royal Mail not delivering on safety
A Royal Mail preoccupation with productivity has seen safety sidelined,
a damning official report has found. CWU national safety officer
Dave Joyce said: “The HSE's findings say a lot about the
lack of compliance with safe working methods in Royal Mail delivery
and what's clear from the report is that local Royal Mail managers
lack knowledge, commitment and resources and as a result are undermining
safe systems of work and have failed to put safety policies into
practice.”
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Australia:
Boss wants advance notice of sick leave
Australia’s bad bosses have taken full advantage
after the government took an axe to basic employment protection.
Workers have been denied access to union safety training, refused
entry to inspect hazardous workplace or investigate accidents
and have been threatened with fines for standing up against unsafe
and unhealthy conditions - but now one employer had gone a step
further and demanded his staff warn him at least 12 hours in advance
if they are going to be sick.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Britain:
HSE dismisses sick public sector myths
Public sector workers are no more likely to go sick than private
sector workers in similarly sized firms, the Health and Safety
Executive has found. But its research did find that some private
sector employers, particularly smaller firms, were inclined to
under-report true absence levels.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Britain:
Two million shaken, not heard
More than two million workers in Great Britain are exposed to
either excessive noise or hand arm vibration, says the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE), which has launched a national programme
to tackle the problems.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Britain:
Risk assessment is the easy bit
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is urged businesses to spend
less time dotting 'i's and crossing 't's on risk assessments and
more time on putting practical actions into effect.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
Britain:
Nanotechnology probe announced
A nanotechnology policy review has been ordered by the government,
two years after an officially commissioned report raised safety
concerns. Ministers have asked the Council for Science and Technology
(CST) to undertake an independent review of the government's response
to a 2004 report which called for a precautionary approach and
concluded the existing laws on safety and nanotechnology - products
produced using microscopic engineering of substances - were not
up to the job and must be reviewed, with additional requirements
introduced on testing and labelling.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards
news , 8 July 2006
Britain:
Blitz proves the union safety case
A Health and Safety Executive construction blitz which found most
sites visited had potentially life-threatening work methods proves
the case for enforcement and greater safety reps’ rights,
the union Amicus has said.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006 •
Hazards
‘Sure, we’ll be safe’report on falling HSE
inspections and enforcement
Zimbabwe:
Asbestos industry fights to the death
Zimbabwe’s leading chrysotile asbestos producer says it
will increase its search for new export markets in response to
the growing campaign for a global asbestos ban.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
Britain:
Rail worker wins stress disability claim
A Heathrow Express worker fired after suffering stress-related
illness as a result of a workplace ‘needlestick’ injury
has won an unfair dismissal claim. An employment tribunal ruled
RMT activist Sally Jenkins should be reinstated after Heathrow
Express failed to consider reasonable adjustments to her role
as a customer services representative to help her return to work
from illness, in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
USA:
BP raises refinery blast payout
Oil giant BP has set aside an extra $500m (£270m) to cover
claims from the victims of an explosion at one of its refineries
in Texas last year. It has already allocated $700m (£380m)
for the March 2005 blast, which killed 15 people and injured 180.
More on BP’s safety record.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
Britain:
Post managers dangerously overloaded
Royal Mail postal managers are reaching breaking point as a result
of increasing workloads and staff shortages and should not face
further cutbacks, their union has warned.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
Europe:
Chemical standard row rumbles on
The tortuous passage of the European Union’s planned chemical
safety law, REACH, has made some minor progress. On 27 June the
European Council in Luxembourg formally adopted its common position
on the REACH regulation, but without the clause requiring substitution
of some substances with safer alternatives.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
Britain:
Overloaded journalists set to strike
Overloaded journalists in South Yorkshire are to strike against
poor pay and soaring workloads which are affecting workers’
health. A massive 85.7 per cent of NUJ members at Doncaster-based
South Yorkshire Newspapers voted to strike after nine months of
“futile” talks.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
Canada:
Union wants charges against death firm
A union federation in Quebec, Canada, is demanding a killer company
face charges. The Quebec Federation of Labour (QFL) says Transpave,
a company in St-Eustache that makes concrete blocks for patios,
should be brought before the courts.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
Britain:
Bombings hero slams compensation 'hypocrisy'
A Tube driver awarded the MBE for helping victims of the 7 July
2005 London bombings has slammed the ‘hypocrisy’ of
ministers seeking to axe compensation to workers injured at work
through criminal actions.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
Britain:
Union wants inquiry into firefighter deaths
Firefighters’ union FBU has called for an independent investigation
into the deaths of two firefighters. The union and the bereaved
families hit out after a jury, following a 10-day inquest, decided
last month that the pair had died because of a lack of water and
communication failures.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
Canada:
Job stress raises blood pressure
Researchers have confirmed that chronic job stress can raise blood
pressure, and that high job demands, tight deadlines and low support
in the workplace appeared to be triggers, particularly in men.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
Britain:
Widow welcomes new asbestos law
An asbestos widow has welcomed the government commitment to ensure
asbestos victims do not lose out on compensation as a result of
a House of Lords ruling.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
Britain:
Hatfield crash fine cut to £7.5m
Engineering firm Balfour Beatty has had the £10 million
fine for its part in the 2000 Hatfield train crash cut to £7.5m.
The record-breaking fine was reduced by the Court of Appeal after
defence lawyers argued that it was excessive.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
Britain:
Anger at reduced fine for Hatfield disaster
Unions have reacted with the dismay to the Court of Appeal decision
to reduce the £10 million fine imposed on Balfour Beatty
for criminal safety offences related to the Hatfield rail crash.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
Britain:
Six figure settlement after rail worker’s death
The family of a rail worker killed by a train near Purley Oaks
station have received £160,000 compensation. Nurani Kassim,
36, was part of a maintenance team checking rails for defects
just months after the Hatfield rail disaster in October 2000.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
Britain:
Ministers reveal welfare overhaul
A shake-up of the benefits system aimed at getting one million
sick or disabled people into jobs has been published. The bill
spells the end of incapacity benefits, which will be replaced
by an employment and support allowance from 2008, saving an estimated
£7bn a year.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
Britain:
Cautious union response on welfare
Unions have given a cautious response to the government’s
new welfare proposals.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
Britain:
Safety a key factor in Olympics construction plan
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has welcomed a strong health
and safety message in the government’s 2012 Olympics construction
plans.
Risks 264, 8 July 2006
|
LATEST NEWS
|
Hazards
news, 1 July 2006
Britain:
Safety reps are sidelined on sickness
Trade union safety reps are being sidelined on sickness absence
issues, with the resulting policies frequently controlled by management
and punitive, a survey has found.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
USA:
Police union plans ground zero registry
The USA’s largest police union is considering a registry
to track the health of its officers who toiled on the pile of
World Trade Center rubble. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association
(PBA), which represents NYPD officers, say they cannot afford
to wait for government registries to assess illnesses - like cancer
and severe respiratory ailments - over periods of years.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
Britain:
‘Robots’ strike threat as work gets LEAN and mean
Around 8,000 civil servants are threatening strike action in response
to production line-style methods in tax offices that are turning
them into “robots” and risk landing them with repetitive
strain injury. The PCS ballot for strike action, and action short
of a strike, follows the introduction of new working practices
into HMRC called “LEAN”.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
Global:
Asbestos industry continues “safe use” con
The asbestos industry and its friends are continuing to claim
they have International Labour Organisation (ILO) support for
the continued use of asbestos, despite an ILO resolution expressly
refuting this claim. A spate of recent press stories would appear
to be part of an ongoing charm offensive by the asbestos.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
Britain:
Tony Blair urged to back “kids on farms” campaign
Farmer workers’ union TGWU has called on prime minister
Tony Blair to back its “kids on farms” safety campaign.
The union says official figures show 46 children under 18 years
old have died in accidents on farms in the last 11 years.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
Britain:
Unions want safer ship recycling
Irresponsible shipbreaking must be eradicated immediately with
more work instead undertaken in safe and robustly regulated UK
yards, a union organisation has said. In a response to a government
consultation on a “ship recycling” strategy, the Northern
TUC said: “We would welcome the development of a thriving
ship dismantling industry in the United Kingdom, which dismantled
all defunct state-owned vessels to the highest standards of health,
safety and environmental protection.”
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
Britain:
STUC says take safety crimes seriously
Taking money from a business is treated far more seriously than
when a business takes someone’s life or health, STUC has
said. STUC health and safety officer Ian Tasker said: “We
have to ask why a crime of fraud attracts a 10 year penalty while
employers who kill or maim their workers do not even end up in
court”.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
Britain:
Shell accused over oil rig safety
Shell has been plunged into a major safety scandal with a senior
consultant to the company revealed maintenance documents had been
falsified and safety procedures ignored in the North Sea. The
revelations, which have led to calls from oil and gas unions for
the Department of Trade and Industry to examine Shell’s
licence to operate, come from Bill Campbell, a former senior Shell
engineer, who alleges that Shell allowed the pursuit of greater
oil and gas production to compromise safety.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
Britain:
Allergy nurse's compensation deal
An RAF dental nurse whose career was ruined by a potentially fatal
allergy to latex gloves has been awarded £260,000 compensation.
Lisa Furphy, 35, had to be invalided out of the RAF in 2004 because
of her allergy to powdered latex gloves, following an anaphylactic
attack while working at RAF Holton in 2003.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
Europe:
Unions demand legal safety measures
Europe’s trade unions are calling on the European Commission
to ensure its forthcoming health and safety strategy does not
undermine workers’ legal protection from risky employers.
The union submission says the strategy must put a central focus
on two key risks, musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and chemicals.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
Britain:
Pub trade 'not hit' by smoke ban
A quarter of Scots are likely to visit pubs more often now public
places are smoke-free, according to a survey. The Cancer Research
UK poll found just 10 per cent of the 1,000 over-18s surveyed
were less likely to visit a pub since the ban came in three months
ago.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
USA:
'Smoking gun' found in asbestos case
An insurance giant that tried to evade payment of asbestos compensation
in the UK, is facing the prospect of a massive asbestos bill in
the US after it inadvertently handed over a “smoking gun”
document in a court battle with General Motors. Royal & SunAlliance
is attempting to recover the document that the US car manufacturer
claims to be the killer evidence in its $1bn (£550m) lawsuit
over personal injury liabilities linked to asbestos.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
Britain:
Widow wins asbestos lung cancer battle
The widow of a Birmingham man, who died from lung cancer after
being exposed to asbestos, has won her legal battle for compensation.
Bill Byrne, a former scaffolder died in 2002 aged 71 -seven years
earlier his brother, Bob, who had worked alongside him at Mills
Scaffolding and Lyndon Scaffolding during the 1950s and 60s, died
aged 61, from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
China:
Campaign calls for cadmium compensation
The global metalworkers’ union federation IMF is calling
on its affiliates worldwide to join the campaign for compensation
for workers in China suffering from cadmium poisoning. When Gold
Peak Industries opened its Huizhou factories in 1994, Chinese
workers were not warned of the dangers of handling highly dangerous
cadmium and were initially refused masks. Years later, these workers
suffer from cadmium poisoning, are going into debt from medical
bills and unable to find new employment.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
Britain:
UK faces huge lung disease toll
Lung diseases kill more people in the UK than in most other European
countries, according to a study. The report says occupational
lung diseases such as mesothelioma, caused by exposure to asbestos
fibres, are increasing. Mesothelioma deaths have increased by
70 per cent to 1,862 since 1992.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
Britain:
Site blitz leads to mass stoppages
A one-day construction site safety inspection blitz by the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) has resulted in 17 work stoppages on
19 sites visited. On 19 June HSE inspectors visited 19 sites in
Grimsby and Cleethorpes and issued the prohibition notices stopping
work immediately because people were at risk of falling and sustaining
serious, if not fatal, injuries.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
Britain:
Olympic contractors must prove safety case
Contractors hoping to win work for London’s 2012 Olympics
will have to prove they are “walking the talk” on
health and safety and have excellent leadership on both issues.
Lawrence Waterman, the newly appointed head of health and safety
for the Olympic Delivery Authority, said health and safety will
be vital issues for tendering firms.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
Britain:
Safer working pays off at Durham factory
Production at a North East factory has increased by up to 40 per
cent after safer work processes and greater staff participation
in safety discussions were introduced. Durham-based manufacturing
firm Schmitz Cargobull sought professional help and guidance from
the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on introducing newer, safer
production methods for workers who work at height.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
USA:
More proof links Parkinson's to pesticides
New highly credible evidence linking exposure to pesticides to
the development of Parkinson’s disease has come from a study
in the US. A team from Harvard School of Public Health found that
people who said in 1992 that they had been in contact with pesticides
were 70 per cent more likely to develop Parkinson’s within
the next 10 years.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006
Britain:
It’s in your hands
A new short guide to work-related dermatitis and its prevention
is available on the TUC website. The ‘It’s in your
hands’ guide is part of a campaign coordinated by the Health
and Safety Executive and the safety clothing trade organisation
BSIF and is backed by occupational hygiene and medical organisation
and TUC.
TUC skin hazards webpages
|
EARLIER
NEWS |
Hazards
news, 24 June 2006
Britain:
Government stands up for asbestos victims
The TUC has welcomed the government’s announcement that
it is to amend the Compensation Bill to reverse last month's House
of Lords ruling that slashed the compensation payments made to
mesothelioma sufferers and their families.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006
USA:
Boss guilty for double homicide
A US company boss has been found guilty of double homicide after
the deaths of two employees. Brent Weidman, the former president
of Far West Water and Sewer Company, was found guilty by a jury
of two counts of negligent homicide and two counts of endangerment
in the deaths in 2001 of 26-year-old James Gamble and 62-year-old
Gary Lanser.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006
Global:
ILO to promote global asbestos ban
The International Labour Office (ILO) is to pursue a global ban
on asbestos, the world’s biggest ever industrial killer.
The landmark decision came with the adoption of a resolution on
14 June at the ILO conference in Geneva and followed a high level
union campaign.
ILO to promote
global asbestos ban, Hazards interview with ILO SafeWork
director Jukka Takala, 20 June 2006.
Britain:
The human tragedy behind the campaign
The government’s move to ensure asbestos cancer victims
receive compensation and ILO’s push for a global ban come
as deaths from Britain’s worst occupational killer continue
to grow.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006
Italy/Belgium:
Asbestos bosses get suspended jail terms
Former bosses of the Italian subsidiary of an asbestos multinational
have received suspended prison terms for workplace safety crimes.
Karel Vinck, a top Belgian manager who used to be at the head
of the Italian subsidiary of the asbestos cement giant Eternit
in the 1970s, was given a suspended three-year prison sentence
by a Sicilian Court last month, together with seven other former
managers.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006
Britain:
BECTU launches asbestos register
Theatre and TV technicians’ union BECTU says it has seen
an upturn in the number of members seeking advice on asbestos
and has set up an asbestos register to ensure exposures are recorded.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006
Europe:
Workplace health to be top priority
Workplace health will be a top priority for the Finnish government’s
presidency of the European Union, to run for six months from 1
July.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006
Britain:
HSE agrees to retain offences records
A Health and Safety Executive policy which required the removal
of “naming-and-shaming” records from its prosecutions
and notices database has been reversed after concerns were raised
by unions and safety campaigners. TUC-backed health and safety
journal Hazards first called for the end of the deletion of records
more than five years old in January this year.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006 •
Total
suck up, Hazards magazine, No.93, Jan-March
2006.
Britain:
CWU calls for higher deaths penalties
The government must introduce corporate manslaughter laws and
stringent directors’ safety duties if it is to make dangerous
employers think twice before putting their staff in danger, communications
union CWU has said. The union call came after Royal Mail and its
facilities management spin-off Romec Ltd were fined a total of
£250,000 and ordered to pay costs totalling £47,000
after Romec engineer and CWU member Ian Dicker, 47, fell to his
death through a fragile skylight at the West London Mail Centre
in July 2003.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006
Britain/Holland:
Fumes exposure killed contract worker
A contract worker was killed by a lung infection brought on by
inhaling toxic gases at work, an inquest has heard. Robert Bartell,
from Lakenheath, was “suffocated” by bacterial pneumonia
following exposure to gases from his welding torch on a ship in
Holland, where he had been working.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006
Britain:
TUC in renewed work cancer call
The UK must revise its massive official under-estimate of the
work cancer toll, the TUC has said. The call comes after research
this month confirmed TUC’s charge that the UK’s occupational
cancer estimate is outdated and inadequate, missing most workplace
cancers.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006
Britain:
CSP calls for better risk assessment
Workers are being injured because of corner-cutting by employers
and inadequate risk assessment, physios’ union CSP has warned.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006
Britain:
Docklands railway safety strike looms
SERCO should get back to the talks table if it wants to avoid
industrial action over its plans to slash safety critical platform
staff on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), rail union RMT has
warned.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006
Britain:
Ryanair staff raise safety concerns
Check-in and ground staff employed by budget airline Ryanair are
under dangerous pressures at work, their union GMB has said. Delegates
to the union’s congress this month called on authorities
to step up safety checks at Britain’s airports following
reports from GMB members of increasing incidences of verbal and
physical attacks on airport check-in staff and a growing number
of industrial accidents resulting from insufficient ‘turnaround
time’ for groundstaff to prepare a plane for take-off.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006
Britain:
Company fined after fatigue crash death
A potato firm has been fined £30,000 after one of its workers
crashed and died while driving home after a third consecutive
shift of nearly 20 hours. The Produce Connection, of Chittering,
Cambridgeshire, admitted failing to ensure the health of workers
and the public.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006
Britain:
Suicide note blamed work pressure
An engineer who killed himself wrote in a suicide note saying
“the pressure of work has turned my mind into a ticking
time bomb,” an inquest has heard. Cardiff Coroner's Court
heard how 28-year-old Wayne Williams hanged himself after a party
to mark the end of a year-long contract in Singapore.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006
USA:
Heart attacks linked to job loss
Losing your job late in your career doubles the chance of suffering
a heart attack or stroke, a study says. Once risk factors such
as diabetes, smoking, obesity and high blood pressure were taken
into account, the risk of the involuntary job loss group having
a heart attack after losing their job was 2.5 per cent and a stroke
2.4 per cent.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006
Britain:
Study looks at pesticide link with Parkinson's
Scientists have begun a three-year study aimed at establishing
whether pesticides can cause Parkinson's disease. The project,
funded by the environment department Defra comes as a US study
of men exposed to pesticides published online last week found
they are more than twice as likely to develop Parkinson's disease
as are men who have managed to avoid contact with the toxic chemicals.
Risks 262, 24 June 2006
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards
news, 17 June 2006
Britain:
What’s it like out there?
