28 February 2004

Brazil
Asbestos multinationals gag top safety campaigner
A Brazilian safety inspector, known nationwide for her passionate campaign on behalf of the country's asbestos disease victims, is facing attempts to silence here through malicious court actions.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

Britain
Construction work is a strain
Research by physios' union CSP has revealed that workers in the skilled construction and building trades are over five times as likely to get a WRULD than corporate managers.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004 • Advice on construction strains from the Laborers' Fund for Health and Safety

Britain
Overworked? Tell someone about it!
TUC has provided snazzy free eCards for the overworked to send an electronic greeting to friends or colleagues, a print-off-and-stick-up A4 sized poster and a chart of the best long-hours related tunes to whistle while you worked.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

Britain
Campaigners call for end to "joke" work death penalties
Unions and legal experts have renewed calls for a work death law. The move comes after continuing UK government delays in bringing forward promised corporate killing legislation.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

Britain
Teacher gets £250,000 payout after pupil attack
A special needs teacher who was kicked and battered with furniture by a pupil has been awarded an estimated £250,000 in the High Court following a case brought by teaching union NASUWT.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

Britain
UNISON calls for end to dirty needle terror
"Subjecting thousands of NHS workers to the terror of dirty needles is unnecessary and inhumane," health union UNISON has said. The claim came on 23 February, the day that health unions launched a major campaign demanding "Safer Needles Now."
Risks 145, 28 February 2004 • Also see: Hazards needlesticks page

Finland
Lack of worktime control makes you sick
Control over your working hours is not just necessary so you run your life, it is essential to your health. A study in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine found a low level of worktime control increases the risk of future health problems.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

Global
Downsizing can kill those left behind
Cut-throat modern management is not just damaging for the workers who are fired, it leaves behind an insecure and unhappy group of workers that are more likely to go sick and more likely to develop permanent, debilitating and possibly life-threatening health problems, according to reseaach in the British Medical Journal.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

Australia
Study blows a hole in pub trade smokescreen
A government-backed hospitality industry argument that smoking and pubs can be a safe mix has been torpedoed by new research. A paper in the journal Tobacco Control reveals designated "no-smoking" areas in the hospitality industry provide little or no protection against the damaging effects of secondhand smoke.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

Britain
Most companies say directors should be responsible
Most company directors believe a senior director should be responsible for safety and over half think they should be criminally liable for safety failings.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

Britain
"Brave" new world or back to the future?
The government's "radical new strategy" to improve future safety standards in Great Britain, has been criticised as resource "rationing" in The Lancet and had been been rubbished in advance by HSE inspectors' union Prospect as a cost-cutting deregulation agenda.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

Britain
Surge in serious accidents offshore
The number of major injuries offshore soared by 36 per cent last year. Latest HSE figures for the offshore oil and gas industry show there were 64 major injury incidents during 2002/3, up from 47 incidents the previous year.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

Britain
TUC guide to avoiding repetitive strain injury
A TUC "RSI: The Basics" guide tells office workers how to avoid ending up in pain, splints or worse. It says repetitive strain injury is a major problem in white collar work, adding that it does not just affect typists. Anyone who regularly uses a keyboard or mouse can be at risk.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

Australia
UnionSafe Network
UnionSafe Network is a new web-based resource created specifically for union reps in Queensland, Australia. It is Australia's third special safety reps site.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

Australia
Unions call for work death law
Families and friends of workers killed at work have told a parliamentary enquiry in New South Wales (NSW) that the low fines for workplace deaths are a "disgrace." industrial manslaughter law will take effect in the Australian Capital Territory on 1 March 2004.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

Australia
Unions to prosecute banks for hold-ups
Australia's Finance Sector Union is planning a series of prosecutions against banks because it believes they have failed to reduce injury risk to staff during robberies across Sydney, now rated Australia's bank robbery capital.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

Canada
Corporate "obligation" to tackle stress
Workplace stress and depression are exacting a heavy toll, particularly among conscientious employees "in their prime working years," say a group of Canadian business leaders.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

Thailand
Officials say 200,000 Thai workers injured
More than 200,000 Thai workers were injured and 769 killed in work-related accidents last year, according to Thailand's labour ministry. The number has been rising since 2001 when 189,621 work-related accidents were reported.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

