Hazards magazine news

Hazards news, January - December 2014

Britain: Maximus gets fit for work benefits assessments
The company selected by the government to run its new Fit for Work national occupational health service will also undertake all fit for work benefit assessments for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). US multinational Maximus takes over from Atos in March next year as the agency undertaking the controversial Work Capability Assessments (WCA) for DWP.
PCS news release • DWP news release • Written Ministerial Statement • PR Watch on Maximus and outsourced contracts in the US. SourceWatch on Maximus • Risks 679 • 8 November 2014

Britain: More tomatoes growing in train toilet discharge
Tomatoes growing on the track at a railway station near Norfolk highlight the failure of train companies to fit waste tanks to on-board toilets, a union has reiterated. Rail union RMT said the Southend to London line had become known for discharged human excrement, creating a hazard for employees working on the track.
BBC News Online • Risks 679 • 8 November 2014

Britain: Union alarmed at employee screening service
A construction group has come under fire from a union after offering pre-employment “employee screening” to site firms. Construction union UCATT called for the postponement of the National Federation of Builders (NFB) scheme to ensure that it cannot be used to blacklist construction workers.
UCATT news release • NFB news release • Morning Star • Risks 679 • 8 November 2014

France: Shift work is bad for your brain
Working an irregular shift pattern may be causing long-term damage to people’s memory and mental abilities, new research has shown. The study suggested a decade of shifts aged the brain by more than six years.
Jean-Claude Marquié and others. Chronic effects of shift work on cognition: findings from the VISAT longitudinal study, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, published First Online 3 November 2014. doi:10.1136/oemed-2013-101993 [abstract] • BBC News Online • The Independent • Risks 679 • 8 November 2014

Britain: Bad changes are bad for your health
A new guide on stress for NHS workers, produced by the NHS Staff Council, has linked the “unprecedented levels of change” the NHS has undergone in recent years to cases of stress and bullying. Health service union UNISON said the report also drew attention to the risks of redundancy, down-banding and privatisation of NHS services as stress factors.
UNISON news release, and guide: Stress at Work, a guide for UNISON safety reps. NHS staff council: Guidance on prevention and management of stress at work • Risks 679 • 8 November 2014

Britain: IOSH takes up the work cancers cause
Safety officers’ organisation IOSH has taken up the occupational cancer cause. IOSH said its ‘No time to lose’ campaign launch “kick-started an unprecedented drive, led by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), to cut the number of deaths from work-related cancer and raise awareness about the risks.”
IOSH news release and No time to lose campaign • The TUC and global unions occupational cancer prevention campaigns • Risks 679 • 8 November 2014

Britain: Asbestos caused market trader’s lung cancer
Former market trader Alan Tattersall died from asbestos related lung cancer, an inquest heard. Burnley Coroners Court heard the former Burnley FC, Preston North End and Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper later worked as a plumber and came into contact with asbestos during his work.
Rossendale Free Press • Risks 679 • 8 November 2014

Britain: Skip firm crushed casual worker to death
A Kilmarnock skip firm has been fined for criminal safety failings after a casual worker was crushed to death when a heavy gate came off its hinges and fell onto him. Malcolm Macdonald Kennedy, 69, a retired fitter, had been working for Alistair Thomas Corrie, who trades as A Corrie Skip Hire, for around eight years when the incident happened on 12 December 2011.
HSE news release • Risks 679 • 8 November 2014

Britain: Dangerous roof work caught on camera
A builder has been fined after two of his workers were photographed on a house roof in Burnley with no safety measures in place. Mohammed Yasin, who trades as Southfield Property Maintenance, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident at a semi-detached house on 10 April 2014.
HSE news release and work at height webpages • Risks 679 • 8 November 2014

Britain: Worker burned by jet of molten plastic
A County Durham firm has been sentenced after a worker suffered serious burns to his face, hand and arm when he was struck by a jet of hot molten plastic. John Calcutt was helping clear solidified plastic from a large plastic injection moulding machine at Ebac Ltd, in Newton Aycliffe, when the incident happened on 9 September 2013.
HSE news release and manufacturing safety webpages • Risks 679 • 8 November 2014

Global: Unions fend off ‘privatised’ safety standard
A draft international standard on health and safety at work strongly criticised by unions has failed to secure the necessary two-thirds majority vote at a key committee of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) committee. The European Trade Union Institute’s safety unit, HESA, described the vote as “a battle won by the unions against provisions that would leave workers worse off.”
ETUI/HESA news story • Risks 679 • 8 November 2014

Global: New guides on Ebola protection
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has conducted a formal review of personal protective equipment (PPE) guidelines for healthcare workers and has updating its guidelines as a result. Edward Kelley, WHO director for service delivery and safety, said: “Paramount to the guidelines’ effectiveness is the inclusion of mandatory training on the putting on, taking off and decontaminating of PPE, followed by mentoring for all users before engaging in any clinical care.”
WHO update on PPE • Risks 679 • 8 November 2014

Indonesia: Rio Tinto must act after Grasberg fatalities
A global union is calling on metals multinational Rio Tinto to speak publicly about what it will do to end the series of deaths at the Grasberg mine in Indonesia. The mine is now facing industrial action over safety concerns.
IndustriALL news release • Risks 679 • 8 November 2014

Turkey: Union exposes dark side of the Black Sea
Seafarers’ lives are being put at risk by the substandard ships in use on the Black Sea – that’s the key message of a new film produced by Turkish seafarers’ union the Marine Employees Solidarity Association (DAD-DER). Captain Ural Cagirici from DAD-DER said: “The fact that seafarers are risking their lives to make a living isn’t just a trade union issue, it’s a human rights issue too.”
ITF news release and Black Sea Project strategy • Risks 679 • 8 November 2014

Hazards news, 1 November 2014

Britain: Union reps say stress is the UK’s top concern
Stress tops the workplace concerns of union health and safety reps, the TUC’s 11th biennial TUC survey has found. TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “It’s shocking that so many employers are breaking the law and putting their staff at risk of illness and accidents by their sheer negligence.”
TUC news release and full report, Focus on health and safety: Trade union trends survey, October 2014 • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Britain: Cuts are making civil servants sick
Cuts to jobs and increasing workloads are leading to more stress and ill-health in the civil service, according to new surveys for PCS. Two surveys carried out for the union by employment analysts and academics have revealed high levels of stress, longer working hours, and fewer opportunities to achieve a work-life balance.
PCS news release • Morning Star • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Britain: Public service violence has nearly doubled
Violence against public service workers in Scotland increased again last year and has nearly doubled over the past eight years, latest figures show. UNISON Scotland says there had been 37,052 incidents reported to public service employers last year – up 3,363 and almost double the 20,000 reported when the first survey was first conducted in 2006.
UNISON news release and UNISON Scotland Survey of Violence at Work 2014 • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Britain: Healthcare assistant violently attacked at work
A healthcare assistant, who was attacked by a patient with a known history of aggression, has been awarded an undisclosed sum in compensation. The patient should not have been on the ward as the staff at the hospital had not been given sufficient training on how to deal with a patient who posed such a danger.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Britain: Government denies protection to shopworkers
Retail union Usdaw has expressed disappointment at the government refusal to stiffen sentences for those who assault workers selling alcohol, following a 20 October debate in the House of Lords. General secretary John Hannett said: “I am very concerned but not surprised that yet again the government has blocked necessary protection for workers on the frontline of enforcing licensing laws.”
Usdaw news release and the failed amendment • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Britain: Dismay as ministers say no to copter inquiry
Unions have expressed their dismay after ministers rejected calls for an independent public inquiry into helicopter safety prompted by a series of offshore ditching incidents and deaths. Mick Cash, general secretary of the offshore union RMT, said he was “appalled” at the government refusal to hold a “full independent and public inquiry into helicopter safety.”
Transport Select Committee helicopter safety webpages • BALPA news release • RMT news release • Irwin Mitchell Solicitors news release • The Herald • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Britain: Worker injured in fall from bread oven
A Premier Foods employee injured in a fall while cleaning a bread oven has received a £4,600 compensation payout. BFAWU member Paul Strange suffered ligament damage to his shoulder and a soft tissue injury to his left wrist, the injuries leading to two months off work.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Global: Cameron must condemn slavery in Qatar
The prime minister must ensure that the government of Qatar is committed to ending slavery and abuse of migrant workers, the TUC has said. In a letter to David Cameron ahead of his scheduled meeting with the Emir of Qatar, the union body notes: “Conditions for foreign workers in Qatar, including those building the infrastructure needed for the 2022 World Cup, continue to be of grave concern.”
TUC news release, letter to David Cameron and Playfair Qatar website • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Britain: Lords back self-employed exemption from safety
Peers have voted in favour of government plans to exempt most self-employed workers from safety law. Unions and safety professionals had opposed the move, which will mean the self-employed are no longer subject to the Health and Safety at Work Act unless they are undertaking one of a short list of ‘prescribed activities’.
House of Lords debate, 21 October 2014. IOSH news release • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Britain: Supreme Court victory for asbestos victims
A landmark Supreme Court judgment will ensure a fair settlement for the bereaved families of asbestos disease victims. The ruling establishes that under the Factories Act the occupier of the premises is responsible for the welfare of the people on site, not just those it employs directly, and that the Asbestos Industry Regulations apply to all factories using asbestos - not just those involved in the asbestos industry.
Irwin Mitchell Solicitors news release • The Mirror • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Britain: Rail bosses have failed to act on safety
Rail accident investigators have warned that potentially disastrous safety problems have not been addressed by the industry years after being discovered. The Rail Accident Investigation Board (RAIB) inspector Carolyn Griffiths warned that dozens of recommendations had gone unheeded - with 25 still not addressed after three years.
RMT news release • RAIB news release • Morning Star • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Britain: Horticulture firm fined after explosion tragedy
A horticultural company has been fined after a worker died and three others were seriously injured in an explosion while emptying a pressurised tank used to heat greenhouses. Cantelo Nurseries Ltd employee Peter James, 67, died of head injuries six days after the incident.
HSE news release • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Britain: Factory fined over crane collision death
An Oldham manufacturer has been ordered to pay £125,000 in fines and costs after an employee was killed when he was struck by a three-tonne piece of steel being lifted by an overhead crane. Michael Wickstead, 63, was working for Refinery Supplies Ltd in Chadderton when two overhead cranes collided.
HSE news release and manufacturing webpages • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Britain: Young worker crushed to death by forklift
A North Lanarkshire employer has been fined for criminal safety failings that led to a worker being killed after he was thrown from a forklift truck and crushed. David Westwater, 22, had only been working for Basil Pinkney, in his small scaffold refurbishment business in Coatbridge, for two weeks before the incident happened on 28 August 2012.
HSE news release and transport webpages • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Britain: Vet workers were exposed to harmful drugs
A Bedfordshire veterinary firm has been fined after workers were potentially exposed over a four year period to animal chemotherapy drugs that can cause cancer and birth defects. Employees of Davies Veterinary Specialists Limited, including vets, nurses and support staff, could have been exposed to the drugs as they prepared medicines to treat animals with cancer at the firm’s premises in Higham Gobion, Bedfordshire.
HSE news release • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Britain: Scrap metal firm fined over lead poisoning
A scrap metal firm has been fined for criminal health and safety failings after workers suffered from lead poisoning and the firm failed to act on repeated warnings. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said one 48-year-old man from Darwen, who has asked not to be named, was admitted to hospital after blood tests revealed he had seven times the ‘normal’ amount of lead in his body, putting him at risk of health problems including nerve, brain and kidney damage, and infertility.
HSE news release and lead webpages • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Canada: Union says it’s time to ‘Stop the Killing’
Leaders of the United Steelworkers (USW) in Canada say its campaign to stop workplace killing through better enforcement of existing laws has gained momentum now that it has been raised with federal, provincial and territorial justice ministers. The union has been pressing for jurisdictions across Canada to make use of 2003 amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada dealing with workplace deaths.
USW news release and Stop the Killing campaign • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

India: Exploitation widespread in the textile industry
Workers are facing appalling labour conditions that amount to forced labour in the export-oriented Southern Indian textile industry, a study has found. The Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) and the India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN) discovered women and girls who work in the spinning mills of Tamil Nadu, some as young as 15, are virtual prisoners, forced to work long hours for low wages.
ICN news release • Flawed fabrics - The abuse of girls and women workers in the South Indian textile industry, SOMO & ICN, October 2014 • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

USA: Unions call for presidential action on Ebola
To protect the USA’s health care workers and the public from exposure to the Ebola virus, President Barack Obama should use his executive authority to put in place mandatory protections and other workplace standards for hospitals and other health care facilities, national union federation AFL-CIO has said. In letters to the president and congressional leaders, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka said: “Existing protocols, standards and guidelines, and adherence to them, are deficient.”
AFL-CIO Now blog and letters to president Obama to Obama and the Senate and the House • Mother Jones • Fortune. Wall Street Journal blog • Risks 678 • 1 November 2014

Hazards news, 25 October 2014

Britain: Selling or ditching airline medicals is too risky
Airline safety could be put at risk by proposals put forward by the industry regulator to either scrap or sell off its medical services, the union PCS has warned. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched a consultation on it plans; all UK pilots are required to obtain a medical licence from the CAA.
PCS news release • CAA news relase • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Britain: Tomatoes on the line fertilised by human waste
Human excrement dumped from trains straight onto the rail tracks has caused tomatoes to sprout on a key route into London. RMT general secretary Mick Cash, whose members have to work on the track, said: “It shames Britain's railways that tons of human excrement is being dumped straight on the tracks while the private train companies make huge profits and the government does nothing.”
RMT news release • The Mirror • The Standard • London 24 • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Britain: GMB launches blacklist ‘crocodile tears’ tour
The first leg of a blacklisting ‘crocodile tears’ tour organised by the union GMB will feature 10 demonstrations nationwide. The union says its intention is to name-and-shame 63 construction industry managers who have been implicated directly in the UK blacklisting scandal but who have not yet come clean and apologised for their actions.
GMB news release and Leeds, Darlington and Wolverhampton updates • Construction Enquirer • Blacklist Support Group Facebook page • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Britain: RMT predicted correctly a serious train incident
The derailment of a freight train in north-west London last October has been blamed on a series of failures and operational issues that had all been raised repeatedly by rail union RMT. The confirmation came in a damning report by the Rail Accident Investigation Board (RAIB).
RMT news release • RAIB report • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Britain: Union relief as dog attack law takes effect
New laws to protect the public from dog attacks have come into force. The new rules and accompanying Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Practitioners Manual for dealing with irresponsible dog ownership have been welcomed by postal workers’ union CWU, whose national Bite-Back campaign led the successful push for more effective controls.
CWU news release and Bite Back campaign • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Britain: Brilliant firefighters tackle power station inferno
The leader of the firefighters’ union has hailed the brilliant work by firefighters tackling a major power station blaze in Oxfordshire, but has warned funding cuts could jeopardise this “world class service.” At its height, 25 fire engines and about 100 firefighters tackled the blaze at Didcot B power station, which began in a cooling tower at about 8pm on Sunday 19 October.
FBU news release • BBC News Online • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Britain: Study highlights spiralling lecturer stress
Scotland’s university lecturers are facing heavy workload pressures and high levels of work-related stress caused by university management practices. The findings, based partly on a survey carried out by the union EIS, indicate that teaching staff in the university sector have lower levels of wellbeing and satisfaction compared to overall scores of those working across all sectors of education.
EIS news release • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Britain: Stressed out, overworked and underpaid
UNISON members are being expected to do more work with fewer staff for less pay, the union's national health and safety committee has warned. Meeting as this year's European Health and Safety Week kicked off on 20 October, the public sector union’s safety committee indicated this oppressive combination was the motivation behind its ‘Cut stress, not jobs’ campaign.
UNISON news release and guide, Stress at work, a guide for UNISON safety reps • EU-OSHA news release • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Britain: Prison officer attacked by violent inmate
A prison officer suffered career-ending physical and psychological injuries when he was attacked by a prisoner at Her Majesty’s Young Offender’s Institute Wetherby. The Prison Officers Association (POA) member, Keith Nyberg was carrying out a routine check in the inmate’s cell when the prisoner became aggressive and threatening.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Prisons Inspector’s annual report 2013-2014 • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Britain: Premier Foods pays out after head injury
A Premier Foods employee was injured at work when part of the machinery he was cleaning fell and struck him on the head. Johnathan Wain, a member of the bakers’ union BFAWU, was employed as a mixing bay operator the firm’s Stoke-on-Trent bakery.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Britain: ISO bid to ‘privatise’ safety standards
A draft standard on safety management being prepared by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) could be seriously bad news for workers, unions have warned. Unions say ISO does not have an expert mandate in occupational health and safety, and unlike ILO doesn’t have to listen to those who have.
ITUC news story • ISO draft standard • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Britain: Extended family being ‘killed off’ by asbestos
A family fears it is being ‘killed off one by one’ by asbestos after two cousins died of a related cancer. Two other members of the family - Charlie Glass, 68, and cousin Tommy Glass, 80 – have also developed an asbestos related condition.
Daily Record • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Britain: Asbestos killed former steelworker
The family of ex-steel worker Gordon Warner, who died last year from asbestos disease, is appealing for his former workmates to get in touch and help shed light on Mr Warner’s work at Bromford Iron and Steel in West Bromwich. Mr Warner died on 16 June 2013 aged 73 after contracting mesothelioma, an asbestos-related lung cancer.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Former employees of Bromford Iron and Steel with relevant information can contact Alison Fahy on 0121 262 1231 • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Britain: Chainsaw sliced into worker’s leg
Enviroclean (Scotland) Ltd has been fined for criminal safety failings after a worker was injured when a chainsaw hit him on the leg as he slipped while felling trees. Hugh Dorricot, then 26, was not wearing appropriate personal protective equipment and was not adequately trained to use a chainsaw when the incident took place at Gartsherrie Burn, Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, on 9 March 2010.
HSE news release and chainsaws guide • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Britain: Security firm in court after worker’s fall
An Essex firm has been fined after a maintenance engineer broke his elbow and ankle when he fell more than three metres through fragile ceiling tiles at a site in Dunton, Essex. The engineer, who does not wish to be named, was attempting to access an electrical control panel in a ceiling void to fix a faulty roller shutter door when the incident happened on 21 December 2012.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Britain: Scaffolding firm was insurance no-show
A scaffolding firm has been fined after it ignored repeated requests to prove it held insurance for employees. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was alerted to the possible lack of Employers’ Liability Insurance – a requirement under UK law – when it received a complaint about scaffolding erected by Abacus Scaffolding North West Ltd at a site in Thornton Cleveleys in October 2013.
HSE news release • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Australia: Trucking is the deadliest job
Australia’s transport union is calling for official action to improve safety standards in the “deadly” trucking industry. Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) assistant national secretary Michael Kaine said a new study by Life Insurance Finder confirmed trucking is Australia’s deadliest job with one in three workplace deaths occurring in the transport industry.
TWU news release and Safe Rates campaign • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Bangladesh: Over 1,000 garment factories now inspected
A union-brokered safety accord has seen garment factory inspections across Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Accord this week announced that initial inspections of factories covered by the accord had been completed by the September 2014 deadline. From the initial inspections of 1,106 garment factories in the country, the Accord’s inspectors identified more than 80,000 safety issues needing to be resolved.
Accord statement • The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. IndustriALL news release • The Guardian • New York Times • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Global: Unions put your safety on the agenda
Unions don’t just protect your livelihood, they protect your life, the leader of the global union federation ITUC has said. Launching a new ITUC occupational and health and safety newsletter and webpages, ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow said the new resources demonstrate how unions have influenced directly safety and justice from the workplace level to high level negotiations like September’s G20 meeting of labour and employment ministers.
ITUC news story • ITUC occupational health and safety webpages • Issue 1 of the ITUC occupational health and safety e-news • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

New Zealand: Claims expose the most dangerous jobs
Almost a quarter of agriculture, forestry and fishery workers in New Zealand had a work-related injury claim accepted by the country’s official Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) in 2013. Provisional figures for the year released by Statistics New Zealand show that agriculture, forestry, and fishery workers made 226 injury claims per 1,000 full-time equivalent employees, and 2.6 per cent of these workers experienced an injury that resulted in a week or more off work.
NZCTU news release • Risks 677 • 25 October 2014

Hazards news, 18 October 2014

Europe: The dead hand of the European deregulators
A new deregulation spree could be in prospect across Europe, following a report from the European Commission’s High Level Group on Administrative Burdens. The proposals – which seek to exempt small and medium sized enterprises from safety and other regulations - have been criticised by unions and the key industry group, with the TUC warning they pose a danger to both workers and consumers.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • TUC news release • ETUC news release • ETUI news release. Cutting Red Tape in Europe:Legacy and outlook - Final Report: High Level Group on Administrative Burdens and Dissenting Opinion • The Guardian • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Britain: Stress is the UK’s top concern, say reps
Stress is the top concern in UK workplaces, findings of a TUC survey of union safety reps has found. The trailed results from the 11th biennial survey, to be published in full in November, reveal two-thirds of safety reps (67 per cent) say stress, and the effect it is having on their colleagues, is one of the main concerns they have to deal with at work.
TUC news release • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Britain: Why NHS staff need to take a break
Health service union UNISON is urging NHS staff in England to take their breaks and ambulance staff to not work unpaid overtime. Commenting as NHS and other staff embarked on industrial action in defence of decent services and work conditions, UNISON head of health Christina McAnea said “NHS staff go above and beyond what's expected of them every day and every week.”
UNISON news release • TUC Stronger Unions blog • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Britain: Teachers fear taking sickness absence
Punishing teachers for taking sick leave is not the answer to dealing with absence caused by work-related stress, teachers in Wales have said. The annual conference of NASUWT Cymru demanded that employers should look urgently at tackling the stress and anxiety which are among the main causes of teacher sickness absence, rather than creating a “culture of fear around the issue.”
NASUWT news release • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Global: UK and Canadian TV unions in safety link-up
Unions representing non-fiction TV workers in Canada and the UK have joined forces to challenge poor safety and working conditions in the sector. The Canadian Media Guild (CMG) and BECTU prepared a joint statement of principles aimed at improving the situation, submitting it to production and broadcast executives.
BECTU news release, No to TV abuse webpages and code of practice • CMG campaign webpage • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Britain: Asbestos campaign welcome ‘but four years late’
Construction union UCATT have welcomed a new Health and Safety Executive (HSE) asbestos awareness campaign but has warned that workers have been denied effective advice for over four years due to government “penny-pinching”. UCATT general secretary Steve Murphy said the government’s bar on campaigns – the Hidden Killer campaign was on the blocks and ready to go when David Cameron came to power in 2010 – “means that for the last four and a half years, thousands of workers have been needlessly exposed to asbestos and their health put at risk.”
UCATT news release • HSE news release and beware asbestos webpage and app • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Britain: Date set for new hearing on tribunal fees
A new judicial review launched by UNISON over the introduction of employment tribunal fees is set to be heard at the High Court on 21-22 October 2014. It follows the decision of the Court of Appeal last month to stay the appeal of the earlier High Court decision over tribunal fees, in light of new evidence showing a huge drop in tribunal claims.
UNISON news release • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Britain: Lethal consequences of axing guards exposed
Rail union RMT has warned of the dangers of a growing rolling stock crisis on Britain’s railways. RMT says the capacity crisis on Trans-Pennine Express and the rest of the network is wholly down to the “fragmentation and profiteering of privatisation”, with rail firms competing to lease limited rolling stock.
RMT news release • Financial Times • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Britain: Health staff still at risk of ‘sharps’ injuries
NHS staff are being placed at risk of deadly diseases by foot-dragging employers who are failing to introduce readily available safer ‘sharps’, including needles, syringes and lancets, UNISON has warned. UNISON’s freedom of information request to the NHS Business Service Authority found that while some community trusts reported that 83 per cent of devices they purchased were safety devices, in other areas the figure was as low as 16 per cent.
UNISON news release • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Britain: Police 'neither confirm nor deny' blacklisting role
Campaigners against the construction industry blacklist have reacted with anger after the Metropolitan Police (MPS) refused to ‘neither confirm nor deny’ (NCND) whether the Blacklist Support Group has been the subject of surveillance by undercover police units including Special Branch. Blacklist Support Group secretary Dave Smith said: “The refusal to provide any information whatsoever smacks of an establishment cover-up.”
Blacklist Blog • Morning Star • The Guardian • The Independent • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Britain: Ebola screening begins at Heathrow airport
Passengers arriving at Heathrow airport from Ebola-affected countries are now being screened by health officials. The government said “a few passengers” had their temperatures checked and filled in a health questionnaire at Terminal 1 when the policy took effect on 14 October.
BBC News Online and related story • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Britain: New name for the work and health service
The government’s Work and Health Service has been rebranded as ‘Fit for Work’ ahead of its launch later this year. Disability and welfare reform minister Lord Freud – criticised after suggesting some disabled workers were “not worth the full [minimum] wage” - said: “Fit for Work will help employers and their staff to manage sickness absence and aid the return-to-work process and GPs will play a vital role in referring patients they think will benefit from it.”
DWP news release • TUC news release • Hazards magazine • BBC News Online • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Britain: GPs ‘missing opportunities’ to spot lung cancer
Doctors in Britain are “missing opportunities” to spot lung cancer at an early stage, meaning one in three people with the disease dies within 90 days of diagnosis, a study has found. The findings have major implications for occupational health, with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimating around 15 per cent of all lung cancer deaths are related to occupation, or around 5,000 deaths a year – where cases are diagnosed late or after death, the link to work will be more likely to be overlooked.
Thorax news release • BBC News Online • HSE figures on occupational lung cancer •
Emma L O’Dowd and others. What characteristics of primary care and patients are associated with early death in patients with lung cancer in the UK?, Thorax, Published Online First, 13 October 2014 • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Britain: Frackers could be allowed to use 'any substance'
The UK government plans to allow fracking companies to put “any substance” under people’s homes and property and leave it there, under an amendment to the Infrastructure Bill debated by the House of Lords. The government said the change was part of a package of controversial measures “vital to kickstarting” shale gas exploration.
The Guardian • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Britain: Whistleblower exposures Mayfair site shambles
A whistleblower alerted inspectors to safety blunders at a renovation site in swanky Mayfair, leading to the criminal prosecution of a civil engineering contractor. Covent Garden-based Peter Lind and Co (Central Region) Limited, a company with a history of operating unsafe sites, was prosecuted after a subsequent Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspection of the site identified serious work at height risks.
HSE news release and falls webpage • Construction Enquirer • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Britain: Worker burned when road marking lorry exploded
A road worker suffered burns when a Redland Road Marking Ltd road marking vehicle caught fire and exploded in Bristol, a court has heard. HSE’s investigation found pipework to the gas-heated cauldrons on top of the vehicle, which had not been fitted by a competent person, was not properly connected and the equipment had no flame failure devices.
HSE news release and work equipment webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Europe: Stress remains a major problem at work
A quarter of workers in Europe report feeling stressed at work all or most of the time, and a similar proportion say that work affects their health negatively, a new report has revealed. ‘Psychosocial risks in Europe: Prevalence and strategies for prevention’ found fewer people report working long hours but say at the same time job insecurity has increased across Europe, and in some countries work intensity has risen in companies struggling in the economic crisis.
EU-OSHA news release and Psychosocial risks in Europe: Prevalence and strategies for prevention, full report and executive summary • Eurofound news release • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Global: Workers press for Ebola protection
According to the World Health Organisation, in its Ebola Response Roadmap Situation Report for 8 October, some 401 health workers had contracted Ebola, with 232 confirmed or suspected deaths. Ebola cases in healthcare workers exposed treating patients in US and Spanish hospitals show the risk isn’t confined to West Africa.
IRIN news report • Ebola Response Roadmap Situation Report, WHO, 8 October 2014 • . SEIU news report • Washington Post • Working In These Times • The Independent •
NYCOSH New York airports health and safety report, October 2014 • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Canada: Rail firms fight new fatigue rules
Canada’s major freight rail companies are fighting moves by the federal transportation regulator to curb “extreme fatigue” among railway engineers, a CBC News investigation has found. CN Rail, CP and the Railway Association of Canada went on the attack two weeks ago at a “tense and heated” meeting of industry, union and government representatives, according to a number of people present.
CBC News and related story • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Japan: Top court backs asbestos victims
Japan’s government failed to prevent workers from being exposed to harmful asbestos, is responsible for the diseases that resulted and should compensate those affected, the country’s Supreme Court has ruled. The court handed down the decision in two suits filed by former asbestos mill workers in southern Osaka Prefecture and their bereaved families.
Mainichi Japan • Japan Times • Risks 676 • 18 October 2014

Hazards news, 11 October 2014

UK: Union health and safety campaign delivers
The power of union organisation to swiftly sort our health and safety problems at work has been demonstrated by a UNISON health service branch. The local UNISON branch was intent on getting the problems sorted, and told management it wanted a joint health and safety committee – which promptly delivered a reduction in injuries, work-related ill-health retirements and compensation claims.
UNISON news release • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Britain: Union concern as fatality probe is ruled out
A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) will not be held in to the deaths of three crewmen when the Flying Phantom tug boat sank on the River Clyde almost seven years ago. The decision came as the seafarers’ union Nautilus warned that the ‘light touch’ regulation of ports was leaving crews at deadly risk.
Crown Office decision • The Herald • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Britain: Government must heed the lessons of rail tragedy
Fifteen years after 31 lives were lost in the Ladbroke Grove rail disaster, rail union RMT has warned that government policy is dragging the railways closer to “the same poisonous cocktail of conditions” that lead to that tragedy on the morning of 5 October 1999.
RMT news release • ASLEF news release • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Britain: Painful twist leads to injury compensation
A poorly planned pipe replacement job led to a Gloucester factory worker suffering a painful wrist injury. Unite member Terry Behan, who has received a £12,000 compensation award, said: “We were expected to work in treacherous weather conditions and didn't have the right equipment to fix the pipe in the first place!”
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Gloucester Citizen • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Britain: Court rules asbestos payout cut is illegal
Government plans to deduct legal fees from the damages paid to people dying from an asbestos cancer are unlawful, the High Court has ruled. The Asbestos Victims’ Support Groups Forum UK (AVSGF) brought the successful action against justice secretary Chris Grayling.
AVSGF news release • Leigh Day and Co news release • IBAS news report • Law Gazette • The Guardian • BBC News Online • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Britain: Push for killer bosses to face life in jail
Top company bosses responsible for workplace deaths could face being jailed for life under proposals to reform Scotland’s law on culpable homicide. Richard Baker, the Labour MSP for north-east Scotland, will this month put forward a bill to make deadly employers more accountable.
The Herald • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Britain: Deadly BP cost cutter to head UK Civil Service
A former oil executive criticised for his role in a deadly BP refinery explosion, and whose last oil company was fined over 50 health and safety violations connected with fracking, has been appointed the first chief executive of the Civil Service. While at BP, an internal company report published in 2007 found John Manzoni should be held accountable for the Texas City refinery blast that killed 15 people and injured 170.
Prime Minister’s Office news release • The Independent • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Britain: New chopper rules for 'larger' offshore workers
New rules are to be introduced on the size of oil workers travelling to and from offshore installations by helicopter. Critics have argued that it wasn’t the size of workers that caused helicopters to crash, it was mechanical problems and adverse weather conditions.
Step Change in Safety news release • BBC News Online • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Britain: Network Rail chief slams ‘unacceptable’ safety levels
The workforce safety standard on the railways not up to scratch, according to Network Rail head Mark Carne. The chief executive, who took up his post in April, said that compared with other ‘safety critical’ industries like oil and gas, Network Rail’s current level of workforce safety “is simply unacceptable”.
Railnews • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Britain: Workers are taking fewer sick days
Employers say the number of days taken as sick leave has fallen from an average of 7.6 days last year to 6.6 days this year. The survey report, from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), indicated that the fall in days off taken as sick did not mean workers were fitter now but points to an increase in presenteeism, with more people attending work while sick.
CIPD news release, related blog posting and CIPD/Simplyhealth Absence Management survey • BBC News Online • The Guardian • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Britain: Stressed social workers on the brink of quitting
The stress of “sharing people's misery”, increasing workloads and a lack of resources mean many social workers want to quit the profession, a survey has found. Nearly one in 10 UK social workers had considering leaving the job, with over a fifth of these blaming stress or unmanageable caseloads.
Community Care • BBC News Online • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Britain: Unguarded drill cost worker his fingertip
A West Midlands fabrications company has been fined after an employee lost the tip of his finger in an unguarded drill. Black Country Magistrates’ Court heard the 32-year-old man was drilling holes into metal components at H&H Alloy Sales Ltd when the incident happened on 18 December 2013.
HSE news release and work equipment webpages • Birmingham Mail • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Britain: Another drill, another glove, another injury
A Macclesfield manufacturer has been fined for criminal safety failings after a worker’s hand became entangled around a factory drill. Stormguard Ltd, which produces drainage products, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found it had ignored warnings by its own health and safety officer about how the machine was being used.
HSE news release and manufacturing webpages • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Britain: Agency worker loses arm at recycling firm
A waste recycling firm in Scotland has been fined for serious safety failings after an agency worker severed his left arm at the shoulder while clearing a conveyor belt blockage. Steven Dawson, then aged 28, was working as a line supervisor for Lowmac Alloys Ltd at its premises in Irvine, when the incident happened on 8 February 2011.
HSE news release • STV News • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Britain: Tree surgeon seriously injured in 18 metre fall
Self-employed tree surgeon Daniel Hunt, 40, dislocated his hip after falling more than 18 metres to the ground when the limb of a diseased tree gave way. Richard Cole, trading as Richard Cole Contracting, pleaded guilty to a criminal breach of the Work at Height Regulations and was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £780 in costs.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Australia: Welder gets landmark cancer payout
A landmark court decision to award compensation to a man whose lung cancer was linked to inhaling toxic welding fumes establishes a series of crucial precedents, Australian manufacturing union AMWU has said. AMWU health and safety experts said the Victorian County Court decision was an Australian first and recognised that light smoker Anh Tran’s risk of contracting lung cancer had been raised by working in a small welding shop in south-east Melbourne.
AMWU news release • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Global: Leaked text reveals ‘toxic’ trade partnership
A leaked draft of a trans-Atlantic trade deal reveals how the negotiations continue to favour business interests over the protection of health and of the environment, campaign groups have warned. The European Commission’s restricted access text for the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) shows that the European Union’s proposals for a ‘chemicals annex’ shadow those of the chemical industry.
CIEL news release, the leaked text and full report: Toxic partnership: A critique of the ACC-Cefic proposal for trans-Atlantic Regulatory Cooperation on Chemicals • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Global: Precarious workers face higher risks
Three out of four workers killed last month at a mine in Indonesia part-owned by Rio Tinto were precarious workers, the global union IndustriALL has said. It says cases like this highlight the importance of its ‘Stop precarious work’ campaign, with studies linking precarious work to higher injury and sickness rates and poorer health overall.
IndustriALL news release • Wall Street Journal • More on the hazards of insecure work • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Global: WHO warns of Ebola healthcare risks
A prominent World Health Organisation (WHO) adviser has warned that more Ebola cases can be expected among medical staff - even in developed countries with modern health care systems. Professor Peter Piot was commenting after Spanish nurse Teresa Romero contracted the disease treating two missionaries in a Madrid hospital.
BBC News Online • What we know about transmission of the Ebola virus among humans, WHO update, 6 October 2014 • British Medical Association recommendations. Ebola (Ebola Virus Disease): Information for healthcare workers, US CDC, updated 6 October 2014 • Risks 675 • 11 October 2014

Hazards news, 4 October 2014

Britain: Don’t sell out our safety
The government’s attacks on health and safety, including swingeing cuts to the Health and Safety Executive’s budget and the erosion of its inspection and enforcement functions, could jeopardise long-term improvements in standards at work, retail union Usdaw has warned. The union is directing its safety reps to a Hazards Campaign ‘Don’t pimp our watchdog’ initiative, which is calling for an end to the “commercialisation” of HSE.
Usdaw news releases on health and safety deregulation and the commercialisation of HSE • Don’t pimp our watchdog – send a message to HSE • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Britain: Unite calls on HSE to retain ‘vital’ committees
The Health and Safety Executive’s board must halt plans to close vital health and safety advisory committees and to replace them with “experts”, Unite has said. One committee dealing with chemicals - WATCH - has already been told it has been disbanded; and Unite says its parent body, the Advisory Committee on Toxic Substances (ACTS), also appears to be under threat.
Unite news release • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Global: TUC launches new Playfair Qatar campaign
The TUC is urging football’s governing body to make a stand against the deadly form of ‘modern slavery’ in Qatar, FIFA’s pick to host the 2022 World Cup. A new ‘Playfair Qatar’ campaign warns that the low wages and high risks endured by the migrant labour force, combined with the tied labour ‘kafala’ system, make the oil-rich nation an unfit venue.
TUC Stronger Unions blog, Playfair Qatar website and deaths and injuries webpages • Playfair Qatar facebook page • Daily Mail • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Britain: Unite seeks assurances after Ineos butane leak
Ineos must demonstrate to workers and the community its commitment to safety after a butane leak at its Grangemouth plant, the union Unite has said. Fire, police and ambulance crews were called as part of a multi-agency response to the butane gas leak at the central Scotland terminal shortly after 10am on 30 September.
Unite news release • The Herald • BBC News Online • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Britain: Teachers welcome minister’s workload pledge
Teaching union NUT has welcomed a commitment from the government to reduce teacher workloads. Education secretary Nicky Morgan, addressing the Conservative Party conference on 30 September, described teachers as the “heroes” of the education system, and promised she would make a priority of reducing their workload.
NUT news release and survey findings • Education Secretary’s Conservative conference speech • BBC News Online • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Britain: Support for suicide witnesses axed by government
A train driver who suffered psychological trauma after he hit a member of the public who stood in front of his moving train in an apparent suicide has been one of the last to secure compensation from an official criminal injuries scheme. The ASLEF member’s payout of £8,200 is one of the highest ever secured from the CICA in suicide cases but will be one of the last, following changes by the current government in 2012 that excluded train drivers and many other workers from claiming compensation for physical or mental injuries sustained during the course of their employment.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Britain: Long hours at low pay linked to diabetes
Working long hours in ‘low status’ jobs can increase your risk for diabetes, a new study suggests. Researchers found that people who worked more than 55 hours a week at manual labour or other types of ‘low socioeconomic status jobs’ were 30 per cent more likely to develop diabetes than those who worked 35 to 40 hours a week.
Mika Kivimäki and others. Long working hours, socioeconomic status, and the risk of incident type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of published and unpublished data from 222,120 individuals, The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Early Online Publication, 25 September 2014 • Orfeu M Buxton and Cassandra A Okechukwu. Long working hours can be toxic, The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Early Online Publication, 25 September 2014 • CBS News • The Pump Handle • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Europe: Most chemical standards advisers are industry linked
Two-thirds of scientists advising the European Union on the safety assessments of controversial substances have industry links, new research has found. Corporate Europe Observatory’s Pascoe Sabido said “these assessments don't just affect public health, they also help dictate the financial fortunes of companies involved in producing and using the substances,” adding: “This means that the independence of the scientists providing the expert advice needs to be above and beyond any suspicion of industry influence – which is not the case.”
CEO news release and full report, Chemical conflicts: inadequate independence policies for EU’s expert risk assessors • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Britain: Massive radiation dose for Rolls Royce workers
Workers at a UK nuclear submarine manufacturer received a gamma radiation dose up to 32 times the annual limit after discovering a misplaced radioactive source. Rolls Royce Marine Power Operations Ltd, which has been fined £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of £176,500, lost track of the radioactive source at its plant in Derby which was then handled unwittingly by welders and radiographers.
HSE news release • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Britain: Clydeport fined following river tug tragedy
A port operator has been fined £650,000 for criminal safety failings, seven years after the deaths of three crewmen on board a tug that capsized on the River Clyde. The Flying Phantom rolled over in thick fog as it towed a bulk carrier on the river near Clydebank.
MCA news release • Thompsons Solicitors news release • The Herald • Evening Times • BBC News Online • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Britain: Construction boss sidesteps blacklisting protest
Construction workers kept the Labour Party conference a blacklister-free zone after a senior manager of a firm linked to the illegal practice was a no-show at a conference fringe meeting. Lend Lease residential chief Richard Cook had been due to speak at a 22 September meeting on house building organised by Labour List, but a planned protest by UCATT delegates angered over the construction firm’s alleged links to blacklisting led Cook to opt out.
Morning Star • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Britain: Haulage firm in court over worker’s fractured skull
A Scottish haulage firm has been fined for criminal safety failings after a worker was seriously injured when an unsecured barrel fell from a lorry onto his head. McPherson Limited employee William ‘Dougald’ Sim, then 60, was unloading the vehicle at Speyside Cooperage when the incident happened on 14 January 2013.
HSE news release and load safety webpages • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Britain: Recycling firm nearly cost worker his leg
A recycling firm has been prosecuted after an employee almost lost his right leg when it became trapped in a machine at a Swinton factory. Roydon Polythene (Exports) Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found workers at the plant were routinely put at risk when they tried to remove blockages.
HSE news release and manufacturing webpages • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Britain: Engineering firm’s guilt after worker was crushed
A Basingstoke engineering firm has been sentenced for criminal safety breaches that led to a 42-year-old man being crushed between a telehandler and a steel post at a workshop in West Drayton. RVC Engineering Ltd was fined £6,600 and ordered to pay £1,087 in costs after admitting a criminal safety offence.
HSE news release • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Britain: Council failed to protect litter picker from cars
Manchester City Council has been fined £15,000 after a worker suffered serious injuries whilst litter picking on a city road. The 60-year-old, who has asked not to be named, had been trying to cross a busy road with a 40mph speed limit, when he was struck by a car on 9 July 2013.
HSE news release and road safety webpages • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Britain: Roof fall cost worker his health and his job
A Scottish sawmill has been fined for criminal safety failings after a worker was seriously injured when he fell eight feet through a fragile roof light. Tony Heron, then 56, was employed by Penkiln Sawmill Company Ltd and was putting tin sheets on the roof of a lean-to shed at the company’s Wigtown premises when the incident occurred on 1 February 2013.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Africa: Ebola has killed over 200 health workers
The number of health workers killed by West Africa’s Ebola outbreak has reached 211, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported. Its 26 September situation update says 375 workers are known to have been infected, and the overall death toll has passed 3,000.
WHO Ebola situation report update, 26 September 2014 • IndustriALL news release • BBC News Online • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Bangladesh: Garment unions improve safety skills
Trade union organisers in the ready made garment (RMG) sector in Bangladesh have received a week of training designed to increase their effectiveness on occupational health and safety issues. The training programme, which received funding from Canada, the Netherlands and the UK, was provided by the International Labour Organisation’s workers’ bureau, ACTRAV.
ILO news release • Daily Star • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