The TUC wants to find out what safety reps are up to. TUC’s
sixth survey of safety reps is designed to provide the TUC and
individual unions with information about where their safety reps
can be found, and about their experiences and needs.
About
the TUC Safety Reps Survey 2006 • Online
survey form – fill it out now!
Global:
Union warning on ‘hidden horror’ at sea
A new report from the global transport workers’ union federation
ITF paints a disturbing picture of abuses of human rights at sea.
‘Out of sight, out of mind’ warns that as a result
of recruiting scams, vessel abandonment and virtual forced labour,
some seafarers and fishers are suffering horrific abuse.
Risks 261, 17 June 2006
Britain:
Blair ‘to change’ asbestos ruling
Tony Blair says he is hoping to change a ruling that will stop
bereaved spouses receiving full compensation for their partner’s
deaths from an asbestos related cancer. The TUC welcomed the announcement
from the prime minister, made this week at a GMB conference in
Blackpool, that the government hopes to overturn the recent Barker
judgement on the amount of compensation payable to the victims
of mesothelioma and their families.
Risks 261, 17 June 2006
Global:
Union call for controls on precarious work
Working conditions are under constant threat as a result of the
increasingly precarious nature of work, according to a report
from the global metalworkers’ union federation IMF.
Risks 261, 17 June 2006
Britain:
Broken leg payout after 8 foot fall
An Amicus member has been awarded an £77,178 payout after
suffering a broken leg in a fall from a ladder. Alan Arthur, a
moulding machine operator, fractured his shin bone when he fell
from an 8ft ladder at Lectroheat Industrial Heating Limited's
plant in Bedwas in March, 2004.
Risks 261, 17 June 2006
Australia:
Work cancers massively under-estimated
About 5,000 Australians a year develop cancer after
being exposed to cancer-causing substances at work - more than
twice as many cases as previously estimated. Research by the Queensland
Cancer Fund and University of Sydney found 11 per cent of all
cancers in men and 2 per cent of cancers in women were linked
to occupation, prompting doctors to warn that occupational health
and safety regulations may be failing to protect workers.
Risks 261, 17 June 2006
Britain:
World Cup is a bad bet for bookies’ staff
Betting shop staff are facing a barrage of violence and abuse
from irate punters, and unions fear the combination of extended
opening hours and World Cup fever could make the sick behaviour
worse.
Risks 261, 17 June 2006
Britain:
Asda staff want less work not more beer
Asda Wal-Mart has been criticised by the union GMB for offering
a crate of beer to workers at the Dartford distribution depot
who up their workrate to a back-breaking 1,500 boxes per shift.
The union has called on the management at the Asda Wal-Mart distribution
depot to end unsafe and unhealthy work practices and is warning
the company’s beery tactics could lead to some workers breaching
safety regulations in an attempt to meet unsafe and unhealthy
work targets.
Risks 261, 17 June 2006
Britain:
Sacked for making a safety stand
GMB has called on the owner of the American Dry Cleaning Company,
Julian Stone, to reinstate two workers who stood up against a
long hours culture and poor working conditions and were sacked
for their trouble.
Risks 261, 17 June 2006 •
Hazards victimisation webpages.
Britain:
Train drivers condemn cab conditions
Train drivers have condemned degrading and dangerous cab conditions.
Delegates at the ASLEF conference at Scarborough called for major
improvements in cab conditions, with a procession of speakers
complaining of excessive temperatures, poor ergonomics, inadequate
ventilation and excessive noise levels across the rail system.
Risks 261, 17 June 2006
Britain:
“Grave concerns” about work inquest reform plans
Government plans to reform the coroners’ court system could
remove a crucial workplace safety check, campaigners have warned.
Two changes in the draft Coroners Service Reform Bill - to reduce
the number of people sitting on an inquest jury and to leave it
to a coroner's discretion to convene a jury in cases of workplace
deaths - have caused alarm.
Risks 261, 17 June 2006
Britain:
Government acts on soaring NHS violence
Shocking official statistics showing 1 in every 22 NHS staff has
been assaulted are the “just the tip of the iceberg,”
health care union UNISON has said. Health minister Caroline Flint
said under new plans developed by the NHS Security Management
Service, those who are threatening or abusive to NHS staff could
be slapped with a £1,000 fine and NHS bosses will have the
power to remove individuals from the premises.
Risks 261, 17 June 2006
Britain:
£600,000 for man crushed by truck
An adventure guide left paraplegic after a trucked toppled on
him is to receive £600,000 compensation. Brian Thomson,
38, from East Lothian, sued his former employer, Exodus Travel,
for failing to provide adequate equipment.
Risks 261, 17 June 2006
Britain:
White finger sufferer gets four digit payout
A Leeds man has been awarded a £7,500 compensation payout
after he contracted the industrial disease vibration white finger
(VWF). Barry Wallis, 47, was awarded the sum following a claim
against Insituform Technologies Ltd, based in Wakefield.
Risks 261, 17 June 2006
Britain:
Stressed workers 'turning to drink'
A growing number of workers are turning to drink to help cope
with the effects of work-related stress, according to new research.
Risks 261, 17 June 2006
Britain:
Staff still forced to work excessive hours
Too many employees are still being forced to work long hours without
appropriate rest, despite the growing evidence that this is bad
for health and safety, according to the safety professionals’
organisation IOSH.
Risks 261, 17 June 2006
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
10
June 2006
Britain:
New rights – now it doesn’t hurt to ask!
The TUC has produced a handy guide to help safety reps respond
to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) consultative document
on how to encourage, improve and increase worker involvement in
health and safety.
Risks 260, 10 June 2006
Iraq:
The deadliest media war in history
A global campaign has been launched to end the terrifying ordeal
of journalists in Iraq where at least 129 media staff have been
killed and hundreds more injured or disabled in what has become
the deadliest media war in modern history. On 15 June –
Iraq’s National Day of the Press – there will be demonstrations
in Iraq and around the region to highlight what the IFJ says is
the “unspeakable suffering” of media in a country
where press freedom is close to extinction because of ruthless
extremists and targeting of journalists by warring factions.
Risks 260, 10 June 2006
USA:
“Safe” construction giant done for record fraud
The contractor building the new California Bay Bridge eastern
span, KFM (Kiewit/FCI/Manson), which once boasted the job was
five times safer than the average heavy construction project,
has been cited by state safety authority CalOSHA for an accidents
cover up.
Risks 260, 10 June 2006. Hazards website: www.hazards.org/bs
Global:
Football doing 'Sweet FA' to end exploitation
Labour Behind the Label and the TUC have called on the football
associations behind the 32 competing national teams to insist
their sportswear sponsors call time on the production of replica
kits in exploitative conditions.
Labour
Behind the Label • Risks 260,
10 June 2006.
Britain:
Unions seek fairer deal for temps
Unions have called for employment rules to be made fairer for
temporary workers, who often miss out on the rights enjoyed by
permanent staff.
Risks 260, 10 June 2006
UAE:
Anger at reduced heat break plan
Construction workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have expressed
dismay at the Ministry of Labour’s decision to reduce the
midday break in July and August by 90 minutes. The break was implemented
last year as a safety measure to give labourers a rest during
the hottest part of the day in July and August.
Risks 260, 10 June 2006
Britain:
Safety dispute workers get jobs back
Around 100 construction workers locked out for over two weeks
after a safety dispute have been reinstated with full continuity
of service. Workers employed by Chicago Bridge and Iron constructing
liquid natural gas tanks on the South Hook LNG site in Milford
Haven walked out when they became concerned about a potential
asbestos risk.
Risks 260, 10 June 2006
Europe:
Cabin crew are safety professionals say unions
A UK union has said the European Parliament is risking airline
safety by omitting cabin crew from strict licensing requirements.
A delegation from Amicus joined cabin crew unions from across
Europe on 1 June to hand over a petition to the European Parliament
in Brussels calling for Pan European Licence provisions to include
cabin staff.
Risks 260, 10 June 2006
Britain:
Rail dispute continues amid safety fears
Strikebreaking activity by South West Trains (SWT) could place
safety at risk, rail union ASLEF has warned.
Risks 260, 10 June 2006
Global:
Brutal suppression of workers' rights worldwide
Workers worldwide are facing murder, assaults and arrest for defending
basic workplace rights, a global survey has found. The ‘Annual
survey of trade union rights violations’, published by global
union confederation ICFTU, reported that 115 trade unionists were
murdered for defending workers' rights in 2005, while more than
1,600 were subjected to violent assaults and some 9,000 arrested.
Annual survey of trade union rights violations. Risks
260, 10 June 2006
Britain:
Safety watchdog defends enforcement record
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had defended a recent enforcement
record which has seen inspections, regulatory contacts, prosecutions,
convictions and enforcement notices all drop dramatically.
Risks 260, 10 June 2006
Europe:
EU working time law talks hit stalemate
Talks which could have resulted in the end of the UK’s opt
out from the European Union's 48-hour working week have hit a
stalemate
Risks 260, 10 June 2006
Global:
Fraudulent chrome cancer study downplayed risks
A highly influential occupational health journal has had to retract
a paper on risks posed by cancer-causing chromium after it emerged
the paper was not written by the scientists credited, but by consulting
firm which has chromium industry clients.
EWG
“Chrome-plated fraud” webpages • Risks
260, 10 June 2006
Australia:
Jobs cause one in 10 adult asthma cases
One in 10 people who develop asthma as an adult probably have
their workplace to blame, a study has found.
Risks 260, 10 June 2006
Global:
Global Labour Inspection Network
The Global Labour Inspection Network (GLIN), created by award-winning
Brazilian labour inspector Fernanda Giannasi and Danish labour
inspector John Graversgaard, has the stated aim of defending the
role of health and safety enforcement agencies and workplace inspections.
Global
Labour Inspection Network • Risks
260, 10 June 2006
Global:
French government calls for worldwide asbestos ban
France has called on the International Labour Organisation (ILO)
to ban asbestos all over the world. The proposal was presented
by junior employment minister Gerard Larcher at the ILO’s
annual conference in Geneva.
Risks 260, 10 June 2006
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards
news, 3 June 2006
Britain:
Over 300 MPs back Save our Sundays campaign
Retail union Usdaw says more than 300 MPs are backing their case
against any extension of Sunday trading hours. So far 273 MPs
from across the political spectrum have signed an Early Day Motion,
sponsored by Brian Jenkins MP, opposing any extension to the present
six hour limit that large stores can open on Sundays.
Risks 259, 3 June 2006
Japan:
Government sued for asbestos neglect
Asbestos victims are suing the Japanese government following what
they say has been decades of neglect in dealing with a known health
hazard. In the first group lawsuit against the government over
asbestos, the eight plaintiffs say the government is responsible
for their suffering because it took no action against factories
that produced or used asbestos, despite being fully aware nearly
70 years ago of asbestos-related health problems.
Risks 259, 3 June 2006
Britain:
Nat Semi cancer toll is “tip of the iceberg”
More than 70 cancer deaths at the National Semiconductor plant
in Greenock, Scotland, could be the tip of the iceberg, health
experts have warned. Experts have identified several types of
cancer, including brain and breast tumours, which are four to
five times higher than normal.
Risks
259, 3 June 2006
Ireland:
Call for action on killer bosses
Campaigners in Ireland are demanding legal action against employers
guilty of health and safety breaches. The call comes after figures
released in May showed 73 people died in work-related accidents
last year, the highest annual number of workplace deaths recorded
for more than a decade.
Risks 259, 3 June 2006
Britain:
Dockers can sue government on asbestos
A retired docker who suffers from an asbestos-related illness
has welcomed a High Court decision allowing him to sue the government
for compensation. Robert Thompson, 65, won the right to take legal
action along with docker's widow Winifred Rice.
Risks 259, 3 June 2006 •
John
Pickering and Partners news release
Iraq:
TV crew killed in Baghdad attack
Two British TV journalists were killed by a car bomb in Iraq on
29 May. Soundman James Brolan, 42, and camera operator Paul Douglas,
48, died filming in Baghdad for US news network CBS.
Risks 259, 3 June 2006 •
IFJ
news release
Britain:
BNP councillor was rightly sacked
The Court of Appeal has blocked a claim of race discrimination
by a member of the BNP, who was sacked by a Bradford bus company
on health and safety grounds. Arthur Redfearn was dismissed in
2004 after winning a seat on Bradford Council, when Serco said
they feared the possibility of reprisal attacks.
Risks 259, 3 June 2006
China:
Bankers arrested over mine deaths
Two bankers were arrested for their alleged links to a coal mine
accident in northern China that left at least 57 miners missing
and feared dead. The official Xinhua news agency reports at least
15 officials have been arrested, including two from the Zuoyun
county branch of the Agricultural Bank of China, who are suspected
of “responsibility” in the accident.
Risks 259, 3 June 2006 •
ICEM
in brief
Britain:
Death gets £20,000 fine
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning companies to
ensure that adequate precautions are being taken to prevent injuries
from workplace transport accidents following a fatality involving
a skip delivery vehicle.
Risks 259, 3 June 2006
Canada:
Job-related cancer killed firefighter
Days after he died from colon cancer, a firefighter finally won
a legacy that will help other firefighters hit with job-related
illnesses. Joe Adamkowski, 49, died on 14 May before learning
the Workplace Safety Insurance Board had approved his claim for
job-related cancer compensation.
Risks 259, 3 June 2006 •
US firefighters’ union IAFF webpages on presumption laws
in the US and Canada
Britain:
Firm fined £7,000 after employee loses fingers
A Shawclough company has been fined £7,000 after a worker
lost three fingers in a horrific accident. Eurofabs (UK) Ltd was
also ordered to pay £1,588 costs after being prosecuted
by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Risks 259, 3 June 2006
Cambodia/Australia:
Campaign to protect “beer girls”
Young women in Cambodia employed by major brewing companies as
“beer girls” are facing exploitation, violence and
HIV infection. Sharan Burrow, president of Australian union federation
ACTU, has launched an international campaign by a coalition of
unions, human rights and political leaders against the promotional
campaigns used by beer companies seeking to gain a slice of the
lucrative Asian beer market.
Risks 259, 3 June 2006 •
Fairtrade
Beer • beergirls.org
Britain:
Firm pays £60,000 for pelvic injuries
A construction firm has been fined £60,000 after a worker’s
pelvis was shattered in a site incident, with the injury leading
to constant paid and chronic health problems. London firm Byrne
Brothers was also ordered to pay £12,026 costs, with Judge
Richard Hone telling them he wanted to hit the shareholders as
well as the company.
Risks 259, 3 June 2006
Britain:
New criticism of workplace health advice service
The resources allocated to Workplace Health Connect (WHC) should
have been devoted to local authority health and safety enforcement,
a council safety boss has told the Chartered Institute of Environmental
Health’s (CIEH) May conference. Geoff Makin, environmental
health manager at Coventry City Council, said the number of site
visits proposed by the service were a “drop in the ocean”,
adding “wouldn’t it have been better to spend that
money on local government instead?”
Risks 259, 3 June 2006
Australia:
Strike threat over unsafe laws
There could be widespread strike action in Australia in response
to severely curtailed legal safety rights, a top union leader
has warned. Bill Shorten, national secretary of the Australian
Workers Union (AWU), has accused the federal government of paying
lip service to health and safety standards in the workplace, while
eroding union safety rights as part of a package of industrial
relations reforms.
Risks 259, 3 June 2006
Britain:
Hatfield rail firms given £21m costs
The two companies fined over the Hatfield rail crash have been
handed £21 million of taxpayers' money to pay for their
defence costs - £7 million more than their record penalties
last year. Four people died and 102 were injured in the crash
in October 2000 when a King's Cross to Leeds express derailed
at 115mph.
Risks 259, 3 June 2006
Britain:
Senior judge treated for stress
Scotland's most senior judge is being treated for stress. Lord
Hamilton is understood to be in the £1m Glasgow Priory Hospital,
which has treated a number of high profile patients for conditions
such as stress and alcohol or drug addiction.
Risks 259, 3 June 2006
Australia:
Bosses hide deadly evidence
Companies in Australia are using new anti-union laws to keep unsafe
conditions and workplace accidents, including fatalities, under
wraps. In the latest incident, an Australia Post-owned warehouse
has blocked union access to a site following a fatal forklift
accident.
Risks 259, 3 June 2006
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards news, 27 May 2006
Britain:
TUC plan to help disabled people into work
Far too few disabled people who want to work are being recruited
by employers and too many disabled employees, including workers
who become disabled after being injured at work, are losing their
jobs, according to a TUC report.
Risks 258, 27 May 2006
Britain:
Editor wins £37,500 RSI damages
A Guardian newspaper night editor who says she was refused access
to the company physiotherapist after developing crippling elbow
pain has been paid £37,500 in damages for repetitive strain
injury (RSI). Andrea Osbourne, who had been a casual at the paper
for two and a half years, worked almost exclusively using a mouse,
at speed, for an average nine hours a night, and up to 45 hours
a week, without a break.
Risks 258, 27 May 2006
Britain:
Asda Wal-Mart faces dangerous workload attack
Asda Wal-Mart workers are being asked “to work themselves
to death”, a union has charged. GMB says the company has
a “job and finish” regime and high work targets that
encourage unsafe work practices.
Risks 258, 27 May 2006
Britain:
RMT says Tube must reinstate axed safety jobs
Tube union RMT has warned it will be in dispute with both London
Underground and Metronet if safety-critical ‘lampmen’,
unilaterally removed by Metronet from track inspection work, are
not re-introduced this week.
Risks 258, 27 May 2006
Britain:
Bloody shambles slammed after vidiot syringe attack
TV union BECTU has condemned Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty
for squirting the contents of a syringe at a camera during an
interview. The incident happened during an interview on MTV’s
Overdrive programme, when a syringe of what is believed to be
Doherty's blood was squirted towards the camera and had to be
wiped from the lens.
Risks 258, 27 May 2006
Britain:
Asbestos protesters demand their jobs back
Hundreds of construction workers believe they have been sacked
over a safety dispute. The group of contractors building new terminals
to hold liquid natural gas near Milford Haven walked out last
week over concerns that asbestos was being removed from the site.
Risks 258, 27 May 2006
Britain:
Attack continues on falling safety inspections
TUC’s warning last week that the Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) must reverse a dangerous and dramatic reduction in workplace
safety inspections has received backing from unions and safety
professionals.
Risks 258, 27 May 2006 •
Full report: Sure,
we'll be safe: HSE is walking away from inspections, Hazards,
number 94, Summer 2006.
Britain:
Disbelief as Balfour Beatty challenges safety fine
Rail union ASLEF has responding angrily to Balfour Beatty’s
court challenge to the £10m fine imposed last year for its
part in the October 2000 Hatfield train disaster in which four
people died and 102 were injured.