USA
Union fund aids "Ground Zero" workers
The emotional and physical scars for workers who helped clean up Manhattan's "Ground Zero" after the 11 September 2001 attacks haven't gone away. In response, the union-backed Laborers Health and Safety Trust Fund and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are teaming up to address the medical problems.
Risks 145, 28 February 2004

21 February 2004

Britain
Safety reps should be at the heart of UK safety
The TUC is calling for more funds for the UK's official safety enforcement agency and a greater role for union safety reps.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

Britain
Which day this year will you start getting paid?
The TUC says "Work your proper hours day" on Friday 27 February 2004, the 42nd working day of the year, is the day in 2004 when on average those who do unpaid overtime stop working for free and start to get paid.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

* Britain
Snooping council pays out after assault on worker
A social worker has received more than £200,000 in compensation after enduring a vicious assault "which could have been avoided." The victim's union, UNISON, condemned Swansea City and County Council after the worker and her family were videotaped by private detectives checking out her injuries.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

Britain
NUT wants more health and safety reps
Teaching union NUT has started a campaign to recruit a health and safety representative in every school in Wales and England.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

Britain
Teachers warned over school trips
Teachers' union NASUWT is advising members to avoid school trips following a series of court cases over accidents involving children. The union said the "finger of blame" had been pointed too often at teachers.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

Britain
Nine out of 10 councils wrong on teen working
More than nine out of ten local authority by-laws on school-age working conflict with national legislation, according to a report from the TUC and the NSPCC. The result, say the two organisations, is that parents, teachers and young people are confused about how much and what kind of work teenagers can do.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

Britain
Strike ballot over Tube working-while-sober sackings
Tube maintenance workers are being balloted on possible industrial action in support of workmates who were sacked after empty beer cans were found in their mess room.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

Britain
Building union targets the gangmasters "infesting" sites
Construction union UCATT says the bad gangmasters that are "infesting" the industry must be driven out and has launched a campaign to expose them.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

Britain
Union calls for public enquiry into rail deaths
The union representing four rail workers killed by a runaway wagon before dawn on 15 February has called for a public inquiry as the accident prompted fresh questions about the maintenance of the railways and the role of sub-contractors after privatisation.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

Britain
Darling says rail is "too cautious" on safety
In the week Network Rail was fined in two separate cases for criminal and ultimately fatal breaches of safety law, Thames Trains was told when it is to be sentenced for safety crimes relating to 31 rail deaths and just days before four rail maintenance workers were killed in Cumbria, transport secretary Alistair Darling told a conference of rail bosses the industry was "over-cautious" about safety at the expense of performance.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

Britain
Bodymapping outbreak on work site
An outbreaking of bodymapping has spread across London construction sites. Construction union UCATT, backed up by trade union tutors from Lewisham College Trade Union Studies Centre, bodymapped its way through 217 workers on Multiplex Construction's Docklands project.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

Britain
Widow loses asbestos compensation battle
A widow will not receive a penny of the near £400,000 in compensation she is due for the death of her husband because the responsible insurer could not be determined.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

Britain
NUJ bullying website
Need advice on workplace bullying? Well, there's some great new resources online. One of the best union-friendly resources around is on the website of the National Union of Journalists' Glasgow branch.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

Australia
Judge blames transport bosses, jails truckie
A truck driver pressured into driving 14-hour shifts has been jailed following a fatal road traffic accident. Sentencing truck driver Joseph Terry Caldwell, 24, to at least three years and 10 months jail time, County court judge Joe Gullaci called for authorities to ban "ruthless" employers who imposed unreasonable deadlines on their drivers.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

India
Work for parents, education for children
A $40 million (£21.2m) International Labour Organisation (ILO) programme is seeking to remove 80,000 child labourers in India from work in 10 hazardous industries. An ILO report released this month refuted the argument that child labour is an economic necessity in developing countries, concluding the benefits of eliminating child labour worldwide will be nearly seven times greater than the costs.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

India
Say no to white asbestos
The Indian government must ban the production and use of "convicted mass killer" white asbestos, a prominent environmental campaigner has said.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