China: Apple iPhone worker dies of cancer
A young Chinese worker struck down with leukaemia while working in a factory that makes Apple’s iPhones has died – days after his mother pleaded in a UK newspaper for Apple chief executive Tim Cook to help save her son’s life. The Mail on Sunday says Yi Long is at least the sixth worker to die of leukaemia after falling ill at the factory complex in Shenzhen, southern China, in a cluster of cases families believe were caused by the chemicals handled by workers.
The Mail on Sunday and earlier related story • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Swaziland: Dangerous solvent sickens textile workers
Workers are being made seriously ill by a toxic chemical introduced at a Swazi textile factory, their union has warned. Dozens of workers required hospitalisation last month after the plant began using the dangerous solvent butyl acetate to remove stains from clothes.
AFL-CIO Solidarity Center report • AFL-CIO Now blog • Risks 674 • 4 October 2014

Hazards news, 27 September 2014

Britain: HSE plans to silence workers on chemical risks
Long-established Health and Safety Executive (HSE) committees that assess the risks from some of the most dangerous substances used at work could soon exclude workers and employers, if the regulator gets its way. One, the WATCH committee on hazardous chemicals, has already been quietly disbanded and another, the Advisory Committee on Toxic Substances, is under threat, internal HSE papers show.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Britain: Green light for new tribunal fees challenge
The Lord Chancellor has given the public sector union UNISON the go-ahead for a new challenge to the government’s tribunal fees system. In a hearing at the Court of Appeal, the Lord Chancellor agreed with the union that a new hearing should take place as soon as possible, in light of new evidence.
UNISON news release • Personnel Today • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Britain: More backing for the union World Cup campaign
Prominent members of the shadow cabinet have added their support to the union campaign for rights and justice for migrant workers in Qatar. Jim Murphy, the shadow international development minister, shadow minister for sport Clive Efford and fellow Labour MP Stephen Hepburn joined with UCATT activists in a photo call behind the union’s “Show Qatar the Red Card” banner.
UCATT news release and infographic • Morning Star • ITUC Re-run the Vote website • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Global: Attack on BBC team in Russia is condemned
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and its international sister organisations have called for a thorough and immediate investigation to be carried out into an attack on a BBC news team in the southern Russian city of Astrakhan. According to the BBC, the team from its Moscow bureau was in the city to investigate reports of Russian servicemen being killed near the border with Ukraine.
NUJ news release. IFJ news release. BBC statement and news report. The Independent. The Guardian • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Global: Stop targeting media workers as ‘a weapon of war’
Journalists’ union NUJ has condemned a video in which kidnapped British photojournalist John Cantlie delivers a message under duress in what he admits is an attempt to save his life. The union statement came before the release on 23 September of a second video featuring the journalist, who it is believed has been held hostage by Islamic State (ISIS) militants since his kidnapping in Syria in 2012.
NUJ news release • IFJ news release • BBC News Online • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Britain: HSE must deliver better controls over silica
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has been accused of leaving workers at double jeopardy from cancer-causing, lung scarring silica. A report in the workers’ safety magazine Hazards criticises HSE for resisting a union-backed call for it to halve the current exposure limit for the common workplace dust; and it says the government-imposed, hands-off, HSE enforcement policy combined with swingeing resource cuts mean even the current “deadly” standard is not being enforced effectively.
Silica, part 2: A line in the sand, Hazards, number 127, 2014. Silica, part 1: Dust to dust: Deadly silica standard is killing UK workers, Hazards, number 126, 2014 • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Britain: HSE action on construction’s poor health record
‘Health as well as safety’ will be the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) message as poor standards and unsafe work on Britain’s building sites are targeted in its latest inspection blitz. During a month long initiative that kicked off on 22 September, the watchdog says it will carry out unannounced visits to sites where refurbishment projects or repair works are underway.
HSE news release and safer sites campaign • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Britain: Life after personal protective equipment is possible
Construction firms should think about removing the risks on site before they cocoon their workers in protective clothing and other safety gear, a top construction health expert has said. Scott Schneider, the director of occupational health at the US union-backed Laborers’ Health and Safety Fund of North America (LHSFNA), said: “There’s no doubt that PPE helps keep workers safe, but it may not be the best solution and certainly shouldn’t be the only solution.”
Safety unmasked, Hazards magazine, number 127, 2014 • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Britain: Worker run-over by nine tonne truck
Major construction firm JB Leadbitter and Co Ltd has been convicted of a criminal safety offence after a worker was critically injured when he was run over by a nine tonne dumper truck. Delivery driver David Windsor, 62, suffered life changing injuries, including a severe brain injury, in the incident at a building site in Devonport on 7 October 2010.
HSE news release and site traffic management webpages • Construction News • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Britain: Solar panel installers fell through farm roof
Andrew Green, trading as Green Park Power. has been fined for criminal safety failings after two brothers fell 15ft through a fragile roof while installing solar panels. Brynley Perrett, 37, suffered a compression fracture of his back and sternum in the incident at Llan-y-nant Farm, near Trellech, Monmouthshire, in June, 2013 and his brother Anthony escaped injury.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Britain: BAE company sentenced over firing range injury
BAE Systems Global Combat Systems Munitions Limited has been fined £80,000 for a serious criminal safety breach after a worker’s leg bone was shattered while test firing a gun on a range in Northumberland. The 46-year-old employee from Hexham was injured when a metal bolt weighing 7kg ejected from the back of the gun and into his left leg.
HSE news release • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Britain: Environment watchdog fined over worker’s saw injury
The Environment Agency has been fined after an employee was badly injured when his finger was caught by an unguarded circular saw. The 48-year-old from Coniston, who does not want to be named, had to have the middle finger on his left hand amputated to the top joint as a result of the incident on 19 April 2013.
HSE news release and woodworking webpages • NW Evening Mail • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Britain: Firm fined £200,000 after cherry picker death
A company has been fined £200,000 over the death of a worker who was thrown from a cherry-picker in East Ayrshire. Glasgow-based SW Global Resourcing admitted two criminal breaches of health and safety laws over the death of 47-year-old delivery driver Leslie Watson.
COPFS news release • HSE news alert • BBC News Online • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Britain: Renewed anger at Network Rail director bonuses
Calls have been made for Network Rail chiefs to donate their bonuses to charity because of their poor safety record. Labour MP John Mann is asking that company executives hand over their “retention bonuses” after it emerged that they were leaving the company.
Sheffield Star • Nottingham Post • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Britain: TUC stress guide for European safety week
The TUC has produced a revised guide to tackling stress using the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) management standards. The publication is intended as a resource of use by safety reps, and comes ahead of the stress-themed European Health and Safety Week, which this year runs from 20 October.
TUC Safety Reps Guide to the HSE Stress Management Standards [pdf] • TUC European Health and Safety Week webpages and National Inspection Day webpage • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Cambodia: Brands say they will pay more for clothes
In an unprecedented move, eight major fashion retailers have said they are prepared to pay more for clothes made in Cambodia. It follows a global day of action by unions in support of garment workers’ demands for a higher wage, in a campaign that gathered momentum after repeated reports of workers collapsing at work as a result of poor working conditions and malnutrition.
IndustriALL news release • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Europe: Work is changing and that’s not good
An “individualisation” of work and a marked increase in work intensity and speed is putting the health, welfare and negotiating power of workers at risk, a new report has warned. The new policy briefing from the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) recommends measures to “regain control over work,” noting that management is detached from the human consequences of their production driven decisions, and it “is the employees who seek to humanise the work organisation and that particular fragment of the world which, through their work, they help to shape.”
Individualisation of the work relationship:a challenge for trade unions, ETUI policy brief no.3, 2014 • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Turkey: ‘Gross negligence’ led to Soma mine disaster
A new expert report on a mining disaster that killed 301 miners in the western town of Soma in May has concluded production pressure pushed safety off the agenda at the privately-run, state-owned mine. The report identified 20 instances of gross negligence that led to the disaster.
Today’s Zaman • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

USA: New lab blunders fuel deadly infection fears
A runaway mouse, escapee ferrets and the accidental mailing of dangerous bacteria by a bioterrorism lab are among incidents in labs researching deadly infections that have heightened concern in the US Congress and wider population about controls on research work with deadly pathogens. House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee member Diana DeGette said: “It appears none of these breaches have led to any kind of infection,” adding: “But it's only a matter of time.”
USA Today • Risks 673 • 27 September 2014

Hazards news, 20 September 2014

Britain: Tribunal fees are denying workers access to justice
New employment tribunal statistics show that the system of charging upfront fees is resulting in a major drop in claims. Describing the fees system as “a victory for Britain’s bad bosses”, the TUC said workers, who can be required to pay up to £1,200 for taking a tribunal complaint about issues including victimisation for workplace safety activities, were being priced out of justice.
TUC news release • CBI news release • Usdaw news release • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Britain: HSE inspectors not so keen on charging fees
A review of the effectiveness of the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) ‘Fee for Intervention’ (FFI) scheme designed to recoup the cost of regulating workplace health and safety from law-breaking businesses might have found it effective and concluded it should stay, but HSE inspectors on the ground are not so convinced. Sarah Page, health and safety officer with their union, Prospect, says the subsequent inquiry into FFI by an independent panel was not sufficiently thorough and says it was rushed.
Prospect health and safety blog • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Britain: Stress tops the workplace concerns of UNISON reps
UNISON health and safety reps have identified stress as a top hazard in the workplace. Responding ahead of next month's European Health and Safety Week, 9 out of 10 reps placed stress and related issues including bullying and harassment, violence and threats, overwork and long hours, as their most serious workplace concern. UNISON says its survey findings reinforce the union’s call for branches to support the stress-themed European Health and Safety Week, which this year runs from Monday 20 October to Sunday 26 October.
UNISON news release and European Health and Safety Week webpages • TUC European Health and Safety Week webpages and National Inspection Day webpage • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Britain: Glasgow protest over ‘preferred’ blacklister
The Scottish government should intervene and reverse the decision of Dundee City Council to name blacklist linked construction firm BAM as the ‘preferred bidder’ for a major construction contract in the city, the union GMB has said. The union’s general secretary Paul Kenny delivered a letter by hand to the Glasgow constituency office of Nichola Sturgeon, the Scottish government’s deputy first minister, during a 16 September protest over Dundee City Council’s announcement that BAM Construction is its preferred bidder for the £45m tender to build Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum of Design.
GMB news release • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Britain: Unions show Qatar the red card
Delegates to the TUC Congress in Liverpool joined together and showed Qatar the red card for its exploitation of migrant construction workers. Hundreds of delegates, during a debate on labour rights abuses in the oil rich state, waved football-style red cards in protest at Qatar’s selection to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
UCATT news release • Morning Star • Re-run the Vote campaign • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Britain: Union links justice changes to suicides
Justice secretary Chris Grayling has “blood on his hands” after the suicides of two probation officers and a convict’s murder of an ex-partner, the general secretary of the probation union Napo has said. In a speech to the TUC conference, Ian Lawrence criticised the government for splitting the probation service in two.
Morning Star • More on work-related suicides • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Britain: Unions say keep the self-employed covered
Self-employed workers should remain subject to health and safety law, unions have said. The TUC’s Congress agreed a motion condemning the government's erosion of health and safety rules in UK workplaces.
BECTU news release • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Britain: Rail unions protest as dangerous franchise move
A protest at London’s Blackfriars Station by rail workers concerned at cuts to jobs, services and safety took place on 15 September. Rail unions RMT and ASLEF say the government has awarded the company Govia Thameslink the new TSGN franchise, after it agreed to extend driver only operation (DOO), cut station staffing and close ticket offices.
RMT news release • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Britain: Train conductor injured in platform collapse
An RMT member has urged others to sign up for union protection after he was seriously injured due to the negligence of his employer. The train conductor, whose name has not been released, was making sure passengers were getting off a Northern Rail train safely when the edge of the platform crumbled suddenly, causing him to fall between the train and the platform.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Britain: London Fashion Week gets a dressing down
Protesters marked the opening of London Fashion Week on 12 September with the message ‘Don’t mention the garment workers’. The protest action – which included a banner bearing the slogan suspended from Waterloo Bridge - was intended to expose an event which promotes the creativity of the UK’s fashion industry, but is silent over the millions of workers who produce clothes for high street chains.
War on Want news release • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Britain: HSE accused of failure and denial on asbestos
A leading asbestos campaigner has accused the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) of “overseeing” the worst asbestos cancer epidemic in the world and of making “unjustified” claims to ministers that its policies are working. The charges come from Michael Lees, a founder member of the Asbestos in Schools campaign and whose teacher wife Gina died of the asbestos cancer mesothelioma.
Asbestos in Schools, update 134, 15 September 2014 • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Britain: Pulmonary fibrosis asbestos link found
Many cases of a common lung disease that were assumed to be of no known cause are in fact the result of exposure to asbestos, UK scientists believe. Researchers from Imperial College London found a correlation between death rates in England and Wales from the known asbestos-related conditions asbestosis and mesothelioma and from “idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis” (IPF).
ERS news release • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Britain: 'Ignorant' crane boss fined over death
A company and its director have been fined a total of £150,000 after worker Kenneth Cooke, 62, was killed when a crane wheel he was dismantling "exploded like a bomb". Denbigh-based Sanders Machinery Ltd and director David Geoffrey Sanders, 70, were convicted of criminal health and safety breaches.
Denbighshire County Council news release • Wales Online • BBC News Online • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Britain: Exploding vessel lands two firms in court
A Kidderminster carpet company and a Surrey-based inspection firm have been fined after a large pressure vessel, in which carpet fibres are dyed and processed, exploded, propelling the vessel’s quarter-tonne lid six metres into the air. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Brintons Carpets Ltd and Allianz Engineering Inspection Services Ltd, who were contracted by the carpet firm to carry out periodic thorough examinations of the dye vessels.
HSE news release and safe work with pressure systems webpages • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Britain: Contractors fined after leisure centre roof fall
Two building contractors have been fined after a worker broke his back when he fell four metres from a roof. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted SJ Roberts Construction Ltd and Seaton Heating and Engineering Services Ltd in connection with the incident.
HSE news release and work at height webpages • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Britain: Timber firm fined after agency worker loses fingertip
A Lincolnshire timber company has been fined after an agency worker lost the top of his finger in an unguarded machine. Grantham Magistrates’ Court heard that the 23-year-old, from Holbeach was helping to clear a blockage on a woodworking machine at Select Timber Products Ltd’s premises in Donington, when the incident happened on 15 July 2013.
HSE news release • Lincolnshire Echo • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

USA: Hazardous drugs in healthcare
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the US government’s occupational health research agency, has published an updated dangerous drugs listing to accompany its guide to the hazards posed to healthcare workers by the medicines they administer. In the introduction to the updated drugs list, NIOSH notes: “Hazardous drugs include those used for cancer chemotherapy, antiviral drugs, hormones, some bioengineered drugs, and other miscellaneous drugs.”
NIOSH news alert, 2004 guide and updated drug list, NIOSH List of Antineoplastic and Other Hazardous Drugs in Healthcare Settings, 2014 • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Cambodia: Global unions back garment workers
Three global unions, representing millions of workers around the world, are mobilising to back Cambodia’s overworked, underpaid and exhausted garment workers. IndustriALL, UNI and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) joined Cambodian garment workers in a day of action on 17 September to mark the start of a campaign calling for a rise in the minimum wage from US$100 to US$177.
ITUC news release • IndustriALL news release • More on deaths from overwork • Cambodian campaign facebook page • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Liberia: Ebola burial teams face terrible pressures
As the Ebola death toll mounts in Liberia, burial teams are having to contend with physical risk and trauma as they take charge of safely burying the dead, often in the face of local anger. Government and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) burial teams initially took charge of burying the dead but had to recruit and train local teams to cope with the volume of corpses.
IRIN News • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Pakistan: Unsafe garment industry needs unions
Two years after 259 workers died in an 11 September fire at a factory owned by Ali Enterprises in Karachi, Pakistan, the report of an official commission into the cause and the responsibly for the tragedy remains unpublished by the government. As in Bangladesh, IndustriALL and national unions say increased union membership and collective bargaining rights are crucial steps towards making the Pakistan’s garment industry safe.
IndustriALL news release • Clean Clothes Campaign webpage • Accord on Bulding and Fire Safety • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

USA: Government can help businesses raise standards
The US government could use its massive purchasing power to demand improved working conditions around the world, a new report has concluded – but it doesn’t use this power effectively. The International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) lays out some clear ideas to improve government purchasing and the capacity to protect and respect human rights of workers in its own supply chain.
AFL-CIO Now blog • Report by the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) • Risks 672 • 20 September 2014

Hazards news, 13 September 2014

USA: Tobacco fields campaign makes inroads
The decision by a leading US tobacco growers’ organisation to oppose hiring children under 16 to work on tobacco farms is an important step toward ending this hazardous employment practice, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said. The campaign group was commenting after the Council for Burley Tobacco, representing approximately 5,000 tobacco growers in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and Ohio, approved a resolution stating “workers under 16-years-old should not be employed in tobacco production not only in the US but worldwide.”
HRW news release and May 2014 report, Tobacco’s hidden children: Hazardous child labor in US tobacco farming • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Britain: Reverse attacks on health and safety
Unions are calling on the government to reverse damaging cuts to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and to reinstate preventive unannounced safety inspections for all workplaces. A resolution passed at the TUC’s conference in Liverpool also called for the next government to review changes made to workplace safety law under the current administration.
Prospect news release • PCS news release • Usdaw news release • BECTU news release • NASUWT news release • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Britain: Unions make work a fair bit safer
Unions make work safer, fairer and better, a new TUC guide shows. ‘The union advantage’ demonstrates the benefits of unions not only to individual workers but to employers and society as well, and points to government research that established union health and safety reps save taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds each year by reducing lost time from occupational injuries and work-related illness.
TUC news release and guide, The union advantage • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Britain: Mental health is a big issue at work
The cost of living crisis means workers are increasingly at risk of mental health problems, the union Usdaw has said. Paddy Lillis, the union’s deputy general secretary, told the TUC’s annual conference in Liverpool that trade union and workplace reps have a big role to play in supporting members coping with mental health issues.
Usdaw news release • The Guardian • BBC News Online • Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Global: Thai trial of UK researcher is ‘indefensible’
Global union organisations have condemned the trial of a British human rights defender Andy Hall, which opened in Thailand on 3 September, as a clear example of victimisation and cover up. Andy Hall is facing criminal and civil cases of criminal defamation, which have been brought against him by Thailand’s Natural Fruit Company following his research into the company.
UNI news release • ITF news release • Join the LabourStart campaign for Andy Hall • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Britain: Anger as ‘blacklister’ BAM chosen for V&A job
The selection of BAM Construction as the preferred bidder to build the V&A museum in Dundee has provoked a row over its role in a blacklisting scandal. The meeting of Dundee city council's policy and resources committee that awarded the job to BAM saw objections raised by unions and opposition councillors, who say the decision flies in the face of the Scottish government’s policy on blacklisting and public procurement.
GMB news release • UCATT news release • BBC News Online • STV News • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Britain: ICO ‘in contempt of court’ on blacklisting, says GMB
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is “in contempt of court” for not enabling unions to contact blacklisted workers directly, the union GMB has charged. GMB started enforcement proceedings in the High Court on 5 September over ICO’s failure to comply with a High Court ruling that it hand over to trades unions the addresses of workers blacklisted by construction companies.
GMB news release • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Britain: HSE fees system ‘effective’ and should stay
A scheme designed to recoup the cost of regulating workplace health and safety from businesses that break the law has proven effective and should stay, an independent report has concluded. The report found that inspectors at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have implemented ‘Fee for Intervention’ (FFI) consistently and fairly since the system was introduced in October 2012, and found no evidence to suggest that enforcement policy decisions had been influenced in any way by its introduction.
HSE news release and full report • UCATT news release • TUC health and safety facebook page • Construction Enquirer • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Britain: Labour action pledge on tribunals and blacklisting
A future Labour government will review the system of employment tribunal fees introduced by the current administration and is “open” to making blacklisting a criminal offence, the TUC’s Liverpool conference has heard.
UCATT news release • Morning Star • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Britain: Legal experts slam ‘pointless’ Heroism Bill
A government Bill the justice secretary says will allow would-be heroes and volunteers to act without fear of being sued is ill thought through, populist, and a waste of parliamentary time, legal experts have told MPs. The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) was commenting in evidence to the House of Commons’ public bill committee on the effects of the Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill (SARAH), which is currently working its way through parliament.
APIL news release • Public Bill Committee SARAH webpages • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Britain: Asbestos cancer caused by school exposures
A woman who was told she had less than a year to live after being diagnosed with a terminal asbestos-related cancer but who is now in remission has called for action to protect people from asbestos in schools. Sarah Bowman, 46, was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma in August 2009, caused by exposure to asbestos dust while she was a pupil at a London school undergoing refurbishment in the early 1980s.
Irwin Mitchell news release • Evening Standard • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Britain: More effort needed to keep workers fit for work
The government and employers must do more to help workers with long-term musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) stay in work, a new report has concluded. The authors of 'Self-management of chronic musculoskeletal disorders and employment', a report from the Fit for Work UK Coalition and The Work Foundation, note: “Our findings show that individuals’ health conditions and quality of life will continue to be damaged by work, with some leaving the labour market prematurely.”
CSP news release • Fit for Work UK news release and full report • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Britain: Choice is the key for older workers
A 50 per cent increase in people aged 65 and over in the workforce by 2030 means employers should recognise the real value of their experience – but it is crucial older workers are not compelled to stay in work, a health and safety study has found. Researchers from Brunel University, whose work was funded by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), cited earlier studies showing people in their 60s had fewer accidents and injuries than younger colleagues, suggesting that education and experience might help them judge situations better.
Brunel University news release and full report • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Britain: BP was 'grossly negligent' in 2010 Gulf disaster
A US judge has ruled UK oil multinational BP was “grossly negligent” in the lead-up to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, in which 11 workers died. New Orleans judge Carl Barbier also found BP subcontractors Transocean and Halliburton “negligent.”
BP statement • Wall Street Journal • BBC News Online • Scientific American • BBC Scotland News • More on BP’s safety record • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Britain: Scaffolding boss jailed after death fall
The owner of a Kent scaffolding business has been jailed for 15 months for criminal safety failings after a worker plunged 14 metres to his death at a site in London. The sentence, at Southwark Crown Court, will run concurrently with the unrelated life imprisonment imposed on Mark Anthony Hayes at the Old Bailey in July this year for the murder of his brother in a family feud.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Britain: Enfield firm fined after faking safety record
A North London meat wholesaler has been fined for operating a fault-ridden forklift truck and trying to deceive safety inspectors by forging a positive examination report on the vehicle. MIB United Meat Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) at Westminster Magistrates’ Court after admitting three criminal breaches of safety legislation.
HSE news release • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Britain: Balfour Beatty fined £350,000 for rail worker shock
Balfour Beatty Rail Projects Ltd has been fined £350,000 plus costs of £50,000 following a prosecution by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR). Harrow Crown Court heard the company’s criminal safety failings led to a rail worker suffering serious burns when he came into contact with 25,000 volt overhead lines near Cricklewood in 27 March 2011.
ORR news release • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Britain: Lucky escape for teenager after four metre fall
A 17-year-old labourer from south-west London had a narrow escape after surviving a four-metre fall through a hole in a loft with only cuts and bruises. His employer, More Than Lofts Ltd of Worcester Park, Sutton, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for the criminal safety failings that led to the incident.
HSE news release • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Global: Hi-tech supplier in China 'neglects safety'
A Chinese factory that provides parts to Apple, Dell and other hi-tech firms has been accused of violating safety rules and workers' rights. A report by non-profit China Labor Watch and Green America says that labourers were exposed to toxic chemicals, given inadequate training, and made to pay for drinking water in their living quarters.
China Labor Watch (CLW) news release and full CLW/Green America report, Two Years of Broken Promises • New York Times • Ars Technica • BBC News Online • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Turkey: Lift deaths were ‘occupational murder’
The 6 September deaths of 10 construction workers when a lift failed at a development in Istanbul has been condemned as ‘occupational murder’ by a union confederation. The elevator carrying the workers plunged to the ground from the 32nd floor.
DISK news release • Today’s Zaman and related story • Business Insider • RT News. CTV News • Risks 671 • 13 September 2014

Hazards news, 7 September 2014

Britain: New route for reps to report to HSE
A new system for safety reps to report problems at work after formal processes have failed has been launched by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The TUC says the new HSE ‘Concerns and advice form for safety representatives’, which can be submitted by post or online, comes into use when other formal processes have been exhausted.
TUC briefing • HSE health and safety representatives webpage and Concerns and Advice form for safety representatives • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Global: Ebola outbreak kills over 120 health workers
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has taken an “unprecedented” toll on health care workers, infecting more than 240 and killing more than 120, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said. “In many cases, medical staff are at risk because no protective equipment is available – not even gloves and face masks,” the agency reported in a 26 August update on the outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
WHO news release • USA Today • Digital Journal • The Mirror • ABC News •
Ebola Virus Disease: Occupational Safety and Health - joint WHO/ILO briefing note for workers and employers, 26 August 2014 • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Global: WHO and TUC call for action on e-ciggies
Unions should negotiate the same controls on electronic cigarettes as on smoking at work, the TUC has said. The union body repeated its call after the World Health Organisation (WHO) called for a ban on the use of ‘e-cigarettes’ indoors – a move rejected immediately by the UK government - as well as a range of other restrictions on their sale and marketing.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • WHO report • BBC News Online and diacetyl story • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Britain: Worker involvement is needed in asbestos firms
A lack of worker involvement in the asbestos removal industry is compromising both the safety of workers and the survival prospects of firms, the union GMB has warned. GMB, which represents workers in the thermal insulation industry, is calling on all licensed asbestos removal companies to join with the union to tackle concerns being raised about health, safety and welfare of workers in the industry.
GMB news release • Asbestos Liaison Group • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Britain: Construction workers at risk of skin cancer
Construction union UCATT is warning that construction workers are at particular risk of developing skin cancer. The union alert came after new figures published by Public Health England (PHE) revealed the number of hospital admissions for skin cancer have increased by 41 per cent in just five years.
UCATT news release and work in the sun guide • BBC News Online • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Britain: Prospect’s new manifesto for ‘good work’
Civil service union Prospect is calling on politicians to take notice of its new stress-busting ‘Manifesto for Good Work’ in the run-up to the general election. The union has been consulting members on what they think makes work ‘good’.
Prospect news release and Good Work campaign resources and manifesto • TUC Touchstone blog • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Britain: Aerospace worker gets serious skin disease
An aerospace worker developed a painful skin condition because he wasn’t given adequate protection from contact with coolant oil contaminants. The Unite member, who has secured a £10,000 compensation payout in a union-backed claim, was working on the production of aerospace fixing when he developed dermatitis, a skin disease that can cause intense and painful itching.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Global: Labour backs unions over Qatar’s Education City
Union calls for a UK university to act on labour abuses at its Qatar campus have received support from Labour’s shadow international development minister. MP Alison McGovern is, like the TUC, UK lecturers’ union UCU and global union body ITUC, urging University College London (UCL) is to do more to help workers on its campus in Qatar’s ‘Education City.’
UCU news release • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Britain: Tube drivers continue their push for respect
A refusal by London Underground management to discuss safety cuts and heavy handed treatment of train drivers on two Tube lines mean more industrial action is inevitable, the union ASLEF has said. It follows 22 August “rock solid strike action” on the Central and Waterloo & City lines.
ASLEF news release • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Britain: Disqualified director jailed after crushing death
A disqualified company director has been jailed for criminal breaches of safety regulations that led to a worker being crushed to death. Paul O'Boyle, 56, was jailed for 26 months at Winchester Crown Court, after admitting a string of offences including breach of health and safety regulations, acting as a company director while disqualified, and fraud during his time as a director of Aztech AB Ltd.
HSE news release • Daily Echo • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Britain: Fractured skull leads to suspended jail term
West Midlands scaffolder Christopher Alan Harvey has received a four month prison sentence suspended for 12 months, after a construction worker suffered a fractured skull when a poorly secured pulley wheel fell seven metres and struck his head. Birmingham Magistrates’ Court heard Mark Jones, 27, was installing lead flashing on a school roof using lifting equipment installed by Christopher Harvey, trading as Cannock Wood Scaffolding, when the incident happened on 8 August 2013.
HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Global: British labour activist Andy Hall in Thailand trial
A British activist who campaigns for better working conditions for migrant workers is on trial in Thailand charged with criminal defamation. The alleged offence is one of a series of charges relating to a report into labour abuses which Andy Hall helped write two years ago.
UNI news release • BBC News Online • The Independent. • Time Magazine • Andy Hall’s webpage • Sign the petition calling for all charges against Andy Hall to be dropped • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Britain: Two technicians dead in fireworks blast
Two people who died in a fireworks explosion in Cumbria were technicians preparing for a wedding party display, the fire brigade said. The bodies of the man and woman were found in a shed where the stored fireworks went up in flames on Saturday 30 August.
Cumbria Constabulary news release • Daily Mail • The Guardian • BBC News Online • The Independent. • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Britain: Building firm fined after joiner falls through ceiling
Manchester construction firm Quaintbrook Properties Ltd has appeared in court over its criminal safety failings after a joiner was badly injured when he fell through a ceiling. Patrick Moran, 48, had been working on a loft conversion in Chorlton when the incident happened on 21 May 2013.
HSE new release and construction webpages • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Britain: Hove firm prosecuted after flouting asbestos laws
A Hove-based firm has been fined after it flouted asbestos regulations and removed some of the dangerous material just three weeks after being refused a licence to carry out such work. Asbestos Damage Limitations Ltd, trading as ADL, was prosecuted at Brighton Magistrates’ Court for criminal safety breaches following the work undertaken between 22 and 25 October 2013.
HSE news release • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Britain: Workers at risk from vibration, dust and noise
A Hampshire manufacturer has appeared in court after allowing the health of its employees to be put at risk. Brooks Crownhill Patternmakers Ltd, a precision engineering company based in Andover, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on five criminal health and safety charges.
HSE news release and HAVS webpage • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Germany: Ban on out-of-office contact investigated
German employment minister Andrea Nahles is considering new “anti-stress” legislation that would ban companies from contacting employees out of hours. Concerns over rising levels of workplace stress prompted the minister to commission a report investigating the viability of legislation that would restrict the use of emails to contact staff outside of work.
Daily Mail • The Guardian • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Global: New ILO push for health and safety compliance
Calling for “a culture of intolerance towards risks at work,” International Labour Organisation (ILO) director-general Guy Ryder has said safety and health will be an integral part of all the ILO’s work. He said: “This puts safety and health alongside forced labour, child labour, freedom of association and discrimination, which were recognised in the ILO Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.”
ILO news release and video of Guy Ryder’s speech • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Global: Union body steps up precarious work campaign
The global union IndustriALL is calling on its affiliates worldwide to mobilise their members to ‘STOP Precarious Work.’ It says regular, permanent and direct employment remains under constant attack from multinationals and other forces that are promoting precarious work, linked to higher rates of occupational injury and ill-health.”
IndustriALL news release and report, Negotiating security: Trade union bargaining strategies against precarious work • IndustriALL STOP Precarious Work campaign • More on health and safety and insecure work • World Day for Decent Work • Risks 670 • 7 September 2014

Hazards news, 30 August 2014

Britain: New HSE chief must do more to protect workers
The incoming chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) “must ensure more is done to protect workers,” the union Unite has said. The union made the call after it was announced Dr Richard Judge, currently the head of the Insolvency Agency, will take over as HSE chief executive in November.
Unite news release • HSE news release • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Britain: New justice for Marlie Farm fire deaths campaign
In December 2006, Geoff Wicker and Brian Wembridge lost their lives tackling a fire at Marlie Farm. Despite a High Court ruling that compensation must be paid to the families, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service has refused to settle - so the firefighters’ union, FBU, has launched a campaign for justice.
FBU news release and campaign for justice • Sign the FBU petition • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Global: Journalists ‘are increasingly targets’ in conflict zones
The journalists’ union NUJ has joined the international community in expressing shock at the video showing the murder of US freelance journalist James Foley, who went missing in Syria in 2012. Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “It is deeply alarming to see that journalists are becoming direct targets and their lives are being put at risk.”
NUJ news release • IFJ news release and safety website • The Guardian • The Independent • BBC News Online • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Britain: Northern Rail slammed for conductor hypocrisy
Rail union RMT is demanded that Northern Rail explain to the travelling public why they are putting posters on trains highlighting the safety role of conductors while at the same time planning to axe the role. The union says the rail firm is going along with government cost-cutting plans for the new franchise, which would axe conductors and move the whole service over to Driver Only Operation.
RMT news release • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Britain: Tube drivers strike for respect
A refusal by Tube managers to respect the dignity of train drivers led to rock solid strike action on 22 August. ASLEF district organiser Finn Brennan said: “Our members will not tolerate a situation where vulnerable people leave sickness review meetings in tears and drivers with years and years of good and long service are threatened with disciplinary action for a delay of 33 seconds in leaving a terminus.”
ASLEF news release • Morning Star • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Qatar: UCL criticised over Qatar campus labour abuses
University College London (UCL) is under international pressure to do more to help workers on its campus in Qatar. UCL is one of eight universities from the UK, US and France criticised by the International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) for not clamping down on the poor treatment of workers on their campuses in Qatar’s ‘Education City’.
UCU news release • TUC Stronger Unions blog • Times Higher Education • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Britain: GMB anger at ‘cut price’ blacklist scheme
The union GMB has described an industry compensation scheme for blacklisted construction workers as “grossly inadequate.” The scheme, offering payments between £4,000 and £100,000, as been dismissed as “a damage limitation publicity stunt” by the union.
GMB news release • BBC News Online. The Herald • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Britain: Firefighter was killed by asbestos cancer
The family of a Newcastle upon Tyne retired firefighter, who died aged 78 from an asbestos cancer, has received compensation. The FBU member, whose name has not been released but who worked at a central Newcastle fire station for over 25 years, was diagnosed with mesothelioma on 1 August 2011 and died three days later.
FBU news release • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Britain: Worker’s knee injury led to constant pain
A UNISON member has been awarded more than £20,000 of damages for life-changing injuries suffered at work. Craig Buckingham, 50, was working at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust in 2009 when he slipped and twisted his knee on wet carpet tiles that had not been dried by cleaning contractors the night before.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Global: British Ebola patient flown home
A volunteer nurse is being treated at a hospital in London after contracting Ebola in Sierra Leone. William Pooley, 29, had been caring for victims of the Ebola outbreak in Africa, which has killed almost 1,500 people; his is the first confirmed case of a Briton contracting Ebola in the current outbreak.
Department of Health news release • BBC News Online and update • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Britain: Brothers jailed for exposing workers to asbestos
Two brothers from Stoke-on-Trent with little or no experience of building and construction work have been given prison sentences after they exposed workers to asbestos, continually ignoring official orders to stop. At least seven workers are known to have been exposed to asbestos – one aged just 17 at the time – by snooker hall manager Akram Hussain, 52, and taxi driver Inam Hussain, 47, during refurbishment work at a former print works in Burslem.
HSE news release and asbestos webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Global: Scottish firm fined after US worker dies
An Edinburgh-based aviation services company has been fined more than £45,000 in the United States after an investigation into the death of a baggage handler found the firm had broken safety rules. Menzies Aviation was fined by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) following the death of Cesar Valenzuela, 51; the union SEIU said he was the fourth Menzies worker to die at California airports in eight years.
SEIU news release • Cal/OSHA news release • The Herald • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Britain: Abattoir convicted for killing an employee
A Scottish company has been found guilty at Jedburgh Sheriff Court of failing to ensure the health and safety of an employee who died at a Galashiels abattoir. Scottish Borders Abattoir Limited was convicted of a string of criminal safety offences and was fined £100,000 following the death of David Barker, who was suffocated when the support frame of the door he was dismantling collapsed, trapping him by the neck.
HSE news release • COPFS news release • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014
Britain: Building firm director in court over health risks
The director of a Stockport-based building firm has been fined after leaving workers at risk from toxic dusts for three months. Roland Couzens, 67, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after it emerged bricklayers, plasterers and a roofer could have suffered skin burns or lead poisoning as there was no hot water to wash off dust and contaminants.
HSE news release and construction welfare webpages • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Britain: NHS Trust fined for long-term asbestos failings
An NHS Trust has been fined after it was found likely to have exposed workers to potentially fatal asbestos material for more than a decade at its three hospitals in Hertfordshire. Between April 2000 and December 2011, the estates team at West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust was maintaining buildings at Watford General Hospital, Hemel Hempstead Hospital and St Albans Hospital without knowing that asbestos was present or being trained to identify and control exposure.
HSE news release and asbestos webpages • BBC News Online • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Europe: European Agency’s OSHwiki goes live
OSHwiki – described as the first multilingual web platform allowing users to create, collaborate and share knowledge on occupational safety and health (OSH) – has gone live. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) says its initiative provides “a new way to network online with the OSH community, aiming to support government, industry and employee organisations in ensuring safe and healthy workplaces.”
OSHwiki. • EU-OSHA news release, flyer and powerpoint presentation • Learn more about OSHwiki • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Canada: Enforcer and rail firm blamed for tragedy
Poor safety systems at a rail company, compounded by lax government safety oversight, have been blamed oil train explosion that killed 47 people in Canada in 2013. Transportation Safety Board (TSB) chair, Wendy Tadros, presenting the official report into the tragedy in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, said 18 factors played a role, given prominence to a rail company that cut corners and a Canadian regulator that did not do proper safety audits.
TSB news release • USW news release • Leader Post • Daily Mail • The Guardian • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Global: A world without work fatalities is possible
A world without fatal or serious occupational injuries is possible, the World Congress on Safety and Health at Work 2014 in Frankfurt, Germany has heard. ILO director-general Guy Ryder. “The right to a safe and healthy workplace is a basic human right – a right to be respected at every level of development and in different economic conditions… Prevention is possible, it is necessary and it pays.”
ILO news release • XX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work 2014 • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

India: Workers forced to clean up human excrement
The Indian government should end “manual scavenging” – the cleaning of human waste by communities considered low-caste – by ensuring that local officials enforce the laws prohibiting this discriminatory practice, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said. In a 96-page report, HRW says the government should implement existing legislation aimed at assisting manual scavengers find alternative, sustainable livelihoods.
HRW news release and full report, Cleaning Human Waste: ‘Manual scavenging,’ caste, and discrimination in India [pdf] • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

USA: High chemical exposures in fracking confirmed
Workers in the fracking industry are exposed to high levels of dangerous chemicals including cancer-causing benzene, an official study has found. The US government’s occupational health research body NIOSH found technicians working over the flowback tanks were routinely exposed to benzene at above its recommended exposure limit.
NIOSH Science blog • Risks 669 • 30 August 2014