Risks 258, 27 May 2006
Britain:
Safety to come second in Olympic bids?
Construction firms with a string of recent safety offences have
been named in the four-strong shortlist for building contracts
for the 2012 London Olympics. TUC last year welcomed London’s
successful Olympic 2012 bid, but warned that the organisers should
“make sure that safety is built in right from the word go”.
Hazards online, 29 May 2006
Britain:
Report unearths hidden workplace health crisis
A new report from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) suggests
levels of work-related ill-health, injury and exposure to hazards
could be much higher than earlier official estimates suggest.
The WHASS report found over threequarters of all workers have
workplace health and safety concerns.
Risks 258, 27 May 2006 •
WHASS
webpage
Britain:
Insurers call for tax breaks for work rehab
ABI, the body representing insurers, has called for new tax incentives
to improve the UK’s poor record on rehabilitating employees
who are injured or fall ill in the workplace.
Risks 258, 27 May 2006
Britain:
Cancer warning from bladder cancer widow
The widow of a process worker who died from bladder cancer caused
by exposure to workplace chemicals is urging other at risk workers
to seek immediate medical attention. Douglas Taylor worked for
the Castleford company, Hickson and Welch, between 1961 and 1990
during which he came into contact with aromatic amines. Risks
258, 27 May 2006 • Hazards
cancer news and resources
Britain
HSE setback in unforeseeable risks case
Employers should not be found negligent on health and safety grounds
when employees are acting outside their remit, the Court of Appeal
has ruled. The decision is a setback for the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE), which had argued that employers should be required
to take reasonable steps against unforeseeable risks and that
negligent actions by employees are irrelevant to the guilt of
an employer.
Risks 258, 27 May 2006
Britain:
Driver crushed while repairing bus lights
A London bus driver was crushed to death after a “bendy”
bus rolled into him, an inquest has heard. Although Michael Hallinan,
54, was killed while working, his death will not be included in
the Health and Safety Executive’s work-related fatalities
column, but will be recorded as a road traffic accident.
Risks 258, 27 May 2006
Australia:
Union warning on dangerous laws
Australian unions have renewed their warning that industrial relations
(IR) laws introduced this year will undermine workplace safety.
They are urging federal workplace minister Kevin Andrews to lift
a ban on workplace agreements which allow workers access to union
occupational health and safety training.
Risks 258, 27 May 2006
Canada:
Campaigners refute “safe” asbestos myth
International health and environmental authorities have refuted
industry claims about the supposed safety of Canadian chrysotile
(white) asbestos, and have warned about the proliferation of industry
spin dressed up as scientific evidence. MiningWatch Canada, Occupational
Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, and three national trade unions
paid for a two page spread in the Hill Times newspaper presenting
their case.
Risks 258, 27 May 2006 •
International
Ban Asbestos Secretariat
Palestine:
Unions act after IDF kills Palestinian driver
Global transport union federation ITF has demanded an Israeli
government and military investigation following the fatal shooting
of a member of the ITF-affiliated General Union of Transportation
Workers in Palestine. The ITF has also received the assistance
of the General Federation of Labour in Israel, Histadrut, which
has sent an official letter to Israeli defence minister Amir Peretz,
asking for an explanation of the shooting of the driver Zakaryia
Hussian Abu Muhsen Daraghmah by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers.
Risks 258, 27 May 2006
|
EARLIER
NEWS |
Hazards
news , 20 May 2006
Britain:
Workplace safety inspections now at a new low
Workplace safety inspections in the UK have plummeted to a new
low, increasing the chances of workers being killed, made ill
or injured by their jobs, according to new official figures released
by TUC. The previously unpublished figures were obtained by the
TUC-backed safety journal Hazards from the Health and Safety Executive
(HSE), which originally denied recording the information.
Sure, we’ll be safe: HSE is walking
away from inspections, Hazards, Number 94, April-June 2006
Britain:
Nuclear competition ‘a threat to safety’
Safety standards in the nuclear industry will be put at risk by
the competition culture being enforced by the Nuclear Decommissioning
Authority (NDA), Britain’s largest nuclear union Prospect
has warned.
Risks 257, 20 May 2006
Britain:
TUC calls for new rights for reps
The TUC is urging the government to introduce new rights and enforce
existing safety consultation laws to make best use of the lifesaving
role of union safety reps. Writing in the latest issue of the
union health and safety journal Hazards, TUC head of safety Hugh
Robertson welcomed the new Health and Safety Executive consultation
on ‘Improving worker involvement – improving health
and safety.’ Consultation consultation: TUC
tells the government it wants new rights for safety reps, Hazards,
Number 94, April-June 2006
India:
Bhopal victims slam biased committee
The victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy have condemned the
composition of a coordination committee set up to deal with the
health and social consequences, which they say is dominated by
government officials and includes a former medical adviser to
Union Carbide.
Risks 257, 20 May 2006
Britain:
Warning on work skin cancer risk
Rising skin cancer rates have prompted renewed union warnings
about reducing work-related risks from sunlight exposure. General
union GMB said Britain’s 1 million outdoor workers should
be protected.
Risks 257, 20 May 2006
Global:
Union says social compliance is “cosmetic”
Garment workers around the world are worse off than they were
a decade ago despite 10 years of intense activity in the name
of corporate social responsibility, the global union federation
for the sector had said. Neil Kearney, general secretary of ITGLWF,
told the Association of Suppliers to the British Clothing Industry's
conference that great reliance has been placed on the social auditing
profession, but that intermittent visits from under-qualified
auditors are not capable of bringing about real progress.
Risks 257, 20 May 2006
Australia:
“Serious” concerns at building tumour link
A union has said there is a “serious problem” with
an Australian university building that had to have its top floors
evacuated after a cluster of brain tumours were discovered. University
union NTEU has called on RMIT University in Melbourne to ensure
the health and safety of its staff following reports that seven
staff members working in the tower block have been diagnosed with
brain tumours over the last seven years.
Risks 257, 20 May 2006
Britain:
Government must act now for asbestos victim justice
A House of Lords ruling which will cut millions from compensation
payouts to asbestos cancer sufferers and their families has been
condemned by TGWU general secretary Tony Woodley, who has called
for the government to act immediately to change the law and restore
compensation.
Risks 257, 20 May 2006
Britain:
Government bid to speed up asbestos payouts
The government has said it wants to see swifter compensation settlements
for mesothelioma sufferers and their families. Work and pensions
secretary John Hutton said his department will work with the Association
of British Insurers, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers
and the Department for Constitutional Affairs to urgently identify
ways to speed up the settlement of claims for the asbestos-related
cancer.
Risks 257, 20 May 2006
Britain:
Scots campaigners win asbestos argument
Hugh Henry, Scotland’s deputy justice minister, has promised
to look at the country’s compensation laws to ensure victims
of asbestos-related cancer and their families are getting fair
treatment. Many victims of the terminal condition mesothelioma,
which is caused by asbestos, delay applying for compensation while
they are alive for fear this will deprive their families of payouts
after they are dead.
Risks 257, 20 May 2006
Canada:
Work conditions raise risk of having a small baby
Exposure to range of workplace risks in pregnancy can increase
the likelihood of having an under-sized infant, according to a
new report. Researchers reporting in the American Journal of Public
Health said factors that had a cumulative effect on risk included
working night hours, irregular or shiftwork schedule, standing,
lifting loads, noise, and high psychological demand coupled with
low social support.
Risks 257, 20 May 2006
Britain:
Sick leave levels ‘dropping’
Working days lost through sickness absence are at their lowest
level in 20 years, a new CBI report suggests. The business leaders'
group said the figure fell last year by four million days to 164
million days.
Risks 257, 20 May 2006
Britain:
Occupational health pays off
Investing in occupational health helps cut absence rates, a study
by the manufacturers’ organisation EEF has concluded. Its
survey of 600 firms employing over 120,000 workers found a “clear
link” between addressing sickness absence and improving
business performance.
Risks 257, 20 May 2006
Britain:
Lidl fined £50k for safety offences
Lidl supermarket has been fined £50,000 after two workers
were seriously injured. The firm was charged with two breaches
of the Health and Safety at Work Act which left two delivery drivers
unable to work.
Risks 257, 20 May 2006
Britain:
Inquest verdict sparks investigation review
Authorities have said they are to reconsider evidence into the
death of two workers in a factory fire, following an inquest jury's
open verdict. The families of Chris Mead and Martin Butler were
disappointed that no prosecutions had been made following the
devastating fire at the Anvil Alloys International factory in
Whittlesey.
Risks 257, 20 May 2006
Britain:
Firms fined £350k after worker is crushed
Two construction companies have been fined a total of £350,000
after a worker was crushed to death at a development of luxury
flats in London. Foreman Jack Tangney, 29, had been guiding a
crane operator as he lifted a huge wooden shutter into place,
even though he was unqualified for the job, the Old Bailey heard.
Risks 257, 20 May 2006
Britain:
Balfour Beatty appeals record Hatfield fine
A £10m fine imposed on engineering firm Balfour Beatty over
the Hatfield rail crash for one of the “worst examples”
of safety negligence was “excessive”, defence lawyers
have argued in the Court of Appeal. Old Bailey judge Mr Justice
Mackay said at the October trial the company's failure to abide
by safety rules was “one of the worst examples of sustained
industrial negligence in a high risk industry I have ever seen.”
Risks 257, 20 May 2006
Britain:
Builder fails in bid to get out of jail
A builder will have to serve a jail term after an employee plunged
30ft to his death from a crane, a court has ruled. Appeal court
judges upheld the manslaughter conviction handed to Wayne Davies
who was jailed for 18 months in January on charges relating to
the death in 2004 of Mark Jones.
Risks 257, 20 May 2006
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards news, 13 May 2006
Britain: Amicus blueprint for better
jobs
Health and safety and more control of the working environment
are essential components of “good” work, Britain’s
largest private sector union has said. ‘Good work: An Amicus
agenda for better jobs’ puts the two factors at the head
of a list of “five key elements that need to be considered
in the pursuit of improving working lives.”
Risks
256, 13 May 2006
USA: Political
animals say the dumbest things
The man appointed by President George W Bush to the USA’s
top health and safety job has been accused of “astonishing
insensitivity” after implying in a jokey speech that dumb
employees were the cause of America’s appalling workplace
fatality record.
Risks
256, 13 May 2006
Britain: Union defends remains of the
day of rest
Extending Sunday shopping hours would have a devastating impact
on the family lives of Britain’s 3.1 million shopworkers,
retail union Usdaw has told the new team of ministers at the Department
of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Risks
256, 13 May 2006
Ireland:
“Massive increase” in work illnesses
There has been a massive increase in work related illnesses
in Ireland, with 60,000 people affected in just three months,
a union has revealed. SIPTU called for action to tackle the escalating
numbers of employees affected.
Risks
256, 13 May 2006
Britain:
Minister blames “poor management” for work toll
Britain’s health and safety record must improve, safety
minister Lord Hunt has said. In a speech to the Royal Society
for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) he said most of the blame
for the workplace toll of deaths and injuries was down to poor
health and safety management.
Risks
256, 13 May 2006
Australia: Did profit undermine gold
mine safety?
Miners and union leaders in Australia have blamed managers keen
to exploit rising gold prices for a Tasmanian mine collapse that
left two men trapped a kilometre below ground for 14 days and
one miner dead. Several miners said that mine managers had failed
to leave enough of the deeper levels unexploited to provide support.
Risks
256, 13 May 2006
Britain: Company fined over horrific
drill accident
A construction company is facing a fines and cost bill of £50,000
for breaching health and safety regulations after an employee
suffered horrific injuries at a site in Enfield.
Risks
256, 13 May 2006
Australia:
Company doctors hurt injured workers
Australia Post has been found by an official inquiry to have broken
the law by using its in-house doctor scheme to force injured workers
back to work and to deny workers' compensation. Evidence provided
to AIRC showed employees who attended their own doctor were found
unfit for work 95 per cent of the time, yet when they saw a company-appointed
doctor just six per cent were found unfit for work.
Risks
256, 13 May 2006
Britain: Firm fined £150,000
after worker's death
A Birmingham firm that admitted breaches of health and safety
rules following the death of a worker has been fined £150,000.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) brought the case at Birmingham
Crown Court after the death of Ian Milligan, who worked for Clifton
Steel Limited.
Risks
256, 13 May 2006
Britain:
Britain’s deadly waste industry kills again
A 66-year-old man has died after being hit by a bin lorry in North
Tyneside, the latest in a disastrous series of deaths blighting
the industry. HSE in March warned that there had been a massive
upturn in waste industry deaths affecting workers and members
of the public, with the total for the year up from two deaths
in 2001/02 to double figures last year.
Risks
256, 13 May 2006
Britain:
Refuse collectors face rubbish risks
Fortnightly rubbish collections could put refuse workers’
health at risk due to toxic gases released, experts have warned.
The longer period between collections allows dangerous emissions
to build up, causing respiratory irritation, scientists have found.
Risks
256, 13 May 2006
Britain: Toxic warnings for nano industry
Hundreds of nanotechnology products about to hit shop shelves
have not been properly tested for their safety, a top workplace
and environmental health expert has warned. Edinburgh-based Professor
Anthony Seaton said concerns tiny particles from the products
might cause respiratory, cardiac and immune problems had not been
properly assessed.
Risks
256, 13 May 2006
Europe:
Chemical giants accused of “corrosive lobbying”
Large chemicals firms have led a concerted push to undermine and
destroy European Union attempts to introduce stringent controls
on hazardous chemicals, a Greenpeace report has claimed. It says
industry’s bid to nobble REACH, the proposed EU chemicals
law, had “scared and misled decision-makers” by denying
the problems of chemical contamination and creating fear over
job losses and economic costs.
Greenpeace
news release • Toxic
lobby: How the chemicals industry is trying to kill REACH,
Greenpeace, May 2006 • Risks
256, 13 May 2006
Britain:
Safety systems failed at Buncefield
Failure of safety systems at the Buncefield oil depot meant a
storage tank was overflowing unleaded petrol for more than 40
minutes before an explosion in which 43 people were hurt. Fuel
was piped into the tank in Hemel Hempstead, Herts, for 11 hours
before the blasts on 11 December last year, the latest investigation
board report said.
Buncefield
Investigation Board statement and news
release • Risks
256, 13 May 2006.
Britain: Immobile office workers given
DVT warning
Office workers risk being struck down by deep vein thrombosis
(DVT) if they sit at their computer screens for long periods without
a break, health experts have said. The warning came as it emerged
that a computer programmer from Bristol almost died after a 12-hour
stint in front of his screen in what is believed to be one of
the first cases in the UK of a growing phenomenon dubbed e-thrombosis.
Risks
256, 13 May 2006
Britain: School asbestos linked to
another death
Another death has been linked to occupational exposure to asbestos
in a school. Victor Kirk, 66, a divorced retired caretaker from
Paignton, died from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma on 6 April.
Risks
256, 13 May 2006
Britain:
Asbestos site advert ‘misleading’
The firms bidding to re-develop a former asbestos factory for
housing published a misleading advert downplaying asbestos risks,
a watchdog has ruled. After complaints from asbestos campaigners,
the Advertising Standards Authority said claims about levels of
asbestos at the site were misleading, in what is believed to be
first case where ASA has been used to expose company spin on an
occupational health-related issue.
Risks
256, 13 May 2006
|
EARLIER
NEWS |
Hazards
news, 6 May 2006
Britain: Speak up for better safety
reps’ rights!
The Health and Safety Executive has now published the dates of
its regional “discussion meetings”, to road test opinion
on new workers’ consultation rights. HSE last month issued
a consultative document, after lengthy pressure from the TUC,
and now wants “to seek views on how to encourage, improve
and increase worker involvement in health and safety risk management.”
• Meeting
dates and locations: 24 May, Cardiff, 17.30-19.30; 25 May,
Cardiff, 08.30-10.30; 31 May, Scotland (location to be finalised),
17.30-19.30; 1 June, Scotland (location to be finalised), 08.30-10.30;
6 June, Manchester, 17.30-19.30; 7 June, Manchester, 08.30-10.30;
13 June, London, 17.30-19.30; 16 June, London, 09.30-11.30. Improving
worker involvement – Improving health and safety
USA:
Union report reveals work deaths increase
The rate of fatal injuries in US workplaces has increased for
the first time in a decade, according to a new report from national
union federation AFL-CIO. ‘Death on the job’ reveals
the reported rates of workplace fatalities rose overall and the
reported rates of illnesses and injury declined slightly.
AFL-CIO
news release •
Death
on the job: The toll of neglect - A national and state-by-state
profile of worker safety and health in the United States •
Risks
255, 6 May 2006
Britain:
Usdaw safety reps want to PIN down dangers
Retail union Usdaw is to call for extended rights for union safety
reps, including the right to issue Provisional Improvement Notices
(PINs). A proposition backing the call for safety reps to have
the power to issue the legally-binding notices to stop illegally
dangerous work was passed at the union’s Blackpool conference.
Risks
255, 6 May 2006
USA: Making beds is breaking backs
Luxury bedding might be a blessing for hotel patrons, but it is
a major pain for overworked hotel staff. A just-released study
by the UNITE HERE union of 40,000 hotel workers' injuries at 87
hotels from 1999 to 2005 found that the room attendants responsible
for changing bedding had the highest injury rate. UNITE
HERE news release •
Risks
255, 6 May 2006
Britain: Unions warn HSE on asbestos
risks
Trade unions and safety campaigners have reiterated their warning
to the Health and Safety Executive about proposed alterations
to the regulations covering asbestos work. The warning came ahead
of a Construction Safety Campaign organised march and rally in
London on Workers’ Memorial Day, 28 April, supported by
construction sector unions and south-east region TUC, SERTUC.
Risks
255, 6 May 2006
New Zealand:
Workers pay for work hazards
Work-related ill-health in New Zealand is massive drain on workers
and the economy, an official report has concluded. The National
Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee (NOHSAC) report
calculated the combined costs of suffering, premature death and
financial loss from occupational disease and injury for the first
time, putting it at NZ$20.9 billion (£7.3bn) - is four times
higher than previous estimates. NOHSAC
news release •
Risks
255, 6 May 2006
Britain: MPs back call for 28 April
holiday
Dozens of MPs have backed union calls for Workers’ Memorial
Day to be recognised as a national holiday. In its first week
– a week that included the May Day holiday weekend –
78 MPs signed up to a GMB-backed Early Day Motion (EDM) in the
House of Commons calling for official recognition of the 28 April
annual event.
