Hazards news, 27 November 2004

Global: Unions up pressure for total asbestos ban
The world's construction unions are to step up the campaign for a global asbestos ban. A joint declaration from the international building trade union federations says they are "committed to actively promote the global ban of all forms of asbestos from the construction industry and from all other industrial sectors, and to promote the effective regulation of work with in-situ asbestos in demolition, conversion, renovation and maintenance works by law."
Risks 184, 27 November 2004 • Full declaration

Britain: London roadmap for a safety rep in every workplace
London's unions have prepared an ambitious roadmap for a health and safety rep in every workplace and a "positive and meaningful partnership between that rep, the employer, unions and the Health and Safety Executive."
Risks 184, 27 November 2004

USA: Industry bid to shut up dissenting academics
Chemical companies are now going after the peer reviewers as well as the authors of critical academic publications. Lawyers representing more than 20 chemical companies, including many household names, have taken the unusual step of issuing subpoenas to five peer reviewers of a scholarly book as part of litigation over the alleged health risks of vinyl chloride, a widely used cancer-causing industrial chemical.
Risks 184, 27 November 2004

Britain: Union concern at rising deaths and injuries
Unions have expressed alarm at Health and Safety Executive figures showing an increase in fatalities, major injuries and over three-day injuries.
Risks 184, 27 November 2004

New Zealand: Docks union calls for methyl bromide inquiry
The New Zealand maritime union is backing calls for an inquiry into the toxic gas methyl bromide, used as a timber fumigant in New Zealand ports. The wives of six former port workers first raised the alarm after their husbands contracted motor neurone disease.
Risks 184, 27 November 2004

Britain: Manslaughter law should hit bad bosses too, says TUC
Companies will be more likely to face manslaughter charges if workers or members of the public die as a result of their neglect, under measures announced in the Queen's speech. However, the government said it would only publish the bill in draft, meaning it has no commitment to turn it into law, and has not included new legal duties on dangerous directors.
Risks 184, 27 November 2004

Britain: Union anger at manslaughter law delays
Unions have expressed dismay at continuing delays in progress towards a new corporate manslaughter law with legal duties on company directors.
Risks 184, 27 November 2004

Britain: Scotland plans "corporate homicide" law
An offence of "corporate homicide" could be introduced in Scotland. Plans have been announced for a specific offence for corporate and public bodies which cause death through failures of management - this would take the scope beyond that of the Westminster draft bill, which would not apply to Crown bodies.
Risks 184, 27 November 2004

Global: Strong enforcement action is the key to safety
A real threat of enforcement action by official safety agencies is the best way to secure improved safety standards, a major international review has found.
Risks 184, 27 November 2004

Global: Work stress can leave you demented
New research shows that workers with better jobs with a lot of control run a lower risk of developing dementia. The Occupational and Environmental Medicine paper comes on the heels of a US study that found mind-numbing jobs were linked to a higher rate of Alzheimer's.
Risks 184, 27 November 2004

Britain: Company fined for subbie's death
Defence company BAE Systems has been fined £250,000 after a sub-contracted welder died while working on a North Sea platform.
Risks 184, 27 November 2004

Global: 20 things you should know about Dow
As the 3 December 20th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster looms, activists from around the world - including union, human rights, legal, health and safety and other experts - are mobilising to demand that Dow Chemical, the current owner of Bhopal disaster company Union Carbide, be held accountable.
Risks 184, 27 November 2004

Australia: Union outrage at Pee&O breaks ban
A UK-registered company which forced Australian call centre workers to carry a "pee pole" to signify they're going to the toilet has responded to staff protests by banning all breaks.
Risks 184, 27 November 2004

Britain: Work stress and strains are getting worse, says TUC
Stress, repetitive strain injuries (RSI) and back strains are the top three health hazards facing UK workers and the problems are getting worse, according to new TUC figures.
Risks 184, 27 November 2004

Australia: James Hardie asbestos fund could fold
Disgraced Australian asbestos multinational James Hardie Industries is facing fresh controversy after a foundation set up to compensate its asbestos disease victims this week started proceedings to go into liquidation.
Risks 184, 27 November 2004

China: Owners arrested after 61 die in mine fire
Chinese police have detained nine people in connection with a massive blaze at an iron ore mine that killed at least 61 people and left four missing, according to the official news agency Xinhau.
Risks 184, 27 November 2004

Hazards news, 20 November 2004.

Britain: Work is making us hoarse says TUC
With a big chill and the season for coughs and colds fast approaching, a new report from the TUC-backed Hazards magazine is warning that the combination of germs, dry, centrally-heated offices and jobs that place a strain on employees' vocal chords, could prove disastrous for the millions of UK workers who rely on their voices to do their jobs.
Risks 183, 20 November 2004 Additional links: TUC news release • BBC News Online • Western Mail • Hazards online report on occupational voice loss.