Hazards news, 23 August 2014

Britain: ‘Shocking’ working conditions face Tube cleaners
London Underground union RMT has exposed the ‘shocking’ working conditions facing cleaners in filthy, rat-infested cupboards used to store the stinking waste collected from the Tube network. The cleaners working for contractor ISS, who have been told to ‘clock in’ on for shifts by using fingerprint machines in the waste rooms, have been in a long-running dispute over the use of the system.
RMT news release and video • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Britain: UNISON wants action on National Inspection Day
A combination of spending cuts, staff shortages, overwork, and worries over job and financial insecurity mean the role of active union safety reps has never been more necessary, UNISON has said. The union is calling on its safety reps to highlight this safety rep role during European Health and Safety Week, which takes place in the third week in October, running this year from Monday 20 October.
UNISON National Inspection Day briefing and resources and European Week webpage • TUC European Health and Safety Week webpages • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Britain: Living on a construction site ‘is never acceptable’
Construction union UCATT has said workers must never be expected to live on a construction site because of the “massive safety and welfare implications”. The union was speaking out after The Manchester Evening News revealed six Latvian workers had been living in portakabins on a Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) owned multi-million pound development site in the city.
UCATT news release • Manchester Evening News • Construction Enquirer • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Britain: Call for a bar on contracts for blacklisters in Scotland
The union GMB is calling for all firms behind a construction blacklisting scandal to be excluded from tendering for any further public sector contracts in Scotland until they compensate the 582 workers in the country they blacklisted. The union is stepping up its campaign in the wake of a Scottish government letter to construction firms publicising official guidelines on blacklisting and public sector contracts.
GMB news release • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Britain: Pilots want action on conflict zone flights
The UK government must take a ‘safety first’ approach to the risks posed to flights over conflict zones, the pilots’ union BALPA has said. It added that pilots should have the final say on whether a flight proceeds.
BALPA news release • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Britain: Prison officer suffers horrific career-ending attack
A senior prison officer who suffered serious physical and mental injuries in a horrific violent assault by an inmate has had to give up his job as a result. Iain Fleming, a member of the prison officers’ union POA, suffered stab wounds to the head and eye, both of his arms, his right shoulder and to his chest and developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the months following the incident.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Britain: Report highlights cleaning industry abuses
Widespread abuse of workers in the cleaning industry are to come under the spotlight with the creation of a new taskforce by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). A just launched report highlights the need to improve working conditions for cleaning operatives, raise awareness of employment rights and establish more responsible procurement practices.
EHRC news release, report findings [pdf] and summary • UNISON news release • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Britain: Former school cleaner’s asbestos cancer plea
A retired school cleaner diagnosed with a terminal asbestos-related cancer is appealing to her former work colleagues to help with an investigation into how and when she was exposed to the deadly dust. Hannah Scott, 69, worked as a cleaner at Teign School in Kingsteignton, Newton Abbot, from 1975 to 1980.
Irwin Mitchell Solicitors news release • Anyone who has any information about the working conditions and construction of the “A Block” at Teign School, Kingsteignton, between 1975 and 1980 should contact Phoebe Osborne on 0117 926 1549 or by email • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Britain: Probe into worker’s radiation exposure
An investigation has been launched after a radiographer at the Faslane naval base in Scotland was exposed to radiation. The incident happened in June, but was only revealed in a report this month by the UK government's Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).
Sunday Herald • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Britain: New helicopter safety measure introduced
A new emergency breathing system is being introduced in a bid to give offshore workers a better chance of survival if their helicopter ditches. The system, which combines a life jacket with a small aqualung, is replacing the current hybrid re-breather, which is a life jacket with an air-filled rubber bag.
BBC News Online • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Britain: Six figure fine after driver is crushed to death
A Scottish animal feed company has been fined £240,000 after a lorry driver was crushed to death when a two-tonne, fully-loaded grain bin fell onto him from a forklift truck. David Leslie, 49, worked for a feed services firm and was picking up a load from East Coast Viners Grain LLP’s site in Drumlithie, Stonehaven, when the incident happened on 18 March 2013.
HSE news release and workplace transport webpages • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

[infection Britain: Drycleaner fined over bacteria dangers
A Stourbridge drycleaning company has been fined after its failure to properly manage and monitor Legionella bacteria put workers and members of the public at risk. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Pride Cleaners (2000) Limited following a management audit and visit to the company’s Cotteridge site on 6 September 2013.
HSE news release and Legionnaires’ disease guidance • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Britain: Worker badly burned after firm ignores safety risks
A West Yorkshire company has been fined after a worker was severely burned in a flashover during hot-cutting work at the Fox’s Biscuits factory in Batley. The 61-year-old Ossett man was one of a team working for steel fabricators Hartwell Manufacturing Ltd, which had been hired to remove three disused oil tanks at the Fox’s site in February 2012.
HSE news release • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Britain: Conditional discharge after farm worker is mangled
An Ellesmere arable farmer has received a conditional discharge after a worker suffered serious arm, head and back injuries when he became entangled in an auger screw while unblocking a grain drying machine. The 27-year-old worker from Shropshire, who asked not to be named, was attempting to remove a blockage of wet grain inside the machine at GH and DP Jones’ Red Hall Farm in Hordley on 17 September 2013.
HSE news release and agricultural machinery webpages • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Britain: Dairy worker seriously injured in fall
A County Durham dairy has been prosecuted for its criminal safety failings after a worker suffered life-changing injuries following a fall. Simon Atkinson, 41, had been unloading empty milk bottles from a vehicle at Lanchester Dairies Ltd’s site in Lanchester when the incident happened on 6 September 2013.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Cambodia: Garment workers ‘toiling to death’
A combination of overwork, poor working conditions and poverty wages has seen another spike in Cambodian garment workers collapsing at work - with workers even dropping dead on the job. Jyrki Raina, general secretary of the garment workers’ global union IndustriALL, stated: “Poverty wages mean that garment workers cannot afford to eat properly and a lack of food, long hours and intolerable factory conditions are proving a lethal combination.”
IndustriALL news report. More on being worked to death • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Global: Apple takes a tiny step away from toxins
Five months after labour and environmental campaigners called on Apple to remove highly toxic chemicals including benzene and n-hexane from its supplier factories in China, the hi-tech multinational has announced it will “explicitly prohibit the use of benzene and n-hexane” at 22 of its final assembly supplier factories employing nearly 500,000 workers.
Apple statement and regulated substances list • Green America blog report and End Smartphone Sweatshops campaign • SACOM news release • ABC News • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Global: Unions kick off transport ‘safe rates’ campaign
A worldwide campaign for safe pay rates for transport workers has been launched by the sector’s global union federation ITF. The ‘Safe rates and a safe industry- we're in, are you?’ campaign is modelled on a highly successful initiative by Australian truck drivers’ union TWU.
ITF news release • TWU Safe Rates campaign • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

India: Quarry dust leaves workers dying and in debt
India’s quarry industry is leaving workers poverty stricken and consigned to a slow, choking death. Thousands of quarry workers in Rajasthan are battling silicosis caused by inhaling dust containing crystalline silica; many have their health condition go undiagnosed, their breathing problems are scarcely ever linked to the jobs they do, and most are reduced to penury by their disability and medical costs.
India TV News • Risks 668 • 23 August 2014

Hazards news, 16 August 2014

Britain: ‘Repugnant’ ferry move puts safety at risk
A seafarers’ union has condemned government plans to revoke four shipping safety regulations introduced after the 1987 Herald of Free Enterprise ferry disaster in which 193 people died. Nautilus International has accused the government of putting costs before safety in its ‘repugnant’ plan to scrap the requirements for roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) passenger ships to be fitted with on-deck emergency equipment lockers containing axes, crowbars, lifting gear and ladders.
Nautilus news release • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

Britain: Safety worries in the media
A spate of high profile safety incidents in film and television production has highlighted the need for stringent safety rules, the union BECTU has said. It said the broken leg sustained by movie star Harrison Ford while filming the new Star Wars film and a coastguard warning about ‘unnecessary’ and ‘silly’ risks taken filming cliff top scenes for the ITV drama Broadchurch had drawn attention to the folly of the government’s deregulatory plans.
BECTU news report • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

Britain: GMB action call on Amazon insect invasion
Concerns about tropical insect borne diseases affecting Amazon workers have surfaced after a GMB member employed in a UK depot fell ill after handling packaging on imported goods. GMB says the worker “is convinced” the symptoms are linked to insects carried in the packaging and is calling on Amazon to conduct “as a matter of urgency a risk assessment of the dangers to the health and safety of staff of… insect invasion in wood and other packaging of goods imported from abroad.”
GMB news release • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

Britain: Footballers back new head injury rules
New rules on the management of concussion and head injuries in football, produced with the support of the players’ union PFA, will take effect in the Premier League this season. The PFA said it will be offering an education programme to help raise awareness amongst players of the potential dangers, in conjunction with the Premier League, Football League and League Manager’s Association (LMA).
PFA news release and background briefing • BBC News Online • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

Global: Groups rally to back migrant rights campaigner
A British human rights activist who was arrested and bailed after exposing grievous safety and employment abuses of migrant labour by a giant Thai fruit products firm has received support from the TUC and nearly 100 other international union and labour rights groups. A joint letter to members of the Thai Pineapple Industry Association (TPIA) calls on it to urge TPIA member Natural Fruit Co Ltd to drop the criminal and civil charges it levelled against researcher Andy Hall.
Finnwatch news release and Andy Hall’s blog • Letter in support of Andy Hall • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

USA: ‘Monumental’ ruling on diesel fumes and lung cancer
A decision to award compensation to the widow of a bus maintenance worker who died of diesel exhaust-related lung cancer has been hailed as a ‘monumental’ breakthrough by his union. Anthony Nigro, a member of Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) Local 100 in New York, USA, died a few months after retiring in 2012.
TWU Local 100 health and safety newsletter: diesel special • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

USA: Experts confirm formaldehyde cancer risk
Industry claims that formaldehyde does not cause cancer have been dismissed by US government experts. A National Academies of Science (NAS) assessment of the cancer risks from formaldehyde - a common industrial chemical found in furniture, building materials and other household products - concluded it poses a threat to humans for three types of cancer: nasopharyngeal cancer; sinonasal cancer; and myeloid leukaemia.
National Academies of Science news release and report summary and full report on formaldehyde • NRDC blog • Greenwire • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

Britain: Bust contractor fined £1 for falling steel injuries
Two workers were left with broken bones but escaped with their lives after being struck by a length of steel that fell from nine floors above them, a court has heard. Magistrates heard the incident could have been avoided had Harbourview Developments Ltd, which is now in liquidation, was fined a token amount of £1 after pleading guilty to a criminal safety offence.
HSE news release and work at height webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

Britain: Directors in the dock over asbestos risks
A Hartlepool firm and two of its directors have been fined along with a second company after putting workers at risk from exposure to asbestos. Baxketh Ltd, a metal recycling business, was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £3,804.20 in costs and UK Tankcleaning Services Ltd was fined £10,000 with £2,243.40 costs; Michael Joseph Almond Snr, 73, was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £204.80 in costs for a criminal breach; and Michael Vincent Almond Jnr, 47, was fined £650.
HSE news release and asbestos webpages • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

Britain: Gas giant fined after plant explosion injures worker
A multinational industrial gas supplier has been fined after an explosion left a worker with life changing injuries. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted BOC Ltd after a plant explosion and fire caused Alan Garton, 57, to suffer serious burns and other injuries.
HSE news release and explosives webpages • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

Britain: Food packaging firm in court over forklift injuries
A food packaging company in Buxton has been fined after an employee suffered severe injuries to his leg when he was struck by a forklift truck. Primopost Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found the company did not have a safe system of work in place.
HSE news release and workplace transport webpages • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

Britain: Cleaning company convicted on rooftop dangers
A Stoke-on-Trent company that uses jet washers to clean roof tiles has been convicted of criminal safety offences after a worker was spotted on a roof without any fall protection in place. Roof Right UK Ltd, which did not attend the hearing, was found guilty of two criminal safety offences and was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,277.
HSE news release and work at height webpages • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

Britain: Firms fined after worker’s life-threatening fall
Two firms have been sentenced for criminal safety failings after a Liverpool worker suffered life-threatening injuries when he fell through the roof of a former Cheshire factory. Construction Contracting UK Ltd was fined £12,000 plus £23,502 costs after being convicted of a criminal safety offence; Local Asbestos Services Ltd was fined £8,000 plus £6,191 costs after pleading guilty to a criminal breach.
HSE news release • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

Britain: Timber firm fined after worker crushed by tree
A Herefordshire timber firm has been fined after a worker was crushed against a machine by a tree trunk. Chalford Timber Ltd was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £16,335 in costs after pleading guilty to a criminal safety offence.
HSE news release and forestry webpages • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

Australia: Union fights attacks on safety rights
An Australian union has launched a television advertisement in a new phase of a campaign against a watered down of workplace safety protections. The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) is challenging attacks on safety rules at both the federal and state level.
CFMEU news release and TV advertisement • Stand up. Speak out. Come Home • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

China: 'Hazardous' factories closed after deadly blast
Authorities in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou have shutdown more than 200 factories pending safety checks in the wake of a massive explosion at a car parts factory that killed at least 75 people. The blast tore through a polishing workshop owned by Taiwanese-invested Kunshan Zhongrong Metal Products on 2 August.
Radio Free Asia • SACOM open letter • The Nation • China Labour Bulletin • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

Panama: Canal workers in safety struggle
The global transport workers’ federation ITF has ramped up its campaign against the Panama Canal Authority over an ongoing failure to provide decent pay and safe working conditions for more than 9,000 affiliated maritime workers in the canal zone. ITF president Paddy Crumlin said: “The ITF is very concerned about the lack of proper respect and bargaining on issues surrounding health and safety provision on the job and workers being forced to undertake double shifts and 18-hour workdays.”
ITF news release and ITF video on the dispute • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

USA: Some improvements in poultry slaughter rules
When in late July the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) secretary Tom Vilsack announced a new regulation governing the poultry slaughter inspection system, he didn’t just have food safety on his mind. Vilsack explained that USDA abandoned a plan to allow certain poultry processing plants to increase line speeds from 140 birds per minute (bpm) to 175 bpm.
The Pump Handle • AFGE news release • Risks 667 • 16 August 2014

Hazards news, 9 August 2014

Britain: TUC warns the safety consensus is under threat
As celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the UK’s groundbreaking safety law continue, unions are warning that the lifesaving gains delivered by the Health and Safety at Work Act’s concensus approach could be under threat. TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson notes: “We need regulation to be seen as providing a level playing field that protects the most vulnerable, rather than a burden on business, and we need unions and employers working together at all levels.”
Safety Management • Prospect news release and 40@40 from the frontline • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Britain: Unite wins ambulance service rest time precedent
Unite has hailed an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) judgement concerning the working time arrangements of on-call technicians and paramedics in the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) as “a significant victory” for workers’ rights and patient safety. Relief ambulance paramedics Paul Truslove and Ellouise Wood pursued the SAS for compensation over a breach of their rest entitlements under the 1998 Working Time Regulations, having accumulated 97 and 48 consecutive working hours respectively.
Unite news release • Aberdeen Press and Journal • Herald • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Britain: Blacklister loses council repairs contract
Islington Council has become the first to apply a ‘no blacklisters’ clause, with construction firm Kier losing its housing repairs contract. The council has ended the £16.5 million-a-year contract with construction firm Kier, which had been running the service for 14 years.
Unite news release • Morning Star • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Britain: FBU battle for hero Ewan continues
The firefighters’ union FBU has welcomed a decision by Scotland’s Crown Office to proceed with criminal hearings into the death of firefighter Ewan Williamson. The decision came in the face of continued Scottish Fire and Rescue Service attempts to derail the case.
FBU news release • The Scotsman • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Britain: MPs back campaigners on asbestos cancer justice
A committee of MPs has backed unions and asbestos disease victims’ advocates, and called on the government to rethink proposals cooked up with the insurance industry to impose legal costs on people suffering a deadly asbestos cancer. The Justice Select Committee report published on 1 August is highly critical of a government review that concluded a costs exemption for mesothelioma sufferers should end.
House of Commons Justice Committee: Mesothelioma claims and news release • TUC news release • Thompsons Solicitors news release • Irwin Mitchell Solicitors news release • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Britain: Unions welcome call for proper mesothelioma review
Unions have welcomed the Justice Select Committee’s call for a full governmental review on changes to the legal funding of personal injury claims. Public sector union UNISON warned, however, that a period of three to five years is needed to take stock of these changes and their effect before any such review should go ahead.
UNISON news releases • GMB news release • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Britain: Dying electrician secures asbestos cancer payout
A former electrician who is suffering from mesothelioma, an incurable asbestos cancer, has secured ‘substantial’ damages with the help of his union, Unite. The member, whose name has not been released, was exposed to asbestos in the 1960s and 1970s because a series of employers did not follow well-established workplace safety standards on preventing asbestos exposure or conduct proper risk assessments.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Britain: UNISON calls for schools asbestos audit
The next Labour government must ensure there is a full audit of asbestos in schools, public sector union UNISON has said. “We will be lobbying to make sure that the health and safety of workers is on the agenda of all the major parties for the election campaign,” said the union's head of health and safety, Tracey Harding.
UNISON news release • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Britain: Government must act on Bangladesh deaths inaction
The market has failed to get UK High Street firms to stump up the money to compensate those affected by Rana Plaza building collapse, so the government must now act, the TUC has said. According to Owen Tudor, the head of the TUC’s international department: “So the market failure that led to the Rana Plaza disaster in the first place is now compounded by a market failure to raise the funds needed for adequate compensation.”
TUC letter to international development secretary Justine Greening • TUC Touchstone Blog • UNI news release • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Australia: Solvents exposure linked to brain cancer in your kids
Brain tumours in children have been linked to exposure of either parent to workplace solvents. The study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, found a link between parents' exposure to chemicals such as benzene, toluene, and trichloroethylene and brain tumours in their children.
Susan Peters and others. Childhood brain tumours: associations with parental occupational exposure to solvents, British Journal of Cancer, published online. doi:10.1038/bjc.2014.358 • ABC Science News • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Britain: Cockpit fumes linked to pilot’s death
A British Airways pilot who died at 43 after complaining he was being poisoned by toxic fumes on passenger planes may have been right, according to new research. Richard Westgate, from Edinburgh, suffered years of ill health including severe headaches, mental confusion, sight problems and insomnia before he died in December 2012 at the age of 43.
Flight Global • Daily Mail • Daily Mirror • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Britain: Crossrail facing two safety inquiries after death
Crossrail, the largest construction project in Europe, is facing two investigations by the health and safety regulator over allegations made by a whistleblower about the circumstances that led to the death of a worker earlier this year. The Observer reported that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is acting on a series of statements from the whistleblower in which safety standards on the £15bn project have been condemned.
The Observer • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Britain: ICL defeats bid for damages over deadly factory blast
The owners of a plastics factory that exploded in Glasgow killing nine people have blocked a compensation claim by a neighbouring firm damaged in the blast, because the claim was made too late. ICL Plastics Ltd opposed the claim by decorators merchant David T Morrison on the grounds it was lodged outside the statutory five-year limit.
BBC News Online • The Herald • ICL/Stockline disaster website • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014Britain: Undercover investigation leads to bakery safety probes
One of Britain’s biggest bakery firms is facing probes by the fire service and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an undercover investigation revealing serious health and safety failings putting the lives of workers at risk. Dunstable-based Honeytop Speciality Foods, which supplies all of Britain’s major supermarkets with products from pizza bases to tortilla wraps, was recently praised by prime minister David Cameron for its plans to create dozens of new jobs.
Supermarkets: The real price of cheap food, Dispatches, Channel 4, 4 August 2014 • The Independent • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Britain: Council fined after grass cutting injury
Cirencester Town Council has been ordered to pay £29,000 in fines and costs after a worker was thrown from a mower while cutting grass. The man suffered four broken ribs and bruising in the incident at Cirencester Amphitheatre in September 2012.
Gloucestershire Echo • Stroud News and Journal • Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard • BBC News Online • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Britain: Haulage companies fined after driver is paralysed
Two haulage companies have been sentenced for criminal safety failings after an HGV driver was left paralysed from the chest down following an incident at a transport yard in Sandy, Bedfordshire. Employer H&M Distribution Ltd was fined £150,000 plus costs of £13,996 and yard owner HE Payne Transport Ltd was fined £100,000 plus £13,996 costs.
HSE news release and workplace transport webpages • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Britain: Company in court after massive chemical spill
An Essex company has been fined after four of its chemical storage tanks failed and spilled 150 tonnes of hazardous material. An industrial estate was evacuated and access roads closed as a result of the incident at Industrial Chemicals Limited (ICL) in Grays on 11 July 2013 involving large quantities of aluminium chloride and hydrochloric acid.
HSE news release and chemicals webpages • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Africa: Agencies fighting Ebola at ‘breaking point’
A shortage of trained health workers in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea who can treat Ebola victims and prevent further spread of the deadly disease is hampering response efforts, health ministries and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have warned. Stéphane Doyone, West Africa coordinator of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which is shouldering the bulk of the case management burden in the three countries, said: “It’s a huge programme but human resources are very challenging: staff must be highly trained and they have to be turned over every 4-6 weeks due to stress and fatigue.”
IRIN news report • WHO Ebola factsheet • UK government Ebola response • ITF news release • BALPA statement • The Independent • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Australia: Union right of entry laws ‘save lives’
Calls by Australia’s building industry to further tighten the restrictions on union officials entering construction sites will lead to more injuries and deaths at work, the national union federation ACTU has said. ACTU assistant secretary Michael Borowick said: “The Master Builders Association is effectively trying to diminish the ability of workers to speak up for themselves in their workplaces.”
ACTU news release • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

China: Deadly blast leads to demand for more worker say
In the wake of a massive explosion at a factory in Kunshan, eastern China, on 2 August that killed at least 75 workers and injured 180 others, a group of labour activists and academics has called for urgent action. In an open letter, they argue that since factory owners and local governments have failed to protect workers, the workers themselves should be given the right to supervise workplace safety.
China Labour Bulletin report • China Daily • Wall Street Journal • BBC News Online • Orlando Sentinel • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

USA: Campaigners fight off poultry line speed up
Sweeping new regulations for poultry plants announced by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will leave processing lines running at their current speeds – a decision that spares workers from an increase but still forces them to endure the current dangerously fast pace, unions and campaigners have said. “Although the most dangerous provision has been removed from this rule, poultry workers still face punishing line speeds and other conditions that lead to widespread and serious injuries,” said Michelle Lapointe, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) staff attorney.
UFCW news release • SPLC news release • USDA poultry rule webpage • Common Dreams • The Pump Handle • Unsafe at These Speeds: Alabama’s Poultry Industry and its Disposable Workers, SPLC, 2013 • Risks 666 • 9 August 2014

Hazards new, 2 August 2014

Britain: Tribunal fees a ‘huge victory’ for the worst bosses
Employment tribunal fees have been a huge victory for Britain’s worst bosses, according to a new TUC report. ‘What price justice?’ shows that since the introduction of fees on 29 July 2013 there has been a 79 per cent fall in overall claims taken to employment tribunals, with women and low-paid workers the worst affected.
TUC news release and full report, What price justice? • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

Britain: HSE celebrates safety law’s 40th birthday
The Health and Safety at Work Act is one of the most important and successful pieces of workplace legislation ever, the TUC has said. Marking the 40th anniversary of the Act, which received royal assent on 31 July 1974, the union body said the number of fatalities in the workplace had fallen by 85 per cent while the number of injuries at work had fallen by 77 per cent.
TUC news release • TUC Stronger Unions blog • HSE news release and 40th anniversary webpages • Prospect safety blog and 40@40 Voices from the Frontline campaign • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

Britain: Spending cuts are threatening rail safety
Government cuts to Network Rail’s funding are putting the lives of both rail passengers and maintenance workers at risk, according to a report from the TUC’s Action for Rail campaign. The research carried out on behalf of the four unions behind the campaign – ASLEF, RMT, TSSA and Unite – by the Working Lives Institute at London Metropolitan University is based on the findings of focus groups conducted with railway workers.
The impact of efficiency savings on Network Rail staff, performance and safety, Action for Rail • TUC news release • ASLEF news release • RMT news release • TSSA news release • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

Britain: Health ‘timebomb’ uncovered by site inspections
A series of intensive official construction site inspections has revealed a health ‘timebomb’ facing workers, UCATT has said. The site union was commenting after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited 560 sites over two weeks, focussing on significant long-term health risks for workers including respiratory risks from dusts containing silica, exposure to other hazardous substances such as cement and lead paint, manual handling, noise and vibration.
UCATT news release • HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Hazards ‘Dust to Dust’ report • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

Britain: Cambridge bars blacklisters from council work
Cambridge City Council has become the latest to bar firms linked to a blacklisting scandal from being awarded public contracts. The union GMB welcomed the unanimously vote by the council on 24 July to stop companies who have engaged in blacklisting from being awarded Council contracts until they take steps “to remedy blacklisting for all affected workers” and “to ensure blacklisting will not happen again.”
GMB news release • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

Britain: Production before safety in poultry plants
Breakneck line speeds, a reluctance to stop the line for essential maintenance and inadequate safety inspections on poultry production lines are putting health at risk, a Guardian investigation has found. According to the paper, large abattoirs typically run lines at a rate of 185 to 195 birds a minute, or nearly 12,000 an hour - a rate more than twice that the US safety authorities believe can lead to serious workplace health problems.
Unite news release • UNISON news release • The Guardian • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

Britain: Nurse devastated by needlestick injury
A trainee nurse has been awarded over £75,000 compensation after a jab from a dirty needle at work cost her job and her marriage. Alcinda Tobbal could no longer bear physical intimacy after suffering the injury while working as a nursing assistant at Whipps Cross Hospital in east London, and became obsessed with cleanliness.
Daily Mail • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

Britain: Asbestos groups fight legal costs imposition
The government’s decision to impose additional legal costs on asbestos disease victims is being challenged in the High Court. The Asbestos Victims’ Support Groups Forum UK is challenging the move by Chris Grayling, the secretary of state for justice, to allow asbestos cancer sufferers to be charged up to 25 per cent of their awarded damages to pay for their legal costs as well as legal insurance premiums.
Leigh Day and Co news release • Asbestos Victims’ Support Groups Forum UK • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

Global: Shiftwork linked to type 2 diabetes
Shiftwork is associated with a heightened risk of developing type 2 diabetes, with the risk greatest among men and those working rotating shift patterns, a review of the evidence has found. The study found that working shifts carries a 9 per cent higher risk of developing diabetes, with most shift patterns, except mixed and evening shifts, associated with a heightened risk of the disease compared with those working normal office hours.
Yong Gan and others. Shift work and diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis of observational studies, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Online First, 16 July 2014. doi:10.1136/oemed-2014-102150 [abstract] • OEM news release • Diabetes UK comment • The Guardian • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

Britain: Health and Work Service supplier announced
The government’s new Health and Work Service in England and Wales will be delivered by Health Management Limited, the government has announced. The company, which describes itself as “the UK’s leading occupational healthcare provider”, is part of the US multinational MAXIMUS.
DWP news release • Health Management Ltd news release • FOM/SOM news release • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

Britain: Costain convicted for telehandler death
Global engineering specialist Costain Limited has been ordered to pay more than £615,000 in fines and costs after being convicted of criminal safety offences which led to the death of a worker. Mark Williams, 41, was using a telehandler to lift a pallet of tiles to a fourth storey roof at the Newbury site when the incident happened on 20 July 2011.
HSE news release • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

Britain: Daughter’s grief at death of migrant worker mum
The daughter of a Lithuanian migrant worker killed by a tractor has spoken about her family’s suffering after a Lincolnshire farm was fined £100,000 for its criminal safety failings. Samanta Augulyte said the loss of her mother Asta Juodiene had left a “big wound” in her family’s hearts that “will not heal for a long time to come.”
HSE news release and reversing vehicles advice • Morning Star • Boston Target • Lincolnshire Echo • BBC News Online • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

Britain: Essex farming company fined after trailer death
Farmers’ co-operative Dengie Crops Ltd, a firm with an awful safety record, has been sentenced for criminal safety offences after a worker was killed when the tailgate of a hydraulic trailer fell and struck him across the neck. David Dow, 63, had leaned into the back of a tipper trailer to talk to a colleague inside when the tailgate closed suddenly, causing him fatal crush injuries.
HSE news release and agriculture webpages • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

Britain: Worker’s jaw shattered at recycling firm
A Kent recycling firm has been prosecuted after an employee had his jaw shattered into ‘pieces like cornflakes’ when he was hit by a piece of plastic pipe ejected from a bandsaw. The worker from Chatham, who does not wish to be named, was cutting down the old gas pipe for recycling at Kingsnorth Waste Management’s site in Hoo, Rochester, on 11 August 2010 when the incident happened.
HSE news release • Kent Online • Materials Recycling World • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

Britain: Roofing director prosecuted following worker fall
London construction company Right Angle Ltd and John Donald, the director of a Hertfordshire roofing firm, have been fined for criminal safety failings after a worker was seriously injured when he plunged almost six metres through a void for a roof light. The self-employed roofer, who does not want to be named, broke several bones in his back and bruised his diaphragm, lungs and thigh in the incident in Brent on 29 February 2012.
HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

India: Union anger after shipyard ‘homicides’
The union at the world’s largest shipbreaking yard has organised a mass meeting of safety inspectors following an incident on 28 June in which five migrant workers died. Eight others were injured in the gas explosion at the Alang Shipbreaking Yard in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat, India.
IndustriALL news release • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

USA: Make corporate bosses accountable for harm
A “Hide No Harm” bill introduced by three US senators would hold corporate officers criminally accountable if they knowingly conceal serious dangers that lead to consumer or worker deaths or injuries. Under the law proposed by Democrat senators Richard Blumenthal, Bob Casey and Tom Harkin, penalties could include jail time.
CSS news release • Hide No Harm Act • Center for Progressive Reform news release • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

USA: Over 2,500 Ground Zero rescuers have cancer
A growing number of Ground Zero first responders and rescuers are seeking compensation for their illnesses, and more than 2,500 of them have contracted cancer. That toll has climbed from the 1,140 cancer cases reported last year, according to the World Trade Center Health Program at Mount Sinai Hospital.
New York Post • Daily Mail • Newsmax • Telegraph • World Trade Center Health Program • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

Zimbabwe: WHO requests asbestos false claims correction
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on Zimbabwe’s pro-asbestos government to correct a dangerous misrepresentation of its position on asbestos. It follows the release in May of a position paper from the Zimbabwean authorities claiming WHO supports “controlled use” of chrysotile asbestos; the global health agency in fact says asbestos cannot be used safely and has called for all use of chrysotile asbestos to stop.
RightsOnCanada • WHO letter confirming request for a correction • Risks 665 • 2 August 2014

Hazards news, 26 July 2014

Britain: Sinking feeling as disaster ferry rules set to be scrapped
In March 1987 the P&O ferry Herald of Free Enterprise sank outside Zeebrugge, resulting in 188 deaths, and an inquiry led to a considerable number of safety improvements. Now, in what he TUC describes as “another outbreak of deregulatory zeal,” the government want to remove some of these regulations.
Stronger Unions blog • MCA Consultation Document • BBC News Online • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Britain: Grayling’s dumb solution is an embarrassing turkey
A proposed law the justice secretary Chris Grayling says will “slay the health and safety culture” has been condemned by the TUC and labelled “a turkey” by Labour. In an interview to the Daily Telegraph, the Cabinet minister claimed that the Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill (SARAH) was to address cases where a “person does something dumb, hurts themselves and sues the employer anyway.”
TUC Stronger Unions blog and Compensation Myth report • SARAH on the parliament webpages • Response from Labour’s Sadiq Khan • Daily Telegraph • Daily Mail • ITV News • BBC News Online • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Britain: Wilting workers need heat wave help
As summer temperatures soar, the TUC is calling on employers to relax workplace dress codes temporarily to help their staff work through the heatwave as comfortably as possible. Although there is a legal limit below which workplace temperatures should not fall (16°C), there is no upper limit.
TUC news release and Worksmart advice • Usdaw news release • The Independent • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Britain: Occupational therapists in bullying victory
Occupational therapists at Greenwich council are celebrating victory in a ‘bullying culture’ dispute. The therapists, members of Unite, took three days of strike action over alleged bullying and harassment, and the suspension of a work colleague accused of being too friendly with staff, but following a council hearing, the occupational therapist, who was suspended on gross misconduct allegations after she made a complaint about bullying and harassment, had the charges against her dropped.
Unite news release • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Britain: UCATT secures Labour safety commitments
Construction union UCATT says it secured ‘several key commitments’ from the Labour Party at its National Policy Forum meeting. The policy commitments from Labour cover issues including blacklisting, false self-employment, asbestos compensation and labour rights in Qatar.
UCATT news release • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Britain: Shopworkers welcome alcohol sales talks
Shopworkers’ trade union leader John Hannett has welcomed a government commitment to meet with the union and business representatives to look further at a proposal to provide greater protection for workers selling alcohol. The Usdaw general secretary said: “A meeting will provide us with an opportunity to explain to the minister what life is like for workers on the frontline of policing the sale of alcohol, how exposed staff are to violence and just how frustrating it is to see attackers let off with lenient sentences, cautions or not face any punishment at all.”
Hansard, 21 July 2014, Column 993, 7.20 pm: Amendment 41, Moved by Lord Foulkes of Cumnock • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Britain: HSE slammed for deadly silica standard defence
Hundreds of thousands of workers in the UK are being put at risk and more than 1,000 could die every year due to inadequate safeguards for a workplace dust known to cause cancer and other diseases, according to research by University of Stirling academics. The study is critical of the workplace safety regulator, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which it says is wrong to resist a tightening of the current silica exposure standard.
Stirling University news release and full report • BBC News Online • The Herald • Central FM • SHP Online • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Britain: Suspended sentence for stone dust failings
The director of a London masonry company has been handed a suspended prison sentence for exposing workers to harmful stone dust and ignoring notices to improve extraction ventilation. Employees at Redmist International Ltd were exposed to potentially deadly stone dust containing silica for a period of six months between January and June 2013.
HSE news release • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Britain: Rail accidents surge as staffing levels fall
Rail passengers and staff have been the victims of a surge in incidents resulting in injury and death as staffing levels are cut back, latest statistics show. A new report on rail health and safety from the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) showed incidents involving track maintenance workers at their highest level for seven years, with three deaths, 79 major injuries and 1,641 reported minor injuries.
ORR news release • RMT news release • Morning Star • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Britain: Cameron says ‘no’ to blacklisting inquiry
The prime minister has confirmed he will not support a public inquiry into blacklisting of union reps for raising safety and other concerns on site. Asked if there should be a public inquiry, the prime minister said: “As I say I think enforcing the law that we have now is the most important thing.”
Blacklist blog • BBC News Online • Scottish Affairs Committee blacklisting inquiry • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Britain: Property firm fined after ignoring wood dust risks
A property maintenance firm has appeared in court after ignoring safety concerns at its joinery workshop in Dukinfield. High Peak Remedial Services Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after it failed to comply with an enforcement notice requiring its wood dust extractor to be properly tested.
HSE news release and woodworking webpages • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Britain: Aerospace firm lands workers with nerve damage
A Nottinghamshire aerospace engineering company has been ordered to pay more than £190,000 in fines and costs for failing to protect its employees from the effects of vibration. It total, 24 workers at SPS Aerostructures Ltd were diagnosed with debilitating nerve conditions.
HSE news release and vibration webpages • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Britain: Dangerous developer goes directly to jail
Developer Eze Kinsley has been sent to prison for 30 months after repeatedly breaching prohibition notices stopping unsafe work on the redevelopment a former office block in Parkeston, Essex. HSE inspector Jonathan Elven said: “Mr Kinsley refused to accept that he had a responsibility to make sure people who worked for him, and any member of the public living or working near his site, were not subjected to unnecessary risks – and vigorously and violently resisted all attempts to make him take actions to protect them.”
HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Britain: Airbus fined £200,000 over worker’s death
Aeroplane manufacturer Airbus has been fined following the death of an employee who was crushed between a tractor and a fertiliser spreader at the firm’s plant in Broughton. The company was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found Donny Williams and his co-workers had received no training on how to work on the equipment at the time the incident happened on 16 November 2011.
HSE news release and tractor safety guide • BBC News Online • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Britain: Magnet drops metal sheet on worker’s foot
A Herefordshire steelwork company has been fined after an employee was hurt when a metal sheet being lifted with a magnet fell on his foot. Hereford Magistrates’ Court heard the 30-year-old man, who has asked not to be named, was working at Frank H Dale Ltd’s premises in Leominster when the incident happened on 3 October 2012.
HSE news release and guidance on the safe use of magnetic lifting equipment • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Europe: Burnout linked to performance management
The closely policed pressure to perform at work is creating a generation of burnout victims, experts have warned. Online publication Equal Times notes: “The way the working environment is organised appears to be a major factor in the development of burnout,” adding: “It is an environment that is increasingly dehumanised and pressurised, an environment that is increasingly taking over people’s personal lives.”
Equal Times • European Institute for Intervention and Research on Burnout • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Britain: Payout for school asbestos exposure
A man who believes he developed terminal cancer after being exposed to asbestos when a pupil at schools in Devon has received a payout of £275,000. Chris Wallace, 36, was diagnosed with an asbestos-related mesothelioma at 30.
BBC News Online • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Australia: Safety regulator must apologise for bullying staff
The official safety regulator in the Australian state of New South Wales must apologise for the institutional bullying of its staff, a parliamentary committee has said. Greens MP and industrial relations spokesperson David Shoebridge, who sat on the committee and originally pushed for the inquiry, expressed concern that WorkCover NSW has so far given no signal that it would respond to confirmation bullying was entrenched in its ranks.
Government News • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Global: FIFA told to abide by global guidelines
Two global bodies have backed union calls for football’s governing body FIFA to take action on the labour abuses in Qatar that could see 4,000 workers die preparing facilities for the 2022 World Cup. The support came in a joint article from John Ruggie, the UN Secretary-General’s special representative for business and human rights and Roel Nieuwenkamp, chair of the OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct, and was written in response to the deadly warning issued by global union confederation ITUC.
UNI news release • Ruggie and Nieuwenkamp’s article on the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) website • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Peru: Unions reject disastrous safety reforms
Unions in Peru are fighting to stop a package of economic incentives which would have a devastating effect on workplace safety and environmental standards from becoming law. The proposed measures, aimed at attracting foreign investment and boosting growth, were approved by the country’s Congress on 3 July.
IndustriALL news report • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Thailand: Nation ‘on trial’ in food industry scandal
The integrity of Thailand is ‘on trial’ after it allowed a company to prosecute a human rights defender who exposed modern day slavery in its canned fruit and fishing industry, a global union has said. The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is demanding that charges against Andy Hall, a UK citizen who is due to stand trial in September on charges of criminal defamation, be dropped.
ITF news release • Andy Hall blog • Risks 664 • 26 July 2014

Hazards news, 19 July 2014

Britain: TUC calls on retailers to act on Rana Plaza
The TUC is calling on all UK retailers sourcing garments from Bangladesh to support the victims of the Rana Plaza factory collapse, that killed over 1,100 people in April last year. The call came ahead of a 15 July meeting at Westminster supported by the TUC and the campaign organisation Labour Behind the Label, who say the Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund is still £13m short of its target amount because many retailers who sell clothes made in Bangladesh on the UK high street have yet to contribute.
TUC news release • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Global: Unions give Bangladesh a failing grade
Global union confederation ITUC has given Bangladesh a ‘failing grade’ on a Sustainability Compact signed on 8 July 2013 in the aftermath of the devastating Rana Plaza garment building collapse. ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow said: “We are appalled that the government of Bangladesh has done so little, given that nearly 4 million workers depend on the government to effectively implement this plan.”
ITUC news release and Sustainabilty Compact evaluation • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Britain: Workers selling alcohol need protection
A coalition of union and business groups is calling on the government to give extra legal protection to staff who are assaulted when selling alcohol. A letter published in last week’s Sunday Telegraph arguing the case is countersigned by leaders of the shopworkers’ union Usdaw, retail trade groups and Pubwatch, the organisation bringing licensees and police together to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour in public houses.
Usdaw news release • Daily Telegraph • Amendment to the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Britain: Blacklisters lose another round in the justice battle
In a victory for trade unions and anti-blacklisting campaigners, a High Court judge has ruled that hundreds of blacklisting compensation claims can be heard together in a class action. The cases will be managed by a steering committee comprising solicitors acting for the unions UCATT, Unite and GMB and the Blacklist Support Group.
GMB news release • UCATT news release • Morning Star • Construction Enquirer • The Independent • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Britain: Faulty equipment firm tried to blame victim
A shameful employer tried to blame a worker for the accident that left him with serious injuries and his co-worker dead. Unite member Joseph Horsley, an employee of road recovery firm RWR, had driven a truck to assist a colleague whose own work vehicle had broken down at the side of the road; he was standing between the broken down vehicle and another RWR vehicle when the handbrake in his own truck failed, causing it to roll backwards and crush him and his colleague.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Britain: RMT slams the Tube for ‘winging it on safety’
Strike action by London Underground power control staff has been extended a further week to 22 July, with the union RMT accusing the company of ‘winging it on safety’. Mick Cash, RMT acting general secretary, whose union has created a dossier of dangerous occurrences during the dispute, said: “Management’s claim that they can run the system without them is both provocative and dangerous.”
RMT news release • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Britain: Hospital worker stabbed to death at work
A health care assistant at a mental health hospital in Gloucester has died after being stabbed at work. Sharon Wall, 53, was attacked and stabbed in the back at 7.30am on 9 July at the inpatient unit of Wotton Lawn Hospital, and died about an hour later at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
2gether NHS Foundation Trust news release • Gloucester Citizen • BBC News Online • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Global: Chemicals, dust and deaths mar fracking
US evidence of chemical related deaths, a soaring fatality rate and widespread over-exposure to lung wrecking, cancer-causing dust, has raised seriously unhealthy questions about the UK government’s reassurances on fracking safety. ‘Fracking boom’, a new online report from Hazards, warns that potentially deadly silica dust exposures, toxic chemicals already linked to four US worker deaths during ‘flowback’ operations, and many of the other hazards of more typical extractive industries present underestimated and serious safety and health risks.
Fracking boom, Hazards online report, July 2014 • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Britain: No government commitment on helicopter inquiry
The government has refused to commit to a full public inquiry into offshore helicopter safety. Outgoing transport minister Stephen Hammond declined to agree to an inquiry after last week’s Transport Select Committee report backed calls for an official probe.
BBC News Online • Irwin Mitchell Solicitors news release • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Britain: Call to protect footballers from concussion risk
Decisions on whether a footballer can return to the pitch after a head injury should be taken by an independent doctor, and not the player or coach, a top medical journal has concluded. An editorial in The Lancet Neurology says these decisions should not be made “by those with a vested interest.”
Tackling the sports-related concussion crisis, The Lancet Neurology, Volume 13, Issue 8, Page 747, August 2014 • BBC News Online • The Guardian • Metro • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Britain: Rail job led to asbestos cancer
British Rail has paid compensation to a former employee with a terminal asbestos-related cancer. Harold Shaw began working for British Rail at Crewe Railway Works in 1958 as a labourer in the Tender Shop, cleaning out the fitting pits at the works, which were lined with asbestos, then moved to a new role in the Asbestos House where he removed asbestos-lagged exhaust pipes until 1988 when he retired.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Signal 1 • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Britain: Final insult for workers dying because of their jobs
A government deal cooked up with the insurance industry and that robs asbestos cancer victims of a large chunk of their compensation is continuing to attract criticism. The Daily Mirror’s Kevin Maguire notes: “Even workers gasping for final breaths are targets to be short-changed by Tory toff David Cameron.”
Daily Mirror • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Britain: Suicide linked to performance monitoring
The widow of a Stafford planning officer found hanged has told an inquest her husband was “very distressed” by performance monitoring at work. Nicky Atkins challenged claims that 45-year-old Phil Atkins was only subject to “informal” monitoring following concerns about the standard of his work at Stafford Borough Council’s planning department.
Staffordshire Newsletter • More on work-related suicide • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014.