GMB
news release • Check to see if your MP has signed EDM
2025, 24 April 2006 If not, ask why not. Find
your MP – you just need to know your postcode, MP’s
name or constituency name.
India:
Union survey reveals shipbreaking perils
Vulnerable migrant workers are being exploited and placed in dire
danger in India’s shipbreaking yards, a union survey has
found. The shipbreaking project of global metalworkers’
federation IMF surveyed over 1,600 workers from shipbreaking yards
in Mumbai and Alang, India and found even skilled workers had
not received basic training in health and safety, there was no
protective clothing provided and there was massive under-reporting
of serious accidents.
IMF
shipbreaking webpages •
Risks
255, 6 May 2006
Britain: Hospital workers vote to wipe
out MRSA
Hospital workers should not be required to take home and clean
work clothing contaminated with body fluids, says health service
union UNISON. Delegates to the union’s health conference
in Gateshead called for proper laundry facilities for their uniforms
to help combat MRSA and other hospital acquired infections. UNISON
news release • Risks
255, 6 May 2006
Australia:
Government attacks health and safety
Workplace health and safety is being jeopardised as a result of
industrial relations reforms in Australia, national union federation
ACTU has warned. It is calling on the federal government to repeal
the sections of its new industrial relations laws that ban workplace
agreements from giving workers leave to attend union-provided
health and safety training or meetings.
ACTU
news release •
Risks
255, 6 May 2006
Britain: Fire crews back action for
safe staffing
Fire crews in Hertfordshire have voted eight to one in favour
of strike action over a cuts package they believe could place
the public and firefighters at risk. Some of the most savage cuts
are falling on stations which were the first to respond to the
Buncefield fire.
Risks
255, 6 May 2006
Australia:
Safety reps face government-inspired harassment
An Australian single mother and safety rep has been hauled before
a special building commission hearing under the threat of six
months' jail. Brodene Wardley, a crane driver and union health
and safety representative for Roche Mining, said: “I'm just
a mum trying to earn a living and trying to take on another role
on the job with occupational health and safety, and this is what
I ended up doing - getting dragged through court.”
Risks
255, 6 May 2006
Britain: Lords slash asbestos payouts
Thousands of widows will not receive full compensation for their
husbands'
deaths from asbestos-related cancer, Law Lords have ruled. The
3 May majority decision will mean there will be a compensation
limit in cases involving several employers, none of whom can be
blamed categorically for the onset of the fatal illness.
Risks
255, 6 May 2006 • Barker (Respondent) v. Corus (UK)
plc (Appellants) (formerly Barker (Respondent) v. Saint Gobain
Pipelines plc (Appellants)) Murray (widow and executrix of the
estate of John Lawrence Murray (deceased)) (Respondent) v. British
Shipbuilders (Hydrodynamics) Limited (Appellants) and others and
others (Appellants) Patterson (son and executor of the estate
of J Patterson (deceased)) (Respondent) v. Smiths Dock Limited
(Appellants) and others (Conjoined Appeals. Full
House of Lords judgment
Britain: Asbestos ruling will mean
thousands lose out
Asbestos cancer victims have been made to pay the price for their
employers’ negligence, top legal experts have said. Negligent
employers will not be liable to pay 100 per cent compensation
if other culpable employers have gone out of business and their
insurers cannot be found.
Thompson
Solicitors • Irwin
Mitchell news release • Risks
255, 6 May 2006
Global:
ILO pushes for rules ratification
A series of eight new safety posters from the International Labour
Office pushing the case for countries ratifying key occupational
safety and health conventions. The posters cover ILO international
rules on safety in mines, agriculture and construction, asbestos
and chemical safety and more general conventions on official safety
inspections, occupational health and safety and provision of occupational
health services.
Occupational
Health and Safety - Ratify the Conventions!, ILO • Risks
255, 6 May 2006
Britain: Corus investigated after another
death
The police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are investigating
the latest death at a Corus steel plant in Port Talbot. A father-of-two
who was injured in the 2001 explosion at the south Wales plant
died in hospital after falling into molten waste. Corus said Kevin
Downey, 49, was “instrumental” in helping to tackle
the 2001 incident in which three workers died.
Risks
255, 6 May 2006 • Recent
safety offences at Corus – Hazards website
Britain:
No prosecution for record lung disease firm
There will be no safety prosecution of the Birmingham engineering
firm which in 2004 saw what officials say may be world’s
largest outbreak of a long-recognised work-related lung condition.
Hilda Palmer of Greater Manchester Hazards Centre expressed concern
at the failure of both the firm and HSE to take more prompt action.
HSE
news release • Risks
255, 6 May 2006
Britain: Scots backing smoking ban
A month after Scotland’s smoking ban took effect on 26 March,
threats of legal challenges and a customer revolt appear to have
been nothing more than smoke and mirrors, as the ban is proving
very popular indeed. Seven out of 10 pub-goers in Scotland agree
with the smoking ban in pubs, according to new research conducted
for trade magazine The Publican.
Risks
255, 6 May 2006
Britain: Mild bird flu confirmed in
farm worker
A poultry worker is suffering from conjunctivitis after contracting
the H7 strain of bird flu, the Health Protection Agency has confirmed.
H7 has no relationship to the deadly H5N1 strain which has killed
over 100 people, mainly in South Asia.
HPA news release • Hazards
magazine infections webpages • Risks
255, 6 May 2006
Global:
Asbestos and corporate greed
A group of Euro MPs has published a devastating criticism of the
asbestos industry and its continuing promotion of the worldwide
asbestos trade. ‘Asbestos: The human cost of corporate greed’
was launched by the European United Left/Nordic Green Left Group
(GUE/NGL) ahead of Workers’ Memorial Day, at a 27 April
press conference in the European Parliament in Brussels.
GUE/NGL
website
|
More recent news
Hazards news, 29 April 2006
Britain:
Speak up for better safety reps’ rights!
Want better rights for trade union safety reps? Then you better
speak up now. After lengthy pressure from the TUC, the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) this week issued a Consultative Document
“to seek views on how to encourage, improve and increase
worker involvement in health and safety risk management.
Improving
worker involvement – Improving health and safety, Consultative
Document CD207, full consultative document, summary document,
print-off-and-use feedback form and online feedback form. Single
printed copies of the Consultative Document and summary can be
obtained from HSE
Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 2WA, Tel: 01787
881165, Fax: 01787 313 995.
Risks
254, 29 April 2006
USA: Inspectors save lives –
if you let them
Official safety inspectors can do lifesaving work – but
only where they are allowed to do their job. Safety inspectors
stopped work on a construction site immediately before a building
collapsed and lives were saved; a safety inspector was blocked
from shutting part of a hazardous coalmine and lives were lost.
Risks
254, 29 April 2006
Britain: Rail
union wins safety staffing stand-off
Strike action by more than 750 RMT platform station staff and
guards at newly re-privatised South Eastern Trains was averted
this week after the company withdrew cuts in platform staff and
agreed to honour a pledge to staff certain “high risk”
stations.
Risks
254, 29 April 2006
USA: Report calls for action on corporate
killers
A major US health and safety group has launched a national campaign
against killer employers. A National Council on Occupational Safety
and Health (National COSH) “dirty dozen” report launched
the campaign and highlighted 12 companies that it says have been
guilty of serious safety violations, including the firms responsible
for the Texas City refinery explosion (BP) and the Sago mine disaster
(ICG) which between them killed 27 workers.
Risks
254, 29 April 2006
Britain:
Refuse union threatens attack court action
General union GMB held a mass meeting of its members working on
the King's Lynn refuse contract this week, to push for the resolution
of grievances including concern at increasing attacks on staff.
Risks
254, 29 April 2006
UAE: Report
reveals massive abuses of migrant workers
A new report on labour standards in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
has identified “massive abuses” of the migrant workers
who constitute about 95 per cent of the private sector workforce.
Risks
254, 29 April 2006
Britain:
Unions think of new ways to work
The TUC is appealing to academics from the UK and across the world
to sign up to a new, free information sharing network. The Union
Ideas Network, launched on 24 April, plans to bring together researchers,
policy makers and trade unions with the aim of breathing fresh
ideas into the union movement, and has an explicit health and
safety section.
Union Ideas
Network • UIN
health and safety section
Europe:
Agreement on workplace silica risks
More than 2 million workers in many different sectors across Europe
are to be covered by a joint union-employer pact to reduce risks
from exposure to crystalline silica, a substance that can cause
lung cancer, respiratory disease and which has been linked to
kidney and autoimmune system problems.
Risks
254, 29 April 2006
Britain: TUC supports Work Wise UK
The TUC is backing Work Wise UK, a new three-year initiative to
discourage overwork and encourage the widespread adoption of smarter
working practices, such as flexible working, mobile working, remote
working and working from home.
Work
Wise UK website
Australia: Lives wasted, bosses escape
punishment
Australian companies and their directors convicted of safety breaches
as a result of workplace deaths and other serious accidents owe
almost Aus$5 million (£2m) in unpaid fines imposed by New
South Wales (NSW) courts.
Risks
254, 29 April 2006
Britain: Firm
fails to escape HSE enforcement action
A firm that tried to wriggle out of a Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) improvement notice has had its attempt rejected by an employment
tribunal. HSE defended successfully an employment tribunal appeal
by Menzies Aviation (UK) Ltd against the improvement notice, served
on the company after an HSE inspector spotted baggage handling
risks at Manchester Airport.
HSE
news release • Risks
254, 29 April 2006
Britain: New
workplace health czar is a Dame
The first “workplace health czar” has turned out to
be Dame. The new czarina, Professor Dame Carol Black, a doctor
and president of the Royal College of Physicians.he becomes the
first ever National Director for Health and Work, despite being
a rheumatologist with no experience of occupational health and
safety.
Risks
254, 29 April 2006
Britain: Five x-ray scanners have miscarriages
A union has called for answers after it was revealed five security
guards operating new airport body scanners have had miscarriages.
TGWU fears the x-ray machines, which penetrate 1cm under the skin,
could be responsible.
Risks
254, 29 April 2006
Britain: Six figure fine for metal
firm death
A Birmingham company has been fined £150,000 and £11,722
costs after employee Akhtar Zaman, died as a result of a poorly
planned work process. Joseph Ash (Galvanizing) Limited pleaded
guilty to three breaches of health and safety legislation in a
case brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
HSE
news release • Risks
254, 29 April 2006
Britain: Pottery work linked to asbestos
cancer
A retired pottery worker has submitted a damages claim against
Royal Doulton amid allegations the former bone china giant left
him with the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. John Shenton, 72, claims
12 years spent working for the famous pottery company - when it
was Allied English Potteries - exposed him to dust from Asbestolux
material.
Risks
254, 29 April 2006
Global:
International support for asbestos campaign
Unions worldwide called for global ban on asbestos, as part of
the 28 April Workers’ Memorial Day activities. The call,
spearheaded by global building and wood union federation BWI,
saw action in countries from Argentina and Burkina Faso to Zambia
and Zimbabwe.
Workers’
Memorial Day events worldwide
Cambodia/UK:
Danger factory supplying the UK high street
Serious allegations about the treatment of workers at an overseas
clothing supplier to many of Britain's leading high street names
have come to light. An investigation by The Observer has found
major British retailers are buying tens of thousands of items
a month from the Fortune Garment and Woollen Knitting Factory
in Cambodia, a factory that International Labour Office (ILO)
inspectors judged among the worst in the country on a host of
health and safety and trade union rights issues.
Risks
254, 29 April 2006
Britain:
Balfour Beatty hasn’t paid deaths fine
Balfour Beatty, the company fined a record £10 million last
year for negligence over the Hatfield rail crash has not paid
a single penny into court - almost six years after the disaster
and over six months after is was found guilty.
Risks
254, 29 April 2006
Britain: Half the workforce still exposed
to smoke
Half the workforce, more than ten million people across Great
Britain, still worked in places where smoking is allowed somewhere
on the premises, according to new figures released by anti-smoking
charity ASH.”
ASH
news release
|
LATEST NEWS
|
Hazards
news, 22 April 2006
USA:
Falling star illuminates “voluntary protection” myth
A Florida plant of Tropicana Beverages, which had been designated
by safety watchdog OSHA a “Star” member of the business-friendly
Voluntary Protection Program scheme, has just agreed to a $146,250
(£82,500) penalty after two workers were serious burned
in a flash fire.
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
Britain:
Dismay at Scots corporate killing inaction
The failure of Scottish justice minister Cathy Jamieson to give
an assurance she would act to jail bosses for workplace deaths
has caused dismay among some trades unionists and safety campaigners.
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
Ukraine:
Greenpeace rejects Chernobyl “whitewash”
An official report into the health impact from the Chernobyl catastrophe
has “hugely under-estimated” the magnitude of the
problem, says Greenpeace. A report from the environmental group,
‘Chernobyl catastrophe: Consequences on human health’,
was published in the run up to the 26 April 20th anniversary of
the Chernobyl disaster, and is highly critical of the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) figures.
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
Britain:
Quitting head blames stress
NUT delegates have unanimously backed a motion urging the union
to consider balloting for national strike action over workloads
and calling for national union guidelines to curb excessive workloads.
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
India:
Bhopal hunger strikers win clean-up fight
Survivors of the Bhopal disaster have called off a week-long hunger
strike after India's prime minister promised to clean up the disused
chemical factory, provide fresh drinking water for local people
and build a £13m memorial to the dead.
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
Britain:
High price paid for poor school conditions
Figures released at teaching union NASUWT’s conference show
the union won a record £7.6m compensation last year in personal
injury payouts and employment tribunal awards. Over £1.8m
was awarded to members in personal injury claims last year.
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
Canada:
Generations pay for asbestos trade
There has been a visible rise in the number of people in Canada
who never worked with asbestos yet are at risk of its illnesses
because they were incidentally exposed to asbestos. Many of the
victims of these “bystander” cases as dying young
because were exposed to asbestos as children to contamination
on a parent’s work clothes.
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
India:
Government courts asbestos “timebomb”
Plans by the Indian government to lift a ban on asbestos mining
will worsen the “asbestos timebomb” facing the country,
top environmental campaigner Gopal Krishna has warned.
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
Britain:
Rail safety reps show the way
The leader of the train drivers’ union ASLEF has praised
the work of union safety reps who “carry out their duties
not from a desire for recognition, but from a sense of personal
decency and collective concern.”
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
Global:
Get creative on Workers’ Memorial Day, 28 April
Unions worldwide are using innovative ways to highlight the deadly
toll exacted by hazardous workplaces. An extensive listing on
the Hazards website gives an idea of the range of events, protests
and stunts around the world that will take place on 28 April,
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
Britain:
Massive bonuses for rail death bosses
Bosses of the engineering giant Balfour Beatty have been accused
by rail union RMT of “dancing on the graves of the dead”
after the company revealed they received £600,000 in bonuses.
The awards were dished out in the same year that the firm was
fined £10 million after it admitted breaching safety standards
prior to the Hatfield train disaster in 2000 which claimed four
lives.
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
Britain:
Asda fined after worker is burned
The supermarket chain Asda has been forced to pay £12,000
after a Merseyside worker suffered burns from a damaged electric
cable hanging outside a metal-framed window.
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
Britain:
Scaffold firm broke safety rules
The firm responsible for a scaffolding collapse in Milton Keynes
that killed one and injured over 20 was removed from a job four
years ago for breaching safety regulations.
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
Britain:
Woman mourns two asbestos deaths
A woman from Kent who lost her husband to an asbestos-related
cancer has now lost her new partner to the same disease.
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
Britain:
Widow seeks help in compensation quest
The widow of a nuclear physics researcher who died from cancer
after working with asbestos has appealed to former workmates for
help with her compensation claim. Julia Holmes is preparing a
case against her husband Michael's former employer, Rutherford
Laboratories of Didcot.
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
Britain:
Son's quest for asbestos information
The son of a Doncaster man who died after being exposed to asbestos
at work is appealing to his father's former work colleagues for
information about his working conditions. Tony Richards, from
Kirk Sandall, died on 19 September 2003 at the age of 60 from
the asbestos cancer mesothelioma.
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
Britain:
Health warning on regulatory reform bill
The government’s bid to get rid of red tape could introduce
a threat to safety and other rights. The bill, which is progressing
rapidly through Parliament, would allow government institutions
including the HSC and HSE to be reformed radically without any
scrutiny by MPs in the name of red tape reduction.
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
Britain:
Five year delay on microchip cancer study
A study into cancers at a Scottish microelectronics plant has
not started after years of delays, with just eight months to go
before it's supposed to finish. Top boffins from the Health and
Safety Executive (HSE) promised five years ago to undertake the
study at the National Semiconductor in Greenock, says health and
safety campaign group Phase II.
Risks 253, 22 April 2006
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards
news, 15 April 2006
Australia:
Casualties of an anti-union law
An Australian worker has been seriously injured on a site where
construction bosses used a new anti-union law to block a union
safety inspection. The Adelaide companies used the new federal
workplace laws which took effect this month at the site where
a worker subsequently fell six metres down a lift well, suffering
spinal injuries.
Risks 252, 15 April 2006
Britain:
TUC makes a big noise about hearing
TUC and hearing charity RNID are warning employers and employees
to take hearing damage more seriously now that the new Control
of Noise at Work Regulations have come into effect.
Risks 252, 15 April 2006
Britain:
Poultry union calls for calm on bird flu
Poultry union TGWU has called for a calm and measured response
to the confirmation of a case of bird flu in a Scottish swan.
The union also wants a meeting with representatives of Defra,
the Department of Health and the Health and Safety Executive to
agree a co-ordinated bird flu action plan.
Risks 252, 15 April 2006
USA:
Official statistics miss most work cases
The US national surveillance system for work-related injuries
and illnesses could miss two-thirds of occupational injuries and
illnesses, according to a new study. A research team led by Professor
Kenneth D Rosenman of Michigan State University concluded: “Based
on the results of our analysis we estimate that the number of
work-related injuries and illnesses in Michigan is three times
greater than the official estimate derived from the BLS [Bureau
of Labor Statistics] annual survey.”
Risks 252, 15 April 2006
Britain:
Scottish unions push for work deaths law
Trade union leaders in Scotland have increased the pressure on
ministers to make new laws on corporate killing a top priority.
And Justice minister Cathy Jamieson has said she expected progress
to be made before Holyrood's summer break.
Risks 252, 15 April 2006
USA:
Whistleblower vindicated on toxic prison work
The US federal Bureau of Prisons failed to address concerns that
inmates and staff members at several prisons were exposed to toxic
chemicals. The prisoners were working in recycling programmes
where inmates use hammers to smash discarded computers, according
to the agency that handles whistleblower complaints.