Britain: TUC call for new powers to save workers' lives
A further rise in workplace deaths and injuries exposes Britain's failing safety enforcement regime, says the TUC. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "The fact that deaths and serious injuries at work have risen again this year is a damning indictment on the levels of safety and the enforcement regimes in British workplaces."
Risks 183, 20 November 2004

Britain: HSE board "eroding safety" say inspectors
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) frontline staff say cutbacks and a move to leaflet rather than legislate pushed through by senior management is eroding workplace safety. In a devastating indictment of top HSE bosses, 96.4 per cent of HSE inspectors, scientists and other professionals supported a "no confidence" motion in HSE's board.
Risks 183, 20 November 2004

Britain: HSE report shows a dramatic drop in enforcement
Health and safety enforcement dropped off dramatically last year according to latest Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures. Total HSE enforcement action last year - prosecutions taken or HSE enforcement notices issued - dropped by approaching 1,000.
Risks 183, 20 November 2004

Britain: TUC looks forward to work manslaughter bill
TUC says it expects a draft of the promised corporate manslaughter bill to be included "for pre-legislative scrutiny" in next week's Queen's Speech. A TUC online briefing says the effectiveness of the bill will depend on its content and says the new offence of corporate manslaughter should cover all employers, including the government itself.
Risks 183, 20 November 2004

Britain: TUC says smoking ban should protect all workers
The TUC has welcomed restrictions on smoking in workplaces in England announced this week in the government's Public Health White Paper, but says the measures should apply to all workers.
Risks 183, 20 November 2004

Britain: Prevention better than cure, say unions
Under the government's Public Health White Paper employers will be encouraged to address work related ill-health and to promote healthy ways of living and family doctors are being told to encourage people back to work after a period of illness in a bid to end the "sicknote culture."
Risks 183, 20 November 2004

Britain: New code to tackle widespread temp labour abuse
Research into gangmasters providing migrant workers to leading UK supermarket suppliers has found that every one of the companies inspected was breaking the law. The findings came ahead of this week's publication of a new Code of Practice designed to help ensure labour providers obey the law and respect the rights of the workers they hire.
Risks 183, 20 November 2004

Britain: You are not mad - it was the job that did it
The largest ever review of the link between work stress and strain injuries has shown that physical and mental stress is hurting us, and employers aren't do enough to let workers take proper control over their jobs.
Risks 183, 20 November 2004

Japan: Staring at computers may cause glaucoma
The line that VDU work does not cause long-term eye problems could be wrong. Spending hours staring at a computer screen may raise the risk of glaucoma, a progressive eye disease that can lead to blindness, a new study in the December issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggests.
Risks 183, 20 November 2004

Global: High stress doubles risk of painful periods
High levels of stress double the risk of painful periods, according to new research. Dysmenorrhoea, or painful periods, is one of the most common gynaecological problems among women of childbearing age.
Risks 183, 20 November 2004

China: Overwork kills another factory worker
A female worker has died of suspected overwork in a garment factory. The death is the latest in a series that have been linked to overwork.
Risks 183, 20 November 2004

Europe:Consultation on Euro strain injuries action
Europe's workers and employers are being asked what action they think is needed to address musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The European Commission says these ailments, which include back pain and repetitive strain injury, "are the biggest health and safety problem facing European workers today."
Risks 183, 20 November 2004

India: Bhopal faces risk of poisoning
Thousands of Indians around Bhopal remain at risk of poisoning 20 years after a major disaster in the city. A BBC investigation concluded there are still thousands of tons of toxic waste on the abandoned and dilapidated site, lying in piles exposed to the weather.
Risks 183, 20 November 2004

USA: Asbestos industry the winner in the US election
Insurance companies have been cheered by the re-election of President Bush, a move many believe could lead to the introduction of a new compensation deal capping asbestos compensation liabilities.
Risks 183, 20 November 2004

USA: Insurers to blame for high insurance costs
Runaway workers' compensation insurance costs have been blamed repeatedly on "ambulance chasing" lawyers and "have-a-go" claimants. But insurance lawyer Scott Clearman has discovered workers' compensation insurance rates in Texas were going up and remain some of the most expensive in the US because of collusion by insurance companies to artificially inflate the price.
Risks 183, 20 November 2004

Hazards news, 13 November 2004

Britain: Scotland smoking ban to go ahead
Smoking is to be banned in enclosed public places in Scotland, the Scottish Executive has decided. The decision, which was a unanimous one by Scottish ministers, was announced in the Scottish parliament by the First Minister, Jack McConnell, who told MSPs that the ban would be in force from the spring of 2006.
Risks 182, 13 November 2004

Britain: Renewed smoking ban call in England
Doctors have published a dossier of 70 cases where they say passive smoking caused patients to develop lung cancer, respiratory disease and other conditions. The British Medical Association report, The human cost of tobacco, is its latest bid to convince the UK government to introduce a smoking ban in public places.
Risks 182, 13 November 2004

Britain: Docs may petition parliament for Wales smoking ban
BMA Cymru Wales says it is seriously considering petitioning parliament for a smoking ban in public places in Wales. Under the rarely used private bills system, organisations outside parliament can seek rights and powers for their localities over and above the current law or common law.
Risks 182, 13 November 2004