Britain: Firm fined over turf-cutting death
Turfgrass Services International Ltd has been made to pay £100,000 after a man was run over by a turf harvesting machine he had been driving. A safety system had been disabled on the 27-tonne vehicle that killed Lee Woodhouse, 31.
HSE news release and agriculture webpages. BBC News Online • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Britain: Safety failings led to site worker’s death
Slough construction firm J McArdle Contracts Ltd and a bulldozer operator have been sentenced for serious criminal safety failings after a worker was run over and killed while working on the M25 motorway widening project. Mihai Hondru, 39, suffered multiple crush injuries and died at the scene when he was struck by a reversing bulldozer near Junction 29 at Upminster on 20 October 2010.
HSE news release and traffic management on sites webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Britain: Site worker crushed by excavator
Worcestershire construction company SD Launchbury Ltd has been fined for criminal safety neglect after a 27-year-old worker sustained life-changing injuries when he was struck by a reversing excavator. Thomas Plumb was run over by the vehicle as it reversed on a site in Gretton, near Cheltenham, on 10 May 2013, leaving his right leg shattered and in a coma for ten days and in hospital for seven weeks.
HSE news release and construction webpages • Eversham Observer • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Britain: Harper is the new Penning
Mark Harper is the new minister for health and safety, following David Cameron’s reshuffle. Commenting on the return of the former chartered accountant to government, the BBC noted: “The MP quit his role as immigration minister earlier this year after admitting to having employed an illegal immigrant as a cleaner.”
Mark Harper’s ministerial webpage • Prime Minister’s Office news release • DWP safety webpage • BBC News Online • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Africa: Health workers killed in worst Ebola outbreak
Health care workers in Africa have died in the ‘worst ever’ Ebola outbreak because they did not have the necessary tools and equipment, Public Services International has revealed. The global trade union federation, condemning the “criminal neglect” that led to the preventable deaths of dozens of healthcare workers in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, warned the Ebola outbreak is “the worst ever and the first to spill widely across several countries.”
PSI news coverage and statement • Interview with Paul Tilame of the PSI-affiliated National Private Sector Health Workers Union of Liberia (NPSHWU). IRIN News • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

China: Court rejects shipyard diseases lawsuit
A Guangzhou court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by 34 shipyard workers who claimed their employer, CSSC Guangzhou Longxue Shipbuilding Co. Ltd, had colluded with its affiliated hospital to conceal the results of health checks which should have revealed the early stages of the deadly dust disease pneumoconiosis. The case originated in November 2012, when one worker left the company and independent tests showed he had the occupational dust disease, despite having been given the all clear by the factory hospital a week earlier.
China Labour Bulletin • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Turkey: The no occupational diseases illusion
Factory doctor Ahmet Tellioglu has seen how workplace exposures cause serious occupational diseases. But the Turkish medic says the official statistics don’t recognise the problem, with the authorities instead burying the evidence, noting: “According to official data, the incidence of occupational diseases in Turkey is 30 times lower than in the EU,” and “only 59 cases of death have been recorded to be an outcome of occupational disease in Turkey from 2004 to 2012.”
Global Labour Column • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

USA: Sugar plant probe shows agency work can kill
In February 2013, a temporary worker at a sugar plant and warehouse operation in Pennsylvania was buried alive in sugar when he fell through a hopper he had climbed into to free up the flow. A newly published report from the official federal safety regulator, OSHA, reveals that the death of Janio Salinas, 50, would have been avoided if a safety device - a simple screen over the hopper - had not been removed 13 days earlier because the plant manager believed it was slowing down production.
AFL-CIO Now blog • IUF news release • Risks 663 • 19 July 2014

Hazards news, 12 July 2014

Britain: Self-employed move is good news for undertakers
Dangerously muddled Health and Safety Executive (HSE) proposals to exempt most self-employed workers from safety law have been condemned by the TUC. In a consultation document published this week, the HSE for the first time revealed the short inclusive list of self-employed jobs that will remain subject to safety law, causing TUC to comment: “The whole thing is a mess from beginning to end… unless we stop this Bill becoming law it will also mean more business for doctors - and undertakers.”
TUC Stronger Unions blog • HSE news release •
CD273 – Consultation on proposals to exempt self-employed persons from section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, except those undertaking activities on a prescribed list • The consultation will run for eight weeks, closing on 31 August • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Britain: Scheming site firms try to bypass blacklist justice
Unions have condemned a “cynical” industry-controlled compensation scheme for blacklisted construction workers launched last week ahead of this week’s continuation of a High Court compensation case. Construction union UCATT general secretary Steve Murphy said: “This is a deeply cynical attempt by the blacklisting companies to try to prevent workers, who have had their lives ruined, getting justice.”
GMB news release • UCATT news release and blacklisting guidance • Morning Star. Construction Enquirer • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Britain: Campaigners press for asbestos justice
Asbestos disease campaigners, politicians and unions spoke out on 4 July to mark Action Mesothelioma Day, calling for urgent action to combat the deadly asbestos cancer. Deaths from mesothelioma, which is incurable and now kills in excess of 2,500 people a year, are still to peak in the UK, meaning tens of thousands more will die unless new treatments are found.
Action Mesothelioma Day events • Lord Alton’s speech • Thompsons Solicitors news release • Leigh Day news release • CWU news release • New Statesman • Morning Star • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Britain: Asbestos disease victims deserve better treatment
Unions are asking their members to sign an e-petition calling on the government to provide funding for research into treatments and cures for asbestos-related diseases. The online petition to the Department of Health notes: “The United Kingdom has the dubious honour of being number 1 in the world for the level of deaths occurring annually from asbestos-related diseases.”
Sign the e-petition • UCATT news release • CWU news release • British Lung Foundation • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Britain: Firefighters to strike over ‘vicious’ pension attacks
Firefighters in England and Wales are set to strike on eight consecutive days this month, saying that the government’s “vicious” proposals on firefighters’ pensions are unacceptable, unworkable and unrealistic. The strikes, due to start on 14 July, are the union FBU’s response to government moves that they say would see firefighters paying more, working longer and receiving less.
FBU news release • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Britain: MPs back union call for responsible dog ownership
MPs from all political parties have backed Dog Awareness Week, attending last week’s special drop-in session in Westminster to mark the CWU and Royal Mail joint initiative. Royal Mail figures show there has been an eight per cent increase in the number of dog attacks on postal workers since last year.
CWU news release and Bite Back campaign • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Britain: UNISON sets a date for work stress action
UNISON is calling on its members to campaign against government spending cuts it says are putting both stressed-out workers and communities at risk. The public sector union say October's stress-themed European Health and Safety Week will provide a vital opportunity to promote good health and safety practice.
UNISON news release • European Health and Safety Week 2014 • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Britain: Union ‘disgusted’ with delay to fire deaths justice
Firefighters’ union FBU has said it is “disgusted” that the families of two dead firefighters will be forced to wait another three months for the resolution of a long-running compensation battle. The union was speaking out after the ongoing Court of Appeal hearing relating to the deaths of union members Brian Wembridge and Geoff Wicker at a fireworks factory in 2006 was delayed by a further appeal by the employer’s insurer, Zurich.
The Argus • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Britain: London Underground power strike continues
A London Underground (LUL) power workers’ strike over worsening conditions is now set to continue until 22 July. Unite, which represents most of the 40 power technicians, this week called for LUL management to return to talks at the conciliation service, Acas, amid mounting union safety concerns for passengers.
Unite news release • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Britain: Fatalities at work down, work-related deaths up
The number of workplace fatalities in Britain last year fell to the lowest annual rate on record, but deaths overall increased markedly as asbestos cancer deaths soared. While fatalities fell by 17, latest HSE figures for the asbestos cancer mesothelioma showed an increase of 244 deaths.
HSE news release and statistics, including full fatalities breakdown for 2013/14. Mesothelioma death statistics 2012 • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Britain: Rise in sites deaths ‘sends chill’ through the industry
Construction union UCATT is warning that the latest fatality figures, showing an increase in construction deaths, could mark the beginning of a steady rise in fatalities. Despite the overall number of workplace fatalities in 2013/14 reaching an all-time low, the number of construction deaths increased to 42, an 8 per cent increase on the previous year when 39 construction workers suffered fatal injuries.
UCATT news release • HSE construction statistics • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Britain: North Sea safety damaged by bullying and complacency
MPs have called for a public inquiry into whether commercial pressure from oil and gas companies and “a creeping complacency” is damaging offshore helicopter safety. The Transport select committee also heard there was a worrying culture of “macho bullying” in the industry, targeting workers who expressed safety concerns.
Transport select committee news release and full report • The Herald. BBC News Online • Morning Star • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Britain: Most coastguard shifts ‘dangerously under-staffed’
Maritime safety campaigners have voiced outrage after a Conservative minister admitted as many as two out of three coastguard shifts are dangerously under-staffed. Labour MP Katy Clark demanded action from ministers after extracting the figures from transport under-secretary Stephen Hammond under parliamentary questions.
Morning Star • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Britain: Six figure fines after zipwire crash
A worker was left with life-changing injuries after crashing at the bottom of a zipwire ride at around 35 miles per hour. The ride's breaking system had not been reset with catastrophic consequences for Brett Anthony, 20, when it failed to kick in.
Bedfordshire on Sunday • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Britain: Horse bed maker crushed teenager’s arm
A Suffolk horse bedding manufacturer and its managing director have been fined after a young employee’s arm was crushed as he removed compacted dust from a baling machine. Thetford-based Equestrobed was fined £18,000 plus £6,929 costs after pleading guilty to a criminal safety offence and managing director Timothy David Howard was fined £1,800 for a criminal breach.
HSE news release and machinery webpages • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Britain: Tree fellers caused rail problems
A council and a tree surgeon have been sentenced for criminal safety failings after a worker was injured when a tree he had been felling landed on a railway line and was hit by a train. Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council was fined £40,000 plus £5,854 in costs and tree surgeon Mark Anthony Connelly, 42, sentenced to 150 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £5,854 in costs.
HSE news release and treework webpages • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Australia: Work drug and alcohol testing challenged
A new system of mandatory drug and alcohol tests in the construction industry in the Australian state of Victoria will not make worker safer but could foment industrial discord, a safety expert has warned. Safety expert Kevin Jones, writing in his Safety at Work blog, notes: “Imposing a drug and alcohol testing requirement on Victorian construction companies is a recipe for increased industrial tension rather than a valid attempt to improve occupational health and safety.”
Safety at work blog • Victoria government news release • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Chile: Busworkers strike over safety concerns
Busworkers in Santiago took strike action last week in protest at oppressive working conditions including 12 hour shifts, hijacks and an absence of breaks. The Transantiago employees were joined by students in 3 July protests in the Chilean capital, the action coming a month after union leader Antonio Cuadra burned himself alive in protest at his treatment by the firm.
I love Chile news report • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Global: Unions vow to tackle Amazon’s ‘anti-worker culture’
Representatives of trade unions from key Amazon markets worldwide met in Berlin last week to consider the online retailer’s reported mistreatment of its workforce and its anti-union stance. The unions – all members of the global unions ITF and UNI – say Amazon treats its staff like robots, forcing them to work under enormous stress for long hours in poor conditions.
ITF news release • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Turkey: Death payout after unregistered worker dies
A court in Istanbul has ruled that a Turkish company that employed an unregistered worker from Türkmenistan, but disowned him after he died in a work-related incident, must pay record compensation to his family. It follows an earlier court ruling that the incident was work-related, paving the way for Turkey’s Social Security Institution (SGK) to pay 750 liras (£200) to Avganov’s wife every month until she remarries or dies.
Hurriyet Daily News • Risks 662 • 12 July 2014

Hazards news, 5 July 2014

Global: TUC welcomes official push for Rana Plaza fund
The TUC has welcomed a statement signed by international development minister Alan Duncan and ministers from six other European countries, urging retailers to donate to the Rana Plaza fund – set up for victims of the factory collapse in Bangladesh in April 2013 in which over 1,100 workers were killed. The statement – issued at the Forum on Responsible Business at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – expresses concern that some companies either haven’t contributed at all or haven’t given enough to the fund.
TUC news release • Rana Plaza Trust Fund donors • OECD statement on Rana Plaza, 26 June 2014 and ministers’ statement • The Guardian • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Britain: Heathrow Express in dangerous PR blunder
Rail union RMT is demanding an immediate official investigation into an incident at Heathrow Express it says is one of the “most flagrant breaches of safety rules and regulations that the union has come across in recent years.” The union said the “disgraceful incident” involved Heathrow Express (HEX) managing director Keith Greenfield acting as a customer service representative (CSR) without the required training.
RMT news release • Morning Star • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Britain: Rail safety goes south up north
Rail union RMT says it will hold summit talks with Northern MPs on 15 July in response to what it calls “a co-ordinated attack” on Northern Rail and Trans Pennine Express safety and services “unleashed by the government from its offices in London.” The union was acting in the wake of a government franchising consultation it says would “rip the two franchises to shreds in the name of maximising private profit.”
RMT news release • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Britain: Education changes put staff and pupils at risk
Government-imposed changes to the education system have undermined the safety of staff and pupils, the union NASUWT has charged. The union was speaking out after a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) probe uncovered a criminal failure to deal properly with asbestos in more than 1 in 8 schools inspected.
NASUWT news release • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Britain: TV carpenter suffered work-limiting injury
A 60-year-old carpenter from Romford has received £10,000 in compensation after TV company ITV failed to make safe the This Morning broadcast studio. The carpenter, who has been a member of the union BECTU for nearly 40 years, fell into an uncovered ditch in the studio and sustained a cartilage tear in his right knee – after his request that the ditch be made safe was ignored.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Britain: Government says HSE Is OK but must sell itself
A government decision to maintain the independence of the UK’s health and safety regulator has been welcomed by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), but it says it is concerned by the pressure for HSE to “commercialise” further. The safety professionals’ body was commenting after the Department for Work and Pensions published its full response to the Triennial Review of the role of the Health and Safety Executive.
The Government Response to the Triennial Review of the Health and Safety Executive, DWP, June 2014 • IOSH news release • EEF news release • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Britain: Performance pay is bad for your health
Performance-related pay is bad for your health, a new study has found. After analysing survey results of more than 2,500 people from across Britain. Aberdeen University researchers concluded “being in jobs with a performance pay element increases the likelihood of health deterioration.”
Keith A. Bender and Ioannis Theodossiou. The unintended consequences of the rat race: the detrimental effects of performance pay on health, Oxford Economic Papers, volume 66, Number 3, pages 824-847, 2014. Herald Scotland. More on the issue from Hazards and Karoshi.jp • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Britain: Here’s a plan that works – take a break
A simple plan of action backed up by a commitment from senior management could be the best way for employers to ensure their workers get regular screen breaks, according to a new study funded by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). IOSH teamed up with academics at the University of Derby to investigate what can be done to encourage office and call centre workers to take more postural breaks.
IOSH news release and move more research • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Britain: M&S shopworker wins asbestos cancer case
A 53-year-old shopworker who was exposed to asbestos on the shop floor whilst working for Marks & Spencer, has won her case for cancer compensation in the High Court. Janice Allen worked in two M&S stores between 1978 and 1987, first in its flagship store on London's Oxford Street and then at its Uxbridge branch as a supervisor.
Leigh Day solicitors • The Guardian • Daily Mail • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Britain: Asbestos neighbour caused husband’s death
The widow of a man who lost his life to asbestos-related cancer has received a six-figure compensation settlement. In another case highlighting the potent killing power of asbestos, Lindsey Aherne, 63, received the payout after her husband, Denis, died of mesothelioma in 2012, the result of growing up near the Cape Asbestos factory in Barking, London.
Barking and Dagenham Post • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Britain: Dud safety equipment led to windfarm death
The grieving mother of a teenage construction worker who fell nearly 60ft to his death from a wind turbine after his equipment failed, has condemned the safety errors which cost her son his life. Antonio Basilio Brazao was 19 when he fell down the shaft of a wind turbine at the Earlsburn Wind Farm near Fintry, Stirlingshire in 2007.
Slater & Gordon news release • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Britain: Young mechanic was crushed by two buses
Regional bus operator West Midlands Travel has been fined £150,000 after a young employee died when he was crushed between two buses. Lee Baker, a 24-year-old assistant mechanic, was working a night shift at the company’s Walsall depot when the incident happened in the early hours of Saturday 22 October 2011.
HSE news release • Express and Star • Walsall Advertiser • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Britain: Firm fined after worker is crushed by falling MDF
A joinery firm has been fined for safety failings after an employee was crushed by half a tonne of MDF boards at its premises in Basildon. The 50-year-old worker suffered two collapsed lungs, a broken collar bone, five broken ribs and a gash to his head following the incident at Specialist Joinery Projects Ltd on 26 September 2013.”
HSE news release and woodworking webpages • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Britain: Defective remote control cost waste worker his legs
A scrap metal company and a businessman have been sentenced for serious criminal safety breaches that led to a worker losing both legs as the doors of a 16-tonne baling machine closed on him. Piotr Sarna, 42, was dealing with a problem inside the five-metre long baler at H Ripley & Co’s site in Westfield, East Sussex, when the doors of the machine began to close.
HSE news release and waste webpages • Hastings Observer • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Britain: Poorly set guards led to severe hand injuries
A company that makes metal components for the automotive industry has been fined after a worker suffered horrific hand injuries in an incorrectly-guarded machine. The 56-year-old agency worker, who has asked not to be named, was operating a 160-tonne power press at the RSM Industries Ltd factory in Exhall, when the incident happened on 8 May 2013.
HSE news release and work equipment webpages • Coventry Telegraph • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Europe: RISCTOX chemical online database goes live
The RISCTOX chemicals database, developed by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the Spanish union safety institute ISTAS, has gone live online, giving workers access to health and safety information on over 100,000 chemicals. According to ETUI, each chemical data ‘card’ specifies the chemical’s classification and labelling, its main work uses (solvent, cleaner, paint stripper, etc), how it affects health, and the occupational diseases it causes.
ETUI publication alert and RISCTOX database • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Global: Journal will make asbestos scientist own up
The asbestos industry’s attempt to put a healthy gloss on is unhealthy products is continuing, but its favourite consultant is facing renewed flak after his undeclared links to the industry were exposed. Toxicologist David Bernstein has been paid vast sums by asbestos firms and industry groups to write papers supporting continued asbestos use, with these appearing in scientific journals – but has declared he has “no conflicts of interest.”
RightOnCanada.ca • David Bernstein. Health risks of chrysotile asbestos, Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine, volume 20, issue 4, pages 366-370, July 2014. Complaint to the journal • Background from Hazards and RightOnCanada on David Bernstein’s industry links • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

New Zealand: Action demanded on ‘terrible’ safety record
New Zealand’s national union federation CTU has called for urgent action to address the country’s “terrible” workplace safety record. CTU president Helen Kelly made the call last week in an uncompromising oral submission to a parliamentary select committee hearing on a Health and Safety Reform Bill.
NZCTU news release • Health and Safety Reform Bill • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Turkey: Unions share the pain of ‘industrial homicide’
An international union solidarity mission on the one month anniversary of the “killing of 301 mineworkers in an avoidable industrial disaster” has visited the site of the disaster in the mining town of Soma in Turkey. Global union federation IndustriALL said the mission “delivered a message of international anger to Turkey’s political authorities and public opinion, calling for immediate action including ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 176 on safety and health in mines,” adding: “Illegal and irresponsible outsourcing and subcontracting in the country must also be seriously tackled and reversed by the Turkish authorities.”
IndustriALL news release • Hurriyet Daily • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

USA: How to win safer workplaces
Focusing campaigns to improve workplace safety regulation and practices at the local rather than national level can reap enormous benefits, according to a new how-to manual. The guide from the Center for Progressive Reform concentrates on the progress on worker safety issues likely to come at the state and local levels, far from “the general dysfunction in Washington.”
CPR news release and guide, Winning safer workplaces: A manual for state and local policy reform • The Pump Handle • Risks 661 • 5 July 2014

Hazards news, 28 June 2014

Britain: Government nudging is hurting workers
The government’s disdain for regulating and enforcing to address real health and safety problems has led them to instead conjure up laws to tackle “a problem which does not actually exist except in people’s heads,” the TUC has said. TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson, writing in TUC’s Stronger Unions blog, notes the official dislike for regulation, which the government says is a ‘burden on business’, has led it to introduce an anything-but-regulation array of alternatives from ‘responsibility deals’ to non-binding guidance, with the intention of ‘nudging’ people into changing their behaviour.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • Cabinet Office ‘Nudge Unit’ and Behavioural Insights blog • The Independent • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Britain: Zero hours workers need greater protection, says TUC
Preventing employers from insisting their zero hours staff are allowed to work for them alone will be good news for some employees, but the government needs to go much further if the widespread abuse of these contracts is to be stamped out, the TUC has warned. The union body was commenting on government plans to stop the use of ‘exclusivity’ contracts – which prevent workers on zero hours contracts from working for more than one employer.
BIS news release • TUC news release • BBC News Online • Morning Star • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Britain: Union needed at fire hit distribution centre
The union Unite wants to talk about health and safety with workers employed by the firm operating the giant Asos distribution centre in Barnsley, hit this week by a massive fire. European transport and logistics company Norbert Dentressangle, which in September last year was awarded the contract to run the centre, employs about 1,200 workers at the Grimethorpe site.
Unite news release • Asos statement • The Guardian • BBC News Online •
‘Union effect’ guidance from TUC and Hazards • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Britain: Minister accused of prison ‘smoke and mirrors’
Claims by justice secretary Chris Grayling that Britain’s overcrowded prisons are getting safer for inmates and staff is just ‘smoke and mirrors’, the prison officers’ union POA has said. In media interviews the Cabinet minister said self-harm and assaults in the prison system have fallen over the last two years, claims refuted by the union.
POA news release. BBC News Online. The Telegraph • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Britain: Faulty chair injures bus driver
A bus driver from Leicester has secured an undisclosed payout from First Group after he was injured by a dodgy chair the firm had neglected to fix. The Unite member, whose name has not been released, was injured when his seat collapsed as the bus passing over a speed bump.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Britain: Draconian sickness policies ‘terrorise’ staff
Staff are being “victimised and terrorised” by management using draconian sickness policies, public sector workers have said. Far too many workplaces are applying the same attendance management policies to all staff regardless of whether or not they have a disability, UNISON’s conference heard.
Morning Star • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Britain: Government welfare reforms are unravelling
Delays to Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and the rising cost of implementing the welfare cap provide further evidence the government’s welfare reforms are ‘unravelling’, the TUC has said. The union body was commenting after the implementation of the new benefit for people with disabilities was described as a “fiasco” by MPs and leaked government memos revealed concerns in Whitehall that costs were out of control.
TUC news release • HoC Public Accounts Committee news release • Community Care • The Guardian • BBC News Online • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Britain: Workplace safety law is top life safer
Britain’s workplace safety law has probably saved more lives than any other piece of legislation, an article in the Telegraph has said. Telegraph leader writer Philip Johnston noted “the Health and Safety at Work Act (HASAWA), which is 40 years old this summer, has arguably saved more lives than any other piece of legislation, including the ban on drink driving or the compulsory wearing of seat belts in cars,” adding: “It may well have reduced deaths by 5,000 or more.”
HSE news release • The Telegraph • IOSH news release • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Britain: ‘Not guilty’ verdicts in mine manslaughter case
The manager and owners of a south Wales mine where four miners died have been cleared of manslaughter. Charles Breslin, 62, David Powell, 50, Philip Hill, 44, and Garry Jenkins, 39, drowned in 2011 when 650,000 gallons of water flooded the Gleision drift mine following a controlled explosion.
BBC News Online • Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Britain: Doctors working hours cut after commute death
Hospitals in Scotland are being told to reduce the working hours of junior doctors following the death of a young medic on her drive home from work. Scottish government health secretary Alex Neil said NHS managers must end all rotas that make doctors work seven night shifts in a row and more than seven days back-to-back.
Herald Scotland and follow-up story • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Britain: Regulating chemicals makes economic sense
Better regulation of hormone-disrupting chemicals linked to breast cancer, reproductive problems and other ill-effects could deliver massive cost savings, a new report has concluded. The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) says exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may be costing up to €31 billion (£24.8bn) per year across the European Union (EU) and said the EU should set out a specific timetable by which EDCs must be identified and replaced with safer alternatives.
HEAL news release • CIEL news release • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Britain: More than 1 in 8 non-LA schools illegal on asbestos
A criminal failure to deal properly with asbestos was found in more than 1 in 8 schools inspected in a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) probe. HSE’s latest asbestos in schools inspection initiative investigated practices in a carefully selected random sample of 153 non-local authority schools between April 2013 and January 2014, which included independent, voluntary aided and foundation schools, free schools and academies.
HSE news release and inspection results and full report • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Britain: Two week HSE focus on site health issues
The poor working conditions likely to lead to ill health on building sites is being targeted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in a two week inspection drive. During the unannounced visits, HSE inspectors will be targeting respiratory risks from dusts including respirable silica, exposure to other hazardous substances such as cement and lead paint and manual handling, noise and vibration.
HSE news release and construction webpages • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Britain: Van maker guilty after crushing injuries
A vehicle manufacturer has been told to pay nearly £180,000 in fines and costs for its criminal safety failings after a crane operator suffered severe crush injuries in a lifting operation at the company’s press shop in Luton. The IBC Vehicles Ltd worker, who does not wish to be named, suffered multiple injuries including fractures to the upper left arm, breastbone, right collarbone and ribs, as well as collapsed lungs.
HSE news release and lifting webpage • Hazards magazine suicide webpages • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Britain: Injury exposes factory’s ‘appalling’ safety standards
A Blackburn packaging firm has appeared in court after an investigation into a workplace injury discovered ‘appalling’ safety standards. Europlast (Blackburn) Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) because an employee had to have part of a finger amputated after his left hand became trapped in unguarded machinery in June 2012.
HSE news release and manufacturing webpages • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Britain: Toppling fan unit crushes worker
A Hertfordshire engineering firm has been fined for criminal safety failings after a toppling fan unit crushed a worker as it was being manoeuvred into a ground floor plant room. The 54-year-old Wilden Services Limited worker, who does not want to be named, injured his spine and was unable to work for several weeks as a result of the incident in Woking on 17 December 2012, at the new head office for the World Wildlife Fund.
HSE news release • Hemel Gazette • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Global: Investors must get the truth from Rio Tinto
IndustriALL has urged investors in mining and metals giant Rio Tinto to demand the truth about aggressive management practices that are dangerously undermining safety, employment and environmental standards. The global manufacturing union federation made the call ahead of a meeting between 25 analysts and investors and Rio Tinto in North America.
IndustriALL news release and report • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

South Africa: Alarming level of TB among miners
For every worker who dies each year as a result of an accident in a South African mine, nine more die of tuberculosis, the country’s health minister Aaron Motsoaledi has said. “There are 41,810 cases of active TB in South African mines every year. It is 8 per cent of the national total, and 1 per cent of the population, very unfortunately,” he told parliament.
Cape Times • Fin24 • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Turkey: 820 workers killed in six months, says union
An estimated 820 people were killed in Turkish workplaces in the first six months of 2014, a senior trade union representative has said. Publishing the figures, Kani Beko, head of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DISK), said: “In our talks with prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we have proposed to shut down all mines for three months so that all security precautions, including rescue chambers, could be taken.
Hurriyet Daily • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

USA: Plea bargain keeps death prof out of jail
A US chemistry professor has avoided jail after settling criminal charges relating to a horrific fire in his lab that led to the death of a research assistant, 23-year-old Sheri Sangji. UCLA professor Patrick G Harran agreed a package including a fine and a five year programme of unpaid teaching working and community service with the Los Angeles County district attorney (DA).
The Pump Handle • UCLA statement • Risks 660 • 28 June 2014

Hazards news, 21 June 2014

Britain: Tribunal fees ‘price workers out of justice’
Employers who victimise, bully, harass or cheat their workers are increasingly likely to escape punishment as people wronged at work are prevented from seeking justice by the high cost of taking an employment tribunal case, unions have said. Citing figures published by the Ministry of Justice on 12 June, the TUC said that the 59 per cent drop in the number of single claims being taken to employment tribunals – from 13,739 between January and March 2013 to 5,619 in the first three months of 2014 – showed that fees were deterring many workers from taking their employers to court.
TUC news release • UNISON news release • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

USA: Huhtamaki workers stand up for safety
Finnish packaging and paper products corporation Huhtamaki is facing criticism in the US for using lower safety and employment standards at its non-unionised plants in the country. A new report from the USW and the national union federation AFL-CIO reveals how the company’s expansion strategy in the US is creating low-wage, precarious employment while threatening the job security and living standards of unionised employees.
USW news release and full report • AFL-CIO Now blog • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Britain: High Court throws out blacklisters’ cheap name grab
Construction bosses were sent packing at the High Court on 11 June, when a judge threw out their bid to bypass negotiations with unions and pay blacklisted workers a pittance in compensation for years without employment. The firms proposing The Construction Workers Compensation Scheme wanted the Information Commissioner to hand over the current home addresses of trade unionists and political activists those same firms had systematically kept off building sites.
GMB news release • UCATT news release • Morning Star • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Britain: New demo at blacklisting agency’s HQ
A second demonstration has been held at the Northampton HQ of a Danish-owned agency labour provider linked to blacklisting. Construction union UCATT held the Friday 13 June protest outside the offices of employment agency Atlanco Rimec, accused on Danish TV last month of operating a secret blacklist denying work to trade union members.
UCATT news release • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Britain: Reigniting fire exposes ‘shambolic’ strike cover
London firefighters attended the scene of a serious fire in Hackney on 13 June, after strikebreaking private crews failed to properly extinguish the blaze the previous night. Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU, said: “The strikebreaking crews are woefully undertrained and ill-prepared.”
FBU news release • TUC news release • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Britain: Regulators urged to act on air safety recommendations
The union representing helicopter pilots operating around Britain's shores is urging both the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to push ahead with vital flight safety improvements recommended in the Air Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) report into two recent Super Puma helicopter crashes.
BALPA news release • AAIB report • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Britain: Don’t deny rights to injury victims, says STUC
Scotland’s top union body has called on a Scottish parliament committee to uphold access to justice for the victims of workplace injuries. STUC is urging the justice committee to support amendments submitted by John Finnie MSP to the Courts Reform (Scotland) Bill, to protect rights including legal representation.
Courts Reform (Scotland) Bill webpages • Out-Law.com • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Britain: Attack ends career of nursing assistant
A former nursing assistant was forced to retire on health grounds after an assault by a patient. Andrew Eurich, who has been awarded a £13,000 Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme payout, tore the cartilage in his lower back while restraining the patient and will be on painkillers for the rest of his life.
Boston Target • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Britain: Injured bus cleaner wins justice
A Unite member has secured a £3,500 payout after being injured in a heavy fall over an exposed drain cover at the bus depot where he worked. The man, whose name has not been released, was walking towards a double decker bus at the Gloucestershire depot in order to clean it when he tripped on a drain cover protruding an inch above the floor, falling heavily onto his left hand side and fracturing ribs.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Britain: Record low sickness absence destroys ‘sickies’ myth
The TUC has said latest figures from a business group showing workplace sickness absence is at a record low disproves the myth that Britain has a ‘sickie culture’. A survey of 330 firms by the manufacturers’ group EEF showed overall levels of absence reached a record low of 2.1 per cent, equal to 4.9 days per worker per year.
EEF news release • BBC News Online • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Britain: Government and insurers colluded on asbestos deal
The government and the Association of British Insurers (ABI) ‘colluded’ on a deal that introduced legal reforms favouring insurers and harming asbestos disease claimants, it has been claimed. Under the deal, the government acquiesced to an insurance industry demand and imposed legal costs on mesothelioma sufferers successfully claiming compensation.
Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum news release • Thompsons Solicitors news release • Deal struck between the Government and the Association of British Insurers • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Global: Cancer chemicals still in hairdressing products
Chemicals in products used to colour or wave hair could be the cause of higher levels of bladder cancer observed in hairdressers, researchers have concluded. A study published online in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine on 9 June linked frequency of dye and perm use to raised levels of carcinogens found in hairdressers' blood.
Gabriella M Johansson and others. Exposure of hairdressers to ortho- and meta-toluidine in hair dyes, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, published online first 9 June 2014. doi:10.1136/oemed-2013-101960 • Medical News Today • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Britain: Chemical firm was a potential bomb
The costs dangerous firms can pass on to the public purse have been illustrated by a case in Flintshire. Chemicals removed from the former Euticals factory had the power equivalent to more than 100 tonnes of explosives with the site clean-up costing the council more than £100,000.
BBC News Online • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Britain: Booker gets six figure fine over warehouse death
Booker Limited has been fined £175,000 after an employee was crushed to death by a forklift truck at its Avonmouth warehouse. Annie Brennan, who was in her 40s, died at Frenchay Hospital after the incident at Booker Wholesale cash and carry.
Bristol City Council news release • Bristol Post • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Britain: Small fine after worker is paralysed in fall
A Glasgow-based company has been fined for criminal safety failings after a worker was left paralysed from the neck down when he fell around three metres from the top of a gritter. Colin Shields, 34, was standing on top of a gritter at Inex Works Ltd’s premises in a bid to help his colleagues dislodge compacted grit salt from inside the machine.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Britain: Worker’s floor slip led to loss of fingertips
A Leeds-based company has been sentenced for a criminal safety offence after a worker suffered serious injuries to his hand when it came into contact with the drive chain of a conveyor at a Newcastle factory. The 26-year-old from Longbenton, Newcastle, was clearing up after completing a job on a freezer at Country Style Foods Ltd when he slipped on the icy floor.
HSE news release and food industry webpages • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Global: Unions welcome Thai fisher slavery exposé
Two international union federations working together to fight appalling exploitation of fishery workers have welcomed a Guardian newspaper exposé of the use of slave labour in the Thai prawn industry. The paper’s six-month investigation established that large numbers of men bought and sold like animals and held against their will on fishing boats off Thailand are integral to the production of the prawns, commonly called shrimp in the US.
IUF news release • ITF news release • The Guardian • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Saudi Arabia: New law to protect outdoor workers from sun
New health and safety regulations to protect outdoor workers from the sun have come into effect in Saudi Arabia. From now until mid-September, labourers are banned from working outside between noon and 3.00pm.
BBC News Online • US guidance on protecting outdoor workers from heat • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

USA: Official scrutiny stepped up at Amazon centres
Internet sales giant Amazon is facing new scrutiny of its safety performance after two deaths in the US. The US government’s safety watchdog OSHA said it is investigating the fatalities at warehouses run by the world’s largest online retailer.
OHSA news release and temporary workers initiative • Indianapolis Business Journal • The Patriot News • Risks 659 • 21 June 2014

Hazards news, 14 June 2014

Europe: Unions slam Europe’s do little safety strategy
Europe’s long overdue health and safety strategy has been condemned as “weak and insubstantial” by unions. Commenting on the European Commission’s ‘Framework on Health and Safety at Work,’ published on 6 June, the TUC said the strategy “contains absolutely nothing new.”
European Commission news release and Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2014-2020 • ETUC news release • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Britain: Court clash over blacklisting compensation scheme
Construction unions have successfully blocked moves by major contractors to contact blacklisted workers directly with compensation offers. Lawyers representing the firms involved in setting up The Construction Workers Compensation Scheme in October last year applied to the High Court to use the blacklisting database of 3,213 names to contact listed workers, but were told it could break the solicitors’ code of conduct.
GMB news release • Construction Enquirer • Western Daily Press • 14 June 2014

Britain: Fire service action continues over pensions
Firefighters in England and Wales are to continue a series of walk outs over attacks on their pensions after the government confirmed it intends to implement a new scheme without further negotiations. The plans include shifting the pension age from 55 to 60, a move the union FBU says is not tenable in a safety critical and physically demanding job.
FBU news release • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Britain: UNISON backs healthy workplaces campaign
The public sector union UNISON has welcomed a new two-year Europe-wide campaign aimed at helping companies alleviate the impact of work-related stress. The 'Healthy workplaces manage stress' campaign is coordinated by the Bilbao-based European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA).
UNISON news release • European Agency healthy workplaces campaign • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Britain: Firms should push proper lunch breaks
Employers are being advised to encourage staff to take proper lunch breaks after a survey found many were skipping a proper break. Physios’ union CSP said poor work habits like not taking a break, staying late or eating lunch ‘al-desko’ are damaging the nation’s health.
CSP news release • BBC News Online • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Britain: Stressed teachers 'at breaking point'
Scotland's teachers “are at breaking point” over increased workloads and changes to their jobs, the union EIS has warned. General secretary Larry Flanagan told the union’s annual conference there was evidence many teachers were struggling to cope.
EIS news release and Make Time for Teaching campaign • BBC News Online • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Britain: ‘Heroism’ bill sets out to slay a non-existent dragon
A proposed law the government says is necessary “to tackle the growth of compensation culture” is addressing a non-existent problem but could instead hurt victims of occupational injuries and diseases, critics have warned. Commenting on the Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill (SARAH) contained in the Queen’s Speech, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Safety laws are not needless ‘red tape’, nor are they part of the ‘jobsworth culture’.”
TUC news release • Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Britain: Prospects are poor for injured lorry driver
An HGV driver many never return to work after a preventable incident at work left him with serious injuries to his neck and shoulder. Unite member Steven Bardrick was delivering goods to Spicer Limited, his employer when he was injured.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Britain: Death linked director jailed for illegal asbestos sales
A 64-year-old Shropshire man has been sentenced to 12 months in prison after his company illegally supplied roofing panels containing asbestos. Company director Robert Marsh’s offences only came to light after a 56-year-old construction worker, who was roofing a barn using the panels, fell through the fragile material and later died.
HSE news release and asbestos webpages • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Britain: Scots asbestos sufferers face compensation blow
Planned legal changes in Scotland could mean those suffering from asbestos-related illnesses could lose out on legal representation and compensation, a member of the Scottish parliament (MSP) has said. The Scottish government’s Court Reform Bill - which is currently being considered by MSPs - would mean some cases would be downgraded from the Court of Session to sheriff courts, or a new specialist personal injury court.
Greenock Telegraph • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Britain: Has CBI finally got the message?
A CBI report recognising the ‘real business benefits’ of keeping staff healthy could be a sign the consistently regulation averse business lobby group is on the verge of a change of heart, the union UNISON has said. Neil Carberry, director for employment and skills at the CBI, launching ‘Getting better: Workplace health as a business issue’ earlier this year, said: “Investing in the wellbeing of employees is not only the right thing to do, it has real business benefits.”
UNISON news release • CBI news release and report, Getting better: Workplace health as a business issue • International Business Times • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Britain: Work concerns led to top scientist’s suicide
An eminent scientist took his own life after struggling with problems at work and a spiralling workload, an inquest has heard. Entomologist Dr Mark Jervis, 62, killed himself in his 6th floor office of the university’s School of Biosciences on 11 March.
Wales Online • The Telegraph • Cardiff University obituary • More on work-related suicide • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Britain: Dad’s near-death fall lands firm in court
A young father of two suffered life-changing injuries after he plunged seven metres through an unsafe fragile roof at a farm in Harrogate. Spruce and Hawe Ltd, a Tockwith-based agricultural engineering company hired to work on the building, had failed to provide any precautions to protect its employees from falls.
HSE news release and work at height webpages • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Britain: Roof fall changes worker’s life in seconds
A 54-year-old Leeds worker suffered life-changing injuries when he plunged nearly seven metres through an unsafe rooflight while installing solar power racking. Peter Bettison sustained multiple injuries and was kept under sedation for most of the 22 days he had to spend in hospital.
HSE news release • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Britain: Company back in court for criminal failings
A Tyneside company has appeared in court for criminal safety breaches for the second time in less than a year after a forklift truck overturned at its factory in Burnopfield, injuring an agency worker. HSE inspector Cain Mitchell said: “The case is all the more serious as it is the second time in less than a year that Radford HMY Group Ltd has been prosecuted for safety failings.”
HSE news release and workplace transport webpages • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Australia: Death case is the first to charge manager
For the first time, a senior company manager in Australia is facing charges over the death of a worker. The case involves Michael Booth, a 48-year-old truck driver who was electrocuted while working for Kenoss Contractors in 2012.
Canberra Times • ABC News • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Global: Unions and GDF Suez sign global safety deal
GDF Suez and global unions have agreed a global safety deal which will underpin improved safety for its workers and subcontractors and see use of hazardous substances reduced. The French multinational signed the Global Framework Agreement last month with global union federations BWI, IndustriALL and Public Services International (PSI).
BWI news release • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Korea: Samsung in new cancer talks
After walking away from the table five months ago, Samsung has resumed talks with activists over compensation payouts for workers who believe their cancers were caused by their jobs for the microelectronics multinational. The move follows the company’s “deep apology” to affected workers and their families and promise of compensation last month. review our demands in good faith, and prepare comprehensive responses.”
SHARPS news release • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

USA: Government action on black lung scandal
The US Department of Labor has ordered officials who determine if coal miners are eligible for black lung benefits to no longer rely on the medical opinion of the Johns Hopkins Medicine doctor an investigation found systematically denied affected miners were significantly affected by the debilitating condition. From 2000, Dr Paul S Wheeler, who was head of the Johns Hopkins black lung programme, examined 1,573 miners' black lung x-rays and not once diagnosed the severe form of black lung that automatically qualifies for compensation.
AFL-CIO Now blog • ABC Eyewitness News • Risks 658 • 14 June 2014

Hazards news, 7 June 2014

Britain: Heroism Bill is really blame-the-worker ‘gobbledygook’
A new law the government says will protect ‘good Samaritans and community heroes’ could be just another ‘sinister’ attack on workers suffering occupational injuries and diseases, the TUC has warned. Announcing the planned law, which is due to take effect next year and which the government says is necessary “to tackle the growth of compensation culture”, justice secretary Chris Grayling said: “I don’t want us to be a society where a responsible employer gets the blame for someone doing something stupid.”
TUC Stronger Unions blog • MoJ news release • Conservative Home • BBC News Online • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Britain: Not that good work health scheme due
The Work and Health Scheme expected to make a delayed appearance towards the end of this year could end up as an inadequate and confusing mess, the TUC and doctors have warned. Under the new system, which it is anticipated will be rolled out to cover every general practice in England, Scotland and Wales by mid-2015, everyone who is absent from work more than four weeks because of illness will be given an assessment which will indicate if there is anything that might help their early return to work, with non-binding recommendations passed on to the employer.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Britain: Union blasts 'grossly inadequate' blacklisting offer
A ‘grossly inadequate’ compensation deal proposed by eight major blacklisting construction firms could see talks with unions collapse, GMB has said. The union says the Construction Workers Compensation Scheme’s proposed £15m-£20m compensation pot would mean payouts of just £16,000 to £20,000.
GMB news release • Morning Star • Construction Enquirer • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Europe: Union spreads its bullying at sea message
A training film produced to combat bullying and harassment in the shipping industry, which was made in response to research by seafarers’ union Nautilus, has picked up an award in an international competition festival. The 20-minute film - ‘Say no to bullying, say no to harassment’ - was produced by Videotel for a European Union project to update guidelines and an associated training package originally produced in 2004, this also a response to a union report.
Nautilus news release • ETF training video and supporting documents • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Global: Nano sickness prompts precaution calls
A report of rapid onset serious nickel allergy in a nano-nickel exposed chemist has prompted calls from both a union body and an official workplace safety agency for a precautionary approach to nanomaterials. Global food and farming union federation IUF said: “The need for a moratorium on the commercialisation of nano products and processes is more urgent than ever” and US government’s occupational health research agency NIOSH called for “precautionary and protective measures”.
IUF news report • NIOSH science blog • Journeay and Goldman, Occupational handling of nickel nanoparticles: A Case Report, American Journal of Industrial Medicine, published online ahead of print, 8 May 2014.