Risks 252, 15 April 2006
Britain:
New offshore law raises safety concerns
A union fears new offshore regulations designed to reduce red
tape on offshore oil and gas operators could weaken safety controls.
Graham Tran, regional officer in Aberdeen for the union Amicus,
said he was disappointed with the new safety-case regulations
which in some respects diluted the responsibilities of dutyholders.
Risks 252, 15 April 2006
Europe:
New research project on safety reps
A new European research project is to analyse the role and effectiveness
of safety reps at work. EPSARE, the brainchild of safety experts
in the European trade union ETUI-REHS research thinktank, was
launched because “research on the effectiveness of safety
reps interventions both in the fields of health and safety and
industrial relations is scarce.”
Risks 252, 15 April 2006
Britain:
Troubled death firm may escape big fine
The firm that employed a 21-year-old agricultural worker who crashed
and died while driving home after working three consecutive 19½-hour
shifts may escape a “significant” fine because it
is on the verge of going out of business. Potato distribution
firm The Produce Connection, of Chittering, Cambs, admitted failing
to ensure the health of workers and the public.
Risks 252, 15 April 2006
Britain:
Power plant must pay £100k over worker death
A power station where a worker plunged 70ft to his death has been
ordered to pay almost £100,000 in fines and costs. Andrew
Bason, 42, died when the staircase on which he was working at
Eggborough Power Station came away from a landing and collapsed.
Risks 252, 15 April 2006
Global:
Workplace nanotech concerns grow
Workers are guinea pigs in a massive and potentially dangerous
nanotech experiment, new reports from Germany and the US suggest.
Risks 252, 15 April 2006
Britain:
Union welcome for gangmaster watchdog
Farmworkers' union TGWU has welcomed the launch of the Gangmasters
Licensing Authority. The union says the creation of the authority
is a landmark on the road to justice and fair treatment for casual
workers in the UK food industry.
Risks 252, 15 April 2006
Global:
Workers’ Memorial Day, 28 April worldwide
It’s the union health and safety event of the year, and
it is going to be bigger than ever! Workers’ Memorial Day,
28 April, is now the focus of union and campaign activities in
countries worldwide.
Hazards WMD webpages www.hazards.org/wmd
Global:
Guide to safety in factories
A new guide to health and safety in factories worldwide has been
made available online. A factory workers’ guide to organising
for safe jobs and healthy communities has been produced by the
US-based Hesperian Foundation at the request of workers and concerned
activists organising to improve conditions in sweatshops and factories
around the world.
Risks 252, 15 April 2006
Bangladesh:
Deadly garment factories “must improve”
Urgent action is necessary to protect workers in Bangladesh’s
deadly garment trade, campaigners have said. Union groups and
labour rights activists including the Clean Clothes Campaign made
the call on the 11 April anniversary of the collapse of the Spectrum
Sweater factory fire, in which is now thought over 60 workers
died and dozens more were injured.
Risks 252, 15 April 2006
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards
news , 8 April 2006
Britain:
Union alert prompts schools asbestos warning
Schools have been issued new official guidelines for dealing with
classroom asbestos after teaching union NUT revealed over 100
teachers have died from contact with the substance in the past
20 years. NUT had urged HSE to reissue the advice after one of
its members, Gina Lees, died aged 51 from an asbestos cancer,
one of a series of recent asbestos-related deaths affecting school
staff.
Risks 251, 8 April 2006
USA:
Union takes on asbestos tests
A union-backed health and safety centre is screening US sheet
metal workers for asbestos related diseases. The nationwide screening
programme is being undertaken by the Sheet Metal Occupational
Health Institute, which says it takes about 20 years of exposure
to asbestos before scarring of the lungs or other problems can
be detected.
Risks 251, 8 April 2006
Britain:
Family challenges CPS on teen work death
The family of a South Wales teenager killed at work is attempting
with union backing to take the Crown Prosecution Service to court
for failing to bring manslaughter charges. Over a year after an
inquest unlawful killing verdict, the CPS has still not brought
forward charges so the family's trade union, the GMB, has instructed
Thompsons Solicitors to apply for a judicial review.
Risks 251, 8 April 2006
USA:
Immigration safety stings to stop
US federal officials have told immigrant advocates that government
immigration agents will discontinue the use of undercover sting
operations involving bogus health and safety programmes to round
up illegal immigrants.
Risks 251, 8 April 2006
Britain:
Rail action to defend safe staffing
Rail union RMT has announced strike ballots over threatened staff
cuts at South Eastern Trains, which it warned would compromise
safety. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “RMT will not
stand by and allow the company to dictate that our members must
work in an unsafe environment and be in constant fear of attacks
and fear of losing their livelihoods should such an attack occur.”
Risks 251, 8 April 2006
Global:
Union welcomes seafarer 'fair treatment' guidance
UK shipping union NUMAST has helped to secure agreement on new
global guidelines to prevent seafarers from being scapegoated
after accidents at sea. The expert group was reacting to growing
concern that authorities were acting against masters and officers
before any wrong-doing had been proven in court.
Risks 251, 8 April 2006
Britain:
HSE warning on NHS violence
NHS Boards must tighten up their procedures for protecting staff
from violent attacks, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has
said. New HSE backed research says measures to help healthcare
staff deal with violence at work can make a difference –
but only where they have “a solid grounding in day-to-day
situations”.
Risks 251, 8 April 2006
Global:
Rail campaign puts safety on track
Transport unions across the world led a unified campaign to promote
a culture of safety on the railways during this year’s ITF
International Railway Action Day. More than 30 ITF-affiliated
unions from over 25 countries used the annual day of action on
27 March to highlight key safety concerns.
Risks 251, 8 April 2006
Britain:
Minister calls for safer public procurement
The public sector must use its buying power to push for safer
construction projects, the safety minister has said. Lord Hunt,
minister for health and safety, said he wanted the public sector
“to ‘buy for life’ – meaning they become
clients who influence the design, construction, maintenance and
use of a building, and help raise health and safety standards
for all workers involved in such projects.”
Risks 251, 8 April 2006
Global:
Asbestos trade to face building campaign
The global asbestos trade is going to face an unprecedented worldwide
assault on Workers’ Memorial Day, 28 April. Global construction
unions’ federation BWI is organising a worldwide series
of activities on 28 April, calling on governments and employers
to commit to a global ban on the production, import, export and
use of asbestos products.
Risks 251, 8 April 2006
Britain:
Asbestos misery continues
Asbestos continues to blight the lives of workers and their families,
causing deaths from cancer, breathing disorders and “natural
causes” like heart disease.
Risks 251, 8 April 2006
USA:
Who says safety is boring?
If you think safety is just of interest to the fanatical few,
you are wrong. You’ve just got to package the information
right. ‘Confined Space’, a decidedly political, deliciously
provocative US safety ‘blog’ – thought to be
the world’s first – has just nabbed a major online
award.
Risks 251, 8 April 2006
Britain:
Employer to blame for suicide
The firm that employed a man who killed himself years after suffering
an injury at work is liable for his death, the Court of Appeal
has ruled. Lord Justice Sedley said all the evidence suggested
there was no other cause of Thomas Corr's suicide other than the
injury he suffered at work, and he was previously a “rational
man”.
Risks 251, 8 April 2006
USA:
Coal mining’s deadly legacy
Award-winning US photo journalist Earl Dotter has joined with
the Appalachian Institute at Wheeling Jesuit University to produce
a powerful new photo exhibit, ‘Our future in retrospect:
Coal miner health in Appalachia,’ chronicling the impact
of these jobs on mining communities. The exhibit is dedicated
to the 21 coal miners killed in West Virginia, Kentucky, Utah
and Maryland this year – a year that has already seen the
mines fatality toll near the total for 2005.
Our
future in retrospect? Coal miner health in Appalachia
Britain:
Waitress wins harassment payout
A waitress made ill by the sexual harassment she experienced is
to be paid £124,000 in compensation for unlawful discrimination
and unlawful dismissal by a leading London restaurant. The London
employment tribunal heard of a culture of bullying and harassment
at the kitchen of Harry's Bar in Mayfair.
Risks 251, 8 April 2006
Britain:
Cocklers criticised after rescue
Two boats overloaded with cocklers and cockles got in to difficulties
and had to be assisted by lifeboats the day after a gangmaster
was jailed over the deaths of 21 cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay.
Furious coastguard officials said those concerned had “learned
nothing” from recent incidents.
Risks 251, 8 April 2006
Britain:
New strategy to protect vulnerable workers
A new government strategy aims to protect the most vulnerable
workers from rogue employers. The initiative, which sets out to
ensure all workers benefit from extended employment rights introduced
by the government, is spelled out in a DTI strategy paper, 'Success
at work - protecting vulnerable workers’.
Risks 251, 8 April 2006
|
EARLIER
NEWS |
Hazards
News, 1 April 2006
Britain:
Poor odds for casino workers
Most casino workers are suffering from health problems caused
by their work, union researchers have found. A new study by the
GMB union in Scotland reveals that long hours and poor working
conditions are major culprits.
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
USA:
Health care injuries damaging health care
A severe shortage of healthcare workers in the US is likely to
get much worse unless something is done to help nurses and other
healthcare workers safely lift patients without suffering injuries
and chronic pain, according to new research.
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
Britain:
Union calls for bird flu contingency plan
A trade union has called for a co-ordinated response against the
threat of bird flu. Farm and food union TGWU is asking for a four-step
plan to be put in place to protect the countryside, poultry and
food industry workers.
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
Sweden:
Work hurt one in four last year
One in four employed persons in Sweden suffered from a work-related
disorder in 2005, according to official figures. Latest survey
results reveal that 28 per cent of women and 22 per cent of men
stated they had experienced work-related disorders during the
last 12 months, with the overall workforce figure at 25 per cent.
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
Britain:
Train drivers push criminal suits case
Fifty members of the train drivers’ union ASLEF leafleted
Paddington Station on 28 March to protest at the government’s
failure to introduce meaningful corporate manslaughter laws. ASLEF
general secretary Keith Norman said: “Just because they
commit their crime in a suit doesn’t make them innocent.”
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
Spain:
Special prosecutor for safety criminals
A special public prosecutor has been appointed in Spain to pursue
workplace health and safety criminals. Juan Manuel Oña
Navarro’s national role will involve coordinating and promoting
public prosecution of occupational health and safety related crimes.
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
Britain:
Get geared up for 28 April
The TUC is urging unions and safety activists nationwide to throw
their considerable campaigning power behind this year’s
Workers’ Memorial Day theme of 'Union workplaces - safer
workplaces’.
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
Philippines:
Unions push for better mines safety
Unions in the Philippines are demanding improved mine safety laws.
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has vowed to
push for “improved protection” for the country’s
estimated 126,000 mining industry workers.
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
Britain:
Cockler gangmaster gets 14 years
A gangmaster who left 21 cockle pickers to drown in rising tides
at Morecambe Bay has been jailed for 14 years. Chinese-born Lin
Liang Ren, 29, from Liverpool, was convicted at Preston Crown
Court of manslaughter.
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
France:
Work diseases are growing
Working conditions in France have deteriorated in recent years,
according to an official survey, with occupational diseases now
on the increase. Survey results presented on the European Foundation
website point to a “generally deteriorating” situation
with work now blamed by workers for 20 per cent of all health
problems.
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
Britain:
Tragic lessons must be learned, say unions
The lessons of the Morecambe Bay cocklepickers tragedy must not
be forgotten, unions have warned. They are calling for rigorous
enforcement of the new gangmaster regulations and warn that extending
safety laws must also be effectively enforced to protect all vulnerable
workers.
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
Australia:
Trucking firm fined for fatal fatigue smash
An Australian trucking company that admitted it placed lives at
risk by allowing a fatigued driver to work has been fined Aus$130,000
(£53,000).
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
Britain:
Firm fined for oil refinery blast
The Total Lindsey Oil Refinery (TLOR) has been fined £14,000
after an explosion which left two contractors injured.
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
Australia:
Union prosecutes bank for not deterring robbers
An Australian bank has been forced to cough up Aus$145,000 (£59,000)
in fines after a union took it to court for leaving workers at
risk from violent robbers. Half of the fine from the current case
will be paid to the official Workcover Authority and the balance
to the union.
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
Britain:
Workplace smoking ban takes effect in Scotland
A UK first official smoking in public places has come into effect
in Scotland. Individuals who flout the legislation face a fixed
penalty of £50; the manager or person in control of any
no-smoking premises can be fined a fixed penalty of £200
for either allowing others to smoke there, or failing to display
warning notices; and refusal or failure to pay the fine may result
in prosecution and a fine of up to £2,500.
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
Britain:
Petition calls for global asbestos ban
An international petition is aiming to promote the union-driven
campaign for a global asbestos ban. The petition will be presented
to key international agencies on 28 April, International Workers’
Memorial Day.
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
|
EARLIER
NEWS |
Hazards
news, 25 March 2006
Britain:
TUC warning on compensation reforms
The TUC is urging the government not to undermine the existing
personal injury compensation scheme. A new TUC report, 'Personal
injury claims: Proposals for change', says that the current system
is working well by and large and says that recent criticisms have
been from those attempting to reduce the ability of injured or
ill workers to claim against negligent employers.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
China:
New payouts policy covers migrant workers
China is to extend to migrant workers the right to benefits including
compensation for industrial diseases, the government has said.
A report from the official news agency Xinhua said reform of the
social security system will expand coverage to about 200 million
of the farmers-turned-industrial workers.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Britain:
Stop the red tape whinge, TUC tells employers
The TUC has hit out at employers' groups that complain
about the burden of “red tape” but exaggerate its
cost and fail to state which regulations they would like to see
abolished. It says that the deregulation campaign is based on
“spin, smoke and mirrors” and a refusal to say which
employment, consumer and environmental protection measures they
want to abolish.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Britain: Flat
season problems raised by union
The Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) has launched a
fierce attack on the overall standard of the stalls handlers likely
to be working at British racecourses when the Flat turf season
begins this weekend.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Australia:
Scabby government attacks fleapit protesters
Outback workers who refused to share digs with rats, feral cats
and sewage are being hunted by city lawyers bankrolled by the
Australia’s anti-union government. Corporate law firm, Freehills,
has been contracted to track down blue collar workers who objected
to the “fleapit” conditions and prosecute them in
court.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Europe:
Union warning on lower flight safety standards
British airline pilots are urging UK Members of the European Parliament
(MEPs) to improve “deficient” proposals to harmonise
pilot flying hours across the European Union (EU).
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Britain:
Gruesome jail death inquiry call
A solicitor has called for a public inquiry into events surrounding
a Hannibal Lecter-style killing of a prisoner by his cellmate.
The call came after six warders, members of the prison officers’
union POA, were awarded over £1m in compensation for witnessing
the aftermath of the attack.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Britain:
Jail terms after Tebay rail track deaths
Unions have welcomed the jailing of a railway boss after the death
of four workers, but have voiced concerns that it is only small
companies and individual workers that need fear prison terms.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Global:
Deaths trim bonus of UK’s best paid boss
Britain’s best paid boss has seen his annual bonus trimmed
back to just £1.75m as a result of workplace fatalities
at the firm reaching a six year high. The performance bonus of
Lord John Browne, chief executive of London-based BP, has been
cut as a result of a six year record 27 deaths at BP facilities
worldwide.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Britain:
Unsafe firms will “feel the heat” says minister
Unsafe firms will “feel the heat” of robust Health
and Safety Executive enforcement, the safety minister has warned.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Asia:
Workers ignored as bird flu advances
Efforts to stop the spread of bird flu across Asia are being compromised
because official strategies are ignoring the risks to workers,
a global union body has said.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Britain:
Support group pushes for Stockline inquiry
An STUC-backed support group is now pressing for an public inquiry
into the 2004 Stockline explosion in which nine died. The group
says that “only through an open public inquiry will the
victims, and relatives of the victims, be provided with a full
explanation of the causes of the deaths and injuries.”
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Britain:
Company fined £35k after worker is killed by spike
A construction company has been fined £35,000
after one of its workers died when he was impaled on a spike.
Supervisor Willie Hume, 60, died in hospital after falling on
to the metal spike while working at an old hospital site in Edinburgh
in July last year.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Britain:
KFC fined £60,000 after oil spill scarred staff
The Kentucky Fried Chicken chain has been fined £60,000
after two workers were scarred for life by boiling oil.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Britain:
Companies pay for site falls
Working at heights is one of the most obvious and preventable
risks at work, but companies continue to ignore the risks. The
end result is that falls remain the single largest cause of workplace
fatalities.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Britain:
Builder fined £45,000 after steel collapses
Pellikaan Construction has been fined £45,000 for breaching
health and safety rules during the building of a £5.5m leisure
centre. The company admitted breaking regulations which led to
a worker being seriously injured.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Britain:
Firm fined after over a ton falls on worker
A West Midlands company has had to payout over £25,000 in
fines and costs after a worker was seriously injured when over
a ton of metal fell on him. CMK (Treatments) Ltd was prosecuted
at West Bromwich Magistrates' Court following an investigation
into the incident where incorrectly stacked aluminium blocks fell
on Peter Finan.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Britain:
Study identifies badly managed worker syndrome
Workers are suffering an array of common health ailments caused
by poor management, job stress and lack of control at work, a
study has found. Researchers asked 4,000 civil servants from 44
buildings in London about their environment and job pressures
and about symptoms such as coughs and tiredness.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
Britain:
Asbestos dangers “being ignored”
A Health and Safety Executive official has said there is still
a “worrying” lack of awareness of asbestos risks.
Bill McKay, principal inspector for construction and asbestos
licensing at HSE’s Newcastle office, said he is shocked
by the way materials containing dangerous asbestos fibres are
being handled.
Risks 249, 25 March 2006
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards
news, 18 March 2006
Britain:
Council says safety reps make safer schools
Union safety reps and active safety committees have made Brent
schools a safer place, a council boss has said. Speaking to almost
300 delegates at a healthy schools conference hosted jointly by
Brent Council and the school unions ATL, GMB, NASUWT, NUT, UNISON,
council leader Ann John said: “The number of trained school
safety representatives and safety committees in Brent has risen
to well above the national average and that means Brent schools
are becoming safer and healthier.”
Brent
NUT news release • HSC Safety
Representatives’ Charter for the education sector [pdf]
India:
Moves to expand asbestos mining
The Indian government is looking to expand asbestos mining in
the country. It has asked the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) to
work out necessary safeguards to resume mining.
Risks 248, 18 March 2006
Britain:
Licences for gangmasters unveiled
A new system aimed at weeding out rogue gangmasters has been welcomed
by plough-to-plate union TGWU. Measures to protect workers include
forcing anyone who supplies workers to the packing, food processing
or farming industries to have a licence from April this year,
with anyone found to be operating without a valid licence will
be fined up to £5,000 or imprisoned for up to 10 years.