Britain: New tests convince expert of need for total smoking ban
Professor Sir Charles George, the medical director of the British Heart Foundation, had not, until now, favoured a ban on smoking in public places but has changed his view because of research showing minute particles of cigarette smoke could trigger heart attacks.
Risks 182, 13 November 2004

Spain: Plan to outlaw smoking at work
The Spanish government is preparing a new bill to limit smoking at work, the health minister has said. Elena Salgado has stopped smoking in the department of health itself, as a prelude to introducing the measure in other workplaces.
Risks 182, 13 November 2004

Britain: TUC urges government to "give us the tools we need"
The TUC has called for dramatic improvements in the UK's approach to safety. Speaking at a TUC conference to mark 30 years of the Health and Safety at Work Act and the setting up of the Health and Safety Commission, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber outlined the four key requirements for healthy workplaces: resources; enforcement; rehabilitation; and consultation.
Risks 182, 13 November 2004

Britain: Health and safety "strong but failing," says GMB
GMB general secretary Kevin Curran has accused the government of having "spurned" another opportunity to improve health and safety in the UK. He warned that the government risked "sounding the death knell for tripartism, a departure from regulation and a further step towards supporting the pursuit of profit whatever the cost."
Risks 182, 13 November 2004

Britain: Commissioner calls for 50 more HSE inspectors for Scotland
A top union official is warning that any cuts to the Health and Safety Commission's budget could leave Scottish workers without the protection they deserve. Danny Carrigan, Amicus assistant general secretary, who represents Scottish workers on the Health and Safety Commission, told the TUC's safety conference this week he would be seeking an increase of 50 inspectors in Scotland to deal with the growing number of migrant and temporary agency workers.
Risks 182, 13 November 2004

Britain: Rail union calls for advanced cab warning system
Train drivers' union ASLEF has repeated its call for investment in advanced warning systems for train drivers' cabs. Commenting in the aftermath of last week's level crossing disaster in Berkshire in which seven people include the train driver died, ASLEF's acting general secretary Keith Norman said: "Level crossings are a major site for deaths on the railway network. The technology exists to give train drivers advance warning of blockages on the track."
Risks 182, 13 November 2004

Britain: Call centre workers in for an acoustic shock
Hundreds of thousands of UK telephone headset users could be at risk of "acoustic shock", a workplace health condition that has already resulted in £10 million out-of-court settlements worldwide. Typical symptoms are tinnitus (a buzzing or ringing in the ears), a burning sensation and hypersensitivity to loud sounds.
Risks 182, 13 November 2004

Britain: "Cynical" insurers seek to dodge asbestos payouts
The insurance industry has been accused of a "cynical attempt" to dodge its responsibility to some workers affected by asbestos exposure. For the past twenty years, the courts have awarded compensation to people with "pleural plaques", a scarring of the lungs caused by asbestos - but this now being challenged in court by insurers.
Risks 182, 13 November 2004

Australia: Shearers wary of woolly mammoths
Sheep shearers are being advised to give big, dangerous rams a miss as long as farmers refuse to have the beasts sedated. Mick Madden, New South Wales (NSW) state president of the Australian Workers' Union (AWU) and long-time shearer, issued the advice as the National Farmers Federation dug in its heels against calls to have rams, some as big as 170kg, sedated for shearing.
Risks 182, 13 November 2004

Australia: Company backs a loser in the asbestos stakes
James Hardie Industries may come to rue to day it decided to skip Australia, leaving asbestos disease victims in the lurch. The company, now headquartered in the Netherlands, is reeling in the face of very creative attacks from unions and campaigners.
Risks 182, 13 November 2004

Canada: Province takes a lead on safer needles
The first Canadian legislation mandating the use of safety-engineered needles and medical sharps has been announced in Saskatchewan. In a move welcomed by the health union SEIU, Debra Higgins, the province's labour minister, said her government will implement regulations to protect workers from diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B and C through the mandatory use of engineering controls on medical sharps.
Risks 182, 13 November 2004

Canada: Burned out workers costing billions
The downsizing that swept Canada's workplaces during the 1980s and 1990s backfired, with so much work piled on surviving employees that they and the health care system are suffering.
Risks 182, 13 November 2004

New Zealand: Call for "decisive action" on work deaths epidemic
New Zealand's unions have said "the shockingly high toll of decades of neglect" revealed in a new official report requires "decisive action." The call from Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson came after the first National Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee report revealed that every year up to 1,000 workers in New Zealand died from occupational disease - up to 10 times more than died from accidents.
Risks 182, 13 November 2004

USA: Asbestos company's very profitable bankruptcy
A multinational which filed for bankruptcy in 2000 in the face of asbestos disease liabilities estimated at $2 billion (£1.08bn) had sales in the most recent quarter of over $1.5 billion (£0.8bn). Owens Corning's net income for the quarter rose 71 per cent, to $94 million (£50.6m), according to company reports.
Risks 182, 13 November 2004