Britain: Bid to control work amputation pain led to death
An accidental overdose killed a former cable fitter struggling to cope with the pain of a work-related amputation, an inquest has ruled. Father-of-one Daniel Batchelor, who was injured in a workplace fall, was found unconscious in his bed aged just 36 by his fiancée Shari Newman on 22 January this year.
Irwin Mitchell news release • Dorset Echo • Western Daily Press • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Britain: Top private school caused deadly silica disease
A top independent boarding college has been handed a six figure fine for criminal breaches of safety law that left a worker with a life-threatening lung disease. Preston Crown Court heard how the ‘inexcusable’ failings at the £30,000 a year Stonyhurst College, Clitheroe, caused 54-year-old stonemason Terry McGough to develop silicosis, a disabling lung disease also linked to a higher rate of lung cancer and other conditions.
HSE news release and lung disease webpages • Burnley Citizen • Clitheroe Advertiser • BBC News Online • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Global: Brains may never recover from work solvent damage
People who are exposed to paint, glue or degreaser fumes at work may experience memory and thinking problems in retirement, decades after their exposure, according to a new study. Erika L Sabbath of Harvard School of Public Health, an author of the study published last month in the journal Neurology, said: “Solvents pose a real risk to the present and future cognitive health of workers, and as retirement ages go up, the length of time that people are exposed is going up, too.”
Erika L Sabbath and others. Time may not fully attenuate solvent-associated cognitive deficits in highly exposed workers, Neurology, volume 82, number 19, pages 1716-1723, May 2014. American Academy of Neurology news release • The Pump Handle • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

USA: Work solvents can raise breast cancer risks
Women who already have an above-average risk of breast cancer and who work with organic solvents may increase their risks still further, researchers have found. Lead author Christine Ekenga said: “We identified several occupations where solvent exposure was associated with an elevated risk for breast cancer… These include clinical laboratory technicians, maids and house cleaners, and production [factory] workers.”
Christine C Ekenga and others. Breast cancer risk after occupational solvent exposure: The influence of timing and setting, Cancer Research, volume 74, number 11, pages 3076–83, June 2014 • AACR news release • NBC News • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Britain: Staff say ‘filthy’ BBC HQ is making them sick
BBC newsreaders have complained the corporation’s flagship £1 billion building is unclean and dangerous with a “trend of filth and human waste products”. The London Evening Standard reports that staff have called on management to intervene over the basement studio which they say is so unhygienic staff regularly become sick.
London Evening Standard • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Britain: Recyling firm caused ‘devastating’ injuries
A plastics recycling company has been fined for serious criminal safety failings after a worker was struck by a reversing forklift truck and left unable to work. Robin Eddom, a 63-year-old engineer from Scunthorpe, suffered severe back and tissue injuries in the incident at ECO Plastics Ltd’s processing plant on 10 March 2012.
HSE news release and workplace transport webpage • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Britain: Oil firm fined after fall from tanker
A Cumbrian oil distributor has been prosecuted for criminal safety breaches after employee David Strong, 39, fell from the top of a tanker. Carrs Billington Agriculture (Sales) Ltd, which trades as Wallace Oils, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident at its depot in Langwathby on 12 November 2012.
HSE news release • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Britain: Teen apprentice severely injured at fabric firm
A fabric company in Macclesfield has been fined after a teenage apprentice suffered severe injuries when his left arm was dragged around a machine roller. The 18-year-old from Buxton had been trying to remove a crease from a roll of silk at Medaax Ltd in Langley when his finger became caught, pulling him in up to his armpit.
HSE news release and manufacturing webpages • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Britain: Bedding firm in court over worker’s injuries
A bedding firm has been fined after a worker suffered severe injuries when his right hand was trapped in a moving machine. The 60-year-old from Rochdale, who does not want to be named, was carrying out maintenance work on a pillow filling machine at Comfy Quilts Ltd in Stakehill when the incident happened on 2 July 2013.
HSE news release • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Britain: Packaging printer left workers unprotected
A Bristol-based printer of healthcare packaging has been fined for criminal safety failings after an employee had two fingers crushed when they became trapped in unguarded machinery at its Cambridgeshire plant. The 39-year-old print worker was working on a label printing machine at Clondalkin Pharma & Healthcare’s factory in Huntingdon on 14 September 2012.
HSE news release and printing webpages • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Europe: New union cancer prevention guide
A new guide from the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) says prevention of occupational cancers must be given a far higher priority. Using case histories, the brochure concludes the fight against work cancers can be won if trade unions and public authorities adopt coherent strategies.
ETUI publication notice and full report, Preventing work cancers: A workplace health priority, ETUI, 2014. Print version: ISBN 978-2-87452-311-3.
More: Occupational cancer - a workplace guide, TUC, February 2012. ITUC/Hazards on work and cancer • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Australia: Unions are better in life and in deaths
In 2010, two fatalities occurred in the pulp and paper industry in New South Wales, Australia: one at a unionised workplace, the other at a non-unionised site. The difference in the responses was striking, according to the union CFMEU, with no transparency or improvements at the non-union firm, and union involvement, a quickly implemented plan of action and a marked improvement in safety performance at the union firm.
Stand up. Speak out. Come home • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Philippines: Action call after fire lock-in deaths
Safety campaigners have called for action after eight female workers locked inside a DVD warehouse in Pasay City in the Philippines died of suffocation. A Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) official said the eight women were inside a padlocked room on the second floor of a warehouse when the fire started at 12.45 am.
The Inquirer and related article • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Qatar: World Cup labour abuses as bad as corruption
Last week’s World Cup bribery allegations mean that FIFA’s Congress this month has a massive case to answer going way beyond corruption, according to Owen Tudor, head of the TUC’s international department. “The case for FIFA to rerun the vote on whether the 2022 World Cup should be held in Qatar is as strong on workers’ rights as corruption,” he said.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • Rerun The Vote • BBC News Online • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Thailand: Nappy-wearing bus conductors fight for rights
Stuck for hours each day in snarling traffic, bus conductors in Thailand’s sprawling capital have found a radical solution to a lack of toilet breaks - adult nappies. A recent survey found that 28 per cent of female bus conductors in Bangkok had worn nappies on a job that requires them to work up to 16 hours a day.
Gulf News • Risks 657 • 7 June 2014

Hazards news, 31 May 2014

Britain: Union wins legal victory for asbestos victims
Unite has won a judicial review against HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) which means that, when requested to do so by a coroner, HMRC has to produce the work history of a person suspected to have died from industrial disease. HMRC had recently overturned years of practice of issuing work histories if the deceased person’s relatives consented and were now refusing to do so without a High Court order.
Unite press release • Risks 656 • 31 May 2014

Britain: TUC calls for safety reps to be “eyes and ears”
The HSE is depending more on complaints and “whistle-blowers” to compensate for the collapse in proactive inspections forced on it by the coalition government. The TUC’s head of Health and Safety, Hugh Robertson said “The fall in inspection numbers and the increased reliance on complaints shows that the only people who can expose what is going on it the workplace is union health and safety representatives.”
Pinsent Masons • TUC report on Government record • Risks 656 • 31 May 2014

Britain: Wales TUC backs mental health changes
The Wales TUC unanimously backed a call for workers with mental health issues to have better protection and for union representatives to be given more support in advising and representing workers struggling with mental health problems. A motion from the union USDAW said there needs to be better support and resources for employers to help them deal with these complex issues and called on the Welsh Government to sharpen its focus on workplaces as part of the wider mental health strategy, leading to a culture where people are supported at work and employers understand that mental wellbeing is as important as physical wellbeing.
USDAW news release • Risks 656 • 31 May 2014

Britain: TUC slams resilience pre-employment scrutiny
The TUC has strongly criticised companies that have started offering employers “resilience testing” of job candidates, claiming that any companies that use such tests are potentially breaking the law. According to the TUC’s head of health and safety, Hugh Robertson, the tests will lead to employers trying to ensure that people are more able to cope with stress rather than trying to remove or reduce it.
TUC blog • Hazards resilience pages • Risks 656 • 31 May 2014

Britain: Union demands greater maritime safety
The maritime union, RMT, have called for changes to the way that safety is regulated and enforced as an inquest opens into the deaths of six Russian sailors who died when their cargo ship the Swanland sank off the coast of Gwynedd in November 2011. Just two of the eight-man Russian crew survived when the MV Swanland sank as it carried quarry stone from a jetty near Llanddulas, near Colwyn Bay.
RMT release • Risks 656 • 31 May 2014

Britain: Blacklisted workers occupy blacklister’s office
Unions Unite and UCATT joined the Blacklist Support Group to occupy the UK head office of the Danish owned employment agency Atlanco Rimec. The employment agency was exposed on Danish TV for keeping a secret blacklist of workers who joined a trade union and denied them work.
Morning Star • Risks 656 • 31 May 2014

Britain: Minister clueless on government policy
Construction union UCATT have condemned a government minister for her complete lack of knowledge of the construction industry. Employment minister Jenny Willott MP said on television: “The Government supports the use of flexible employment structures in the labour market and as such cannot agree with the recommendations for requiring direct employment only”, and wrongly claimed: “This would effectively be a ban on the use of agency staff in the construction sector, which is likely to be unfair to agency workers.”
UCATT press release • Risks 656 • 31 May 2014

Britain: Botched asbestos job risked workers lives
One of the largest asbestos removal contractors has been convicted of putting the lives of workers at risk through a catalogue of safety breaches during demolition of a former school building in Lincoln. Scottish-based Angus Group Ltd claim to have over thirty years experience in asbestos removal and are operating, not only in the UK, but and the middle and far east, yet did not properly manage the removal of asbestos-containing materials at the site of the former Ermine Infants’ School where they were sub-contracted to carry out the asbestos removal work on behalf of the contractors demolishing the school.
HSE release • Risks 656 • 31 May 2014

Britain: Apprentice death deemed unacceptable
An inquest jury was instructed to return an accidental death in the case of a teenager crushed at work when machinery weighing almost a tonne fell on him. Jason Burden, from South Shields, died in 2011 when a 970kg tunnel thruster fell from a bench as he was working as an apprentice at Tyne Slipway and Engineering Co Ltd at South Dock in Sunderland.
Press report • Risks 656 • 31 May 2014

Britain: Clutha victims still wait for compensation
No-one injured or bereaved in the Glasgow helicopter crash has yet received compensation, despite a system of “strict liability” on the operator. Ten people were killed and many more injured after a police helicopter crashed on the Clutha Vaults pub in Glasgow in November 2013.
Herald • Risks 656 • 31 May 2014

Britain: Corporate manslaughter conviction for site company
A construction company has been found guilty of corporate manslaughter after David Evans, a stone mason's mate, was killed by a two tonne limestone block which fell off a concrete lintel as he was building a large wall. Cavendish Masonry Limited was found guilty by a jury at Oxford Crown Court of corporate manslaughter following his death in February 2010 and will be sentenced in July.
Press report • Risks 656 • 31 May 2014

Britain: Second conviction for food company
A food manufacturer has been prosecuted for a second time for safety failings after a worker was injured using a machine with a guard that had been intentionally disabled. The company, Veetee Rice, was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £5,492 in costs at Maidstone Crown Court after admitting a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, thereby exposing workers to danger.
HSE news release • Risks 656 • 31 May 2014

USA: Boss cries wolf – workers pay price
A US businessman who claimed that workplace safety inspectors were burdening him and killing jobs with too much red tape has just had a horrific incident on his site. Lance Johnson, president of Johnson Brass & Machine Foundry Inc., in Saukville, Wisconsin, claimed in 2012: "I've never been audited by more government agencies in my life than I have under Obama," adding that the US safety regulator, OSHA, was subjecting him to duplicative audits and that the cost of dealing with those unnecessary OSHA audits went "well into the six figures."
Huffington Post • Risks 656 • 31 May 2014

USA: Nanomaterial causes workplace illness
A US worker is reported to have developed an acute allergy as a result of exposure to nanomaterial containing nickel, a known sentitiser. The 26-year-old chemist was unaware that she was working with nickel nanoparticle powder at work and no arrangements were made to protect her from exposure.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine abstract • Risks 656 • 31 May 2014

Australia: Safety must be the law says ACTU
Australian trade unions have reacted angrily to further deaths as the federal government continues to consider further deregulation and the Queensland state government enacts legislation tightening union right of entry for safety reasons and restricting the rights of health and safety representatives.
ACTU release • Risks 656 • 31 May 2014

Tanzania: Child miners face mercury poisoning despite convention
A Human Rights Watch investigation in Tanzania has claimed that health workers are “failing to diagnose” children suffering from mercury poisoning because they lacked training. Much of the world’s mercury is used in small-scale gold mining, where an estimated 15 million adults and children use it on a regular basis to retrieve the gold, most of them unaware of its health risks.
News report • Risks 656 • 31 May 2014

Hazards news, 24 May 2014

Britain: Fire ‘fiasco’ exposes strikebreaking dangers
A fire ‘fiasco’ has highlighted why the government should rethink its plans to undermine the fire service pension scheme instead of prolonging an industrial dispute, firefighters’ union FBU has said. The union was speaking out after strikebreakers lost control of a fire during a training exercise in Easingwold, North Yorkshire, causing the roof on their training centre to catch fire.
FBU news release • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Britain: Site workers can’t work until they drop
Construction workers need more support from the pension system, instead of being forced to work longer in physically demanding work, site union UCATT has said. The union’s conference heard delegates condemn government plans to raise the retirement age as high as 70, saying it would see them dropping dead on building sites.
Morning Star • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Britain: Scottish teachers are working under the cosh
Escalating workloads have left teacher wellbeing and job satisfaction at an all-time low, Scottish teaching union EIS has warned. The union’s survey found this overload has led to “very high” levels of stress.
EIS news release and full report • BBC News Online • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Britain: Teachers ‘adversely affected’ by social media
The abuse of social media and email is an increasing problem for teachers, leading to more abuse and out-of-hours work, a survey by teaching union NASUWT has found. Over a third (35 per cent) of teachers in Scotland report receiving work-related emails outside school hours, with 42 per cent saying they receive them weekly and 19 per cent daily.
NASUWT news release • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Global: UCATT turns up the heat on FIFA over Qatar
Construction union UCATT is demanding a meeting with FIFA after Sepp Blatter, president of football’s global governing body, admitted it was a “mistake” to choose Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup. But while UCATT believes an horrific work safety record and labour abuses under the bonded labour ‘kafala’ system in Qatar made it a bad pick, Blatter has suddenly realised the stifling weather in the summer months could affect the quality of football that is played.
UCATT news release • Doha News • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Britain: Crossrail must improve on safety
Construction union UCATT is to step up the pressure on Crossrail to improve safety on the project. Delegates at UCATT’s conference in Llandudno agreed that UCATT safety reps must be elected on all sections of Europe’s biggest construction project and that safety committees should be created.
UCATT news release • Morning Star • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Global: International jobs agency blacklist exposed
An international recruitment agency operating in the UK kept a secret database of workers it used to operate a blacklist, a Danish TV investigation has found. DR1 reporters found that workers in trade unions or seeking better pay and conditions were typically not given jobs by Atlanco Rimec even when described as “good” or “excellent” workers, while a former manager speaking anonymously described union members as “a complete no-no.”
GMB news release • UCATT news release • Morning Star • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Britain: Direct employment ‘key’ to stamping out site blacklists
The continued use of agency workers is a ‘weak spot’ in the efforts to end the blacklisting of construction workers for their safety and union roles, a parliamentary committee has warned. Launching the latest report of the Scottish Affairs Committee probe into the problem, committee chair Ian Davidson said: “We are very disappointed that the government has rejected our recommendation for direct employment on all publicly funded construction projects and for transparent recruitment and employment practices – even though they have asked us to take more evidence.”
Scottish Affairs Committee news release and Blacklisting in Employment update • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Britain: Cruelty of asbestos payout scheme exposed
The widow of a man who died from asbestos-related cancer is set to miss out on a six figure payout from a government compensation scheme, because he was diagnosed a few days before the scheme kicked in. Sid Pointon, 73, was diagnosed with cancer just 10 days before the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme cut-off for payments to help families who have lost loved ones because of the killer dust.
Manchester Evening News • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Britain: Labour promises more support for asbestos victims
The next Labour government will provide fresh assistance to victims of asbestos, a shadow minister has pledged. Rachel Reeves, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said a future Labour administration will “be enshrining in a law a levy on the insurance industry, to secure a sustainable funding stream for improved compensation for victims and ongoing research into the disease and its treatment.”
UCATT news release • Heating and Ventilation News • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Britain: Airfield safety blunders led to firefighter’s death
An airfield operator has been convicted of criminal safety offences and fined after a firefighter died when he was hit by a gas cylinder. Steven Mills, 45, was employed by Kemble Air Services as station officer at Cotswold airfield in Kemble, near Cirencester.
HSE news release • Wiltshire Times • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Britain: Innocent smoothie maker fined after work death
An international smoothie and fruit juice company has been sentenced for criminal safety failings after an engineer was killed by falling pipework during work to decommission a former factory in South Wales. Gavin Bedford, 24, was helping to dismantle and demolish a section of industrial pipework at the Gerber Juice Company Ltd premises in Llantrisant on 16 June 2010 when the structure, weighing around 300kg, collapsed and struck him.
HSE news release • BBC News Online • WalesOnline • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Britain: Farming firm sentenced over worker’s death
A farming company in Cheshire has been fined £50,000 after a father-of-one suffered fatal injuries when a 1.5 tonne concrete panel fell on him. Sean Bennett, 30, was helping to build a new cowshed at Yew Tree Farm in Stanthorne when the incident happened on 8 December 2010.
HSE news release • Winsford Guardian • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Britain: Sauces firm guilty over forklift death
Sauces manufacturer AAK UK Ltd has been fined £140,000 after a forklift truck driver was killed at a factory in Runcorn. Michael Moran was using his forklift truck to load a lorry trailer outside the factory on 18 April 2011 when another lorry reversed into the side of his vehicle and the forklift overturned, killing him instantly.
HSE news release • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Britain: Heinz sentenced after engineer’s life-changing injury
Global food producer Heinz has been fined for serious criminal safety failings after an engineer had his hand severed when it became trapped in live, unguarded machinery at its Norfolk plant. Self-employed engineer Alec ‘Alf’ Brackenbury, 49, was servicing a potato peeling machine at Heinz’s manufacturing plant in Worstead, Norfolk, on the first day of a maintenance shutdown on 20 June 2013.
HSE news release and food industry webpages • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Britain: Newspaper group fined for guarding failure
Regional newspaper group Newsquest Media has been prosecuted after a Southampton worker was injured when his hand was caught in a rotating printer roller. The 49-year-old employee suffered crush injuries to his thumb and middle finger as he attempted to remove a small piece of torn paper from the unguarded roller.
HSE news release and work machinery webpages • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Global: More concerns over transatlantic trade talks
A proposed trade deal the TUC warned earlier this month could jeopardise employment and safety standards has now been condemned by 178 trade union, environmental, health and labour rights groups from both sides of the Atlantic. The groups are all signatories to a letter to EU Commissioner Karel de Gucht and US Ambassador Michael Froman, key negotiators of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
Corporate Europe Observatory news release • ChemSec news release and the letter. BBC News Online • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Korea: Sorry Samsung agrees to cancer payouts
Korean campaigners who highlighted cancer cases in workers on Samsung’s microelectronics production lines have given a cautious welcome to a “deep apology” from the company’s chief executive. Samsung chief executive Kwon Oh-hyun said the company will now compensate chip factory workers who developed cancer while working for the firm.
SHARPS news release and statements from the campaign and Samsung • Korea Times • BBC News Online • The Guardian • PC World • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Turkey: Mine tragedy leads to national protests
The deaths of 301 miners in a western Turkey lignite mine has prompted widespread protests and industrial action. Trade unions launched a one-day strike on 15 May in protest of the country’s poor mining safety record.
Equal Times • BWI news release • ETUC statement • In These Times • CS Monitor • CNN • The Independent • BBC News Online • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Qatar: Global unions set conditions on 2022 World Cup
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is demanding that next month’s FIFA Congress impose labour rights conditions on Qatar if it is to be allowed to host the 2022 World Cup. The ITUC Congress, held in Berlin this week, heard that more than 1,000 workers have been killed already building the infrastructure that will deliver the World Cup.
ITUC news release • TUC news release • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

USA: Child tobacco workers in danger
Children working on tobacco farms in the United States are exposed to nicotine, toxic pesticides and other dangers, a major report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) has revealed. HRW says the world’s largest tobacco companies buy tobacco grown on US farms, but none have child labour policies that sufficiently protect children from hazardous work.
HRW news release and full report, Tobacco’s Hidden Children: Hazardous Child Labor in US Tobacco Farming • NPR • Risks 655 • 24 May 2014

Hazards news, 17 May 2014

Global: Trade talks are a threat to safety standards
A free trade agreement being negotiated between the European Union and the US must not be allowed to undermine employment and safety standards, the TUC has said. TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson said the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal was on an “unprecedented scale” and “could have major implications for health and safety regulation and unions throughout Europe need to be on their guard to ensure that we protect what we have.”
TUC Stronger Unions blog • Corporate Europe Observatory news release • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Britain: Union campaign delivers dog attack protection
A campaign by the union CWU has won new legal protection from dog attacks. The postal and telecoms union, which represents large numbers of dog attack victims in the UK, says that during its seven years push for changes to the Dangerous Dog Act, 30,000 postal workers were attacked.
CWU news release and Bite Back campaign • Defra news release • BBC News Online • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Britain: NHS safe staffing proposals fall short
Non-binding guidelines on safe nursing levels are not rigorous enough to deliver necessary improvements, the health service union UNISON has said. The union was speaking out after the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) published draft NHS guidance on safe staffing levels in hospitals in England, but refused to stipulate mandatory minimum safe staffing levels.
NICE news release • UNISON news release • BBC News Online • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Britain: Occupational therapists to strike over bullying
Occupational therapists (OTs) at Greenwich council, fed up with an alleged ‘bullying culture’, have voted unanimously for strike action on Wednesday 21 May. The move came in response to concerns over bullying and harassment and the suspension of a work colleague accused of being too friendly with staff.
Unite news release • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Britain: Lessons ‘not learned’ from the blacklisting scandals
The government has not learnt the lessons of a parliamentary probe into the blacklisting scandal, the union Unite has said. Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail said: “We’re disappointed that the employment minister Jenny Willott has not supported the Scottish Affairs Committee’s recommendations on direct employment and self-cleaning.”
Unite news release • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Britain: Safety cuts are a burden on workers
Cuts to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show that government ministers value the interests of the business lobby over workers’ health, the conference of retail union Usdaw has heard. Usdaw deputy general secretary Paddy Lillis said: “There have already been three reviews of health and safety law by this government and more damage has been done.”
Morning Star • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Britain: Affected by pregnancy discrimination?
As part of a wider project on discrimination against pregnant women and women on maternity leave, the TUC is keen to hear from women who have been treated unfavourably while pregnant, on maternity leave, or on return to work. A TUC survey, which is entirely anonymous, covers employment and health and safety issues including if you were “made to do work that was difficult or hazardous because of your pregnancy”.
TUC briefing and online survey • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Britain: Hundreds attend Stockline tragedy commemoration
Hundreds gathered at a memorial service this week to remember those killed in an explosion at a Glasgow factory a decade ago. Nine people died in the 11 May 2004 blast at the Stockline plastics factory and 33 others were badly injured.
Morning Star • BBC News Online • Daily Record • The Herald • ICL/Stockline disaster website • Occupational health in Scotland, Stirling University, March 2014 • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Britain: Offshore helicopter safety timetable changed
The timescale for implementing safety changes for offshore helicopter flights have been changed. The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said only allowing passengers to fly if they are seated next to a push-out window exit was being delayed from June until September, but an improved emergency breathing system will be compulsory from January next year rather than April 2016.
BBC News Online • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Britain: Firm ignored deadly silica dust warnings
A natural stone supply firm has been fined for failing to protect workers from exposure to deadly silica dust – despite a previous official warning. Teesdale Architectural Stone Ltd (TASL) was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for failings identified in an inspection of its Barnard Castle premises on 16 October 2012.
HSE news release and hazardous substances webpages • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Britain: Workers not told about known asbestos risk
A south London building firm has been fined after a foreman and others were kept in the dark about asbestos exposures. Redwood Contractors Ltd was in possession of a detailed asbestos survey that clearly identified the location of the asbestos wall panels inside a warehouse, but the survey conducted two months prior to the work starting wasn’t shared with the team on the ground.
HSE news release and asbestos webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Britain: Dangerous practices at naval base caused nerve damage
A company responsible for maintaining the grounds of a naval base in Cornwall has been fined after three workers were diagnosed with a debilitating condition that left them with permanent nerve damage. The three men, who do not wish to be named, were employed by Babcock Flagship Ltd to maintain the extensive grounds at HMS Raleigh in Torpoint, where they were exposed to high levels of hand arm vibration (HAV) caused by using tools such as hedge cutters and strimmers for long periods.
HSE news release and vibration webpages • Western Morning News • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Britain: Farming firm prosecuted for roof fall death
A farming business in south west Wales has been sentenced for criminal safety failings after a roof worker plunged 15 feet to his death in front of his two sons. Ronald Clarke, 59, fell through the fragile roof of a cowshed while working at Rhyd Sais Farm, Talgarreg, near Llandysul, on 23 July 2010, hitting the concrete floor below.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Tivy-Side Advertiser • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Britain: Worker survives plunge through church roof
A Southampton worker suffered life-changing injuries after he plunged five metres through a hole in the roof of a London church, a court has been told. Father of three Allen Smith, 58, was working for Nationwide Roofing and Cladding Ltd when he sustained a collapsed lung, smashed pelvis and head injuries in the fall at Anerley Methodist Church in Penge, south-east London, on 25 October 2011.
HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Britain: Dock firm fined for life-changing injuries
An Essex dock company has been fined for its criminal safety failings after a dock worker suffered severe leg injuries when an operation to unload a cargo container went wrong. Agency worker Andrew Gotts, 26, of Felixstowe, Suffolk, may never be able to work again after he suffered multiple fractures and destruction of soft tissue on his lower right leg when it was trapped and crushed as a jammed container suddenly freed itself.
HSE news release and docks webpage • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Australia: Government puts safety at risk
Proposed reforms of the safety system in Australia will put workers at increased risk, unions and the opposition Labour Party have warned. They say recommendations of the Commission of Audit created by Tony Abbott’s government – and headed by the former president of the country’s top business lobby group - will mean cuts to workplace health and safety.
Brendan O’Connor’s new release • CFMEU news release • Sydney Morning Herald • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Global: Renewed warning on asbestos dangers
Global unions have warned the continued – and in many instances growing - use of asbestos in developing nations must be challenged. A conference organised by global construction unions’ federation BWI and its manufacturing and mining equivalent IndustriALL agreed a ‘Vienna Declaration’ including a “call on governments and social partners of all countries to take immediate steps to ban all mining, manufacture, recycling and use of all forms of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials as soon as possible.”
IBAS conference report • BWI news release • Vienna Declaration • IndustriALL news release. • Asbestos is a killer, BWI/IndustriALL, May 2014 • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

New Zealand: Private prosecution by union over work death
New Zealand’s national union federation has been granted permission to take a private prosecution against forestry firm M&A Cross Ltd, the employer of forestry worker Charles Findlay who was killed at work. Council of Trade Unions (CTU) president Helen Kelly said: “This private prosecution is being taken because Charles shouldn't have died at work and the industry must be held to account.”
NZCTU news release • NZTV • Radio New Zealand • NZCity • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Turkey: Death toll tops 200 in coal mine blast
Over 200 workers have been confirmed dead and hundreds more left trapped underground after a deadly coal mine blast in western Turkey this week. Energy minister Taner Yıldız said 787 people were inside the coal mine in Soma, some 250 kilometres (155 miles) south of İstanbul, at the time.
IndustriALL news release • ILO statement • Today’s Zaman • USA Today • BBC News Online • Risks 654 • 17 May 2014

Hazards news, 10 May 2014

Britain: Shopworkers raise violence concerns
Shopworkers have told a top Labour politician of the routine violence, threats and abuse they face in the course of their duties. Jack Dromey, a shadow Home Office minister, responded: “We will strengthen the law and see it effectively enforced by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service and we will ensure that employers take action, working with Usdaw to ensure the safety of their staff.”
Usdaw news release and news update • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Britain: Firefighters campaign for pensions justice
Increasing the retirement age for firefighters from 55 to 60 is an unjust, untenable and unhealthy move, unions have said. Firefighters’ union FBU and the TUC say further industrial action in the fire service is the inevitable outcome of government intransigence on the issue.
FBU news release • TUC news release • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Britain: Network Rail caves in on bonuses
Rail union TSSA has welcomed Network Rail's announcement that bonuses for its five top executives are to be cut from up to 160 per cent of salary to 20 per cent. Network Rail bosses drew up plans to significantly curb their six figures bonuses in the wake of strong union-led criticism of their safety record.
TSSA news release • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Britain: Traumatised train driver may be the last to get payout
A train driver traumatised after a suicidal person walked in front of his 125mph train in March 2012 could be the last to receive a payout from an official criminal injuries compensation scheme. Under cost-cutting rule changes introduced on 26 November 2012, many workers – including some victims of violence at work and train drivers traumatised by a suicide on the track – are excluded from payments from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.
The Independent • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Britain: Concrete concerns before Crossrail death
A whistleblower has revealed how giant boulders of concrete had fallen and a number of people were injured in the months before a construction worker was crushed to death in a Crossrail tunnel. A document marked “confidential”, obtained by the Camden New Journal, warns of the “hazardous and unsafe working conditions” for staff spraying concrete onto walls deep below ground.
Camden New Journal • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Britain: Call for health checks for construction apprentices
Tackling work-related ill health among construction apprentices could save the Scottish economy more than £30m over the next decade, new figures suggest. Constructing Better Health Scotland (CBH Scotland) is calling for baseline health checks for all apprentices entering the industry.
STV News • The Courier • The Scotsman • BBC News Online • Morning Star • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Global: Concerns over ‘miracle material’ graphene
Graphene has been hailed as the latest miracle material set to revolutionise many industries, but it might have more dangerous side effects, experts have warned. “The situation today is similar to where we were with chemicals and pharmaceuticals 30 years ago,” said study co-author Jacob D Lanphere.
US Riverside news release • The Independent • Brown University news release.
Jacob D Lanphere and others. Stability and Transport of Graphene Oxide Nanoparticles in Groundwater and Surface Water, Environmental Engineering Science, published online ahead of print 17 March 2014. doi:10.1089/ees.2013.0392 • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Global: Nanotechnology use is booming below the radar
As concerns have been raised about nanomaterials, companies investing in the industry have toned down announcements of their research and the introduction to the market of new products. But they are still coming, and the rate of their introduction is accelerating.
IUF news report • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Britain: Jobless could be forced into zero hours jobs
A new government ‘Help to Work’ scheme has been strongly criticised by unions after it was revealed jobseekers could be forced into zero hours contract jobs. Under the scheme, jobseekers may lose their benefits for three months if they refuse a zero hours contract - insecure or ‘contingent’ work has been linked to higher rates of sickness absence and occupational injuries and diseases.
TUC news release. Prime minister’s office news release • PCS news release • More on the health impact of insecure work • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Britain: Fine for foot-and-mouth lab failings
A world-renowned animal disease research facility has been fined after it was found experiments with cattle infected with the foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) did not observe the necessary safety measures. The incidents at Pirbright Institute in November 2012 and January 2013 occurred in a contained facility housing infected animals.
Pirbright Institute statement • HSE news release • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Britain: Café didn’t serve up employee insurance
A café business in Ashford has been fined for failing to hold statutory insurance that enables employees to claim compensation if they are injured at work. Ash Catering Limited, trading as Ashford Café, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after the safety regulator established there was no valid Employers Liability Compulsory Insurance for the business.
HSE news release • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Britain: Protective equipment firm failed to protect worker
One of Europe’s leading manufacturers of personal protective equipment has been prosecuted and fined after a worker’s hand was crushed when it became trapped in an unsafe machine at their factory in Oxfordshire. The 47-year-old employee had just started her shift on 11 January 2013 at the JSP Ltd factory in Minster Lovell.
HSE news release and work machinery webpages • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Britain: Hand injury leads to second fine for leather firm
A leather company has been fined for criminal safety failings after a worker suffered a broken finger when her hand was dragged into unguarded machinery. The 25-year-old woman from Poland, who does not wish to be named, was working for E-Leather Ltd at its manufacturing site in Peterborough when the incident happened on 30 October 2012.
HSE news release and leather manufacturing webpages • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Britain: Council sentenced after major gas pipe rupture
Fife Council has been fined for serious criminal safety failings after workers struck and ruptured an underground gas pipe releasing almost four tonnes of gas. One hundred homes and businesses, as well as a primary school, were evacuated following the incident at the council’s Milesmark Depot in Dunfermline on 11 June 2010.
HSE news release and work near underground services guide • The Courier • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Britain: Worker breaks hip in fall from a flat-bed trailer
Denholm Global Logistics has been fined for safety failings after a lorry driver fell from a flat-bed trailer at a company warehouse in Felixstowe. The 60-year-old worker from mid Glamorgan, who does not wish to be named, broke his hip in three places and needed two steel pins inserted to help repair the damage following the incident on 6 February 2013.
HSE news release and falls from vehicles webpage • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Britain: Cherry picker pulled over during power line work
A West Yorkshire power distribution specialist has been fined after a worker suffered multiple fractures in a cherry picker fall in Hertfordshire. Nicholas Chenery, 33, of Stowmarket, suffered a compound fracture to the left leg and three fractured vertebrae to his lower spine in the incident in the Buntingford area on 9 August 2012.
HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Australia: Your boss could make you sick
Employers who overwork and micromanage their staff can make them sick, researchers have confirmed. A study of more than 7,000 Norwegian people who were middle-aged and otherwise healthy found those in high-stress offices were more likely to need two weeks or more off work a year and experience symptoms like chest pain, nausea and shortness of breath.
Daily Mail • Sydney Morning Herald. Min-Jung Wang, Arnstein Mykletun, Ellen Ihlen Møyner, Simon Øverland, Max Henderson, Stephen Stansfeld, Matthew Hotopf, Samuel B. Harvey. Job strain, health and sickness absence: Results from the Hordaland Health Study, Plos One, published 22 April 2014. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.009602 • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Global: Activists follow Chevron across the globe
Australian trade unionists challenging the labour rights and safety record of oil giant Chevron in its US home state have been welcomed by local activists, groups and politicians who share their concerns. Shannon O’Keeffe, campaigns director at the Sydney office of global transport unions’ federation ITF, said: “In Australia Chevron is suing the MUA and 15 of its members for taking action to ensure that their workplace was safe.”
ITF news release • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Global: Hi-tech giants told to ditch toxics
Smartphone manufacturers are being told that abandoning the use of highly dangerous chemicals will be good for their workforce, the environment and their bottom line. As consumer health and fitness features are expected to be the next big thing for Samsung and Apple products, campaigners are saying the hi-tech giants should make their production processes more healthy too.
eWeek • Korea Times • Apple and the Environment webpages, and toxins page • Green America’s Bad Apple campaign • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

South Africa: Mines ‘stalling’ on deadly silicosis payouts
Mining multinationals in South Africa have been accused of saving themselves millions by dragging out silicosis litigation and delaying payment of compensation to victims. As sufferers of the occupational dust disease die – and many have - the “pain and suffering” component of any payout is docked from the settlement made to their dependants.
Business Day • The Guardian • Mining Weekly • Risks 653 • 10 May 2014

Hazards news, 3 May 2014

Britain: Government cuts ‘vital’ safety protections
The government’s persistent ideological attacks on key health and safety legislation threaten even more accidents, injuries and deaths at work, the TUC has warned.
TUC news release and report, Toxic, Corrosive and Hazardous: The government’s record on health and safety • TUC Workers’ Memorial Day 2014 webpages • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