Risks 248, 18 March 2006
Global:
Union warning on bird flu epidemic
Foodworkers are in the frontline of a potential bird flu catastrophe
and if an epidemic is to be avoided must be protected from the
disease and from victimisation for raising safety concerns. The
warning comes from IUF, the global foodworkers’ union federation.
Risks 248, 18 March 2006
Britain:
Union pushes safer needles audit
Health service union UNISON is encouraging its safety reps to
take part in an online audit of needle safety practices. The union,
which is part of the Safer Needles Network, is working with NHS
Employers to carry out the audit of compliance with ‘Blue
book’ recommendations to minimise the risks of staff exposures
to blood and body fluids.
Risks 248, 18 March 2006
China:
Premier stresses union role in work safety
Trade unions should and can play a major role in work safety supervision,
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said. Trade unions at all levels
should be fully involved “especially in work safety supervision”
to better safeguard workers' interests, the premier said.
Risks 248, 18 March 2006
Britain:
HSE asbestos study fails to reassure unions
New HSE research into the fibre levels released when asbestos
coatings like artex are removed has been criticised by unions.
TUC representatives on the Health and Safety Commission have expressed
concern, in particular at its failure to cover sanding of artex
and at the levels of asbestos fibre found in other work.
Risks 248, 18 March 2006
Britain:
Concern grows about school asbestos risk
The deaths of more teachers from asbestos related cancers is leading
to increased concern about exposures in schools. A Carlisle primary
school is at the centre of the latest health scare after its former
headteacher died from an asbestos-related cancer and a Devon man
warned his teacher wife died after pinning children’s artwork
to asbestos tiles in a classroom.
Risks 248, 18 March 2006
Britain:
Washing work clothes caused mum’s cancer death
A pensioner died because she used to handwash the clothes
of her son and husband which had been contaminated with asbestos.
At an inquest at Oxford Coroner's Court David Gardiner said his
mother, Constance Mary Gardiner, used to regularly wash his work
clothes when he worked in the installation industry between 1965
and 1973.
Risks 248, 18 March 2006
Canada:
Push for new cancer prevention law
The Canadian government must do more to prevent cancers caused
by industrial chemicals, campaigners have said. They are pushing
the new Conservative government to ban or phase out some chemicals
altogether.
Risks 248, 18 March 2006
Britain:
Asbestos kills 57 year old
A man who had lived a healthy life died aged 57 as a result of
asbestos exposure more than 30 years ago. Allen Hurst worked stripping
buildings in his 20s and died of the asbestos cancer mesothelioma.
Risks 248, 18 March 2006
Global:
Kids face heightened pesticides risk
New studies in Equador and the US have highlighted a massively
increased risk to children from common pesticides. The Ecuador
study found children whose mothers were exposed to pesticides
while pregnant had increased blood pressure and diminished ability
to undertake some simple tasks compared to a control group.
Risks 248, 18 March 2006
Global:
Boffins get to the bottom of seat problems
An international study has found good seat design can reduce vibration
through a lorry seat by a third. Sweden’s National Institute
for Working Life says it has established that lorry seats can
be improved to reduce vibration-related complaints by tackling
sideways as well as vertical vibration.
Risks 248, 18 March 2006
Britain:
Deadly legacy of Britain’s coal mines
Workers who toiled for decades in Britain’s coal mines are
suffering disability and early death as a result. Since a government
scheme was set up in the late 1990s, hundreds of thousands of
miners have received compensation for just two of the many common
industrial diseases affecting those who have worked in the industry,
with the figures suggesting there is a hidden epidemic of work-related
ill-health in the UK.
Risks 248, 18 March 2006
Britain:
Firms fined after tractor death
Two firms have been fined after a Blackburn man was killed by
a tractor while working outside a Toyota car plant. Health and
Safety Executive (HSE) inspector David Jordan said the vehicle’s
blind spot could have been remedied by fitting closed circuit
TV or convex mirrors.
Risks 248, 18 March 2006
Britain:
Euro MP starts campaign to cut long working hours
A report claiming Britain's long working hours lead to an unhealthy,
unproductive workforce has been launched by Green MEP for London
Jean Lambert. Mrs Lambert, vice-chair of the Green Party in the
European Parliament and co-ordinator of the committee on employment
and social affairs, called on the UK government to end the UK
opt-out option from the working time directive’s 48 hour
working week ceiling.
Risks 248, 18 March 2006
|
EARLIER
NEWS |
Hazards news, 11 March 2006
Britain:
Reforms to corporate manslaughter bill agreed
The government has agreed to make it easier to prosecute companies
accused of corporate manslaughter. A statement from home office
minister, Fiona Mactaggart put the government's response to the
joint report on the draft manslaughter corporate bill, published
by the Home Affairs and Work and Pensions Committee on 20 December,
before parliament.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Mexico:
Mine kills, government attacks union
Mexico’s government has
responded to a union charge that the deaths of 65 miners was “industrial
homicide” by replacing the leader of the national miners’
union and freezing the union’s assets. The government action
came on the heels of a two day strike by Los Mineros which shut
down most of the nation’s mines and was followed by a 7
March demonstration which saw more than 20,000 union workers march
through downtown Mexico City.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Britain:
Welcome for corporate killing progress
Unions and campaigners have welcomed progress on the government’s
corporate manslaughter bill. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber
said: “We are pleased that ministers have listened to concerns
over the way that the original Bill focused overly on failures
by senior managers and will instead now look for ways of broadening
the basis for liability within an organisation.”
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Global:
Asian silicosis victims to hit Europe
Two jewellery workers from China and two gem polishers from India
will travel to Basel, Switzerland, to raise awareness of the deadly
side effects of their jobs, particularly silicosis. The workers
will attend a jewellery fair from 30 March to 4 April, and hope
to have talks with a large number of organisations, including
the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Britain:
Law must give bad employers no hiding place
A new report has warned that dangerous employers will continue
to evade punishment unless fundamental changes are made to the
government’s corporate manslaughter bill. Report author
Dave Whyte, a criminologist at Stirling University, urges the
government to discount claims by employers’ groups that
beefing up our safety laws would see many companies packing up
their bags and departing from our shores.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Global:
Asbestos trade renews its scare tactics
The growing pressure for a global asbestos ban is spurring a renewed
public relations push by the industry in a desperate attempt to
rehabilitate the deadly fibre. Indonesia, Zimbabwe and India have
been recent targets.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Britain:
Employers told to take heed of noise warning
Firms have been warned that they could face a barrage of compensation
claims from staff if they fail to heed improved measures to protect
workers' hearing. Hearing charity RNID and the TUC are warning
employers and employees to take hearing damage more seriously
in preparation for the new Control of Noise at Work Regulations
coming into effect on 6 April 2006.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Britain:
Bosses aren’t safe if they sack the sick
Firing or discriminating against sick workers can be a costly
mistake for employers, a sequence of recent union-backed cases
suggest.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
China:
New five year plan for safer workplaces
China’s authorities want to see the country’s
lamentable workplace accident rate fall by a third by 2010. A
draft five year plan submitted to the country's legislature for
examination and approval commits the country to make greater efforts
to promote workplace safety in the next five years.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Britain:
£138,000 payout over stress case
A tax office worker whose job overload led to severe stress and
depression is to receive £138,000 in compensation. PCS member
Stephen Mellor, 58, from Malvern, took several months off from
his post as a senior manager at a VAT office in Droitwich suffering
from stress but was given even more stressful work on his return.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Britain:
Fire crews 'need more protection'
The Fire Brigades Union has welcomed cross-party backing for a
new law to make it an offence to obstruct or hinder emergency
workers such as firefighters. The Emergency Workers Protection
Bill has received its second reading in the House of Commons.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Britain:
Relief as Royal Mail stops first aid folly
Royal Mail has confirmed it has abandoned plans to outsource all
workplace first aid training. The policy reverse came after postal
union CWU challenged the move, which it said was “barmy”
and would be a costly mistake.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Britain:
New attempt to rob dying asbestos victims
Bereaved relatives from around the UK, who have seen family members
die from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma, are to protest outside
the House of Lords on Monday 13 March. The protest marks the start
of a legal challenge brought by asbestos industry giant Saint
Gobain Pipelines plc in a bid to drastically reduce its asbestos
compensation liabilities, with a knock-on effect for all claimants.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Britain:
Scientific hush mars voice loss investigation
An investigation into the risks of occupational voice loss has
been hampered by a lack of good quality studies. The Industrial
Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), the independent body which advises
the government on which conditions should be added to the list
of prescribed diseases for which state industrial injuries benefits
are payable, reached the conclusion in a March paper.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Bangladesh:
Factory deaths ‘nothing short of murder’
There must be an urgent independent enquiry into the tragedies
that have engulfed Bangladesh’s textile and clothing industry
as well as immediate action to protect the safety of workers in
the sector, a global union federation has demanded.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Britain:
Waste industry wastes yet more workers
Nine fatalities in eight weeks have prompted the Health and Safety
Executive to issue a safety alert to the waste and recycling industry.
The recent spate of deaths could be clear evidence that HSE’s
support for a self-regulatory voluntary approach, increasingly
preferred to inspection and enforcement, has been a dangerous
flop.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Britain:
Inquiry after four hurt in factory blast
An investigation has been launched after four workers were injured
in an explosion at a pharmaceuticals factory - the second to hit
the site in seven years. The men were injured, two suffering severe
burns, at the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) plant in Irvine, North Ayrshire.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Britain:
Payouts to sick miners pass £3 billion
Compensation payments to sick miners have topped £3bn, new
figures show. The government pays out about £2m every weekday
to compensate for respiratory and vibration-related injuries.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
Britain:
Government working on mental health problems
A new drive to help people with mental health problems get back
into work has been launched by the government. It says the new
guidance is for commissioners of services designed to better re-integrate
into society people that have suffered with mental health problems.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006
|
EARLIER
NEWS |
Hazards news, 4 March 2006
Britain:
Asbestos campaigners press for action
A massive campaign effort by asbestos campaigners and trades unions
has highlighted the plight of asbestos disease victims. Events
were held nationwide, with the activities to highlight rising
deaths from the deadly asbestos cancer supported by the TUC and
UK unions.
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
USA:
Groups challenge deadly chrome standard
US government safety watchdog OSHA, under pressure from the courts
to issue a health standard for a deadly workplace substance, has
published a limit so lax “that workers will die,”
health campaigners have warned.
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
Britain:
Union campaign staff working overtime
TUC’s Work Your Better Hours Day activities last week not
only commanded the airwaves, they caught the imagination of union
campaign staff.
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
Mexico:
Mine rescue abandoned, 65 presumed dead
There is no chance of survival for 65 miners trapped underground
in northern Mexico since a Sunday 19 February explosion, the coal
mine owners admitted this week. Grupo Mexico said tests of air
in the mine showed there was not enough oxygen for anyone to survive.
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
Britain:
Worker gets £33,750 for bouncy castle injury
A youth centre worker accused by his employer of faking a back
injury has been awarded £33,000 in compensation in a union-backed
case. UNISON member Dean Gibbon, 51, received the payout from
Durham County Council after being injured putting away a deflated
bouncy castle.
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
Global:
Union protests to target asbestos trade
A global union federation is to target the asbestos trade with
international protests, in a bid to end a “global health
calamity”. The Building and Wood Workers International (BWI),
a federation of construction unions representing 12m workers worldwide,
says on 28 April there will be peaceful demonstrations and petitions
at Canadian embassies and consulates to convince the Canadian
government to call a halt to its aggressive marketing and promotion
of asbestos in developing countries such as India, Zimbabwe and
Brazil.
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
Britain: Outsourced £20m HSE work health scheme goes live
A £20 million government financed, privately run Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) scheme to provide free occupational
health advice to small firms is now in operation. Although financed
entirely by the government and launched by and “delivered
in partnership” with HSE, the service “is provided
entirely by private contractors” a Workplace Health Connect
spokesperson told Risks, adding “but HSE does provide a
framework and quality assurance.”
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
Canada:
Action call on strain injuries scourge
The Canadian government must follow through with promised new
regulations to prevent the scourge of workplace strain injuries,
the nation’s union federation has said. The Canadian Labour
Congress (CLC) said official figures show one of every 10 Canadian
adults reported they were affected by a repetitive strain injury
(RSI) serious enough to limit their normal activities, with most
of these injuries caused by work-related activity.
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
Britain:
Farm injury exposes child labour risk
A boy has had to have part of his leg amputated after his friend
ran over it with a ploughing machine. The 16-year-old had been
attempting to get into a tractor being driven by his 14-year-old
pal, when he slipped and fell under the vehicles rear wheels.
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
Britain:
Pilot scheme allows families to tell court of their suffering
The families of murder and manslaughter victims will be allowed
to speak out in court for the first time about the impact of the
death on their lives under a pilot scheme which gets under way
in April in five crown courts in England and Wales. TUC head of
safety Hugh Robertson said: “It is crucial that relatives
bereaved by workplace tragedies are included in this new scheme
and get a right to address the court.”
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
Finland:
Temp work 'harms women's health'
Women in temp jobs are more likely than men in similar posts to
have their employment terminated if they are often off sick, a
Finnish study has found.
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
Britain:
NHS staff abusers “face big fine”
People who abuse or threaten nurses and doctors in England will
face fines of up to £1,000, health secretary Patricia Hewitt
has told a union conference. She told the GMB’s health conference
there would be a “zero tolerance” approach, adding
that the government wanted to “send a clear message"
threats will not be tolerated.”
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
Bangladesh:
Factory deaths spur angry protests
Safety strikes and protests in Bangladesh have been prompted by
two new tragedies in the country’s deadly garment sector.
Last week two incidents claimed at least 73 lives, with at least
150 others injured. The Bangladesh Garment Workers Trade Union
Centre (BGWTUC) organised the 2 March strike action.
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
Britain:
Work stress linked to constable’s suicide
Workplace stress was a contributory factor in the suicide of a
Merseyside police officer, a coroner has ruled. Pc Paula Tomlinson,
35, who was a member of a police firearms squad, was found hanged
at her home in January 2004.
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
Britain:
Insurers accused of abandoning asbestos victims
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has been accused of
washing its hands of pleural plaques victims. Asbestos disease
victims’ lawyers say they are “extremely disappointed”
ABI has refused to support moves to put plaques cases on hold
until legal appeals have been heard in the House of Lords.
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
Britain:
Bosses ignoring driving dangers at work
More than half of all employees (53 per cent) who drive as part
of their job say they have never received any information or training
from their employer about risks behind the wheel, and Institute
of Advanced Motorists (IAM) survey has found.
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
Britain:
MoD acts on journalists' safety
The Ministry of Defence has formally stated for the first time
that the British military will never deliberately target journalists
in conflict zones, but has admitted that mistakes do happen. After
mounting pressure as the media death toll in Iraq climbs the MoD
has officially recognised the issue of safety for journalists.
Risks 246, 4 March 2006
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EARLIER NEWS
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Hazards news 25 February 2006
Britain:
Action Mesothelioma Day, 27 February
Unions and asbestos disease organisations are backing a national
Action Mesothelioma Day on 27 February. The day aims to highlight
the issue of mesothelioma - or meso - an asbestos cancer which
already kills almost 2,000 people each year in the UK, or about
one every five hours.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
Global:
International RSI Awareness Day, 28 February
International RSI Day is when unions and campaigners highlight
the work hazards that cause strain injuries, undertake workplace
activities on strains prevention and press for preventive action
by employers and governments.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
Indonesia:
Free the Musim Mas 6!
Six trade unionists facing lengthy jail terms in Indonesia need
your support. The charges stem from a strike and demonstration
last year at the PT Musim Mas palm oil plantation and refinery
in Palalawan. High on the list of grievances leading to the dispute
were health and safety concerns in the notoriously hazardous and
pesticide intensive industry.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
Britain:
Asbestos banned but still a killer
Asbestos may now be banned but the fatal fibres could still be
lurking in up to 1.5 million shops, factories and offices across
the UK, the TUC is warning. The union body is launching a major
new safety drive aimed at preventing more workers from being exposed
to the killer substance which currently claims over 4,000 lives
a year.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
USA:
Digging up new ways to kill miners
Lax safety enforcement and roof collapses and explosions are not
the only deadly factors in US mines. Official hearings last week
heard Mike Wright, health and safety director of the steelworkers’
union USW, testify about the business-friendly administration's
proposal to delay for five years implementation of a regulation
that would reduce mine workers’ risk of getting cancer or
heart disease from exposure to diesel fumes.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
Britain:
Nearly half the workforce wants fewer hours
A stunning 45 per cent of people at work want to work fewer hours,
and more than two million people – 1 in 10 employees - would
downshift by giving up pay for a better work-life balance, according
to new figures from the TUC.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
Britain:
Don’t gamble with safety RMT tells Virgin XC
Virgin Cross Country’s refusal to negotiate a settlement
to the dispute over Sunday pay rates for train guards could undermine
rail safety, rail union RMT has warned. It says the company’s
intransigence and attempts to keep services running on strike
days has led to “a potentially dangerous undermining of
safety standards”.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
USA:
USW exposes DuPont's “safety failures”
A new union website accuses multinational chemical giant DuPont
of safety failings at its US plants and of promoting a flawed
workplace safety programme. It says: “Behind the propaganda
facade, though, lurks an atrocious and shocking record of pollution,
community sickness and worker hazards.”
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
Britain:
Speed up means workers pay the Asda price
Supermarket giant ASDA hopes to up the workrate so high at its
Wigan warehouse that workers could be shifting by hand over 10
tons each working day. The workers’ union, GMB, says the
introduction of a radio frequency voice picking system would increase
the daily “pick rate” from 1,100 to 1,400 boxes per
person.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
China:
Economic liberalisation leads to more hazards
Safety standards in China’s workplaces are falling because
liberalisation of the economy has seen state safety regulators
take a back seat. As the country began to move towards a market
economy in the early 1980s, the government's role in ensuring
workplace safety was gradually transferred to companies.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
Britain:
Dangerous start to the flat race season?