Iran
Hundreds killed in chemical train explosion
About 300 people, most of them firefighters, were killed in an 18 February explosion after a train laden with petrol and industrial chemicals caught fire near the town of Neyshabur in northeastern Iran.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

Singapore
Bird flu recognised as work disease
Workers in Singapore who get infected with bird flu in the course of their work are to be eligible for government compensation payouts. A ministry of manpower (MOM) amendment to the Workmen's Compensation Act has added "Avian Influenza" to the list of compensable occupational diseases.
Risks 144, 21 February 2004

14 February 2004

Britain
Manslaughter probe follows 19 migrant deaths
Police investigating the deaths of 19 people who drown picking cockles have arrested a number of people on suspicion of manslaughter. Critics are asking why government safety watchdog HSE had not intervened to stop what was evidently a highly dangerous practice.
Risks 143, 14 February 2004

Britain
Migrant deaths force government about face
Tough new laws to drive unscrupulous "gangmasters" out of business were promised by the government in the wake of the Morecambe Bay cockling tragedy. The move represents a total about face by the government, which has consistently resisted union pressure, spearheaded by rural workers' union TGWU.
Risks 143, 14 February 2004

Britain
TUC supports bill on penalties
The TUC is backing a Bill by Andy Love MP which would see companies that commit health and safety crimes paying much higher fines for injuring or killing their employees. The ten minute rule bill received its first reading on 10 February and if successful would see magistrates courts fine employers guilty of health and safety offences up to £20,000, compared to a £5,000 maximum now.
Risks 143, 14 February 2004

Britain
Landmark ruling on workplace bullying
A Court of Appeal ruling could mean much bigger payouts for victims of workplace bullying. In a case backed by public sector union UNISON, the Court of Appeal overturned an interpretation of the law which limited compensation to financial loss and ignored any mental effects.
Risks 143, 14 February 2004

Britain
Overworked lecturer wins payout
A lecturer who said she often worked 70-hour weeks will receive more than £40,000 in an out-of-court stress settlement. The NATFHE member left her post at Henley College, Coventry, in 1998 after suffering a nervous breakdown - the college had sent her on stress course, but hadn't reduced her workload.
Risks 143, 14 February 2004

Britain
HSE staff driven to industrial action
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is facing industrial action over pay. Prospect, the union representing inspectors in the safety enforcement agency, complains HSE can find the money for "idiotic projects" but not for its own staff and says safety is suffering as a result.
Risks 143, 14 February 2004

Britain
Asbestos widow faces cancer death
A woman whose husband and daughter died from cancer caused by exposure to asbestos has been told she faces the same fate.
Risks 143, 14 February 2004

Global
The missing cases of beryllium disease
Increasing industrial use of beryllium "is resulting in an unrecognised epidemic of chronic beryllium disease," according to a report in The Lancet. Researchers point to a study that found 6 per cent of patients labelled as having sarcoidosis actually had chronic beryllium disease.
Risks 143, 14 February 2004

Britain
HSC puts the business case
Good safety practice is "vital" for a successful business, according to the Health and Safety Commission (HSC). New case histories from HSC give concrete examples of safe practices making sound business sense.
Risks 143, 14 February 2004

Britain
European Parliament challenges UK on long hours
The TUC has welcomed a European Parliament decision to call on the European Commission to end the UK's individual opt-out from the 48-hour average limit on the working week.
Risks 143, 14 February 2004

Britain
Working parents want family friendly hours
Threequarters of working parents put family friendly working hours ahead of other benefits. A survey by new campaigning charity Working Families found 44 per cent wanted flexible working hours and 30 per cent wanted a shorter working day.
Risks 143, 14 February 2004

Iraq
IFJ mourns loss of nine journalists in bombing
The International Federation of Journalists has called for safety training and improvements in working conditions as a top priority for Iraqi journalists after confirmation that nine journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan were among the victims of the 1 February terrorist bombings in Irbil.
Risks 143, 14 February 2004

South Africa
Outrage after farmer "fed worker to lions"
Union federation COSATU said it was "shocked and appalled" at reports that a farmer had fed an ex-worker to the lions, adding "many farmers still treat their workers as badly as under apartheid."
Risks 143, 14 February 2004