USA: Chicken carcass spray makes workers sick
Chemicals used to disinfect chicken carcasses are making the workers exposed to them sick – and could even be killing them. US Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors and workers in poultry plants say the process of preparing chicken for sale is putting them at risk.
Food Integrity Campaign news report • WSBTV • Mother Jones • Washington Post • UFCW Action • EFSA news release and decontamination webpage • Bilaterals.org • IUF trade and investment brochure • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Britain: ‘Disgust’ at commercial focus for HSE’s top job
Construction union UCATT has expressed ‘disgust and disquiet’ following the publication of the job advert for a new chief executive to run the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The advert’s opening line reads: “We are now seeking a new Chief Executive to help lead change in the organisation and take advantage of a range of national and international commercial opportunities.”
UCATT news release • Report of HSE acting chief executive Kevin Myers to the April HSE board meeting • Enright Associates • HSE chief executive recruitment pack, closing date 5 May. We love red tape blog • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Global: BAT must end the abuse of tobacco workers
Shareholders attending the British American Tobacco (BAT) AGM in London have been urged to put pressure on senior directors at the company to do more to raise the plight of tobacco workers in North Carolina.
TUC news release • IUF news release • FLOC news release • AFL-CIO Now blog •
Send a message to BAT chairman Richard Burrows telling RAI to sign an agreement with FLOC • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Britain: Drug driving limits nothing to do with safety
A government proposed ‘drug driving’ limit has nothing to do with safety at work, the TUC has said. TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson said the new limits will lead to a “big increase” in drug testing at work and in workers being disciplined or fired for “being over the limit,” despite no evidence of impairment.
TUC Stronger Unions blog, drugs testing guidance and guidance on alcohol and drugs • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Bangladesh: Shocking toll from work chemicals
At least 63 people were killed in Bangladesh in the last three months by toxic chemicals used at work, a study has found. According to the Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation (OSHE), which conducted the research, the most dangerous industries are agriculture, shipbreaking and tanneries.
BSS News • Dhaka Tribune • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Britain: Zero hour contracts leave workers hard pressed
The majority of workers on zero hours contracts earn less than the living wage and are at risk of abuse, the TUC has said. The union body was commenting ahead of the publication of new official figures which indicated there are now well over 1 million zero hours contracts in the UK.
TUC news release • PCS news release • Usdaw news release • BBC News Online • The Independent • More on health and safety and insecure work • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Britain: NHS staff are being pushed to breaking point
NHS staff are being pushed to breaking point - with stress showing up as the number one health and safety issue facing UNISON members working in the NHS. That was the clear message of a 'body mapping' exercise that was carried out at the union's health conference.
UNISON news release • More on workplace mapping techniques • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Britain: Union concern as shoplifting rise continues
Shopworkers’ union Usdaw has expressed concern that shoplifting is bucking the downward trend in victim-based crime. General secretary John Hannett welcomed crime statistics for England and Wales showing an overall decrease in crime, but said the union is “deeply concerned” that shoplifting continues to rise.
Usdaw news release • The Crime Survey for England and Wales, Office for National Statistics • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Britain: Union call for better asbestos disease treatment
Communication workers have called for better compensation and more funding for research relating to the deadly asbestos-related disease mesothelioma. CWU national executive committee member Ian Ward told the union’s conference that there was going to be 100 per cent compensation for those contracting the disease, but that the coalition government stepped in to block the move.
Morning Star • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Britain: Prison officer forced to retire after violent assault
A prison officer was forced to leave the profession after being violently assaulted by an inmate. The Prison Officers Association (POA) member, who was left with debilitating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after the attack by an inmate, has secured a ‘significant’ sum of compensation with the help of the union.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Britain: Icy slip ended care worker’s career
A management decision to ignore a basic safety requirement meant a dedicated care support worker could not work again. The sheltered housing scheme employee, whose name has not been released, was forced to retire early after being knocked unconscious when she slipped on an icy and ungritted pavement.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Britain: Forty year career ended by employer negligence
A Unite member has secured compensation after he fell twice on the icy tailgate of a lorry while working for Stonegate Farmers. Roy Gardiner, of Melksham in Wiltshire, was working for Stonegate Farmers’ delivery firm when he slipped on the tailgate on two separate occasions while loading pallets into his van.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Britain: Bank carpet tile trip forced retirement
A bank worker injured in when she tripped and fell over a lose carpet tile ended up losing her job as result. Susan Green, who worked at a branch of Barclays Bank in south-east London, was walking back to her workstation after retrieving a fax when she tripped.
Simpson Millar Solicitors news release • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Britain: Call for action over Crossrail climate of fear
Construction union UCATT says it will step up pressure on Crossrail and its contractor Balfour Beatty Morgan Vinci (BBMV) to improve safety, following a damning leaked report. UCATT regional secretary Jerry Swain said: “Employers need to understand that the perception of being victimised for reporting safety concerns is very serious, whether this is actually the reality or not.”
UCATT news release • The Observer • Irish Post • Construction Enquirer • Morning Star • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Australia: Petrol tankers are ‘mobile bombs’
An Australian union has told a federal government tribunal that petrol tankers are little more than ‘mobile bombs’. The 29 April Road Safety Tribunal in Sydney was convened to consider minimum safety standards for Australian petrol tankers after research revealed 1 in 4 tanker drivers were pressured to speed and 1 in 2 drivers reported inadequate brake inspections.
TWU news release • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Britain: Work-related cancer can and should be prevented
Exposure to cancer causing agents at work can and should be prevented, the organisation representing occupational hygienists has said. BOHS, the Chartered Society for worker health protection, is calling on employers to comply with the legal exposure limits for known carcinogens, urging the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to be “robust” in its enforcement of the law, and says it is “critical” the government demonstrates the political will to prevent unnecessary loss of life from work-related cancers.
BOHS news release • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Britain: Tributes paid to teacher killed at school
The family of teacher Ann Maguire, who was stabbed to death at a school in Leeds, has described her as “a shining light” who “brightened the world.” Mrs Maguire, 61, had worked at Corpus Christi Catholic College for more than 40 years before she was attacked in front of pupils on Monday 28 April.
West Yorkshire Police update • BBC News Online • NASUWT news release • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Britain: Docs attack complacency on fracking risks
An official report on the risks posed by fracking in England is complacent on the real risks the practice could pose, an editorial in the British Medical Journal suggests. Dr Seth Shonkoff, executive director for Physicians Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy, and his colleagues warn that scientific data should drive decisions on health and safety, instead of gestures to understudied assertions of best practice deployment.
BMJ news release • Editorial: Public Health England’s draft report on shale gas extraction, British Medical Journal, 2014;348:g2728 • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Britain: Trapped worker suffers horrific head injuries
A manufacturing company has been sentenced after a worker suffered horrific head injuries when he became trapped in a machine at a Newcastle factory. Desmond Salkeld, 65, was with a colleague investigating a fault on a hot wire cutting machine at Springvale EPS Ltd in Hazlerigg, when his head became trapped in dangerous moving parts.
HSE news release and safe maintenance webpages • Risks 652 • 3 May 2014

Hazards news, 26 April 2014

Britain: The corrosive truth about the government’s safety record
The government’s “toxic, corrosive and hazardous” record on health and safety has placed workers at risk and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in jeopardy, the TUC has warned. TUC says there “must be a sea-change in our attitude to health and safety if we are going to stop this massive health problem that costs the state billions of pounds but which claims the lives of far too many workers.”
TUC news release • Toxic, corrosive and hazardous - the government's record on health and safety, TUC, April 2014 [pdf] • TUC health and safety – Time for change manifesto • The Independent • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Britain: TUC explodes the ‘compensation myth’
Workplace compensation cases have fallen by more than 50 per cent in the last decade, reveals a new joint report from the TUC and the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL). ‘The compensation myth’ – which tackles seven myths about compensation – smashes the misconception of a rise in risk aversion driven by a compensation culture.
TUC news release • The Compensation Myth, TUC/APIL, April 2014 • APIL news release • Insurance Times • More background on the statistics • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Britain: No tears after top Tory’s legal costs shocker
A top Tory acquitted of criminal charges but left with a £130,000 legal bill is getting a bitter taste of how his party’s policies have hit injured workers who now have to hand over part of any settlement. Before his arrest, Conservative MP and former deputy speaker Nigel Evans made statements about the need to cut legal aid and admitted he would probably have voted for the last round of cuts in 2011 had he not been deputy speaker at the time.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • BBC News Online • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Britain: Don’t fall for blacklisting payouts scam
Blacklisted workers are being told to steer clear of a compensation scheme set up by construction firms but not agreed with unions. Unions Unite and UCATT say the scheme is too restricted, too mean and won’t deliver justice.
UNITE news release • UCATT news release• Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Britain: Excessive checks ‘drove teacher toward suicide’
A harrowing regime of extreme monitoring by school bosses helped drive a teacher to suicide, the NASUWT union conference heard last week. Medway delegate Andrew Green described how an “inventive, inspiring and creative teacher” he knew had taken her own life after being ground down by an invasive system of appraisals and check-ups.
Morning Star • Personnel Today • More on work-related suicides • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Britain: Pressure on teachers is hurting mental health
A rise in mental health problems among education workers over the past two years is linked to the pressure of performance targets and inspections, according to a survey by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL). More than a third (38 per cent) of school and college staff had noticed a rise in mental health problems among colleagues in the past two years; more than half (55 per cent) felt their job had a negative impact on their mental health.
ATL news release • Morning Star • Union News • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Britain: Teachers face a ‘home invasion’ of work
Teachers are being swamped with work-related emails on weekends, in holidays and even when they are on sick leave, adding to their already excessive workload and causing rising levels of stress, a survey by the union NASUWT has found. Over two thirds (69 per cent) of teachers reported receiving work-related emails from senior staff outside school hours, with nearly 85 per cent receiving emails during weekends, over threequarters (76 per cent) during holidays and nearly half (43 per cent) during periods of sickness absence.
NASUWT news release • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

France: Unions win ban emails and calls at home
Under a legally binding agreement reached by employers’ federations and unions in France, workers in the technology and consultancy sectors no longer have to answer work emails or phone calls outside work hours. The deal obliges staff to “disconnect” from work calls and emails after working hours; companies must ensure employees come under no pressure to respond to messages, so the spirit as well as the letter of the law is observed.
TUC Touchstone blog. Prospect commentary. The Guardian • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Britain: Stressed ambulance service is at breaking point
The ambulance service is on the verge of breaking down as thousands of stressed out staff fear they will not be able to continue doing their jobs. Tight targets, long hours and the physical demands of the job are placing an enormous burden on overworked ambulance workers, according to a UNISON survey.
UNISON news release. Morning Star • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Britain: Occupational therapists threaten bullying action
Occupational therapists (OTs) at Greenwich council, fed up with a ‘bullying culture’, are gearing up to vote on a possible walk out. The 11 Unite members will vote on whether to take strike action or industrial action short of a strike.
Unite news release • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Britain: More pressure for helicopter safety inquiry
Offshore safety campaigners, crash survivors and unions came together at this month’s Scottish TUC annual conference to step up the campaign for a public inquiry into UK offshore helicopter safety. The groups said they want Norwegian-style offshore safety reforms to help more workers get back home safe, noting that since 2002 the UK offshore oil and gas industry has suffered 38 fatalities involving offshore helicopter transfers while there have been zero fatalities as a result of helicopter transfers in the Norwegian offshore industry over the same period.
Unite news release • BBC News Online • Morning Star • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Britain: Pilots call for no ‘backsliding’ on helicopter safety
The British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) has hit back at suggestions by industry body Oil & Gas UK that safety improvements to North Sea helicopter operations might damage North Sea productivity. Oil & Gas UK, the industry’s trade association, had said safety improvements demanded by authorities after a series of sometimes deadly incidents could negatively impact maintenance and production.
BALPA news release • Shetland Times • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Britain: Safety stars win top union awards
Unions in Scotland have recognised the stellar achievements of two workplace safety reps. The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) announced this year’s STUC Frank Maguire award for health and safety would be shared by Dundee University UCU reps Marion Sporing and Ian Ellis, who were not only highly competent trade union health and safety representatives but had also developed branch health and safety structures, driving health and safety further up the trade union agenda in UCU.
STUC news release • UCU news release • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Britain: Schools asbestos campaigner gets union plaudits
An internationally renowned asbestos campaigner has received a union’s top award. Teaching union NUT presented this year’s Fred and Anne Jarvis Award to Michael Lees, who since his teacher wife Gina died of the asbestos cancer mesothelioma has worked “tirelessly” to highlight the risks posed by asbestos in schools.
NUT news release • Morning Star • Asbestos in Schools • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Britain: Rubbing out safety rules puts pupils and staff at risk
Government attacks on health and safety provisions are jeopardising the quality of educational provision for children and young people and putting staff and pupils at risk, the teaching union NASUWT has warned. Delegates at the union’s annual conference condemned the repeal of the School Premises Regulations, reclassifying schools as low-risk environments and “leaving children at risk of being educated in disused offices, shops and factories.”
NASUWT news release • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Britain: Minister's ‘insensitive’ schools safety attack backfires
A news release issued by the UK safety minister attacking “ridiculous” safety measures in schools has been condemned as “insensitive”. The embargoed release was sent to journalists on the morning of the funeral of Keane Wallis-Bennett, the 12-year-old Edinburgh schoolgirl who was killed on 1 April by a collapsing school gym wall.
DWP news release • FACK news release • Sunday Herald • Morning Star • The Scotsman and related story • BBC News Online and related story • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Britain: Factory workers exposed to high lead levels
Workers at a ceramic tile factory in North Wales had levels of lead in their blood that could leave them at risk of kidney and heart disease, brain damage, cancer and other serious disorders. The employees of specialist firm Craig Bragdy Design, of Denbigh, were tested after the issue came to light in February 2012 during a routine visit by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
HSE news release and lead webpages • More on the risks posed by lead • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Britain: Sites 'timebomb' from health and safety cuts
The construction industry is sitting on a “ticking timebomb,” with inexperienced workers being recruited to work on London's major building sites at a time when safety standards are being run down, according to a former government adviser on the sector. Baroness Donaghy, who wrote a landmark report ‘One Death Too Many’ for the last Labour government, said there is a severe risk of a rise in deaths and serious injuries as building activity picks up during the recovery.
The Observer • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Bangladesh: Brands must pay up for Rana Plana victims
A year after the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh that killed over 1,100 people and injured around 2,000 more, major fashion brands have stumped up less than half the sum needed to compensate victims and their families. So far, companies keen to improve their public reputation have donated about £10 million, but that leaves a substantial £14.9m gap.
TUC news release • TUC Touchstone blog • IndustriALL news release • ILO news release and related release • Growth without tears campaign video • Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund • Morning Star • Sign up to the TUC ‘Join hands with Bangladesh’ campaign • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Namibia: Uranium miners dying, Rio Tinto denying
Miners who dug uranium ore at a Rio Tinto-owned mine in Namibia are dying of cancers and unexplained illnesses after working in one of continent’s largest mines. A study of current and former workers at the giant Rio Tinto-owned Rössing uranium mine in Namibia found that everyone questioned was aware of people who are now suffering lung infections and unknown illnesses thought to be linked to their work.
Study on low-level radiation of Rio Tinto’s Rössing Uranium mine workers, EJOLT & Earthlife Namibia Report, April 2014. The Guardian • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

USA: Union calls for safety first in poultry industry
A new official study confirms what workers in the US poultry industry have been saying for decades – has among the highest rates of strain injuries in America related to high paced, repetitive work. The report was commissioned to allay safety concerns about the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) proposed poultry modernisation rule, which would increase the speed that birds are processed to a maximum of 175 a minute – but has done precisely the opposite.
UFCW news release • IUF news report • NIOSH report summary and full report • Risks 651 • 26 April 2014

Hazards news, 12 April 2014

Britain: Safety reps – what’s it like and what do you want?
The TUC is urging union safety reps to provide “crucial” information about their concerns at work. The tenth TUC survey of health and safety reps “is designed to provide the TUC and individual unions with information about who health and safety reps are, and what their experiences and needs are.”
TUC briefing. Safety reps – complete the TUC survey now! • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Britain: Schoolgirl’s death shows why we need safety rules
The tragic death of a schoolgirl in Scotland is a salutary reminder that the need for safe and healthy workplaces is important for the wider public too, unions and campaigners have said. Keane Wallis-Bennett, 12, died on 1 April when a free standing wall in the gym changing room at Liberton High School fell on her.
UNISON news release • FACK news release • The Guardian • Edinburgh Evening News • Construction Enquirer • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Bangladesh: Brands must be told to make Rana Plaza payouts
Companies that sourced products from the Rana Plaza garment factories in Bangladesh where over 1,100 workers died a year ago should be pressed by the government to pay “adequate compensation” to bereaved relatives and injured workers, the TUC has said. In a letter to Justine Greening, the secretary of state for international development, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady wrote: “It is important for ministers to call on companies to pay into the fund by the first anniversary of the collapse of the Rana Plaza building on 24 April 2014 to demonstrate timely steps are being taken to rebuild the lives of workers and their families.”
TUC news release • Rana Plaza Trust Fund • Join the LabourStart campaign to get all the global brands to pay up • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Global: ILO says safety and profits go hand in hand
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is pressing for measures to address the labour abuses that led to Rana Plaza and other disasters. ILO director-general Guy Ryder told a high level meeting organised by the Danish government this month: “Rana Plaza is a call for global action on decent working conditions,” adding: “Better working conditions are in everyone’s interests, a safer industry does not mean a less profitable one.”
ILO news release • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Britain: Union urges action on fatigue at sea
The union Nautilus has welcomed a call from the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) for Europe-wide action to address seafarer fatigue. Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson said: “We are painfully aware of the health and safety problems posed by fatigue and it is essential that the MAIB’s findings are acted on.”
Nautilus news release • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Britain: Chiefs told firefighters face the sack for aging
Fire chiefs have been warned firefighters forced to work extra years could face the sack just because they were getting older. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) says the majority of firefighters over the age of 55 would fail the fitness tests to continue frontline work to a new pension age of 60, but had little chance of finding more appropriate alternative work in the service.
FBU news release • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Britain: UNISON to appeal over employment tribunal fees
UNISON is to apply to appeal last year’s High Court ruling rejecting its claim for Judicial Review of the government's decision to introduce tribunal fees. The union will ask the Court of Appeal to consider the “shocking” figures released last month that revealed employment tribunal claims dropped by 79 per cent in the first six months after the government imposed fees on workers bringing a claim.
UNISON news release • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Britain: Concerns about outside work and pollution
When pollution levels spike, outside workers can be put at particular risk, the public sector union UNISON has warned. The union, commenting as high pollution levels last week led to a marked upturn in hospital admissions in some areas, urged employers not to forget about those working outside.
UNISON news release • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Britain: Two-year delay in diagnosing lifting hernia
Heavy lifting at work can cause hernias, a union compensation case has confirmed – although it took two years before the affected worker’s health problem was acknowledged officially. The GMB member sustained a hernia when he had to move a heavy metal bench 100 feet from one side of a warehouse to the other.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Qatar: Labour urges football to put pressure on Qatar
Football’s governing body FIFA and the UK’s national football associations should put pressure on Qatar to improve the “sub-human” working conditions of thousands of migrant labourers building facilities for the 2022 World Cup, Labour's shadow international development secretary Jim Murphy has said.
UCATT news release • ITUC news release • BWI news release • ILO report on Freedom of Association in Qatar and report on Forced Labour in Qatar • Huffington Post • BBC News Online • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Britain: Nuclear bomb firms given get-out on accidents
Private companies hired to work at the Clyde nuclear bomb bases in Scotland are being given a multi-million pound get-out by Westminster so they won’t have to pay compensation or clean-up costs after “potentially catastrophic” accidents. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is planning to sign agreements with contractors at Faslane and Coulport that limit their financial liability in case of injuries, deaths, explosions, fires and radiation leaks to no more than £100,000.
Rob Edwards blog • Sunday Herald • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Britain: Sentencing guidelines won’t go far enough
Draft sentencing guidelines for crimes of theft could improve the lot of shopworkers but will not be sufficient to prevent the 300 assaults they face every day, their union has said. The new draft guidelines, put out to consultation by the Sentencing Council on 3 April, cover crimes including pick-pocketing, shop theft, handling stolen goods, car theft, leaving a restaurant or petrol station without paying and stealing by employees or care workers.
Sentencing Council news release • Usdaw news release • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Britain: Agency worker was dragged into machine
A Hull-based company, which operates worldwide, has been prosecuted for neglecting the safety of its staff after an agency worker had an arm crushed when it was dragged into a machine. Jamie Rignall, 30, suffered crush injuries to his right hand and arm in the incident at JH Fenner & Co Ltd, which trades as Fenner Dunlop Europe, a leading manufacturer of industrial conveyor belts.
HSE news release and work equipment webpages • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Britain: Dodgy handrail led to agency worker’s fall
A Tyneside house builder has been fined after a young plasterer was seriously injured when a temporary handrail gave way as she leant on it and she fell to the floor below. The 23-year-old agency worker from Gateshead, who does not want to be named, was working for Bellway Homes Ltd when the incident happened on 4 December 2012.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Britain: Apprentice loses finger and gets traumatised
A Northumberland company has been fined after a worker’s left hand was crushed in machinery leading to the amputation of one of his fingers. Ricky Martin, who was 18 at the time, was a third year apprentice with Miller UK Ltd when the incident occurred at its Cramlington premises on 12 March 2013.
HSE news release and machinery webpages • The Chronicle • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Britain: Property firm director done for safety neglect
A Gwent-based property development company and its director have been fined after being observed putting the lives of workers at serious risk. Formaction Ltd was installing a new roof on an industrial unit in Cardiff in June 2013, when a member of the public spotted the dangerous work methods and informed the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
HSE news release • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Britain: Worker loses limb and job in cylinder explosion
A worker filling gas cylinders had his leg severed below the knee when a faulty cylinder he was filling exploded at Guardian Gas Ltd in Bridgend. Andrew Wright, 43, was filling the defective cylinder which had been inadequately tested by certified inspection body Gaspack Services Ltd.
HSE news release • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Global: It’s all coming together for 28 April!
Workers’ Memorial Day – the 28 April campaign which has become the world’s largest annual health and safety event – looks like being bigger still this year. The global union federation ITUC says it has been deluged with events listings - from protests, to seminars to local and national campaigns - which it will publicise in the coming days via social media and on its dedicated 28 April webpage.
TUC workers’ Memorial Day 2014 webpages • ITUC/Hazards 28 April global webpages and facebook page • ITUC/Hazards 28 April 2014 International Workers’ Memorial Day publicise-your-events poster • Don’t forget to tweet #iwmd14 • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Australia: Probe deadly risks? Come back tomorrow
Unions in Queensland wanting to investigate potentially deadly safety breaches at work have been told they now have to give a day’s notice before they enter the workplace. A law passed in the state parliament changes union right-of-entry rules, and requires the 24 hour notice period before union investigators can enter a work site where they believe there are safety problems.
CFMEU news release • Courier Mail • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Canada: Panel dismisses substance abuse claims
A company-fuelled perception that the workers extracting Alberta’s oil sands are alcohol and drug abusing rednecks operating deadly equipment with little regard for safety has turned out to be untrue after all. In 2012, Canada’s largest oil producer, Suncor Energy, tried to introduce random drug and alcohol testing of the thousands of oil sands workers, but an independent arbitration panel has sided with the union, ruling random testing is “an unreasonable exercise of management rights.”
Unifor news release • Globe and Mail • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

USA: Walmart cagey on pregnant workers concessions
Walmart has improved its workplace pregnancy policies – but is saying the move has nothing to do a series of legal challenges. OUR Walmart, the union-backed group pressing for better working conditions at the US multinational, and a number of legal groups take a different view.
Washington Post • Businessweek • Organisation United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) facebook page • UFCW blog • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

USA: Shell oil rig ran aground dodging tax
The grounding of a Shell oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Alaska was in part driven by tax-dodging, the US Coast Guard has said, putting workers and the environment at risk. The organisation said Alaska’s tax laws had influenced the decision to tow the drilling rig Kulluk to Seattle for maintenance.
Senator Markey news release • Morning Star • The Telegraph • Risks 650 • 12 April 2014

Hazards news, 5 April 2014

Britain: Keeping work safe for workers of all ages
There is a higher proportion of older people in Britain’s workforce now than at any time in recent history. The TUC says this means we need workplace approaches that take account of the real needs of older workers, while discounting unfounded assumptions about what an older worker may and may not be able to do.
TUC briefing and full report, The health and safety of older workers, April 2014 • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Britain: A massive step backwards for health and safety
The government has chosen the 40th anniversary of the Health and Safety at Work Act to make one of the most dangerous changes since the legislation came into effect in 1974, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady has warned. Writing in the Morning Star she says ministers have “decided that Britain’s 4.3 million self-employed people should no longer be subject to the provisions of the Act unless they also employ people or are on a prescribed list of occupations,” adding: “This is a huge step backwards, and one that could lead to a big increase in deaths, injuries and ill-health.”
TUC news release • Unite news release • Daily Mail • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Britain: Trio of union reps ‘saved hundreds of lives’
Three local union reps have ‘undoubtedly’ helped save hundreds of lives, a newspaper profile of the men has concluded. The Western Morning News notes that in the five years from 2008 to 2012, a total of 396 asbestos-related deaths were recorded in Devon and Cornwall, but adds: “That figure would most likely be far higher but for the work of former dockyard union leaders Bill Goffin, John Williams and Dick Powell.”
Western Morning News • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Britain: TUC calls for tougher action on zero hours contracts
The case for tougher controls on zero hours contracts has been confirmed by new research, the TUC has said. Commenting on ‘Zeroing in’, a report by the independent Resolution Foundation, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The report highlights how the government is failing to address many of the abuses experienced by workers on zero hours contracts.”
Resolution Foundation news release and report, Zeroing In, March 2014 • TUC news release • The Independent • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Britain: Grounding fine ‘hardly a deterrent’ says union
A £60,000 fine on the German operator of a cargoship that ran aground on rocks off the north-east coast of England, stranding its crew for two weeks, is not a sufficient deterrent to stop ships employing too few crew and working them too long and too hard, the seafarers’ union Nautilus has said. The 80 metre MV Danio ran aground in the early hours of 16 March 2013 off the Northumberland coast while sailing from Perth to Antwerp.
Nautilus news release • BBC News Online • Newcastle Evening Chronicle • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Britain: New drug-driving limits could protect workers
New recommended drug-driving limits for 16 different drugs could help workers subjected to drugs tests at work who are found to be positive but below the new impairment thresholds, the TUC has said. The new limits, which cover eight illicit and eight prescription drugs, will come in to force in autumn 2014.
Department for Transport news release • Drug driving written ministerial statement, 27 March 2014. TUC drugs at work webpages and guide to drug testing at work • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Britain: Shopworkers selling alcohol need protection
The government has blocked a proposal aimed at protecting from assault workers selling alcohol. John Hannett, general secretary of the shopworkers’ union Usdaw, said he was disappointed by the government action.
Usdaw news release • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Britain: Atos failure shows work tests should be in-house
As private firm Atos nears the end of its highly controversial stint assessing benefits claimants on their fitness for work, civil service union PCS says the work should be brought in-house. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “Doctors, MPs and disabled people all believe the tests should be scrapped so, instead of replacing the failed Atos with another profit-hungry provider, the government should bring the work in-house and invest in it properly.”
PCS news release • Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland news release • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Qatar: Union mission finds ‘shocking exploitation’
Construction union UCATT says it witnessed ‘shocking exploitation’ and workers subsisting in appalling living conditions, during a fact finding mission to Qatar. The union says it now plans to put further pressure on the Qatar government and British-based companies working in the country.
UCATT news release • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Britain: Migrant domestic workers face serious abuse
Migrant domestic workers accompanying their employers to the United Kingdom are being subjected to serious abuses including forced labour, according to a new Human Rights Watch (HRW) report. The report concludes the UK government is doing far too little to protect vulnerable workers, with recent changes to UK immigration rules making it harder for workers to flee abuse.
HRW news release, video and report, Hidden Away: Abuses against Migrant Domestic Workers in the UK • The Independent • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Britain: New call for gangmaster protection in construction
Construction union UCATT has welcomed a call for the scope of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) to be extended to the industry. A new report, ‘Preventing trafficking for labour exploitation’, published by Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX), echoes union calls for the GLA’s regulatory protection to be extended to high risk labour sectors such as construction, care, cleaning and hospitality.
Preventing Trafficking for Labour Exploitation, Caroline Robinson, Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX), March 2014. UCATT news release • Huffington Post • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Britain: Radiation testing worker gets massive x-ray dose
A Hartlepool firm that tests machine components using x-ray and gamma radiation has been fined after one of its workers suffered ionising radiation burns while carrying out tests on safety equipment. The Redcar man, who has asked not to be named, suffered severe tissue damage to the middle, ring and little fingers of his right hand in the incident at Mistras ETS Ltd on 19 September 2012, and received more than the maximum legal yearly radiation dose in a few seconds.
HSE news release and radiation webpages • The Northern Echo • ITV News • The Gazette • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Britain: Recycling firm fined over young worker’s injuries
A young worker almost lost his arm when it became trapped in inadequately guarded machinery at a recycling plant in Lancashire. The 20-year-old employee, from Bolton-by-Bowland in Lancashire, broke his right arm in several places in the incident at Environmental Waste Recycling Ltd in Kelbrook on 7 August 2013.
HSE news release and waste and recycling industry webpages • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Britain: Companies fined for cable strike failings
Two north-east companies have been fined after workers were exposed to danger of electrocution when a digger struck an underground cable outdated plans had failed to identify. Egger (UK) Ltd and Northern Construction Solutions Ltd were both prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
HSE news release and electricity webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Britain: Building firm fails the welfare test
A Lancashire building firm has been fined for failing to provide basic facilities for its workers for nearly three weeks. Two Brooks Valley Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an inspection of a construction site for a new mini-supermarket in Warton found workers had no shelter, no way of drying their clothes and no way of heating food and drinks.
HSE news release and construction webpages • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Britain: Firm fined for workers’ injuries tackling fire
Two workers suffered burns, one seriously, when hot material from an industrial dryer hit them as they tried to tackle a fire at a factory in South Wales. The employees of Maxibrite, in Llantrisant, were trying to fight the fire at the coal briquette plant on 16 December 2012 when they were hurt, one suffering severe burns to his back, legs and hands.
HSE news release and fire safety webpages • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Australia: Court hammers site union over safety dispute
An Australian construction union has been given a massive fine after blockading Melbourne building sites for several days in a dispute over safety. Concerns about safety raised by CFMEU at Grocon sites, where the company had denied workers union safety representation, had been supported by reports from the official safety regulator Worksafe, but the union was fined $1.25m (£700,000) and ordered to pay costs for ignoring court orders and blocking the sites.
CFMEU Victoria news release • The Guardian • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

China: At least 11 dead in garment workshop fire
At least 11 people were killed and another 17 injured when a fire broke out at a small family-run underwear workshop in Puning county, Guangdong, on the afternoon of 26 March. Official media reports said the five-storey concrete structure appeared to have only one exit.
China Labour Bulletin • South China Morning Post • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

India: When will the ‘world’s worst job’ finally end?
Clearing human excrement by hand – dubbed the world’s worst job - is continuing in India, despite laws outlawing it. There are still hundreds of thousands of ‘night soil workers’ in India – those who physically remove human excrement from ‘dry’ toilets, and there are millions more who perform the task of clearing human waste and general refuse by hand.
Equal Times • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Ireland: Fishing fatalities 40 times workplace average
People working in Ireland’s fishing industry are almost 40 times more likely to be killed at work compared to the average worker. The statistic forms part of a new public awareness campaign by Health and Safety Authority (HSA), the official workplace safety regulator, to help improve safety standards, after an inspection programme found just one in three fishing boats had a safety statement, while only one in five completed adequate risk assessments.
HSA news release • Irish Examiner • Risks 649 • 5 April 2014

Hazards news, 29 March 2014

Global: What are you doing on 28 April?
It’s time you told the world just what you were planning for 28 April, Workers’ Memorial Day. And that task just got a little easier, thanks to a new poster from global union federation ITUC and the UK-based Hazards magazine.
ITUC/Hazards 28 April 2014 International Workers’ Memorial Day poster • TUC workers’ Memorial Day 2014 webpages • ITUC/Hazards 28 April global webpages and facebook page • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Britain: Rail unions get movement on director gravy train
Network Rail bosses have drawn up plans to significantly curb their six figures bonuses in the wake of strong union-led criticism over failures in their safety record. But documents leaked to the rail union TSSA show that while the firm will scale back bonuses to top directors, they are planning to increase base salaries to compensate.
TSSA news release • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

USA: Unions press for a safer silica standard
Workers are continuing to die of preventable lung diseases because of years of footdragging on a safer silica exposure standard, the US national union federation AFL-CIO has warned. AFL-CIO safety and health director Peg Seminario, testifying before a hearing of the national safety regulator OSHA, noted that changes to the current exposure standard - now more than 40 years old - were first proposed in 1997.
AFL-CIO Now blog • OSHA hearings • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Global: Unions challenge World Cup migrant labour abuse
A union-coordinated joint mission to expose the abuse suffered by migrant construction workers in Qatar has kicked off this week. The delegation, which includes representatives of UK unions and Labour MPs, is investigating the working conditions that see hundreds of migrant construction workers die in Qatar every year.
UCATT news release • BWI news release.
Foul play, a Hazards photofile on the global union campaign around the 2022 World Cup in Qatar • The case against Qatar, ITUC report • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Honduras: Union body wins death threats investigation
The Honduran ambassador to the UK has promised to investigate death threats and victimisation of trade unionists in the country after an approach by unions. The London-based International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) won the commitment after a high-level told the ambassador union members have been subject to a catalogue of human and trade union rights abuses in Puerto Cortés since September 2012, when global terminal operator ICTSI won the concession to run the port.
ITF news release and related news release • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Britain: Lugging school spuds caused shoulder injury
A kitchen worker at Pengar School in Llanelli was left in agony after continually lifting sacks of potatoes onto a trolley. The potato peeling machine in Tina Bowen’s school kitchen had been broken for a long time, so the UNISON member had to use a machine at a different school which required her to lift the heavy sacks of potatoes onto a trolley and push them across a car park.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Britain: Auto assessor forced to retire after work fall
An automotive assessor employed by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council was forced to retire after a five foot fall at work. John Williams, a UNISON member for nine years, was leaning into a car on a mechanical ramp to inspect the handbrake when, without his knowledge, a trainee raised the ramp from ground level.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

France: More ‘work-related’ suicides at telecoms giant
Ten employees of the telecoms giant Orange France have killed themselves since the beginning of 2014, nearly as many as the whole of last year, an organisation that monitors work conditions at the firm has said. Labelling it a “serious alert”, the Observatory for Stress and Forced Mobility said the majority of these suicides – eight out of ten - were “explicitly related to work.”
Observatory for Stress and Forced Mobility news release (in French) • The Guardian • The Independent • More on work-related suicides • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Britain: Standing up for site workers - and their safety
One of the biggest names in the UK construction industry has pledged to support efforts to achieve a “fair resolution for the injustice” suffered by blacklisted workers. Caroline Murphy, who this week resigned from the board of Murphy Group, the construction giant founded by her father, said: “It has been my experience as deputy chair of the Murphy Group of construction companies, that safety and quality are inextricably linked.”
TUC Stronger Unions blog • Caroline Murphy blog and news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Britain: Demolition worker was crushed by steelwork
A demolition contractor has been fined for criminal safety failings after a worker suffered life-changing injuries when steelwork he was dismantling collapsed on top of him. The 39-year-old from Barnsley sustained serious crush injuries including a fractured sternum and vertebrae in the incident at a former block works in Shawell, Lutterworth, Leicestershire, on 11 March 2013.
HSE news release and demolition webpages. Construction Enquirer • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Britain: Contractors exposed workers to asbestos dust
A Bath building contractor exposed two of its employees to asbestos dust while working at a residential property in the city, a court has heard. Geoff Thomas and Son Ltd allowed the workmen to demolish a basement ceiling in January 2013 without checking for the presence of asbestos –and when it realised the deadly fibre was present, it sent the pair to work on other jobs without decontaminating their clothes.
HSE news release and asbestos webpages • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Britain: Study raises concerns over fracking dangers
The lack of publicly available data on the UK's onshore oil and gas drilling means there are significant “unknowns” about the safety of future fracking wells, according to a new study. “The research confirms that well failure in hydrocarbon wells is an issue and that publicly available data in Europe on this seems to be sparse,” said Professor Richard Davies of Durham University, who led the study.
Richard J Davies and others. Oil and gas wells and their integrity: Implications for shale and unconventional resource exploitation, Marine and Petroleum Geology, published online 25 March 2014 • The Guardian • FoE fracking webpages • Dangers of Fracking website • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Britain: Atos quits government fit for work tests
Private company Atos is to quit its contract to assess whether benefits claimants are fit to work, the government and the company have announced. In a statement, Atos indicated problems related to the tests were the result of government welfare policy, not the company’s behaviour, citing a National Audit Office (NAO) report in support of the claim.
Atos news release • BBC News Online • Daily Mirror • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Europe: Welcome for new progress on safer lorry designs
Lorry design should be improved to make vehicles inherently safer, European lawmakers have said. The European Parliament’s Transport Committee voted in favour of changes to the Vehicle Weights and Dimensions Directive, which will allow lorry cabs to be redesigned to reduce blind spots, improving the direct vision of the driver.
IOSH news release • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Britain: Road tragedies expose statistical hole
Hundreds of workers die each year on Britain’s roads while working, but you’d not know it from the statistics. Almost all work-related road deaths are classified as ‘road traffic accidents’ and are not included in the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) annual work fatalities total.
Thames Valley Police news release • BBC News Online coverage of the cyclist and lorry driver deaths • Daily Record • Newbury Weekly News • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Britain: Skull fractured by catapulted metal peg
Staffordshire company Thomas Bolton Ltd has been fined after a worker suffered life-changing injuries when he was hit on the head by a metal peg. The two-kilogramme peg, which was attached to a ten-tonne overhead crane and fabric sling, was catapulted out of the sling, through the factory roof and back down into the factory some 26 metres away, hitting an employee on the head.
HSE news release • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Britain: Textile firm crushed worker’s fingers
A Huddersfield woman was left with lasting hand damage when her fingers were crushed in a yarn processing machine. The 59-year-old was injured at Lawton Yarns Ltd’s Ravensthorpe factory in Dewsbury as she reached under the rollers of a carding machine to retrieve some fibres.
HSE news release and manufacturing webpages • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Britain: Injury at food firm leaves a costly aftertaste
A Kent-based international food manufacturer has been prosecuted for criminal safety failings after a worker’s hand was trapped by a sealing machine. Craig Brandie, a 24-year-old employee of Veetee Foods Ltd, suffered a crushed finger when he and colleagues began to clean the machine after an oil leak.
HSE news release and equipment safety webpages • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Australia: Warning over 'third wave' of asbestos diseases
Women are likely to form a significant proportion of the ‘third-wave’ of people with asbestos-related diseases in Australia, according to a new research report. ‘The Asbestos Narratives’ presents the findings of a study conducted by Southern Cross University, which investigated the social and psychological impacts of asbestos disease.
SCU news release • ABC News • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Bangladesh: Rana Plaza fund payouts to start
The 3,600 workers and families owed compensation from the Rana Plaza factory collapse last year will be able to claim payment from 24 March, the global unions that pressed for the creation of the fund have said. An advance payment equivalent to US$650 will be made to every beneficiary before the one-year anniversary on 24 April.
UNI news release • IndustriALL news release • ILO news release • Rana Plaza Trust Fund • Equal Times • Join the LabourStart campaign to get all the global brands to pay up • Risks 648 • 29 March 2014

Hazards news, 22 March 2014

USA: Deadly industry attack on NY scaffolding law
Construction industry lobbyists are attempting to gut a New York scaffolding safety law, a measure that for more than a century has added an extra layer of accountability for firms. Online publication In These Times reports that the lobbyists claim the law cuts into the industry’s bottom line.
In These Times • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Britain: Tribunals fall so workers and justice pay the price
A dramatic drop in number of people taking employment tribunal cases since the introduction of a fees system shows the government is on the side of bad bosses, the TUC has said. Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures reveal there has been a 79 per cent fall in employment tribunal cases – from 45,710 between September and December 2012 to 9,801 cases for the same period last year – since the government introduced a fee for most workers to take cases, including victimisation for workplace safety activities.
TUC news release • UNISON news release • Usdaw news release • GMB news release • Morning Star • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Britain: Helicopter deaths firm still escaping justice
Scotland’s top lawmaker should bring a criminal prosecution against a helicopter firm whose negligence has been linked to an offshore tragedy, the union Unite has said. The finding of a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) into the April 2009 deaths of 16 men in a Bond Super Puma helicopter crash in the North Sea concluded that the tragedy could have been prevented.
Unite news release • BALPA news release • FAI – Super Puma helicopter crash, full determination • BBC News Online • Energy Voice • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Qatar: ITUC exposes ‘squalid’ World Cup conditions
A new report from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) exposes how far Qatar will go to deny workers their rights. ‘The case against Qatar’ was published ahead of a critical executive committee meeting of FIFA, football’s global governing body, on 20 March.
ITUC news release and report, The case against Qatar • TUC news release • Equal Times • TUC Touchstone blog • ITUC Re-run the vote campaign • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Britain: STUC calls for urgent review of fatality inquiries
The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) has repeated its call on the Scottish government to review the country’s Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) system. The union body was speaking out after the publication of the findings from the FAI into the deaths of 16 workers in a Bond helicopter crash in the North Sea on 1 April 2009.
STUC news release • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Britain: Dad’s work death spurs safety action call
Kenneth Hume was just 29 when he was killed at work, leaving behind a young family. His son Stewart, who grew up to be a union rep for Unite and a vocal safety advocate, says: “Please take part in International Workers’ Memorial Day, I know I will.”
Blacklist blog. Hazards Campaign website and 28 April resources: Posters: free (A3 and A4 available). Stickers: £1 for a single sticker, £0.50 each for 2-10, and £0.25 each for 11-100, with bigger discounts for bigger orders. Lapel stickers: £1 for a single sticker, £0.50 each for 2-10, and £0.25 each for 11-100. Car stickers: £1 each, £30 per 100. Purple ribbons: £0.30 each, £30 per 100. T-shirts: in s, m, l, xl, xxl, xxxl. £6. Order from the Hazards Campaign, Windrush Millennium Centre, 70 Alexandra Road, Manchester M16 7WD. Tel: 0161 636 7557. Email: info@hazardscampaign.org.uk.
TUC workers’ Memorial Day 2014 webpages. ITUC/Hazards 28 April global webpages and facebook page • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