The flat season could get off to a dangerous start, a union has
warned. TGWU, which represents stall handlers, has released photographs
showing starting stalls awaiting essential maintenance which should
have been completed weeks ago.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
Britain:
No compensation for lost leg
A Swansea man who lost a leg in a forklift accident when still
in his teens has lost his battle for compensation. John Paul Jones
was just 19 when in July 2000 his leg was crushed in an accident
after he collected pallets in the factory yard.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
Britain:
Spy row over injured oil worker
A North Sea company has been criticised for hiring a private detective
to trail a worker while he was taking sick leave after an injury
at work. Ensco Services brought in an investigator who put the
worker, recuperating at home with a back injury, under video surveillance
– and also spied on his girlfriend.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
Britain:
Stockline to be prosecuted over factory deaths
The owners of a Glasgow factory in which nine people died when
it exploded in 2004 are to be prosecuted, the Crown Office has
confirmed. Officials said ICL Plastics, the owners of the Stockline
factory, would face High Court action over alleged breaches of
health and safety law.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
Britain:
AEA Technology fined for radioactive lorry leak
A firm responsible for a radioactive leak from a lorry for more
than 100 miles has been fined £250,000. The vehicle, which
travelled from Yorkshire to the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria,
leaked radioactive material for 130 miles, a court heard.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
Britain:
Fog of vapour 'behind oil blasts'
A fog of petrol fumes and water vapour 200 yards wide moved across
the Buncefield oil depot minutes before December's blasts, according
to a preliminary report from investigators. Residents are angry
that the HSE is investigating its own performance in the run-up
to the blast, and are demanding a public inquiry.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
Britain:
Lives 'devastated' by tinnitus
Research into the effects of tinnitus - a buzzing or ringing in
the ears - shows that it has a profound impact on all aspects
of people's lives, and reveals that more than one in five affected
people believe the condition was caused by noise at work.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
Britain:
BT smoking ban goes from offices to vans
Telecoms giant BT is to ban its workers from smoking in its offices
and vans. The company is introducing the ban on 26 March, as legislation
outlawing smoking in the workplace comes into effect in Scotland,
but more than a year before it comes into force in England, Wales
and Northern Ireland.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
Britain:
Safety survives in new EU services law
The European Parliament has adopted a watered-down bill to open
Europe's services market to cross-border competition after a protracted
struggle between free marketeers and supporters of social protection.
High among union concerns was a threat to safety standards if
the original proposals had been carried.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
Britain:
Asbestos cancers continue to kill
A widower who was exposed to asbestos during his job as a flooring
specialist died many years later because of his contact with the
deadly fibres. At an inquest earlier this month into the death
of George Thompson, Herts Coroner Edward Thomas recorded a verdict
of death by industrial disease.
Risks 245, 25 February 2006
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EARLIER NEWS
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Hazards news, 18 February 2006
Britain:
Are you a 'desk junkie'?
Are you over work or overworked? Using a new TUC online resource
you can check out whether you have your working hours in check,
or whether you are a bleary-eyed overworker. free time on 24 February.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
USA:
Union website tracks worker injuries
A US union organisation is making sure workplace injuries do not
go unnoticed. Job Tracker, an online database launched by Working
America, a campaign wing of national union federation of AFL-CIO,
lists safety and health violations and related data for more than
60,000 US companies.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
Britain:
Smoking ban “a victory for union campaigning”
A total ban on smoking inside offices, pubs, restaurants and virtually
every enclosed public place and workplace throughout England will
come into force in the summer of 2007 after a resounding cross-party
majority of MPs this week rejected last minute compromises designed
to exempt some pubs and private clubs.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
USA:
Top lifesaving device in mines? A union
January’s mine tragedy in West Virginia, USA, which left
12 miners dead and one critical, has prompted serious questions
about what makes mine safe. A report in Slate online magazine
said: “The real obstacle to safety reform is that miners
no longer have a powerful union sticking up for them.”
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
Britain:
Free-to-pee win in women's toilet campaign
Women truck drivers who use the port of Folkestone are celebrating
a breakthrough this week in their worldwide ‘Free to Pee’
campaign. Following pressure from transport union TGWU, the harbour
master at the cross channel port has announced the opening of
a women's toilet.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
Global:
Unions call for Ryanair safety probe
Sub-standard safety at discount airline Ryanair should be investigated,
unions have said. The call comes after undercover reporters unearthed
evidence of inadequate safety and security checks, dirty planes,
exhausted cabin crew and pilots complaining about the number of
hours they have to fly.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
Britain:
Watchdog calls for bar on genetic discrimination
The government's advisory body on genetics has said new legislation
is needed to stop workplace and insurance discrimination on genetic
grounds. “The essential thing is there should be no genetic
judgment of whether somebody is appropriate for any job, with
rare exceptions possibly,” said Sir John Sulston, the vice-chair
of the Human Genetics Commission.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
India:
Deadly business of quarrying marble
Workers in Rajasthan's marble quarries toil in conditions that
often lead to injury, disease and death, but campaigners say neither
the mine owners nor the state government has done enough to mitigate
their suffering.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
Britain:
Gassed workers victims of “unlawful killing”
Two workers gassed to death in a workplace pit in June 2004 were
the victims of “unlawful killing”, an inquest has
ruled. After a four-day hearing at Hereford Town Hall, the jury
said that Stuart Jordan and Richard Clarkson - the two employees
of metal refining plant Bodycote HIP who died when lethal gas
leaked into their work area – died as a result of “gross
negligence” in the way the company enforced safety standards.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
France/India:
French court sinks plan to scrap 'toxic' ship
France's latest attempt to dispose of a 50-year-old warship riddled
with asbestos ran aground this week when the country's highest
court suspended plans to scrap Le Clemenceau in India.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
Britain:
Injured yes, compensated no
A labourer engulfed by an explosion during slum clearance work
in Liverpool has left the Appeal Court empty-handed after failing
for the second time to secure a damages payout from his former
employers. James William Brown, 41, was part of a gang clearing
derelict council houses on 6 November 2003, when an exploding
object in a small fire lit on the site left him with horrific
injuries to his face and eyes.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
China:
Injuries cover up in Hong Kong
Hong Kong's industrial accident rate is higher than government
statistics show because employers pressure workers not to report
their injuries, an accident victims' rights advocate has said.
Official figures are “only the tip of the iceberg,”
said Chan Kam-hong, the chief executive of the Association for
the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims (ARIAV
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
Britain:
£1m payout after 11-storey fall
A lift engineer who fell 150ft down a lift shaft at London's Canary
Wharf has been awarded almost £1m in compensation. Solicitors
for Gary Smith, 40, said he had undergone more than 20 operations
since the accident in 2001 yet he was still videoed by Zurich,
insurer for lift firm Kone, and was accused of being a “malingerer”.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
Britain:
Payout after faulty seat causes permanent injury
A Sheffield man has been awarded £47,000 in an out-of-court
settlement with his former employer after injuring his back at
work and sustaining a permanent disability. Robert Hopkinson,
45, damaged his spine in January 2002 whilst working as a driver
for waste disposal company Onyx UK.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
Australia:
Fifteen things you should know safety
If you thought knowing about risks and laws was the key to making
your workplace safe, think again. The first thing you need to
know is how as a union you can get the organisation and influence
to put things right, according to a 15 point checklist for union
reps.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
Britain:
Prosecution after Corus explosion deaths
Corus is to face prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) after an investigation into a fatal blast furnace explosion
in 2001. Three workers were killed and another nine were badly
injured at the Port Talbot steelworks.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
Britain:
More migrant workers killed in minibus crash
Six people - including five who were believed to be migrant workers
- died this week in a head on crash in Lincolnshire. It is the
latest in series incidents in which migrant workers have been
killed or injured while being ferried to and from work.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
Britain:
Suspended school worker kills himself
A school worker was found dead in a fume-filled car the day after
being suspended from work, an inquest has heard. Support worker
David Baines, 57, who worked at St Christopher's School, Wrexham,
with children with special needs, did not know why he had been
suspended and was worried he was being accused of abuse.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
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EARLIER NEWS
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Hazards
news , 11 February 2006
Britain:
Smoking vote on 14 February
MPs will have the chance to clear the air and vote for a ban on
smoking that includes all pubs and clubs in England when the health
bill is debated in the House of Commons on 14 February.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
Britain:
Death by deregulation protest, London, 14 February
A Valentine’s day protest organised by the Hazards Campaign
will highlight the dangers of any retreat from regulation and
enforcement of workplace health and safety laws.
Hazards
Campaign Valentine’s Day protest
Britain:
NUM to launch joint damage test case
Thousands of South Wales miners who have suffered damage to their
joints could benefit from a major legal test case being launched
by their union. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) says many
miners and former miners who worked in cramped conditions, in
narrow seams with inadequate protection, have suffered debilitating
osteoarthritis in their knees.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
USA:
Why treat workplace killers differently?
What's the most powerful and underutilised legal tool in
combating corporate crime and violence? The law making it a crime
to kill another person, says newsletter Focus on the Corporation.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
Britain:
Machete attack “linked to government cuts”
A machete attack on a Birmingham job centre worker is linked to
a massive programme of job cuts, a union has said. PCS said the
assault on a Jobcentre Plus employee at Washwood Heath jobcentre
has a direct link to the effect job cuts are having on service
users.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
Europe:
EU backs new hours rules for working drivers
The European Parliament has approved a law designed to tighten
up on the number of hours coach and lorry drivers spend behind
the wheel. European drivers’ unions say the new provisions
are welcome but do not go far enough.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
USA:
Safety watchdog continues immigrant sting ops
The US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is
continuing to impersonate officials from the official safety watchdog
OSHA in order to nab undocumented workers. ICE, heavily criticised
when the practice was revealed last year, had said in a letter
to the National Immigration Law Center that the practice would
stop.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
Britain:
Council staff sick of bad treatment
Council workers in Tower Hamlets, east London, walked out on a
one day strike on Tuesday to protest what they believe to be a
punitive new sickness absence procedure. The workers’ union,
UNISON, says the changes in the council’s sickness policy
were introduced without adequate consultation.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
Barefoot research
guide online ‘Barefoot research: A workers’
manual for organising on work security’ is available on
the TUC website and is intended to help workers increase their
level of control over their work and contains information on “barefoot”
research tools, including body and risk mapping and workplace
surveys.
TUC
barefoot research webpages • Hazards
do-it-yourself safety research webpages
Britain:
Injured TV freelance gets injury payout
A freelance location manager who broke a knee cap and elbow after
safety warnings were ignored on the set of a TV drama has been
awarded compensation. Chris Hordley, a member of the TV and theatre
union BECTU, was working on David Jason's directing debut, ‘The
Quest’.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
Britain:
Northern Electric pays for ladder fall
A company that failed to provide a safety aid or required safety
training has agreed to a compensation settlement after a worker
was injured. Amicus member Kevin Noble, 52, received the undisclosed
sum from Northern Electric Plc.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
Britain:
Are directors getting on board?
Are company directors taking any notice of the Health and Safety
Executive’s exhortation that firms assign directorial responsibility
for safety to a board director? A new report for HSE says the
percentage reporting health and safety is directed at board level
has risen from 58 per cent in 2001 to 66 per cent in 2003 and
79 per cent in 2005, with the majority saying defining duties
in law would be useful.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
Britain:
Less than £100 would have saved a life
The death of worker who was crushed at a packaging firm could
have been prevented by spending less than £100, a court
has heard. Lincolnshire packaging company DS Smith Packaging Ltd
was fined £75,000 after worker Colin Blades, 34, was dragged
into a machine and crushed to death.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
Britain:
Waste sector wastes another life
Another fatal accident has hit the notoriously dangerous waste
management sector. A 52-year-old man from London, who has not
yet been named by the authorities, was hit by a vehicle at the
Eversley waste transfer station in Hampshire on Thursday 2 February.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
Britain:
Suicide verdict on bullied factory worker
A father of four killed himself after being bullied by his managers
for two years, an inquest has heard. Anthony McDermott, 50, who
left a letter explaining his factory floor ordeal before hanging
himself, said he found a bullying campaign “soul destroying
and demeaning”.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
Britain:
Grandfather killed by work with asbestos
A grandfather who worked most of his life for British
Rail died as a result of exposure to asbestos, an inquest has
heard. Leonard Foster, 64, of Appleby, started work cleaning steam
engines as a 15-year-old, and in a statement written before his
death he said he was regularly exposed to asbestos at work.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
Britain:
Bereaved to have more rights at inquests
Bereaved families are to get more rights at inquests in England
and Wales, the government has said. Constitutional affairs minister
Harriet Harman told MPs the coroner system could be “much,
much better” adding that inquests today are held amid a
fragmented, unaccountable and archaic system.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
Britain:
PM urged to act on gangmaster abuse
Top food industry, union and human rights organisations have joined
forces to press Tony Blair to introduce immediately a comprehensive
law to prevent the abuse of an estimated 600,000 temporary workers.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
Britain:
Six figure payout for teacher after death threat
A teacher who quit her job at a Birmingham special school after
being threatened by a thug has won a £330,000 payout from
Birmingham city council. Anna Mongey, who was 43 at the time of
the attack in 2001, received the out-of-court settlement after
the intruder confronted her at Lindsworth Special School.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
Britain:
Cash delivery staff need protection
MPs are urging the government to take action to combat attacks
on cash delivery staff. A parliamentary early day motion (EDM)
tabled on behalf of the British Security Industry Association
(BSIA) and the GMB trade union has gained significant backing
from MPs.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006
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LATEST NEWS
|
Hazards
news, 4 February 2006
Britain:
Sign here to stop deaths in the workplace!
Dorothy Wright’s son, Mark, was killed on 12 April 2005
“following an explosion and fire at work caused by the employer's
total disregard for health and safety.” Dorothy is not willing
to allow his death go unremarked and has launched an online petition,
‘Stop deaths in the workplace’.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
USA:
Criminal probe takes shape over BP blast
Civil and criminal investigations of BP appear to be heating up
in the US, 10 months after the March 23 explosion at its Texas
City refinery. FBI agents and criminal investigators from the
Environmental Protection Agency have begun exploring whether criminal
wrongdoing on the part of the company or its managers could have
caused the blast.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
Britain:
“Dreadful” asbestos ruling will rob victims of £1bn
The Court of Appeal has overturned a ruling that thousands of
people suffering from an asbestos-related condition should receive
compensation. Insurance companies, which now stand to save over
£1bn, had appealed against a judgment that pleural plaques,
a scarring of the lungs, could indicate a future risk of disease
and were source of considerable stress to affected workers.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
USA:
All West Virginia mines told to shut after more deaths
Two more fatalities this week in West Virginia mines have prompted
governor Joe Manchin to call on all mines in the state to shutdown
until safety checks have been conducted. The mining union UMWA
had already ordered an immediate inspection of every union mine
in West Virginia.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
Britain:
Asbestos fine “peanuts” says union
The £136,000 fines and costs bill facing an egg box company
that left its workforce exposed to deadly asbestos lagging for
over a decade has been described as “peanuts” by a
union.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
India:
Site union demands safety inspections
The death of a three members of a family at a camp housing labour
for a construction site in India has prompted a union call for
safety inspections at all sites. Families lived in densely packed
huts constructed of flammable thatch and bamboo, in breach of
regulations.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
Britain:
Amicus wins compensation for sacked print worker
A print worker targeted for redundancy after winning compensation
for a disabling strain injury has received a £45,000 payout
for unfair dismissal.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
Europe:
Warning on new workplace health risks
Current trends in society and work organisation are creating new
risks and putting new demands on occupational safety and health
research, a new report has concluded.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
Britain:
Union outrage as directive threatens work standards
UK unions are calling on the government to withdraw their support
from a European directive that threatens safety and employment
rights.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
China:
Record payout for silicosis victim
A jewellery worker in China who contracted life-threatening silicosis
because of unsafe working conditions has been awarded record compensation
from a Hong Kong jewellery manufacturer. The court award of 463,761
yuan (£32,350) includes a lump sum payment of 219,000 yuan
(£15,280) to cover long-term medical treatment.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
Britain:
HSE in pact with employers’ body
The Health and Safety Executive has signed a “groundbreaking
partnership agreement” with EEF, the manufacturers’
organisation, which it says will promote effective health and
safety management across manufacturing industries. HSE says the
agreement is the first of its kind between the safety watchdog
and another organisation.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
USA:
New Working Immigrants web resource
Working Immigrants, described as a “weblog about the business
of immigrant work: employment, compensation, legal protections,
education, mobility, and public policy,” is a new resource
dealing with a sorely neglected area.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
Britain:
Union warning on “maritime disaster” threat
A ship involved in a collision in the English Channel had failed
a number of safety checks around the world, it has been revealed,
prompting a union warning about a real threat of “a major
maritime disaster on our doorstep”.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
Britain:
Free vote on total pub smoke ban
A total ban on smoking in pubs and clubs in England will be one
of three options put to MPs in a free vote later this month, ministers
have promised.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
Britain:
Sickness absence bill put at £12 billion a year
The cost of sickness absence to the British economy is around
£12 billion per year, the safety minister has said.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
Britain:
NHS plan “should promote occupational health”
The health of people in the workplace should be a key consideration
in the government’s ‘Our health, our care’ White
Paper on the health service, the Institution of Occupational Safety
and Health (IOSH) has said.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
Britain:
Landmark ruling confirms rights of overseas workers
A House of Lords ruling means overseas workers have the right
to seek compensation in the UK even if they work aboard.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
Britain:
Put your foot down and your feet up
TUC says Work Your Proper Hours Day 2006 promises to be even bigger
and better than last year. The event, on Friday 24 February, marks
the day the average worker would start earning if they did all
their free overtime for 2006 at the start of the year.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
Britain:
Compensation increases for safety victimisation
The limits on payments and awards made to workers in employment
rights cases, including unfair dismissal for trade union activity,
safety rep activity or raising or acting on safety concerns, rose
on 1 February from £3,800 to £4,000.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards news, 28 January 2006
Britain:
TUC says concerns remain on welfare reform
The government's proposals to reform incapacity benefit have been
given a guarded welcome by TUC, but the union body says concerns
still remain.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
USA:
Daily dangers face day labourers
The job for life has been replaced with a job-for-a-day for many
in the US, and these workers are facing exploitation and deadly
conditions as a result. The country’s first nationwide study
on day labourers has found they are a nationwide phenomenon, with
117,600 people gathering at more than 500 hiring sites to look
for work on a typical day.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
Britain:
Unions call for more resources for welfare plan
Unions whose members work in rehabilitation and welfare services
have said the government will have to plough in more resources
if its welfare reform plans are going to work.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
USA:
Daily dangers face day labourers
The job for life has been replaced with a job-for-a-day for many
in the US, and these workers are facing exploitation and deadly
conditions as a result. The country’s first nationwide study
on day labourers has found they are a nationwide phenomenon, with
117,600 people gathering at more than 500 hiring sites to look
for work on a typical day.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
Britain:
GMB says casinos should get serious on safety
The union GMB has called for a lifetime ban on punters who harass
or attack casino staff.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
Global:
Union action call as 150 journalists die in 2005
The killing of 150 media workers worldwide in 2005 highlights
the need for urgent action, UK journalists’ union NUJ has
said. NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear was speaking at the launch
of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) annual report
on killing in the media.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
Britain:
Prospect demands nuclear sell-off safeguards
Any sale of the British Nuclear Group must pass key tests in the
interests of public safety and the workforce, a union has said.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
USA:
No safety watchdog, no safety, no chance
The two Florida waste treatment plant workers who were killed
this month in a methanol tank explosion were not protected by
any official US safety law or safety watchdog. Bills are raised
each year in Congress to remedy the lack of public sector oversight,
but their passage is consistently blocked by Republicans.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
Britain:
Top boss slammed for bid to blame the victims
A business lobby group has claimed a corporate crime law will
be bad for business in Scotland and that deaths anyway are more
likely to be caused by careless or workers under the influence
than by negligent bosses. David Watt, head of the Institute of
Directors (IoD) in Scotland, said the majority of accidents were
caused by “human error at a lower level” and were
“more likely to be attributable to alcohol than by individuals
acting in a corrupt and homicidal manner”.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
Singapore:
Tougher safety penalties introduced
Dangerous companies and their bosses are to face harsher penalties
under a law passed last week by the Singapore parliament. The
new Workplace Safety and Health Bill comes into force in March.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
Britain:
Boss jailed over worker’s death
Wayne Davies, a building firm boss who showed a “total contempt”
for safety has been jailed for 18 months for the manslaughter
of an employee who plunged 30ft to his death.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
Ghana:
Move to end night excrement work
A Ghanaian lawyer is trying to ban the employment of “night
soil” collectors, who dispose of human waste in pans that
they carry on their heads.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
Britain:
Haulage boss jailed after death crash
A haulage firm boss has been jailed for offences which came to
light after two lorry drivers were killed in a head-on collision
in Wiltshire. Raymond Knapman, from Paignton in Devon, was sentenced
to two-and-half years at Winchester Crown Court.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
Bangladesh:
Does the garment sector have a death wish?