USA
Chemical safety board slams safety watchdog
The US chemical safety watchdgo criticised the behaviour of OHSA, the work safety enforcement agency, as "unacceptable." It says OHSA has failed to take action on reactive chemical hazards despite hundreds of incidents, some catastrophic, that have killed more than 100 workers over the past decade.
Risks 143, 14 February 2004

USA
Fired if you pee, fired if you don't
Workers suffering from paruresis or shy bladder syndrome are being fired as a result. Drug test happy US employers a treating failure to provide a urine sample as a refusal to submit to a drug test.
Risks 143, 14 February 2004

USA
Birth defect suit against IBM
Computer giant IBM is to face court charges alleging working conditions in one of its microchip plants caused birth defects in a worker's baby. The $100 million (£53.5m) suit is one of 250 chemical-related claims facing IBM, including about 50 birth defect cases.
Risks 143, 14 February 2004

7 February 2004

Britain
UNISON prepares for Workers' Memorial Day 2004
UNISON is stepping up its preparations for Workers' Memorial Day 2004. A briefing provides pointers for Workers' Memorial Day activities and publicity.
Risks 142, 7 February 2004

Britain
Union issues asbestos epidemic warning
A union leader has warned the epidemic of the asbestos cancer mesothelioma in Britain will be worse than experts fear if there is any weakening of restrictions on asbestos use.
Risks 142, 7 February 2004

Britain
GMB warns of asbestos "ticking time bomb"
Government funding is necessary to help schools, hospitals and local authorities identify and deal with asbestos in public buildings, GMB general secretary Kevin Curran has warned.
Risks 142, 7 February 2004

Britain
Euro union boss urges UK to avoid hours court action
The head of Europe's union umbrella group has urged the government to avoid court proceedings and drop the UK opt-out from the 48-hour working week ceiling.
Risks 142, 7 February 2004

Britain
Long hours culture takes its toll on UK drivers
Excessive hours are having a damaging effect on the family and social lives of most UK lorry drivers, with one in four drivers currently working more than 60 hours per week, according to union research.
Risks 142, 7 February 2004

Britain
Official safety alert over rail job cuts
The Railway Inspectorate has delivered a strong rebuke to Network Rail for failing to carry out an adequate safety assessment when it shed 600 managers, after complaints from union TSSA.
Risks 142, 7 February 2004

Britain
Work your proper hours day, 27 February 2004
If you do regular unpaid overtime, then TUC says on 27 February exercise your right to work only your contractual hours, and remind your boss just how much modern workplaces depend on unpaid overtime.
Risks 142, 7 February 2004

Britain
New resources for RSI Day, 29 February 2004
Planning a local event for International RSI Awareness Day, 29 February 2004? Well, make sure you tell everybody about it! You can print-off-and-use a free RSI Day events poster.
Risks 142, 7 February 2004

Canada
Horror stories of x-ray techs
Most x-ray technologists suffer from "significant and diverse musculoskeletal" problems due to the physical stress and strain of their job.
Risks 142, 7 February 2004

Europe
Chemicals crackdown will save thousands of lives
Thousands of lives could be saved in the European Union each year with better handling of dangerous chemicals, the European Commission has said.
Risks 142, 7 February 2004

Global
Tech firms promise action on exploitation
A report into working conditions in microelectronics plants in developing countries has given the technology industry a "wake-up call," according to Dell.
Risks 142, 7 February 2004

South Africa
Unions slam AngloGold over miners' deaths
South African unions have lashed out at AngloGold after a spate of deaths in the company's mines.
Risks 142, 7 February 2004

USA
"Bankrupt" asbestos firms flourish in US
Claims that asbestos trade in the US is dying off and compensation claims are taking the industry with it appear to be unfounded. Imports are up, and many of the major affected firms have improved sales and are employing more staff.
Risks 142, 7 February 2004

USA
Couple awarded $6 million in asbestos case
A US couple has been awarded $6 million (£3.27m) compensation in an asbestos lawsuit. William Lisac was diagnosed with lung cancer last year. A jury deliberated about four hours before deciding Lisac and his wife, Lois, deserved $3 million each.
Risks 142, 7 February 2004

January 2004 stories

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