China: Clamour grows for dust disease action
Pressure for official action to stem China’s epidemic of work-related dust diseases has reached the highest levels of government. China Labour Bulletin (CLB) reports that several delegates at the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress and its advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), called on the government to do more for the estimated six million workers in China with pneumoconioses, lung diseases caused by dust.
China Labour Bulletin • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Britain: Union women call for bullying action
Delegates at the TUC's women's conference have supported unanimously a call for a union-wide campaign to combat bullying and harassment. Debbie Cavalaldoro moved the motion on behalf of the journalists’ union NUJ and emphasised the need for bullying to be specifically defined in legislation – either in health and safety law or the Equality Act.
NUJ news release • TUC women’s conference and final agenda • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Britain: CWU celebrates new dangerous dogs law
Postal workers’ union CWU has welcomed a new dangerous dogs law. The measures, which will extend the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and see far harsher punishments for owners of dangerous dogs, will be introduced in England and Wales in early May.
CWU news release and Dangerous dogs – Bite back campaign • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Britain: UCATT welcomes false self-employment move
Treasury plans to clampdown on bogus self-employment have been welcomed by UCATT. The construction union has argued consistently that the widespread practice by employers of wrongly designating workers as self-employed has denied the Treasury millions and robbed workers of essential employment and safety protections.
UCATT news release. Government webpage on the false self-employment consultation • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Britain: Support worker suffers career ending injury
A community care assistant from Swansea had to give up her job after she injured her back lifting at work. The UNISON member, 56, who has received an undisclosed payout, had asked her Swansea council employer for a sling with handles to make moving a heavy older man easier but the council failed to provide this additional support.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Britain: Commons committee says ‘blacklist the blacklisters’
Firms that blacklist workers jeopardise workplace safety and should be banned from publicly funded contracts and their victims compensated, MPs have said. The House of Commons Scottish Affairs Select Committee’s damning 14 March 2014 report of its investigation into the blacklisting scandal – which followed a campaign for justice by unions and the Blacklist Support Group - says that just ending blacklisting is not enough. House of Commons Scottish Affairs Select Committee report • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Britain: Crunch time for the blacklisters
Unions and blacklisting campaigners have said a report from MPs calling for justice for workers victimised by construction firms should be the catalyst for meaningful action at last.
Unite news release • GMB news release • Blacklist blog • Construction Enquirer • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Britain: Boss abandoned teenage waitress half-blinded by chemicals
A restaurant owner has been fined after a member of his staff was splashed in the face with a caustic chemical. Initially, the incident – which happened at Huffers Cafe, Sudbury, in September 2012 – was not reported to authorities. The employee, 16-year-old Chelsea Stafford, was left half blinded on the street outside, given £20 to get a taxi and had to call her mother for assistance.
Babergh District Council news release • Suffolk Free Press • Environmental Health News • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Britain: Life-changing injuries hamper trainee vet’s ambitions
A Shropshire horse breeder has been prosecuted for safety failings after a student suffered severe leg and pelvic injuries when she was felled by four straw bales on her last day of work experience. Emily Dawson, a 20-year-old veterinary student, was on placement at leading independent stud farm, RL Matson & Son of Whitchurch, run by partner Edward Matson.
HSE news release and guide on safe working with hay and straw bales • Shropshire Star • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Britain: Scaffolding firm done for department store danger
A Hertfordshire scaffolding firm has been fined for a catalogue of criminal safety failings – including throwing and catching metal fittings over the heads of shoppers – as they erected two scaffolds outside an Oxford department store. Darren Baker Scaffolding Limited also failed to ensure the structures outside Debenhams were properly configured, braced and tied, which compromised their stability.
HSE news release • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Britain: Painter injured in fall from dodgy scaffold
A painter and decorator was injured when he fell through an unprotected ladder opening on scaffolding erected by London-based Beacon Scaffolding at a block of flats in Hemel Hempstead. Self-employed decorator David Currie, 48, suffered a fractured arm and dislocated shoulder in the 6 November 2012 incident.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Britain: Worker removing glue gets stuck in machine
A ceiling company has been fined for serious criminal safety breaches after a worker required skin grafts on an arm that had been caught in machinery. Supervisor Paul Turney, 61, was removing hardened-on glue from the lower roller spindle on a laminator machine when his left arm was caught in the drive mechanism at CEP Ceiling Ltd’s premises in Stafford on 21 January 2013; his forearm was caught in the intermeshing metal gears, which chewed up a large chunk of tissue.
HSE news release and machinery safety webpages • Express and Star • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Britain: Agency worker injured in poorly guarded machine
A Welwyn Garden City manufacturing firm has been prosecuted after an agency worker suffered a hand injury when clearing a blockage on a poorly-guarded palletiser machine. The 33-year-old worker, who does not wish to be named, was attempting to restart a machine at Sika Ltd’s factory after dealing with the blockage when his right hand was struck by a moving part.
HSE news release and manufacturing webpages • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Bangladesh: Fearful Rana Plaza survivors return to factories
Less than year on from Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, which claimed over 1,100 lives, most of the survivors of the tragedy have had no choice but to return to industry despite ill-health and dread of another collapse. Many complain of panic attacks, headaches and nightmares, but most of the workers in Rana Plaza were young women from rural backgrounds with no possibility of finding work, or sometimes even enough food, near their home villages.
The Guardian • Risks 647 • 22 March 2014

Hazards news, 15 March 2014

Britain: Government sure to fail on zero hours
Proposals from ministers on zero hours contracts will fail to stem the widespread exploitation of workers, the TUC has said in its response to a government consultation. The TUC submission highlights how zero hours work is dogged by low pay, under-employment, and job and income insecurity.
TUC news release and consultation submission • The Guardian •
More on the health and safety risks of insecure employment •
The TUC is organising Fair Pay Fortnight from Monday 24 March to Sunday 6 April. It will be a series of events across England and Wales to raise awareness about falling living standards • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Britain: Unite demands answers following Crossrail fatality
Unite has called for an urgent meeting with Crossrail contractor BFK so the company can explain the circumstances surrounding the first fatality on the £15 billion construction project. The Metropolitan Police Service confirmed the worker who died on Friday 7 March was 43-year-old Slovakian national Rene Tkacik, who was employed by a Crossrail subcontractor.
Unite news release • London Evening Standard • Construction Enquirer • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Global: Call for full disclosure in science research
The selective promotion of scientific research to steer policy-making is a murky business, particularly as “the battle for the ear of the piper between big business and the ‘little guy’, who is often affected by pollution or hazardous substances, is so asymmetric,” a Nature editorial has warned. It cites the ongoing controversy in the US over a much delayed occupational silica dust exposure standard, noting: “Rather than challenging [safety regulator] OSHA for requesting conflict-of-interest disclosures, US politicians should be asking why all federal agencies do not require them.”
Full disclosure: Regulatory agencies must demand conflict-of-interest statements for the research they use. Editorial, Nature, 507, issue 7490, page 8, 6 March 2014 • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Global: Chemical industry manipulating EU-US trade talks
A leaked document from the December 2013 round of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations exposes the extent of chemical industry influence over secretive ongoing US-EU trade negotiations, independent researchers have found. Their report says chemical industry proposals to TTIP would have a ‘chilling effect’ on the regulatory environment, slowing down the implementation of precautionary decisions on toxic chemicals, undermining democratic decision-making and stifling the innovation of safer alternatives.
Toxic partnership: A critique of the ACC-CEFIC proposal for trans-Atlantic cooperation on chemicals, ClientEarth/CIEL’s joint report, March 2014. Leaked document from the December 2013 round of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations • TUC Touchstone blog • The Guardian • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Britain: RMT forces government admission on sewage
The rail union RMT has stepped up its demands for urgent government action to end the dumping human sewage on the railway tracks, saying it has the extent of the practice by train companies was unknown by ministers. Questions tabled by members of the union’s parliamentary group revealed a quarter of trains with toilets on board do have retention tanks and are discharging raw sewage.
RMT news release • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Britain: Ineos ‘likely’ to have unfairly sacked union rep
Petrochemicals giant Ineos needs to start treating its workforce with respect and ensuring no trade union officials are victimised, the union Unite has said. The union call came after an interim employment tribunal last week ruled in favour of sacked Grangemouth convenor Mark Lyon.
Unite news release • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Britain: Tata Steel in six figure payout to injured worker
An employee at a Tata Steel plant in Wales has secured £235,000 in compensation after a serious incident at work which almost cost him his leg. The 54-year-old Unite member was unable to work for a year and has since been seconded into a different, less physically demanding position within the company.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Britain: Deadly Network Rail slammed for victim blaming
A call from MPs for an end to Network Rail’s bonus culture has been welcomed by rail union TSSA. The House of Commons transport select committee last week also condemned the rail giant’s deadly blame the victim approach on level crossing safety, an observation that prompted an apology from Network Rail for its “past failings in managing public safety at level crossings and for its past behaviour towards bereaved families.”
TSSA news release • Transport Select Committee news releases on the report and Network Rail’s apology • Network Rail news release • BBC News Online • ITV News. Telegraph • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Britain: Firefighting at risk from funding cuts
Fire authorities across England and Wales are at “crisis point” as government funding cuts have left them unable to respond to national emergencies, local authorities have warned. The Local Government Association (LGA) services management committee chair Kay Hammond said its modelling “shows that further funding cuts in 2015/16 and beyond could start to impact on their ability to deliver this effective firefighting, rescue operations and community safety.”
FBU news release • LGA news release and report • Morning Star • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Britain: Government nudges up asbestos cancer payouts
Victims of the fatal asbestos-induced cancer mesothelioma who can’t trace a liable employer or an employers’ liability insurer will from April be able to apply for compensation packages worth an average of £123,000. The payouts, which have been increased by the government after criticism from victims’ groups, are still 20 per cent short of the average from a normal civil claim.
DWP news release • Irwin Mitchell news release • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Britain; School caretaker died from asbestos cancer
A man from who spent years working as a caretaker in schools across Hampshire died as a result of asbestos exposure, an inquest has fund. Graham Gale died aged 62 on 24 November last year.
Daily Echo • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Britain: Bar worker lies in pub lift incident
An investigation has been launched following the death of a young bar worker after an incident at a pub in Swansea. Bars are not subject to preventive unannounced health and safety inspections under the government’s deregulatory plans.
South Wales Evening Post • BBC News Online • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Britain: Worker was crushed to death in a warehouse
A Midlands heating, ventilation and air conditioning manufacturer has been fined £150,000 after a worker was crushed to death while working in its warehouse. Ronald Meese, 58, a production supervisor for Roberts-Gordon Europe Ltd, died when one a stack of metal tubes, weighing a tonne, collapsed onto him.
HSE news release and warehousing webpages • Express and Star • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Britain: Reversing van killed painter
A Preston building firm has been convicted of criminal safety offences and fined £130,000 over the death of a worker outside a cinema in Ashton-on-Ribble. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted EMC Contracts Ltd after father-of-one Carl Green was struck by a reversing van in a paved area outside the entrance to the Odeon Cinema on 27 July 2010.
HSE news release and workplace transport webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Britain: Contractor convicted after causing concrete burns
A builder has been convicted of a criminal safety offence after two labourers sustained second degree chemical burns after working knee-deep in wet concrete for more than four hours at a development in south-west London. Principal contractor Geoffrey Cinko, 55, was convicted of a criminal safety offence and fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £10,000 in costs.
HSE news release • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Global: The human cost of your new phone
Before you buy a new laptop, phone or tablet you should think about the effect on those who make them. Overwhelmingly your electronic gizmos are not produced in well-regulated economies with strong unions; the risks in their manufacture have been exported.
Who pays the price? Human costs in electronics – see the film and the facebook page • TUC Stronger Unions blog • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Australia: Power union presses defibrillator case
An Australian power company is being urged to roll out lifesaving defibrillators immediately, bringing safety standards for their predominantly rural and regional workforce in line with urban power companies. The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) in New South Wales commissioned independent research that found portable defibrillators provide an effective, affordable, reliable method to prevent accidental deaths among the thousands of workers who carry out dangerous maintenance and repair work on the state’s electricity poles and wires.
ETU news release • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Bangladesh: Firms complete first independent inspections
Garment factories in Bangladesh have faced their first independent safety audits since the union-brokered safety accord took effect. The newly published reports of the first inspections identified widespread safety shortcomings in garment factories, including the need to reduce the total load in certain areas through moving material, stock, or supplies and improvements to electrical safety and maintenance procedures.
IndustriALL news release • UNI news release • New York Times • Financial Post • Risks 646 • 15 March 2014

Hazards news, 8 March 2014

Britain: Unpaid hours now at record levels
Employees across the UK worked a record amount of unpaid overtime last year, with over 5.4 million workers putting in around £640m worth for free every week, according to the TUC. The TUC analysis shows that the number of people regularly doing unpaid hours at work increased by 331,000 last year to 5.42m – the biggest annual rise since comparable records began in 1998.
TUC news release • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Britain: Record teaching hours are ‘unsustainable’
The hours worked by teachers have soared under the current government, a Department for Education (DfE) study has found. The embarrassing for ministers findings of the Teachers' Workload Diary Survey 2013, smuggled out on a Friday evening without the usual news release, have led to calls from teaching unions for an urgent reduction in the demands on staff.
Teachers' Workload Diary Survey, DfE, 28 February 2014. NUT news release and summary of the DfE survey findings • NASUWT news release • ATL news release • Daily Mirror • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Britain: London fire cuts claim their first victim
Firefighters have accused the Mayor of London of having “blood on his hands” after a Woolwich pensioner lost his life following a house fire less than two months after his local fire station closed. Maurice Cunliffe, 83, died in the early hours of Thursday 27 February, four days after being pulled semi-conscious from a fire in his flat.
FBU news release • Daily Express • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Britain: Unions vow 'war' on driverless trains
Rail unions have vowed to resist plans to introduce driverless trains on the London Underground. Transport for London (TfL) has begun a tendering process for what it calls the New Tube for London. Bob Crow, general secretary of rail union RMT, said: “The RMT will not allow Tube safety to be sacrificed on the altar of driverless operation and we are geared up and ready to go to war on this one.”
ASLEF news release • BBC News Online • Wandworth Guardian • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Britain: UNISON attacks government’s sick ‘obsession’
Public sector union UNISON has attacked the government's ‘obsession’ with sickness rates, after figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that days lost due to sickness absence fell from 178 million in 1993 to 131 million in 2013. The union's head of health and safety Tracey Harding said: “These figures show the folly of this government's obsession with absence rates, rather than focusing on the underlying work-related health and safety issues.”
UNISON news release and guide, Making us better: Organising for health & safety: Sickness absence agreement: a guide for branches and safety representatives • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Britain: Unite calls for action on helicopter safety
A Unite petition signed by thousands of workers was submitted to the Scottish parliament, urging MSPs to help restore ‘shattered confidence’ in offshore helicopter safety. The move coincided with a 27 February Scottish parliamentary debate led by MSP Richard Baker, in support of Unite’s ‘Back Home Safe’ campaign.
Unite news release • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Britain: UNISON backs school asbestos management review
An ‘overdue’ review of asbestos management in schools has been welcomed by UNISON. The Department for Education (DfE) launched the policy review after it was confirmed that children are particularly vulnerable to the dangers of asbestos. The consultation, which closes at the end of March, followed extensive lobbying by the Joint Union Asbestos Campaign and the Asbestos in Schools Group - two groups in which UNISON plays a central role.
UNISON news release • Asbestos management in schools: DfE policy review • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Britain: Shopworkers need protection from violence
Shopworkers’ union Usdaw has welcomed new guidelines to help protect the retail sector's three million employees from violence, launched this week by the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Usdaw general secretary John Hannett also welcomed “the BRC's continued backing for our Freedom from Fear campaign, which seeks to prevent violence, threats and abuse against shopworkers.”
Usdaw news release • Tackling violence against staff: Best practice guidelines for retailers, BRC • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Britain: ‘Predatory’ Amazon receives an unwelcome delivery
On 28 February, Amazon’s UK headquarter received an unwelcome delivery of its own. Campaigners handed over a 56,000-strong petition calling on the firm to pay its workers a living wage. Petition organiser Emily Kenway of the Amazon Anonymous campaign said: “Amazon’s 3-points-and-you’re-out disciplinary system comes under fire in many of these testimonies, with points doled out for work-related injuries and traffic accidents.”
TUC Stronger Unions blog • AFL-CIO now blog • Amazon Anonymous campaign • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Britain: Self-employed plan is unjustified and its ‘dangerous’
The government’s plan to exempt most self-employed from coverage by safety laws is unjustified and ‘dangerous’, safety professionals’ organisation IOSH has said. The safety body was commenting on clause 1 of the government’s Deregulation Bill, which seeks to remove ‘burdens’ on most self-employed workers by exempting them from health and safety law.
IOSH blog • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Britain: Rig shuts down after North Sea worker dies
An oil worker has died after falling into the water from a North Sea platform. George Bartlett, from Shotts in Lanarkshire, fell from the Taqa’s Harding platform, which is about 200 miles north east of Aberdeen, during “maintenance activity” on 27 February.
Taqa statement • BBC News Online and update • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Britain: Worker was crushed to death on hospital site
A major London firm has been ordered to pay more than £250,000 in fines and costs for criminal safety failings after a worker was killed by a large concrete beam during a dangerous lifting operation in strong winds at a hospital construction site. Guilherme de Oliveira, 44, from Portugal, was working for Bouygues UK Ltd when he sustained fatal crush injuries in the incident at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford on 10 November 2008.
HSE news release and lifting operations webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014.

Britain: Manufacturer fined after acetone burns welder
A welder was seriously burned when an open bowl of highly flammable acetone used to quench hot work at a Didcot manufacturing firm ignited. The 38 year-old employee was in hospital for a week and needed skin grafts after seriously burning his left leg in the incident at Thames Cryogenics Ltd on 23 January 2012.
HSE news release • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Britain: Window cleaning boss fined for insurance failings
The boss of a County Durham window cleaning firm has been fined for failing to prove he held the legally-required insurance that enables employees to claim compensation should they be injured at work. Darlington Magistrates’ Court heard that Jason Mawson was invited by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to voluntarily produce his insurance certificate on a number of occasions but he failed to do so.
HSE news release • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Britain: Are you geared up for 28 April?
Workers’ Memorial Day, the biggest event on the union safety calendar, is fast approaching. So, have you sorted your action kit for 28 April? The Hazards Campaign is providing everything from the poster you stick on the wall to the t-shirt you stick on your back.
Posters: free (A3 and A4 available). Stickers: £1 for a single sticker, £0.50 each for 2-10, and £0.25 each for 11-100, with bigger discounts for bigger orders. Lapel stickers: £1 for a single sticker, £0.50 each for 2-10, and £0.25 each for 11-100. Car stickers: £1 each, £30 per 100. Purple ribbons: £0.30 each, £30 per 100. T-shirts: in s, m, l, xl, xxl, xxxl. £6. Order from the Hazards Campaign, Windrush Millennium Centre, 70 Alexandra Road, Manchester M16 7WD. Tel: 0161 636 7557. Email: info@hazardscampaign.org.uk • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Europe: Get out, don’t be taken in on 28 April
Europe’s senior trade union health and safety official has said workers should not be taken in by ‘false sentiments’ on Workers’ Memorial Day, as official bodies have no intention of ‘walking the talk’ the rest of the year. Laurent Vogel, of the European TUC’s research unit, said: “Death by work is an ongoing reality determined by the pursuit of profit, flexibility, a lack of democracy in the workplace… Deregulation policies are deepening these inequalities.”
TUC Stronger Unions blog and Workers’ Memorial Day 2014 webpages • ITUC/Hazards 28 April global webpages and facebook page • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Global: Pressure grows on global brands
Over 70 labour rights groups and trade unions have signed up to a joint statement calling on global clothing brands that source from Bangladesh to pay into the Rana Plaza Donor Trust Fund. They say the money will ensure the survivors and families of victims of the devastating collapse receive the much needed support they need.
Clean Clothes Campaign news release, joint statement and list of signatories. Rana Plaza Donor Trust Fund • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

New Zealand: Workers won't drive asbestos trains
Union members won't be working on 40 new asbestos containing KiwiRail trains until all the deadly material has been removed, rail workers’ union RMTU has said. Some KiwiRail freight services were cancelled after asbestos was found in a paint sample on the China-made trains.
RMTU NZ news release • New Zealand Herald • MSN NZ • TVNZ • Radio NZ • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Qatar: Call for ‘kafala amnesty’ after gas tragedies
Workers injured in a gas leak and a separate deadly gas explosion at a local restaurant in Doha should be given a ‘kafala amnesty’ and the option to change employers or leave the country with their end of service benefits, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has said. The kafala system used in Qatar strips migrant workers of their right to change jobs or leave the country without their employer’s permission.
ITUC news release • Risks 645 • 8 March 2014

Hazards news, 1 March 2014

Britain: Self-employed exemption gets even scarier
The government’s plans to exempt most self-employed workers from safety law is a really bad idea that has just got even worse, the TUC’s head of safety has warned.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

USA: Free pizza after Chevron fracking explosion kills
One hundred residents of a tiny Pennsylvania town where a fracking well exploded into a deadly tower of flame, killing one person and burning for five days, have received an apology in the form of a pizza coupon. Chevron Appalachia Community Outreach sent local residents a certificate that entitles them to a large meal (‘Special Combo Only’) from Bobtown Pizza following the 11 February tragedy.
TUC Touchstone blog • Pittburgh Post Gazette • ABC News • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Britain: ‘Frightening’ list is peppered with deadly omissions
Self-employed workers, some in industries well known for their deadly record, are to be excluded from health and safety law under a draft government plan. A TUC analysis of the three most recent Health and Safety Executive (HSE) month fatality reports found most could be in occupations not included in the government’s draft ‘prescribed’ list of self-employed jobs to remain subject to health and safety law.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Britain: Sickness decline disproves ‘sickie culture’ claims
A dramatic decline in the number of days lost to sickness absence explodes the lie that Britain has a ‘sickie culture’, the TUC said. The union body was speaking out after figures released this week by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showed that the average number of days lost to sickness absence has fallen by almost 40 per cent since 1993.
TUC news release • ONS statistics on sickness absence • The Guardian • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Russia: Pilots locked in dogfight with Aeroflot bosses
Aeroflot pilots are being left out in the cold following a long-standing safety dispute between their union and the management, with three union leaders now threatened with jail. The Equal Times online journal reports that Russia’s biggest airline carrier is under intense pressure from labour rights groups who say the company is putting lives at risk by refusing to listen to the safety concerns of pilots.
Equal Times • Sign up to the LabourStart online campaign to call for the release of Shlyapnikov, Pimoshenko and Knysho • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Britain: Public sector women bear unpaid overtime burden
The number of staff doing unpaid overtime has gone up in the public sector over the last decade, but has held steady in the private sector, according to a new analysis of official figures by the TUC.
TUC news release and Work Your Proper Hours webpage • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Europe: ‘Better lawmaking’ in Europe is much worse
A European Parliament resolution agreed in early February has undermined worker protection and “let us down badly,” the TUC has said. According to TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson: “Of course this has all played right into the hands of Cameron and the anti-regulatory wing of the Commission who are doing his bidding and will make it even more likely that the new Commission, due to be appointed shortly, will also take up the deregulation agenda.”
TUC Strong Unions blog • European Parliament resolution • Find out how your MEP voted • ‘We love red tape’ facebook page • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Britain: Shock drop in construction inspections in Wales
A drop in the number of official safety spot checks on building sites in Wales could lead to workers being put at risk, construction union UCATT has warned. The union was commenting after figures obtained by BBC Wales revealed that inspections by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the last financial year were down 35 per cent.
UCATT news release • BBC News Online • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Britain: ‘Cosmetic’ schools survey to ignore asbestos
A survey of schools in England that will ignore asbestos will leave staff and pupils at risk, unions have warned.
UNISON news release • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Britain: Bullying Bedford Council even worse than anticipated
A stress and harassment survey of GMB members employed at Bedford Council has found the problem to be even worse than originally feared. The survey conducted in December 2013 and January 2014 was undertaken by the union after it received an increase in calls from members claiming they had been bullied and unfairly treated.
GMB news release • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Britain: Injured prison worker wins landmark liability case
A prison catering manager seriously injured when an inmate dropped a 25kg (55lb) sack of food on her has had her compensation bid backed by top judges. Susan Cox's legal union team argued on appeal the prison service was liable for the inmate's actions in the same way that it would be responsible for the negligence of any employee.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • BBC News Online • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Britain: Worker suffered horrific injuries in explosion
A Worcestershire engineering firm has been fined for safety crimes after a worker lost both his legs in a factory blast. Clive Dainty, from Kidderminster, was working at Filtration Service Engineering Ltd (FSE) on 8 December 2011 when a 335-litre vessel exploded as it was being pressure tested.
HSE news release and pressure testing guide • Express and Star • BBC News Online • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Britain: Unite warning on claims management rip off
Unite is taking a professional negligence claim against two high street law firms who failed a former food worker with industrial deafness. The law firms, acting for a claims management company, were engaged after the former Northern Foods employee and Unite retired member responded to a radio ad by a company offering to investigate deafness cases.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Britain: Civil enforcement officer hit by dangerous driver
A civil enforcement officer from Leeds has received compensation after she was hit by a car while on duty. UNISON member Jane Cannan was walking down a road in Otley in West Yorkshire when a Land Rover driver lost control as he parked the vehicle.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Britain: Pilots back helicopter safety plan
Helicopter pilots operating around Britain's shores and represented by the British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) have welcomed wide-ranging recommendations made in the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) review of helicopter operations.
BALPA news release • CAA news release • The Scotsman • BBC News Online and related story • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Britain: Bid to reclaim NHS asbestos costs in Scotland
The medical costs of treating people in Scotland who suffer from diseases linked to asbestos could be reclaimed under a new bill. Campaigners have said NHS Scotland spends more than £20m a year diagnosing and treating people from the effects of exposure to asbestos.
Evening Times • Daily Record • Herald Scotland • BBC News Online • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Britain: Attempted citizen’s arrest of blacklist boss
The Blacklist Support Group has attempted to serve a Citizen’s Arrest Warrant on Callum McAlpine, the first ever chair of the covert and illegal blacklister the Consulting Association. The arrest bid on Friday 21 February - the fifth anniversary of the raid on the Consulting Association by the Information Commissioner’s Office - took place at the Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd London offices.
Reel News coverage • Blacklist blog • Morning Star • Construction Enquirer.
Families Against Blacklisting Group, facebook page • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Britain: Suspended jail term after bricklayer is paralysed
A Lincoln builder has been handed a four-month suspended prison sentence after a self-employed bricklayer broke his back in two places in a three metre fall from faulty scaffolding. Robert Wilkin, 70, was left paralysed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair following the incident at a warehouse in North Hykeham on 14 February 2013.
HSE news release and construction webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 644 • 1 March 2014

Hazards news, 22 February 2014

Britain: Firms should be sympathetic to flood victims
The TUC is urging employers to be sympathetic to the problems being faced by the thousands of employees affected by flooding.
TUC news release and guide, Health and Safety in the Aftermath of Flooding • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Tanzania: Deaths mine 'had a fantastic year'
At the launch of the African Barrick Gold plc (ABG) 2013 financial results, chief executive officer Brad Gordon said that its North Mara gold mine in Tanzania “had a fantastic year last year.” The company, though, made no mention of the multiple deaths and injuries to local villagers that have occurred over the past year, including four deaths at the mine in the past month alone.
Leigh Day news release • ABG news release • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Britain: TUC warning on fracking dangers
Known dangers of shale gas exploitation and the poorly understood risks of fracking processes mean the industry must be tightly regulated, the TUC has warned. In a submission to an inquiry by the House of Lords select committee on economic affairs it notes “there are very limited data regarding occupational health hazards from exposure to the chemicals, proppants and processes used in high volume hydro-fracking.”
TUC news release and TUC response to House of Lords shale gas/fracking inquiry • The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee inquiry into the Economic Impact of Shale Gas and Oil on UK Energy Policy • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Global: Industrial chemicals are damaging our brains
Industrial chemicals including some common pesticides and solvents may be behind the increasing number of cases of neurodevelopmental disabilities among children, researchers warn. Philippe Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Philip Landrigan, Dean for Global Health at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York, concluded voluntary controls are not working, and a precautionary approach should be adopted internationally to stem the “silent epidemic” of neurological and other disorders caused by chemical exposures.
Philippe Grandjean, and Philip J Landrigan. Neurobehavioural effects of developmental toxicity, The Lancet Neurology, volume 13, issue 3, pages 330-338, March 2014, published online ahead of print 14 February 2014 [Summary] • Common Dreams • CNN News • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Britain: PCS calls for end to ‘demeaning work tests’
The government’s ‘demeaning’ fitness for worker tests should be scrapped and Atos, the private contractor conducting them, should be sacked, Jobcentre union PCS has said. Commenting ahead of a 19 February national day of action against Atos called by disability groups, PCS said support to help sick and disabled people find work if they can should be brought back in-house.
PCS news release • Unite news release • DPAC news release • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Britain: Safety probe at Alder Hey construction site
Construction union UCATT has welcomed a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) announcement that it is to conduct inspections on the £237m Alder Hey Hospital site in Liverpool. The HSE’s decision to inspect comes a week after UCATT raised safety concerns about the site.
UCATT news release • Liverpool Echo • BBC News Online • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Qatar: We can prevent the World Cup carnage
If the 2022 Qatar World Cup organisers thought they would escape scrutiny by publishing revised Workers’ Safety Standards last week - and misleadingly claiming they had the backing of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) - they were wrong. The Observer reported last Sunday that 400 Nepalis had died in Qatar in the last year, a finding followed up by statistics obtained from the Indian Embassy in Qatar that revealed more than 450 Indian migrants had died in Qatar in the last two years.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • ITUC news release • BWI news release • ILO news release • The Guardian • The Observer • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Britain: Safety cuts ‘calculated on the back of an envelope’
Government cuts to proactive Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspections were imposed without an impact assessment and without any investigation of increased risks to workers or the general public, the construction union UCATT has found. Both DWP and HSE said they did not hold the information requested.
UCATT news release • Morning Star • Low life, Hazards online report, January 2013 • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Britain: Jack failure led to career-ending facial injury
A welder from Manchester suffered a facial fracture so severe it ended his career and left him on benefits and needing to wear a prosthetic mask when outdoors. The 49-year-old Unite member, whose name has not been released but who has receive a £500,000 payout, was working for the Hulme Group repairing commercial vehicles when a hydraulic jack he was using to hold the metal in place gave way and struck him in the face.
Thompsons news release • Manchester Evening News • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Britain: RMT repeats its opposition to driverless trains
Rail union RMT has said driverless trains will not come to the London Underground. London mayor Boris Johnson has raised repeatedly the prospect of driverless trains, but the RMT general secretary Bob Crow said “it’s not going to happen.” He said driverless trains were unsafe and unsuited to the Victorian rail system.
BBC News Online • London Evening Standard • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Britain: ‘Outrageous’ vessel held over safety concerns
A union ship inspector has criticised conditions onboard a Panamanian-flagged vessel detained in the UK over safety and welfare concerns. Tommy Molloy, who inspects ships for the union Nautilus and global union ITF, said the conditions onboard the livestock carrier Express 1, owned by Sun Light Shipping Co SA, were ‘outrageous’.
Nautilus news release • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Britain: Violence at work isn’t going away
The long term drop in violent incidents at work has stalled over the last four years, latest statistics for England and Wales have confirmed, with violent incidents rising by 1 per cent last year. Findings from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) confirmed that in 2012/13 the risk of being a victim of actual or threatened violence at work had plateaued, with an estimated 1.4 per cent of working adults the victims of one or more violent incidents at work.
HSE alert • Violence at work: Findings from the 2012/13 Crime Survey for England and Wales • CSEW news release • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Britain; Tipper driver crushed to death at concrete block plant
Concrete block manufacturer Plasmor (Halton) has been fined £100,000 after a worker was crushed to death when a tipper truck overturned. David Astley, 56, was crushed when a trailer full of limestone dust fell on him at the Widnes plant as it was being emptied on 13 July 2013.
HSE news release and transport webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Britain: Farming firm in court after wetland deaths
A Cambridgeshire farming partnership has been sentenced for a criminal safety offence following the death of a student undertaking pest control work. Trainee gamekeeper Luke Yardy, 17, drowned in a lake at Kingfishers Bridge Wetland in Wicken on 11 September 2011 when he fell from a small boat while trying to retrieve the carcass of a culled goose; his step-brother, Ashley, also drowned while attempting a rescue.
HSE news release • Cambridge News • BBC News Online • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

France: Cancer plan includes workplace prevention push
The French government’s new national cancer prevention plan includes an explicit aim to reduce the toll of occupational cancer through regulation, enforcement and substitution. Objective 12 of the action plan for 2014-2019 is ‘Preventing cancers related to work or the environment.’
President François Hollande’s news release (in French) • Plan Cancer 2014-2019, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, February 2014 (in French) • EU-OSHA news report • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Britain: Engineer and firm fined over crush deaths
A building firm and an engineer have been fined after two workers died when a wall collapsed on them at a building site in Suffolk. Matthew Skeet, 19, and Kevin Ruffles, 57, died at Worlingworth on 21 October 2010. Elliston Steady & Hawes (Building) was fined £45,000 and Barry Potts, 65, fined £15,000 at Ipswich Crown Court.
Suffolk Police news release • East Anglian Daily Times • BBC News Online • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Britain; Security firm fined for generator death failings
Security company Anchor Services (GB) Limited has been fined for criminal safety failings after a lone working security guard was killed by carbon monoxide fumes from a petrol generator. Arthur Ebirim, 45, was overcome by the killer gas on 28 October 2011 as he kept a night-time watch over a disused nursing home in Taunton Vale, Gravesend, that was awaiting demolition.
HSE news release • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Britain: Cold storage firm done for multiple failings
A Nottinghamshire cold storage firm, Dawson Rental Portable Cold Storage Ltd, has been fined for criminal safety failings after one worker was injured by falling equipment and several others developed a disabling condition of the nerves and joints.
HSE news release and vibration webpages • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Britain: What will you be doing on 28 April?
The TUC webpages for Workers’ Memorial Day on 28 April 2014 are now up, ready and waiting to list your planned activities. The TUC 28 April webpage notes: “The TUC believes that we should use the day to highlight the need for strong regulation at national, European and global level.”
TUC Workers’ Memorial Day, 28 April 2014 webpages. If you know of any union 28 April events, email details to the TUC health and safety department • Risks 643 • 22 February 2014

Hazards news, 15 February 2014

Britain: ILO investigates UK’s pared back inspection system
The UK government has been asked by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to explain its decision to abandon preventive health and safety inspections in most workplaces. The move follows a complaint from the TUC, which told the global labour standards body the new inspection regime does not comply with ILO standards.
Report of the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of International Labour Standards 2014 • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Britain: Government cuts have hobbled the flood response
Communities secretary Eric Pickles has found himself at the centre of a storm entirely of his own making after attempting to blame the Environmental Agency’s (EA) chronically over-stretched, exhausted and rapidly dwindling number of staff for some of the country’s flooding woes. Prospect deputy general secretary Leslie Manasseh said “the people who are working day and night to prevent flooding – our members in the Environment Agency – will see their revenue budgets cut from £275m in 2010 to £226m in 2014/15,” adding: “Who will maintain these defences if the agency's revenue budgets are cut?”
Prospect news release • UNISON news release • The Guardian • BBC News Online and related story • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Britain: UNISON vows to continue the fight for justice
The union UNISON has vowed to appeal after its court challenge to “punitive” employment tribunal fees was rejected by High Court judges. The fees introduced on 29 July last year mean workers can be required to pay up to £1,200 for taking a tribunal complaint about issues including victimisation for workplace safety activities.
UNISON news release • Morning Star • Personnel Today • Irwin Mitchell news release • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Britain: Justice could be denied in Scotland
The Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) has said it is “deeply disappointed” that victims of work-related injury and illness in Scotland are going to be denied a new, more efficient route to redress with proper representation. Commenting on newly announced provisions of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Bill, STUC general secretary Grahame Smith said:: “Having been initially led to believe that the reforms would allow victims the choice of having their case heard in the new specialist Personal Injury Court, we now understand that for many, possibly the majority, this facility will be denied.”
STUC news release • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Britain: Civil servants irate at unfair appraisal scheme
Britain's most senior tax officials say they have been forced to resort to industrial action over the imposition of new employee appraisals that require one in 10 revenue workers to be designated as underperformers regardless of how good they are at their jobs. Leaders of the senior civil servants union FDA have told the chief executive of HMRC, Lin Homer, they fear their members will be penalised if they do not identify 10 per cent of staff who need improvement.
FDA news release • The Guardian • More on performance appraisal • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Britain: Yorkshire ambulance staff need a break
The union Unite is demanding an independent inquiry by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) into a long-running Yorkshire ambulance dispute over a plan to impose new shift patterns for paramedics and ambulance staff as part of a package of cuts. Unite’s 375 members, who have been involved in a programme of industrial action related to the changes, say the imminent introduction of elongated shift patterns could mean staff are required to work 10 hours without a meal break.
Unite news release • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Britain: College sick pay plan ‘adds insult to injury’
Six unions representing staff in further education (FE) colleges have rejected a new sick pay scheme drawn up by the Association of College (AoC) employers. A joint statement from the unions notes that “after lengthy deliberation and consultation, there is a consensus that the final offer on sick pay is unjustified and unacceptable.”
UNISON news release • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Britain: Betting shop union wants action on lone working
Betting shop workers must not be compelled to work on their own, their union Community has said. Following a parliamentary debate last week on single staffing in bookmakers’ shops, the union called on the industry to engage with the union, government and MPs on the issue.
Community news release • BBC News Online • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Britain: Sick slant is first mistake for the work health service
A new body which aims to get the long-term sick back to work more quickly in England, Wales and Scotland must have its focus on improving health not reducing sickness costs, the TUC has said. The union body was speaking out after the government announced its Health and Work Service, which from April will accept GP referrals of workers absent for over four weeks.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • DWP news release • BBC News Online • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Britain: Is the return-to-work service a healthy move?
More detail is needed on the planned role of the government’s new return-to-work service with worrying questions remaining about how it will treat sick workers, the union UNISON has indicated. The union is urging its members to take advice from their safety reps and stewards if they are likely to be off sick for lengthy periods of time and don't know when they will be fit to return to work.
UNISON news release and guide to managing sickness absence • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Britain: UK ‘worst’ on workforce mental health support
The UK is the worst performing OECD country when it comes to supporting workforce mental health, a new report has found. ‘Mental health and work: The United Kingdom’, published this week by the OECD, says better policies and practices by employers and the health system are needed to help people deal with mental health issues and get back to work.
The Work Foundation news release • OECD new release and report, Mental Health and Work: The United Kingdom • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Britain: ‘Almost all’ cancer from work could be prevented
Experts on workplace dust and chemical control are pressing a message to government, employers, workers and the public that ‘almost all’ occupational cancers can be prevented. Commenting on the 4 February World Cancer Day, BOHS, the Chartered Society for worker health protection, highlighting “the unacceptably high number of deaths due to occupational cancers”.
BOHS news release • TUC occupational cancer briefing • Global unions ‘Zero Cancer’ campaign • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Britain: Lead poisoner escapes jail
The owner of Nottinghamshire firm LDB Light Alloys Ltd has received a suspended jail term after employees Brook Northey, Paul Collins and Martin Bytheway became seriously ill with lead poisoning. Laurence Dennis Brown, 65, was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months for a criminal safety offenceand also fined £45,000 plus £35,000 costs.
HSE news release and lead webpages • Nottingham Post • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Britain: Stained glass firm caused lead poisoning
The owner of a Lincolnshire stained glass firm has been fined after one of his employees, David Doherty, suffered severe lead poisoning. David Sear, sole owner of Lincolnshire Stained Glass, pleaded guilty to a criminal breach of the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002 and was fined £18,000 with £18,000 costs.
HSE news release • Lancashire Evening Post • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Britain: Recycling firm fined £100,000 for worker’s death
A Redditch recycling company has been fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £57,927 for criminal safety failings after a worker was killed by a bale of waste weighing more than a tonne. Kenneth Swaby, 43, was struck by the falling bale at R&S Recycling Ltd in Beoley on 11 February 2011.
HSE news release and waste industry and falls webpages • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Britain: TUC’s Work Your Proper Hours Day, 28 February 2014
If staff who regularly work unpaid overtime did all their extra hours from the start of the year they wouldn’t get paid until 28 February 2014. This will be this year’s Work Your Proper Hours Day, celebrating the unsung – and unrewarded – hours that staff put in to help their employers and boost the UK economy.
TUC news release and Work Your Proper Hours Day website • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Bangladesh: Fire factory owners surrender
Two owners of the Tazreen garment factory in Bangladesh where 112 workers died in a fire two years ago have turned themselves in to the authorities. Delwar Hossain and his wife Mahmuda Akter face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
BBC News Online • Times Union • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Brazil: Another death at a World Cup stadium site
Workers at a World Cup stadium in Manaus, Brazil, threatened strike action last week, to add weight to their demand for better conditions following a third construction-related death at the Arena da Amazonia - seven workers have died at World Cup venues in Brazil so far.
Globe and Mail • ITV News • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Russia: Sochi snow is tainted with workers’ blood
Russia’s Sochi Winter Olympics have been organised at a deadly cost, global building unions’ federation BWI has said. “There is blood in the snows of Sochi and the impunity of workers’ exploitation has to stop,” BWI said in a statement, adding: “The most expensive Games in history is also the deadliest for building workers.”
BWI news release • TUC Stronger Unions news release • Risks 642 • 15 February 2014