The history of deadly incidents in the Bangladesh ready-made garment
sector suggests it has a “death wish”, global union
federation ITGLWF has told authorities.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
Britain:
Work stress link to heart and diabetes risk
People who suffer from chronic stress caused by their
job are more likely to develop heart disease and diabetes, according
to a major study. The researchers, writing in the British Medical
Journal, investigated work stress and the “metabolic syndrome”
— which includes factors such as obesity, hypertension and
high cholesterol — and found evidence of a direct link between
stress exposure and ill-health.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
Europe:
Finding your way around Europe
A new guide from the European trade union health and safety thinktank
REHS untangles the complex safety structures at work in Europe.
‘Finding your way in the European Union health and safety
policy: A trade union guide’ gives “an overview of
the EU institutions and procedures involved in regulating health
and safety at work, and the role of trade unions in relation to
it.”
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
Britain:
Hospitality trade joins clamour for total smoking ban
The last vestiges of support for the government’s partial
smoking ban proposals appear to be ebbing away, as the hospitality
trade this week joined forces with doctors to call for a complete
ban in all public places.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
Global:
Want to know more about bird flu?
In the light of current concerns about occupational risks from
bird flu, Hazards has updated its “infections” webpages.
They now include links to information sources on bird flu, SARS,
anthrax and smallpox.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
Britain:
More deaths caused by deadly asbestos
More workers have fallen victim to an early death from asbestos
cancer. Surveyor Bryn Garfield. 55, died from mesothelioma during
eight years as a buildings maintenance worker and carpenter Bryan
Littlewood, 68, died from the same cancer.
Risks 241, 28 January 2006
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Hazards news, 21 January 2006
Europe:
Euro MPs back unions on ports safety
A Europe-wide trade union campaign to keep ports safe has scored
a notable victory. The European Parliament this week voted overwhelmingly
to reject the EU port services directive, which threatened massive
deregulation and casualisation of port work.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Britain:
Government urged to act on security staff safety
Security staff union GMB has teamed up with the British Security
Industry Association (BSIA) to call for urgent measures to stem
the “scourge” of attacks on security workers transporting
cash.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
USA:
Farmworkers demand action on Parkinson’s
The US farmworkers’ union UFW is demanding government action
on a reported Parkinson’s disease risk from occupational
exposure to pesticides. A UFW petition urges people to tell the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that federal scientists
“should be looking at the real-life scenarios of exposures
for everyone — especially farmworkers and farmers —
which includes exposure to multiple chemicals that can produce
cumulative impacts on the body and environment.”
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Britain:
Unions calls for asbestos cancer action
Unions and asbestos disease support organisations are backing
a national Action Mesothelioma Day on 27 February. The event aims
to highlight the issue of mesothelioma - or meso – an asbestos
cancer which already kills almost 2,000 people each year in the
UK, or about one every five hours.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Trinidad:
Union protests edge safety law closer
A new Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) is expected to
take effect in Trinidad and Tobago in the next four months, thanks
to a high profile union campaign.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Britain:
ASLEF calls for level crossing action
The eighth crash at an unstaffed level crossing in Cornwall in
the last five years exposes the urgent need for new safety measures,
train drivers’ union ASLEF has said. General secretary Keith
Norman warned that delay in implementing the union’s proposals
on level crossings was putting the public in “severe danger”.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Global:
Shipbreaking hazards a major concern
The dispatch of the asbestos-laden aircraft carrier Clemenceau
from France to the world's largest ship graveyard on India's west
coast for scrapping has focused new attention on the human and
environmental dangers of shipbreaking. While breaking ships and
selling off the scrap provides work and income for tens of thousands
in Bangladesh, China, India and Pakistan, the work is frequently
undertaken in poorly regulated yards and in life-threatening conditions.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Britain:
Company fined £100k for driver’s death
The death of a lorry driver, set alight when a truck overloaded
with molten steel slag tipped over, was a “disaster waiting
to happen”, a judge has said. Short Brothers Plant Ltd admitted
breaking health and safety laws and was fined £100,000 and
ordered to pay costs of £42,000.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Global:
Coal mines killing workers worldwide
Tragedies in China’s coal mines are featured in the global
press with remorseless frequency. But corner cutting and the search
for cheap power are leading to deaths in mines elsewhere.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Britain:
Small fine after worker falls from roof
A Derbyshire company has been fined £6,000 after one of
its employees suffered serious spinal injuries when he fell through
a roof. Ashbourne-based Allen and Hunt Construction Engineers
pleaded guilty to failing to protect the worker who fell at Newton
Grange Farm in February 2005.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Britain:
Nine out of 10 farm injuries unreported
Most farmers do not report accidents to the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE), according to a new survey. The study by the Farmers'
Union of Wales revealed that although 40 per cent of farmers said
they had suffered an injury while working, almost 90 per cent
admitted that they did not tell the HSE.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Britain:
Small firms pay for putting safety last
Workplace health and safety is the lowest priority of small businesses,
a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) opinion survey has found.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Britain:
Tougher rules planned on welfare to work
Tougher sanctions are planned against people claiming incapacity
benefit who refuse to take jobs, work and pensions secretary John
Hutton has said. Proposals for reforming the benefits are due
to be unveiled this month.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Britain:
HSE pushes rehab and sickness action
The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) is urging manufacturing
firms to take action on sickness absence and rehabilitation. Unions
have urged companies to provide supportive sickness absence approaches
combined with effective prevention and rehabilitation efforts
- they have warned, however, that punitive sickness absence approaches
to hound workers back to work are damaging and counterproductive.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Britain:
Tube bomb blasts hero may lose his job
Heroic Tube driver Darryl Lisles, who narrowly escaped the 7 July
2005 bombings in London and who led frantic passengers to safety
during the failed 21 July attempts, has been told he has just
13 weeks to get back to his driving duties or face losing his
job.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Britain:
Work stress gets everywhere, study shows
Work as a librarian is more stressful than fighting fires or tackling
criminals, new research suggests. Researchers examined perceived
levels of stress and found one in three workers across occupations
suffer from poor psychological health. They concluded all organisations
need to take stress seriously.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Britain:
Company pays out £75,000 for work asthma
A former factory worker struck down by asthma caused by exposure
to workplace chemicals has been awarded £75,000 in damages.
David Simms began working for Wolverhampton-based Schenectady
Europe Ltd as a teenager and remained with them for 15 years until
2003, when the company relocated to France.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Britain:
MPs urged to vote for total smoking ban
Unions and public health officers are urging MPs to back a total
ban on smoking in public places, including pubs and clubs. The
calls come after the government’s decision last week to
allow Labour MPs a free vote on the smoking ban proposals in the
health Bill.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
Australia:
Mourners slam deadly law changes
Mourners at the funeral of an Australian construction worker who
died in a site fall have condemned the federal government’s
employment law changes for endangering safety. Frank Hughes, whose
son Paul died when he fell almost 30m from the top floor of an
EnergyAustralia substation in Sydney last week, told a gathering
of his son's workmates and union members the industrial relations
changes must be stopped.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006
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Hazards news, 14 January 2006
Britain:
RMT welcomes safety probe into Tube
Tube union RMT has welcomed a decision by the chief inspector
of railways to investigate reports of safety breaches on the London
Underground during the New Year’s Eve strike by 4,000 RMT
station staff.
Risks 239, 14 January 2006
USA:
Mine tragedy exposes deadly Bush strategy
The Bush administration’s heavily touted shift to voluntary
compliance measures on workplace safety has been implicated in
the Sago mine tragedy. Among changes pushed through by the government
has been a rebranding of mines safety inspectors as “compliance
assistance specialists.”
Risks 239, 14 January 2006
Britain:
STUC says corporate homicide law is top priority
A corporate homicide law tops the Scottish union wish list for
2006. STUC deputy general secretary Grahame Smith said: “What
became increasingly clear during 2005 is that we cannot trust
employers to voluntarily improve Scotland’s workplaces.”
Risks 239, 14 January 2006
Iraq:
Baghdad a “deathtrap for journalism” warns IFJ
Iraq and its major cities have become a “deathtrap for journalism”,
global journalists’ union IFJ has warned. The alert came
after a US journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad.
Risks 239, 14 January 2006
Britain:
Factory work linked to asbestos deaths
Factory workers with only incidental exposure to asbestos are
concerned they could be at increased risk of cancer after seeing
colleagues succumb to the disease.
Risks 239, 14 January 2006
USA:
Unions push for bird flu standards
Not enough attention has been given to the protection of health
care workers from bird flu, US unions have warned. Health care
union AFSCME and other unions have petitioned the government’s
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for an emergency
temporary standard to protect health care workers against pandemic
flu.
Risks 239, 14 January 2006
Britain:
Man's cable death 'was avoidable'
The avoidable death of a 31-year-old worker has cost a company
£25,000 in fines and costs after it admitted health and
safety offences. Father-of-one Miguel Fernandes was electrocuted
while trimming a hedge, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
said.
Risks 239, 14 January 2006
Britain:
Firm fined after worker is burned
A Coventry flooring firm has been fined after a worker was burned
using machinery with no protective guard. The Amtico Company Limited
was fined £40,000 and £8,567 costs.
Risks 239, 14 January 2006
Britain:
Just £2,500 penalty for a broken back
A company that admitted criminal breaches of safety law has been
fined £2,500 after an employee broke his back in a workplace
fall, leaving him confined to a wheelchair. Barrington McDonnell
Ltd was also ordered to pay £1,888 costs.
Risks 239, 14 January 2006
Britain:
More work fatalities are not recorded
Just dying at work isn’t enough to guarantee you’ll
appear in workplace fatality statistics. You have to make sure
the tragedy occurs at the right place and the right time.
Risks 239, 14 January 2006
Britain:
MPs challenge partial smoking ban plan
The government’s hopes of pushing through a partial ban
on smoking including exceptions for many bars and clubs has received
a double blow. A joint committee of MPs and peers has questioned
whether the government's plans for a smoking ban in England are
consistent with human rights laws and the government has conceded
that MPs should be given a free vote on an amendment calling for
a total ban.
Risks 239, 14 January 2006
Global:
International asbestos conference, Glasgow, 27 February
An international asbestos conference in Glasgow, Scotland, on
27 February – International Mesothelioma Day – will
feature leading campaign, medical, political and legal experts
from around the world.
Risks 239, 14 January 2006
China:
Slow progress on deadly mines
China’s coal mines killed almost 6,000 miners last year,
with overall deaths down on the previous year, but major mine
fatalities increasing dramatically. State Administration of Work
Safety figures released last week show that 5,986 miners died
in 3,341 accidents in 2005, a decrease of 8.2 per cent compared
with 2004.
Risks 239, 14 January 2006
Global:
Asbestos trade’s lingering death
Asbestos exposure remains a massive public health challenge worldwide,
the International Labour Office (ILO) has said. “Asbestos
is one of the most, if not the most important single factor causing
work-related fatalities, and is increasingly seen as the major
health policy challenge worldwide”, said Jukka Takala, director
of ILO’s Safework programme
Risks 239, 14 January 2006
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Hazards news, 7 January 2006
Britain:
Five million work a day a week unpaid
Nearly five million employees worked on average an extra day a
week in unpaid overtime in 2005 according to a TUC analysis of
official figures. If each employee worked all their unpaid overtime
at the beginning of the year, the TUC estimates they would have
worked for free and would not start to get paid until Friday 24
February 2006 – this year’s ‘Work Your Proper
Hours Day'.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
Britain:
TUC calls on bosses to listen to hearing alert
The TUC has teamed up with RNID to ask Britain’s 28 million
workers and their managers to ‘break the sound barrier’
and take the charity's new telephone hearing check.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
USA:
School for corporate criminals
Major companies are employing sophisticated public relations techniques
to spin away bad news – and safety is increasingly the reason
they want a healthy gloss on unhealthy practices. The Buckley
School’s website features the 1984 Bhopal tragedy as a public
relations disaster where Union Carbide’s “decent men
squirm and fumble” and notes how “unnecessary that
humiliation was.”
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
Britain:
Amicus secures huge payouts for injured workers
A foundry worker who lost his right arm at work in 1985 is now
facing amputation of his left arm as a result of a second industrial
injury at the same firm. His union Amicus has secured a £1,450,000
compensation settlement. In a second case settled by the union,
a Nissan employee, 46-year-old Mike Gregg, was awarded an out-of-court
settlement of £85,000 as a result of a neck injury sustained
at work.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
USA:
Mine tragedy exposes safety neglect
The deaths of 12 US miners in a West Virginia coalmining tragedy
has focussed attention on the country’s failing workplace
safety regime. Democrat Congressmen George Miller and Major Owens
called for immediate Congressional hearings into mine safety,
citing alarming statistics that show mines safety enforcement
agency MSHA has been downsized by 170 positions since 2001 and
has had his budget slashed by $4.9 million, in inflation-adjusted
terms, for the 2006 fiscal year, compared with 2005.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
Britain:
Union tots up schools compensation
More than £180,000 has been paid out to education workers
in Scotland who have been victims of attacks or industrial accidents,
Scottish teaching union EIS has revealed. Legal costs took the
total bill for local authorities and educational establishments
to almost £250,000 in 2005.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
Britain:
CWU calls for action after latest vicious assault
Postal workers’ union CWU is calling for swift action to
deal with the “growing menace” of assaults on postal
delivery staff.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
China:
Workers pay deadly price for dusty trades
Thousands of workers in China are falling victim to deadly dust
diseases, official figures have revealed. Pneumoconiosis –
the group name for the diseases caused by dust scarring the lungs
– is the most common occupational condition in China, with
440,000 sufferers, according to Ministry of Health figures.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
Britain:
Union concern about compensation proposals
Public sector union UNISON is warning that changes to the Criminal
Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) could result in public sector
workers like Lisa Potts, who was badly injured protecting a class
of four-year-olds from a machete attack, receiving no compensation.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
Global:
Work pressures could jeopardise air safety
Airline safety could be a risk as carriers increase the pressure
on ground staff.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
Britain:
NUMAST warning on North Sea rescue vessels
Seafarers’ union NUMAST has warned that lives could be put
at risk by the use in the North Sea of foreign emergency response
and rescue vessels that do not comply with industry guidelines.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
Britain:
Union action to highlight corporate manslaughter
UK train drivers will use a global day of action on rail safety
to increase pressure for a corporate manslaughter law. ASLEF says
its “central demand” on corporate killing with be
the UK focus for the International Transport Federation's Day
of Action on Safety on 27 March 2006.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
Britain:
Corporate manslaughter law 'cheats victims'
Two powerful committees of MPs have demanded significant changes
to the government's long-overdue bill on corporate manslaughter,
and warned that as currently drafted it could even make things
worse for the victims of accidents at work.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
Britain:
Asbestos payout slashed for smoker's widow
A court has ruled that a Devon worker was "negligent"
for smoking and has cut his widow's asbestos disease compensation
payout. Beryl Badger was told that husband Reg, a boilermaker
at Devonport military docks, had been warned about the risks of
smoking.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
Britain:
Involve workers, minister tells local authorities
Local authorities should make union and worker involvement a “key
element” of their work programme, safety minister Lord Hunt
has said. He added: “Our ambitions for lower rates of injury
and ill-health cannot succeed without the participation and vigilance
of those who work with the risks and their representative organisations,
the unions.”
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
Britain:
Firm gets five digit fine for thumb injury
SmithKline Beecham plc has been fined £15,000 at East Berkshire
Magistrates Court after a worker's thumb was partially severed
by machinery. Parent company GlaxoSmithKline reported a before
tax profit of £6.1 billion in 2004.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
Britain:
Smoke plans “unworkable” say MPs
Plans for a partial ban on smoking in public places in England
are “unfair, unjust, inefficient and unworkable”,
an influential committee of MPs has said. The Commons health select
committee, reporting on 19 December 2005, said a total ban is
the “only effective means” of protecting public health.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
USA:
Court upholds welder’s $1m Parkinson’s award
A US court as upheld a US$1m (£580,000) compensation award
to a welder who developed Parkinson’s disease he believes
was caused by exposure to manganese in welding fumes. Defendants
in the case included UK company BOC Group, which described the
verdict as “an aberration”.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
Britain:
Healthy workplaces strategy “won’t work”
The government’s healthy workplaces strategy “lacks
cohesion and will have little impact on the real issues affecting
health and productivity,” according to a new report from
The Work Foundation. It says problems such as sickness absence,
dependence on welfare benefits and low pay have their root in
bad jobs that give employees little voice and control.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
Britain:
Government push on incapacity benefit reform
The government is seeking support for its controversial reforms
for incapacity benefit. It says getting people off benefit and
into work will ease deprivation and have a positive impact on
health, but union, health and disability campaigners are concerned
the move could lead to harassment of genuine claimants.
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
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