Hazards news, 8 February 2014

Britain: Ineos sacks stressed union rep while he’s at the docs
The union Unite is taking legal action over the “grotesque” treatment of a prominent Ineos union rep fired “on trumped up charges” while he visited his doctor. Mark Lyon, who Unite say is suffering from a serious stress-related illness as a result of his treatment by the company, was dismissed this week after Ineos said he had not stopped the union from commenting over fears of job losses at the Scottish plant.
Unite news release • BBC News Online • The Herald • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: GMB wins care home rest breaks case
A care worker has won a GMB-backed legal case after being denied rest breaks at work. Alan Hood, who has worked for Consett-based Accept Care Limited since 2007, complained that the company failed regularly to provide him with legally required rest breaks. His complaints were upheld at a Newcastle employment tribunal, which found the firm was in breach of the Working Time Regulations.
GMB news release • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: Workers still at risk 10 years on from Morecambe Bay
A decade on from the tragedy at Morecambe Bay which saw 23 Chinese workers lose their lives, vulnerable workers are still at risk of abuse, injury and even death at work, the TUC has warned. TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Instead of reducing the GLA’s ability to protect workers, the biggest testament the government could pay to what happened at Morecambe Bay would be to extend the reach of the GLA so that rogue employers know that there is no hiding place for those who break the law.”
TUC news release • BBC News Online • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: GLA powers are ‘inadequate’, says Unite
The scope and powers of The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) need to be expanded, Unite has said. The union said undetected abuses by gangmasters were the equivalent of ‘modern day slavery’. It said the fact that only seven gangmasters were convicted for operating without a licence in 2013 prompted the Unite call for more GLA investigations and for prosecutors to get tough with rogue gangmasters.
Unite news release • Early Day Motion by Jim Sheridan MP calling for remit of the authority to be extended to other sectors • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: Firefighter deaths caused by organisational failings
The deaths of four firefighters in a 2007 tragedy were the result of a “catalogue of organisational systemic failings” by Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service, a report from the union FBU has found. FBU’s investigation found “severe problems” with risk assessment and planning, the quality of information available to the incident commander, the use of breathing apparatus, and with training, particularly for ‘retained’ or part-time firefighters.
FBU news release and report • BBC News Online • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: No cash, no bash call for London buses
Bus drivers’ union Unite has welcomed a Transport for London (TfL) plan to no longer accept cash payment on board buses, but has warned it must also protect drivers from confrontations with irate passengers. London bus drivers will no longer accept cash payment on board their vehicles when the new measures are introduced this summer.
Unite news release • TfL news release • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: Safety concern about ‘work experience’ apprenticeship
An officially endorsed construction apprenticeship scheme which has advertised a position that would require the successful candidate to undertake arduous unpaid work experience at height presents serious safety concerns, the union UCATT has warned. The union says its officials were told Evolve Apprenticeships had advertised for an apprentice who would initially have to complete two weeks of unpaid work experience and be required to work at heights and carry and lift heavy loads.
UCATT news release • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: UNISON warns against corner cutting
Contracting out of services must not be allowed to lead to a reduction in safety standards, the union UNISON has said. UNISON head of health and safety Tracey Harding told a conference of health and safety managers in Pontefract, Yorkshire, that “you may be able to contract out the work, but you can't contract out the responsibility,” adding that “keeping services in-house is often best for the safety of service users and workers.”
UNISON news release and Don’t cut corners with health and safety poster • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: Knee injury exposed metalworking asthma
A former tool maker has been awarded £33,000 in compensation after he developed occupational asthma from almost two decades of exposure to metalwork fluid mist at a Ford plant in Dagenham. Unite member Ronald Hymans, 60, suffered a knee injury requiring three months off work, during which time his doctor recorded that his breathing improved by a third leading to a diagnosis of occupational asthma.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: Another deadly BP cost cutter gets a top government post
A former oil executive criticised for his role in a deadly BP refinery explosion, and whose last company was fined over 50 health and safety violations connected with fracking, has been appointed to lead the government's Major Projects Authority (MPA). John Manzoni will be responsible for overseeing big-budget projects including the HS2 high-speed rail line and the new nuclear programme, and follows his former BP boss Lord Browne into the Cabinet Office, while former BP Alaska chief John Morgan was appointed by David Cameron to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) board – all three have been criticised in reports and court for corner cutting on safety.
Cabinet Office news release • The Guardian • Financial Times •
Safe hands? BP old boys linked to disasters find favour with the PM, Hazards magazine, number 122, April-June 2013 • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: Network Rail to pay bonuses despite crossings carnage
Network Rail has said it intends to proceed with retention bonuses totalling £900,000 to three executives despite a High Court judge calling for bonuses to be “severely reduced” because of the company’s devastating failings on level crossing safety. TSSA leader Manuel Cortes, who has been strongly critical of the company ‘gravy train’, accused the firm of “hard hearted cynicism” after outgoing chief exec Sir David Higgins said the bonuses would still be paid this April.
TSSA news release • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: HSE backs NHS staff council’s safety role
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has endorsed workplace health and safety standards put forward by the NHS staff council’s health, safety and wellbeing partnership group (HSWPG). “I am pleased that the HSE has been able to assist in the development of the revised workplace health and safety standards,” HSE chair Judith Hackett said.
UNISON news release • HSE Workplace Health and Safety Standards Group. • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: Coastguard stations remain badly understaffed
Coastguard stations across the UK were dangerously understaffed last year, new figures have confirmed. The worst hit areas were staffed below safe levels more than half the time in 2013, data obtained by the broad-based Coastguard SOS campaign group shows.
PCS news release and Coastguard SOS website • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: Safety concerns remain after track worker death
Rail staff are scared they will lose their jobs if they speak out about safety, a BBC investigation has found. BBC’s Inside Out programme examined the death of a contract worker who was hit by a train on the track; Scott Dobson, 26, died near Saxilby, Lincolnshire, in December 2012.
BBC News Online • Inside Out, 3 February 2014 • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: Firm fined £250,000 over worker fall death
A logistics firm has been fined £250,000 after a worker was killed when he fell through a warehouse roof in Wythenshawe. Michael Sweet, 48, from Stockport, was cleaning out the guttering at Aramex (UK) Ltd on the Ringway Trading Estate near Manchester Airport on 12 December 2011 when he stepped on a fragile panel and fell to the concrete floor below.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: Worker died after fall through roof light
Scaffolder Michael Stone, 44, died of his injuries a week after he fell eight metres through a fragile roof light while working on top of a chemical store at a creamery in Cornwall. Dairy Crest Ltd was fined £75,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 costs and Dartmeet Services, the main contractor, was fined £30,000 with £10,000 costs.
HSE news release and roof lights guide • Construction Enquirer • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: Global packaging giant fined for guarding failings
The UK division of a global packaging company has been fined for criminal safety failings after a long-serving worker lost a finger in an unguarded chain on a machine. The 54-year-old from Gosport, who does not want to be named, cut the first finger on his right hand to the bone in the incident at Huhtamaki UK Ltd in Gosport on 4 February 2013.
HSE news release • Portsmouth News • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Britain: Fitting firm fined over brain injury
Bedfordshire fitting company DM Specialist Limited has been fined for criminal safety failings after a worker sustained a serious head injury in a preventable fall from a temporary scaffolding platform in Kensington. Stewart Alazia, 51, fractured his skull and left cheekbone, and was left with bleeding to his brain as a result of the incident on 21 December 2011
HSE news release • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Canada: Work-related breast cancer must be compensated
Compensation authorities in Canada should recognise cases of work-related breast cancer and approve payouts to those affected, a top cancer research has said. Michael Gilbertson, who co-authored a 2012 research paper demonstrating greatly elevated cancer risks in a range of occupations from farm work to metal and plastics manufacture (Risks 583), said: “When the precedent is set, it will be dramatic and will likely revolutionise breast cancer activism and the social movements involved in reform of environmental protection and occupational standards.”
Prevent Cancer Now • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Global: UN agencies call for ‘urgent’ cancer prevention
A global cancer research agency has called for “urgent” action to prevent cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a part of the World Health Organisation (WHO), made the call this week at the launch of its World Cancer Report 2014.
WHO/IARC news release • Stewart BW, Wild CP, editors (2014). World Cancer Report 2014. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer [order details] • BBC News Online • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Thailand: Ministry backs immediate asbestos ban
A ban on asbestos in Thailand could be imminent after the Thai Public Health Ministry (MoPH) last week passed a resolution calling for an immediate prohibition on the use of chrysotile asbestos, the only form of asbestos still legal in the country. Welcoming the government support for an asbestos ban, Thailand Ban Asbestos Network (T-BAN) coordinator Somboon Sreekumdokkae urged politicians and officials to work alongside civil society campaigners.
IBAS news report • Risks 641 • 8 February 2014

Hazards news, 1 February 2014

Britain: Treatment of Jobcentre staff and claimants is ‘intolerable’
Jobcentre workers are facing “intolerable” political pressure including the prospect of disciplinary action if they don’t reduce the number of benefit claimants, their union PCS has said. The union was speaking out after the House of Commons work and pensions select committee urged the government to provide incentives for Jobcentre Plus (JCP) to get people into work, not just off benefits.
Work and Pensions Select Committee news release and report • PCS news release. BBC News Online • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Qatar: The shocking death toll of World Cup migrants
The extent of the risks faced by migrant construction workers building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been laid bare by official documents revealing that 185 Nepalese men died last year alone. The Guardian reports that the 2013 death toll, which is expected to rise as new cases come to light, is likely to spark fresh concern over the treatment of migrant workers in Qatar and increase the pressure on football’s governing body Fifa to force meaningful change.
The Guardian • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Britain: Train drivers need not relive rail death horrors
Train drivers traumatised after someone dies under their train must not be compelled to relive the experience in person at an inquest, their union ASLEF has said. In a meeting with the Chief Coroner of England and Wales, Peter Thornton, ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan said affected train drivers should be allowed to submit written evidence.
ASLEF news report • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Norway: Oil unions pull out of offshore safety group
Unions representing Norwegian offshore oil rig workers have pulled out of an industry-sponsored safety group amid harsh criticism of cutbacks in safety training. The four unions - Fellesforbundet, Industri Energi, Lederne and SAFE - announced last week they have suspended their membership in the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association's Network for Safety and Emergency Response Training (NSOB), which was established in the wake of the 1980 Alexander Kielland platform disaster in which 123 people died.
UPI News • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Britain: GMB campaign gets smoky classrooms fixed
The union GMB has won an agreement that will see the risks from an academy school’s faulty biomass boiler remedied. According to the union, faulty flues from the boilers at Bexhill High School have caused smoke to enter classrooms, sparking concerns for the health of those teaching and studying at the school.
GMB news release • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Britain: Protest at dangerous air traffic control cuts
Staff working in NATS, the UK’s air traffic control provider, protested outside the European Commission’s UK office in London on 30 January over fears that cost-cutting will lead to a drop in air traffic management (ATM) standards, service quality, safety and jobs. The protest was against the Single European Sky (SES 2+) proposals to hive-off support services.
Prospect news release • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Britain: MPs urged to act on offshore helicopter safety
The union Unite has told a committee of MPs that offshore workers want reforms to helicopter safety after a series of serious incidents involving 20 fatalities. The House of Commons’ transport select committee inquiry into helicopter safety took evidence from offshore trade unions and industry bodies in Aberdeen on 27-28 January.
Unite news release • STV News • BBC News Online • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Britain: Pilots want better helicopter safety regulation
Britain’s pilots’ union has called for a judicial review to probe helicopter safety problems in the UK sector of the North Sea. Captain Colin Milne, of the helicopter affairs committee of pilots’ union BALPA, told Westminster’s transport select committee the review was needed to examine the amount of control exercised by oil companies on helicopter flights and the role of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in policing offshore safety in the aviation sector.
BALPA news release • Transport Committee news release and inquiry webpage • The Scotsman • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Britain: Stronger laws needed to end blacklisting
Blacklisting of workplace safety reps and activists will only be stamped out if stronger laws are introduced, construction union UCATT has said. Steve Murphy, the union’s general secretary, made the call in evidence last week to the Scottish Affairs select committee as part of its ongoing investigation into blacklisting.
UCATT news release • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Britain: Concern over increase in shop theft
Shopworkers’ trade union leader John Hannett has said he is very concerned by latest official crime survey figures showing a 4 per cent increase in shoplifting, a week after trade group the British Retail Consortium (BRC) revealed a nine year high in shop thefts.
Usdaw news release • Crime Survey for England and Wales • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Britain: Small college trip leads to big pain
A college lecturer who suffered a serious hip injury is a fall at work has received compensation. UCU member Neil Brindley, a college lecturer from Romford, was teaching a class when he stepped on a faulty power supply cover in the floor.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Europe: MEPs criticise inaction on endocrine disruptors
The failure of the European Commission to deliver legislation on endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is alarming, leading members of the Socialists and Democrats grouping (S&D) in the European Parliament have said. An industry lobbying and product defence campaign set out to dissuade the European Commission from acting, and January this year the Commission said it would delay action for a least one year.
S&D group news release • HEAL news release • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Britain: Attack on safety to continue says Cameron
David Cameron has confirmed health and safety will remain a major target of his deregulation drive. He told a business event this week that 800 regulations had already been scrapped, as well as “needless” workplace health and safety enforcement.
Prime Minister’s Office news release and David Cameron’s speech • BIS news release • TUC news release • FSB news release and response to David Cameron’s speech • BCC news release • Morning Star • BBC News Online • The Independent • The Guardian • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Britain: Campaigners and safety professionals slam plan
Safety campaigners and safety professionals have said the prime minister’s continuing attack on workplace safety protections will make work more dangerous and will not benefit business. Louise Taggart of bereaved relatives group Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK) said: “Deregulation and slashing enforcement won’t make workers safer, or protect ordinary people, it’s designed to let corporations and business off the hook.”
IOSH news release • Hazards Campaign news release • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Britain: New guidance on work at heights
New guidance on working at height launched this week by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) forms “part of the government’s long-term economic plan to abolish or improve outdated, burdensome or over-complicated regulations which waste businesses’ time and money,” the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has said.
DWP news release • HSE news release and WAIT toolkit • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Britain: One day, one roof, two falls, one death
Less than seven hours after a worker was seriously injured in a fall from a Stockport industrial unit, a second worker suffered fatal injuries falling from the same roof. The tragedy last week prompted construction union UCATT to warn that workers often lack the confidence to refuse dangerous work.
UCATT news release • Falkirk Herald • Daily Record • Manchester Evening News • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Britain: Roofer paralysed in fall from ladder
Liverpool building firm W Carroll & Sons Ltd has been fined £105,000 after a roofer was paralysed when he fell from a ladder in Southport while carrying a bag of building materials. Michael Riley, 50, from Skelmersdale, now has virtually no movement below his neck and will need to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Britain: Workers poisoned on Channel Tunnel
A total of 32 workers changing rail tracks inside the Channel Tunnel have suffered suspected carbon monoxide poisoning in two incidents on two consecutive nights. A total of 19 workers out of around 60 working overnight in the tunnel were affected on 26 January and taken to hospital, with one welder who was diagnosed with carbon monoxide poisoning reported to be in a serious condition, and a further 13 out of 65 workers were affected the following night and taken to hospital.
The Telegraph • BBC News Online • Construction Enquirer • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Britain: Fires fall in London but deaths are now rising
A sharp decline in fires in London should not lead to complacency, the firefighters’ union FBU has said, pointing to a recent upturn in the number of fire-related deaths. Paul Embery, FBU London secretary, said the fall in the number of fires was “great news”, but warned “there are still over 100,000 incidents taking place every year, and recent cuts mean that our capacity to respond quickly and effectively has taken a big dent.”
LFB news release • FBU news release • London24 • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Britain: Justice after couple hit by asbestos cancer
Lawyers representing a mum-of-four diagnosed with the same fatal asbestos-related disease that killed her husband say a landmark Court of Appeal ruling granting her full compensation is “a restoration of justice” for asbestos victims. Monica Haxton was awarded £700,000.
Irwin Mitchell Solicitors news release • London Evening Standard • Risks 640 • 1 February 2014

Hazards news, 25 January 2014

Britain: Directors must be made accountable
Company directors will pay greater regard to workplace health and safety if there is a prospect they could end up branded safety criminals, the TUC has said. In the latest TUC briefing supporting its 2013 ‘Time for change’ health and safety manifesto, the union body calls for explicit safety duties on directors and notes: “You cannot put a company or local authority in jail if it kills someone.”
TUC Time to Change Health and Safety bulletin – Directors’ Duties [pdf] •
Time for change: A trade union manifesto for reclaiming health and safety at work, TUC, February 2013. Time for change manifesto webpage • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Britain: Derail the Network Rail directors’ gravy train
Massive bonuses for Network Rail’s top bosses should be axed in the wake of level crossing deaths, the union TSSA has said. The rail giant’s director for operations Robin Gisby, finance boss Patrick Butcher and infrastructure head Simon Kirby all receive six-figure salaries and are set to receive a £300,000 bonus top up in April.
TSSA news release • Network Rail news release • Daily Mirror • Morning Star • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Britain: Blacklisting case exposes dangerous loophole
A High Court judge had accepted a UCATT safety rep blacklisted for his safety activities was treated unjustly, but has ruled he has no legal redress because he was an agency employee. Dave Smith, a founder member of the union-backed Blacklist Support Group, was repeatedly dismissed and refused work after his name appeared on The Consulting Association blacklist.
Blacklist blog. CIPD news report •
Smith v Carillion (JM) Ltd & Anor (Contract of Employment : Whether established) [2014] UKEAT 0081_13_1701, 17 January 2014 • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Britain: New concerns about performance management
Civil servants could be unfairly targeted under a new performance management system, the union Prospect has warned. It says the new process could see “line managers under pressure to deliver a forced distribution of performance markings;” adding: “The union fears that if the process is not closely monitored and challenged, it may be used to force managed exits and drive down pay.”
Prospect news release • Hazards performance management guide • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Britain: Unbreakable workers are not the answer
Britain’s civil servants are wilting under the pressure of escalating workloads and the government has an answer – but TUC is far from impressed. The civil service has introduced “resilience training” to help staff cope with the harrowing combination of cutbacks and mounting demands.
TUC critique of resilience in Hazards magazine and facebook safety page • The Guardian • Financial Times • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Britain: BBC slammed for ongoing bullying failures
Workers at the BBC have said they are “disappointed and angry” at the media giant’s failure to abide by recommendations to tackle its bullying culture. A motion from NUJ union reps at the BBC, addressed to director general Tony Hall, was prompted by the corporation’s failure to act on the recommendations of the Dinah Rose review of bullying. NUJ news release • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Britain: Government urged to act on flood dangers
Government reports admit flooding is an increasing problem that is set to get worse, so why are ministers undermining the ability of the emergency services in England and Wales to respond, the leader of the firefighters’ union FBU wants to know. Matt Wrack, writing in the TUC’s Touchstone blog, says the current situation, where there is no duty on the fire and rescue service in England and Wales to respond to major flooding, is “ridiculous.”
Touchstone blog • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Global: Workers bear the brunt of terror attacks
Every terrorist attack is a tragedy for the victims, their families and communities. But Owen Tudor, head of the TUC’s international department, notes “we often lose sight of the fact that many people killed in such attacks are workers going about their daily business.”
TUC Stronger Unions blog • IFJ statement • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Britain: Usdaw worried by rising shop thefts and assaults
Soaring rates of theft from shops are leaving workers facing intolerable levels of violence at work, the shopworkers’ union Usdaw has said. The union was commenting after the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) retail crime survey revealed the number of shop thefts had reached a nine-year high, with a trebling of incidents of violence, threats and abuse against retail staff, which included a four-fold increase in assaults on shopworkers.
Usdaw news release • British Retail Consortium Annual Retail Crime Survey • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Britain: Unequal workplaces are bad for your health
Workplaces with big pay gaps between the highest and lowest wage earners not only suffer more industrial disputes and higher staff turnover, they also make their workers sick. A report by the High Pay Centre found on average workplaces where top earners get eight times the pay of junior staff report at least one case a year of work-related illness, whereas workplaces with pay differentials of 5 or less do not report any.
The High Pay Centre news release and full report: The High Cost of High Pay: An analysis of pay inequality, January 2014 • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Global: Many dusts and fumes cause wheezy diseases
A wide range of dust and fume exposures lead to lung disorders including bronchitis and emphysema, a study has found. The literature review funded by the Danish Working Environment Research Fund found that there is strong and consistent evidence that many dusts and fumes are risk factors for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Ø Omland and others. Occupational chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic literature review. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health, volume 40, number 1, pages 19-35, 2014. OH-world blog • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Britain: Time for HSE to shift on shiftwork dangers
New research showing that night shifts can cause long term damage to health demonstrates the pressing need for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to update its guidance, the TUC has said. TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson said the report reinforced concerns about shiftwork’s links to breast cancer, diabetes, heart attacks and obesity, establishing it as a “major occupational health issue.”
SN Archer and others. Mistimed sleep disrupts circadian regulation of the human transcriptome, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doi/10.1073/pnas.1316335111, 2014.The Scientist • The Guardian • BBC News Online • TUC facebook safety page • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Britain: New rules have led to harsher penalties
Tougher penalties including more custodial sentences are being handed out to employers who breach criminal health and safety laws following a change in the official approach to prosecutions, according to a government report. It says changes introduced under the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008, which include more cases being heard in the lower courts, have resulted in higher fines and more jail terms. DWP news release and report: Health and Safety Act 2008: Post-legislative scrutiny memorandum 16 January 2014 • IOSH news release • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Britain: Firm ‘will never be forgiven’ for apprentice’s death
A Sunderland-based marine engineering firm has been sentenced for criminal safety failings after a teenage apprentice was crushed and killed by a piece of machinery weighing almost a tonne. Jason Burden, 19, from South Shields, was in his fourth year as an apprentice engineer at Tyne Slipway & Engineering Co Ltd (TSECL) at South Dock when a 970kg tunnel thruster from a ship overturned and landed on top of him.
HSE news release and safe maintenance webpage • Sunderland Echo • Shields Gazette • BBC News Online • Hazards dockwork feature • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Britain: Lorry driver crushed unloading heavy parts
A lorry driver was crushed and killed by heavy graphite parts after being allowed to unload his vehicle in a dangerous manner, a court has heard. Turkish national Ahmet Yakar, 52, was struck by parts weighing up to a quarter-of-a-tonne each in the fatal incident at Morganite Electrical Carbon Ltd in Swansea on 19 July 2011.
HSE news release and vehicle loading factsheet • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Britain: Firm fined after repeat recycling plant blunder
A Devon company has been fined after a worker was seriously injured by a reversing vehicle at a recycling centre in Exeter in a near carbon copy of an earlier incident. Exeter Magistrates’ court heard that Leases Limited hired the telehandler in September 2012, but did not have it fitted with a reversing camera.
HSE news release • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Britain: BBC Watchdog does watchdog’s job
An Oldham roofing firm and a company director have appeared in court after being filmed breaking the law by the BBC’s Watchdog programme. Renov8 (North West) Ltd and Darren Potts were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after footage showed workers on top of house roofs using a pressure washer without any measures to stop them slipping and falling to the ground below.
HSE news release and falls webpage • Construction Enquirer • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Theme announced for Workers’ Memorial Day
The theme for Workers’ Memorial Day on 28 April this year will be: 'Protecting workers around the world through strong regulation, enforcement and union rights'. ITUC, the global union body coordinating the event worldwide, says it is also encouraging unions to use the slogan, 'Unions make work safer' on their materials.
For global Workers’ Memorial Day 2014 activities coverage, see the ITUC/Hazards 28 April webpages and facebook page. For UK news, resources and updates, see the TUC 28 April webpages. • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Cambodia: Global brands and unions call for deaths action
International trade union bodies and 30 global brands have joined forces to urge the Cambodian government to investigate the recent use of deadly force against garment workers striking for improved pay. Union bodies IndustriALL, UNI and the ITUC say they are encouraged that brands are taking responsibility for their production and are demanding a change from the Cambodian government.
IndustriALL news release • UNI news release • Joint letter from global unions and global brands to the Cambodian prime minister • Cambodia Daily • The Guardian.
Act Now! Sign up to the Labourstart and union campaign in support of the Cambodian workers • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

China: Shoe factory fire kills at least 16 workers
In the latest devastating workplace fire to hit China, at least 16 workers were killed when a blaze broke out on the afternoon of 14 January at a shoe factory in the eastern coastal city of Wenling, China’s official media has reported. Two of the owners and one manager at Taizhou Dadong Shoes were subsequently taken into custody by the local police pending an investigation into the cause of the fire.
China Labour Bulletin • People’s Daily • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

France: Conflicts of interest scandal hits top agency
The French government should block the appointment of a scientist with undeclared asbestos industry links as the head of the Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health (CESP), the country’s leading public health agency, campaigners have said. In a letter to authorities, the National Association of Asbestos Victims (ANDEVA) said the nomination of Paolo Boffetta as head of France’s top institute of epidemiology and public health must be rescinded.
IBAS news report • RightOnCanada news release • Risks 639 • 25 January 2014

Hazards news, 18 January 2014

Britain: Government-ordered review supports HSE’s role…
The TUC and unions have welcomed the recommendations of the Triennial Review into the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which confirms the important role the regulator plays in reducing injury and ill health caused by work. This review, authored by a government-selected business lob by group leader, is the fourth to examine the health and safety system since 2010, following the Young and Loftsedt reports and the “Red tape” challenge.
TUC news release • UNISON news release • Prospect news release.
Health and Safety Executive: 3-yearly review of its future as a non-departmental public body, webpage and full report. Mike Penning, Ministerial statement, 9 January 2014 • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Norway: Landmark win on mercury at work
Health workers exposed to mercury were harmed and should be compensated, Norway’s top court has ruled. Former dental nurse Bertha Regine Serigstad took the union-backed case against her government employer all the way to Norway’s Supreme Court.
PSI news report • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: Fact-blind ministers set on ‘commercialising’ HSE
Safety minister Mike Penning is intent on ignoring the fi ndings of the government-commissioned Triennial review, saying the government wants “to go further to introduce reforms of HSE to ensure that it delivers value for money to the taxpayer, whilst ensuring safety for the nation.” Criticising the government announcement, TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson said its last minute government decision to strap the recruitment process for a new HSE chief executive, after interviews had taken place, suggested the government now intended to “appoint someone who will share their zeal for greater commercialisation.”
TUC Stronger Unions blog • UCATT news release • NASUWT news release • Hazards Campaign news release • IER news release • BOHS news release • IOSH news release • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: Business for Britain’s plan is ‘unworkable and unjust’
A report from a right wing group claiming to speak for business and calling for the wholesale removal of workplace protections for millions of British workers has been dismissed by the TUC and the business group representing Britain’s manufacturing firms. The report from Business for Britain, led by the founder of the Conservative-linked TaxPayers’ Alliance, says that workers employed by UK companies that don’t export to Europe should have fewer workplace rights.
TUC news release • Business for Britain news release, and report ‘Setting out the British Option’ • EEF news release • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: Workers must be consulted on HSE changes
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) union Prospect has welcomed the findings of the Triennial Review of the watchdog commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions and says the government must involve workers on any changes to HSE and heed the review’s warnings about the dangers of the 'fee for intervention' model.
Prospect news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: Cleaners treated like ‘third-class’ workers
Cleaners are facing a corrosive mix of workplace hazards, poor employment conditions and disrespect from their colleagues, their union UNISON has said. A UNISON focus group involving NHS cleaners also found the EU working time directive is used to deny cleaners their breaks and identified poor health and safety practices, especially where dangerous chemicals are concerned.
UNISON news release • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: Union concern over unsafe breakdown vehicles
Unsafe AA breakdown vehicles are being kept in service, a union has charged, and is demanding road and workplace safety regulators intervene. GMB, the union for AA roadside and recovery staff, has written to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Driver and Vehicles Standards Agency (DVSA) asking them to intervene.
GMB news release • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: Jail term for online abuser of a reporter
Journalists’ union NUJ has pledged to continue its campaign against bullying of journalists after an online troll was jailed. The union was speaking out following the sentencing of a football supporter for sending a threatening communication to a journalist Angela Haggerty.
NUJ news release • The NUJ guidance for journalists who are victims of online sexism, cyber bullying and online , briefing on online sexism, cyber bullying and online abuse and information on NUJ bullying policies • Press Gazette • Herald Scotland • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: Disappointment for shopworkers on the frontline
Shopworkers’ union Usdaw has said it is disappointed that the government “turned its back” on hundreds of thousands of workers assaulted in the course of their duties every year. Usdaw general secretary John Hannett was commenting on 14 January after the government blocked a Lords amendment to the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill which would have introduced a specific offence of assaulting a worker serving the public.
Usdaw news release • Debate on the protection of workers amendment: Lords Hansard, 14 January 2014, 6.51pm, column 165 • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: Floor slip polished off career for prison officer
A former prison officer from Sunderland had to give up work after he fell on a polished floor while attending an alarm call. Prison Officers’ Association (POA) member David Hunter suffered multiple injuries including a scaphoid injury to his left hand, a tear to the rotator cuff in his left shoulder and bruising to his ribs.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: Injury cost gardener his job
A gardener couldn’t return to work for three years and eventually had to leave his job after suffering devastating injuries caused by a faulty lorry tailgate. The 52-year-old Unite member from Bristol, whose name has not been released, suffered neck and shoulder injuries and required three operations and physiotherapy over a period of two years to repair nerve damage to his spine.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Union News • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: ‘Immoral’ mesothelioma bill faces more flak
The union GMB has added its voice to widespread criticism of a government bill to compensate victims of the asbestos cancer mesothelioma when no responsible insurer can be found. The union criticised an “attempt by the Department for Work and Pensions to put a positive spin” on the “positively immoral” shortcomings of the Mesothelioma Bill. GMB news release • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: Widow calls for end to betting shop lone working
The widow of a man murdered behind a betting shop counter has called for an end to lone working in the industry, echoing calls from the Labour Party and the union Community. Betting shop manager Andrew Iacovou, 55, lay bleeding to death for 90 minutes behind the counter at Ladbrokes, in Morden, south London, as oblivious gamers continued to use slot machines.
The Standard • Community news release • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: Government urged to support bereaved workers
Bereaved people are being ‘failed’ by the lack of support they get at work, a charity has said. The National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC) report, produced in partnership with the Dying Matters Coalition, calls on the government to look into the “feasibility” of statutory leave from work after a loved one dies.
NCPC news release and full report, Life after death • Dying Matters news release • UCATT news release • Personnel Today • BBC News Online • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: Cuts fears prompt BMA occupational health action
The British Medical Association (BMA) is seeking assurances over the future of occupational health services for GPs and their staff amid reports they are about to be cut. Doctors leaders have written to the Department of Health requesting confirmation of the continuing provision of support for GPs and NHS staff suffering from stress and burnout.
BMA news release • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: English Heritage gets a ticking off
English Heritage has accepted a Crown Censure for criminal safety failings that led to a 12-year-old boy being badly cut when a glass floor panel broke during a family visit to Yarmouth castle on the Isle of Wight. The panel, which had been in place for many years and walked on by thousands of people over that time, splintered into shards and the boy suffered severe lacerations to his left leg from the jagged glass.
HSE news release • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: Developer fined following platform collapse
Prominent London developer St George South London Ltd has been sentenced for criminal safety management failings after a worker was seriously injured when a temporary platform collapsed at a landmark site in south London. Noel Doyle, 32, suffered a shattered right elbow, broken vertebrae, fractured pelvis and ribs, and damage to internal organs in the incident at St George Wharf in Vauxhall on 10 February 2009.
HSE news release and construction webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: Steel giant prosecuted after worker’s injury
Steel multinational Tata Steel has been fined for criminal safety failings after a worker sustained serious injuries to his hand at the company’s works in Llanelli, South Wales. Llanelli Magistrates heard the man, an employee for 34 years, was working on a production line at the Tata site in Trostre on 6 December 2012 when his left hand became trapped in a pair of steel pinch rolls.
HSE news release and work equipment webpages • BBC News Online • ITV News • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Britain: Plastics worker severed fingers in saw
Birmingham plastics firm Kalsi Plastics (UK) Ltd has been fined after an employee had four fingers severed in a circular saw. An official investigation found although some workers knew about a problem with the machine, workers were not represented in safety meetings so this information was not known to management.
HSE news release • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Cambodia: Stop government violence against workers
Unions worldwide have called for an end to the violent suppression of union protests in Cambodia in which at least five workers have been killed, with many others injured or detained. TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady wrote a letter of protest to the Cambodian ambassador as part of a global campaign co-ordinated by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), protesting at the violent repression of a strike by textile workers seeking a living wage.
Act Now! Sign up to the Labourstart and union campaign in support of the Cambodian workers • ITUC news release • Industriall news release • TUC news release • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Global: Sweden’s Winter Olympics set rights record
The Swedish Trade Union Confederation, LO-Sweden, has signed an historic cooperation agreement with the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOK) which stipulates respect for labour rights as a basis for the Swedish bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. The agreement covering the 2022 Stockholm Olympic Games includes groundbreaking sustainability, economic, social and ethical benchmarks.
ITUC news release and letter to IOC President Bach • TUC Stronger Unions blog • Equal Times • Risks 638 • 18 January 2014

Hazards news, 11 January 2014

Britain: Government blocks justice for mesothelioma victims
Eight years ago the TUC proposed a no-fault fund of last resort for people who were injured or who developed any disease through work but where their employer had not got insurance, or the insurer could not be traced. Now a coalition government bill, which had been criticised by asbestos disease advocacy groups and unions for is every limited scope – it only compensates one asbestos cancer, mesothelioma - and reduced payouts, had its final stage in the Commons.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • Northern Echo • Western Morning News • Huddersfield Examiner • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: Government cuts heighten flood dangers
Cuts to essential Environment Agency (EA) jobs will dramatically reduce the country’s ability to respond to floods and other extreme weather emergencies, unions have said. The warning, coming as large stretches of the country remained flood affected, has received support from MPs.
UNISON news release • Prospect news release • PCS news release • GMB news release • The Guardian • The BBC • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: Floods highlight peril facing lifesaving services
The impact of cuts to essential Environment Agency flood prevention services will be amplified as crucial emergency and coastguard services are also dramatically pared back, unions have warned.
PCS news release • FBU news release • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: George Osborne wants your pension
The Chancellor’s December 2013 budget delivered a crumb of safety comfort but accompanied it with some devastating news for your prospects of ever living to see your pension. It is the government’s plans for a staged increase in the state pension age to 70, which would mean the average Glaswegian man might expect to be able to claim it for just over a year.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • Autumn Statement 2013 • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: New call for a public inquiry on copter safety
Transport and offshore union RMT is stepping up its campaign for a public inquiry into helicopter safety after a series of incidents this year. The union said there is increasing public and political support for an inquiry, covering onshore as well as the North Sea offshore industry.
RMT news release • The Herald • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: Thousands back offshore helicopter safety reform
Over 3,000 offshore workers have called on Oil & Gas UK (O&GUK) bosses to urgently act to improve the safety of helicopter transfers to and from North Sea installations. Unite representatives submitted a petition to O&GUK on 20 December 2013, backing the demands of the union’s ‘Back Home Safe’ campaign which calls for improvements to offshore helicopter design, survival contingencies and training and for the implementation all previous recommendations made by authorities to maximise the safety of workers.
Unite news release • BBC News Online • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: Rail union criticises official line on sewage dumping
The government is continuing to play down the risks posed by raw sewage dumped by trains onto rail tracks. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “There is no point in the government politely requesting that the private train companies desist, they are the one’s profiting out of this scandal by allowing it to continue in the full knowledge that it is both dangerous and disgusting.”
Written answer from the transport secretary, 7 January 2014 • RMT news release. Express and Echo • BBC News Online • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: Unite telephone hotline for blacklisted workers
Unite has set-up a special ‘hotline’ for blacklisted workers. The union “is urging those that receive the shock revelations not to fall for employer attempts to lock them into a compensation scheme called The Workers Compensation Scheme, which is not yet ready, has not been agreed by the unions, and any compensation could fall far short of what the victims could otherwise get through union representation.”
Unite hotline and EDF Energy news releases • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: More disappointment on deregulation
Bodies representing unions and safety professionals have expressed their “disappointment” at the failure of a government committee to rein in dangerous measures in the draft Deregulation Bill, including exemption of the self-employed and a ‘growth duty’ on regulators including the Health and Safety Executive.
Joint Committee on the Draft Deregulation Bill news release • TUC health and safety facebook page • IOSH news release • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: Government has too much time for zero hours
The government is “desperately short” of answers to the growth of zero hours contracts in Britain, the TUC has said. The union body was speaking out after the government’s announcement last month of a consultation on changes to zero hours contracts.
TUC news release • BIS news release and Zero hours employment contracts: consultation • UNISON news release • GMB news release • UCU news release • IoD news release • BCC news release • BBC News Online • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: New warning on doctors’ hours
Doctors in Scotland are suffering “stress and burnout” as growing NHS workloads take their toll, medical leaders have warned. Brian Keighley, chair of the British Medical Association in Scotland, said the NHS was struggling to deal with the pressures of an ageing population, Westminster-led funding cuts and rising expectations from patients which include a shift towards a seven-day-working week in hospitals.
The Scotsman • The Herald • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: HSE removes ‘good practice’ from dust rules
The Health and Safety Executive has “weakened” its approach to hazardous substances at work with potentially deadly consequences, a top occupational health expert has warned. Dr John Cherrie of the Institute of Occupational Medicine said he had urged HSE to make improvements to dust controls as part of a consultation on the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations, but “unfortunately HSE ignored this advice and in fact weakened the criteria.”
OH-world.org blog • HSE COSHH publication alert and full document: The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002. Approved Code of Practice and guidance (sixth edition) • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: HSE adds a print version of its managing safety guide
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published a hard copy version of its popular and recently revised safety management guide for larger organisations. The move follows a request from unions, who told HSE there was a role for both online and print versions of the guide.
Managing for health and safety, revised HSG65, free online or in print format from HSE publications • Plan, Do, Check, Act: An introduction to managing for health and safety, HSE leaflet, INDG275(rev1) • HSE Managing for health and safety microsite • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: Farming company fined for forklift death
Lincolnshire Field Products Ltd has been ordered to pay more than £200,000 in fines and costs after a farm manager was killed when he was hit by a forklift truck. Peter Barney, 58, was walking from his car across the yard at Middle Farm in Moulton Seas End when he was struck on 31 October 2010.
HSE news release and workplace transport webpages • Lincolnshire Echo • ITV News • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: Forestry worker killed in the danger zone
The Buccleuch Estates Limited has been fined for criminal safety failings after a worker died during tree felling operations at Bogrie Wood near Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries. Ross Findlay, aged 49, who had learning difficulties, was struck in the head and body by a 36 metre tall tree.
HSE news release and chainsaw safety guide • BBC News Online • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: Foundry fined over cellar fumes death
Sheffield Forgemasters has been ordered to pay £245,000 in fines and costs for criminal safety failings that led to an employee dying of carbon dioxide poisoning. Labourer Brian Wilkins, 48, was found unconscious at the South Yorkshire foundry after a confined underground area swiftly flooded with carbon dioxide fire-extinguishing mist.
HSE news release and confined spaces webpages • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: Tesco shelf stacker loses toes in faulty lift
A Tesco worker suffered the “nightmare” of having a third of his right foot amputated after a lift accident that saw the supermarket giant fined more than £100,000 for criminal safety failures. Mohammad Ferdous, 32, was unloading cages of goods from the faulty lift in the basement of the Tesco Metro in Victoria, London, when it suddenly descended and trapped his foot.
BBC News Online • London Evening Standard • The Telegraph • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Britain: Some Hazards are worth having
The latest issue of the union backed workers’ health magazine Hazards is out now. Features include a forensic examination of the government’s business-driven multi-pronged attack on health and safety rights at work and the knock-on problems for the Health and Safety Executive. There’s also an overview of the highly effective union and grassroots campaign against blacklisting, which has seen guilty employers and ministers frantically backtracking.
Destroy safety!, Hazards special online report, December 2013 • Hazards, which is heavily discounted for union reps, relies on subscription income to keep up its award-winning campaign work – make sure you get your copy • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Australia: Unions warn asbestos inaction is ‘a killer’
Unions in Australia have expressed alarm at continuing asbestos imports 10 years after an official ban was introduced. National union federation ACTU was speaking out after it was revealed locomotives and car parts containing asbestos but certified as asbestos-free had entered the country from China.
ACTU news release • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Bangladesh: Factory bosses charged over fire deaths
Thirteen people, including the two factory owners, have been charged over the Tazreen garment factory fire in Bangladesh in November 2012 that killed more than 100 people. Police announced in December 2013 they had charged Delwar Hossain and his wife, Mahmuda Akther, as well as security guards and managers, over the Dhaka blaze.
New York Times • TUC Stronger Unions blog • BBC News Online. The Guardian.
Bangladesh Accord • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

Global: UN cancer agency ‘captured’ by industry
A high profile United Nations cancer agency has been ‘captured’ by industry and compromised, new reports suggest. They reveal that two Russian scientists who have acted for Russia’s asbestos lobby around the world are helping fashion the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s (IARC) policy and publications on asbestos and a paper on asbestos cancer risks with three prominent IARC authors was co-authored by Paolo Boffetta, an ex-IARC staffer who had also acted for the asbestos industry. RightOnCanada • Hazards magazine • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

USA: Injury risk increases with multiple jobs
People who hold down more than one job not only experience an increased risk of injury at work, but when they’re not at work as well, according to a new study. The research, published in the January 2014 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, found that multiple job holders had a “significantly” higher injury rate per 100 workers for work- and non work-related injuries when compared to single job holders.
The Pump Handle. Helen R Marucci-Wellman, Joanna L Willetts, Tin-Chi Lin, Melanye J Brennan, and Santosh K Verma. Work in Multiple Jobs and the Risk of Injury in the US Working Population, American Journal of Public Health, volume 104, number 1, pages 134-142, January 2014 [abstract] • Risks 637 • 11 January 2014

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