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Hazards news, 29 January 2005
USA:
Deadly victims of the meat trade
US meat and poultry companies are using illegal tactics to quash
workers' efforts to unionise so they can improve unsafe working
conditions, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch
(HRW).
Risks 192, 29 January 2005
Britain:
Pregnant researcher with cancer is fired
A university researcher who was fired while having treatment for
breast cancer is challenging the move at an employment tribunal.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005
Ukraine:
Chernobyl hunger strike in third week
A group of 11 workers who took part in the clean up of the 1986
Chernobyl nuclear accident have been on hunger strike for over
two weeks, demanding higher compensation for the radiation damage
to their health.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005
Britain:
Pilots warning on gruelling Airbus flights
Pilots' union BALPA has warned the new long haul A380 "Airbus"
must have proper staffing levels to fly safely. Captain Mervyn
Granshaw, chair of BALPA, said the union was "worried about
pilots being alert enough to fly for 20 or more hours."
Risks 192, 29 January 2005
Global:
Power giant agreement promises safety worldwide
Global union federations have won wide-ranging safety clauses
in a global agreement with French multinational Electricite de
France (EDF). The new framework document includes a very detailed
health and safety clause and requirements regarding subcontractors,
covering health and safety, ethical and environmental stipulations.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005
Britain:
MPs debate directors' safety duties
Labour MP Stephen Hepburn has continued his campaign for tougher
laws to prevent workplace death and injury by placing the issue
centrestage in a House of Commons debate. He urged health and
safety minister Jane Kennedy to listen to calls for legally binding
health and safety duties on company directors.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005 •
Hazards deadly business
webpages
Canada:
Workers face fines for minor safety offences
Workers in Ontario found violating provincial health and safety
rules will be slapped with tickets of up to $300 (£129),
the government of the Canadian province has announced.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005
Britain:
Benefit cut plan to push sick back to work
The government is set to cut incapacity benefit in a move aimed
at getting claimants back into work. The prime minister wants
to cut the £7 billion a year welfare budget and put pressure
on claimants to find employment.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005
Global:
International trade agreements can hurt you
The US-based Maquiladora Health and Safety Support Network (MHSSN)
has released two reports on the failure of the US-Canada-Mexico
NAFTA free trade treaty to protect Mexican workers' health and
safety, and on what is needed to ensure international trade and
investment treaties include protection of working conditions.
Another report from the group describes its safety work in Central
America.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005
Britain:
Firing on health grounds an expensive mistake
Employers who fire workers on health grounds are being hit by
large penalties at employment tribunals.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005
Europe:
The business case for safe and healthy work
New reports from the European Agency for Health and Safety at
Work identify the 10 occupational safety and health criteria that
underpin "corporate social responsibility" (CSR) and
the "strong links" between the quality of work and productivity.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005
Britain:
Wetherspoon pubs to ban smoking
JD Wetherspoon is to ban smoking in all its 650 pubs by May 2006
amid fears smoky pubs are deterring customers. TUC general secretary
Brendan Barber welcomed Wetherspoon's announcement.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005
Britain:
New drive to make hospitals smokefree
Hospitals should aim to ban smoking in all their buildings and
throughout their grounds, new official guidance says.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005
USA:
Safety henhouses overstaffed with foxes
A man with no safety experience but who does have a record as
a lobbyist for now banned "health" products and for
the Republican Party has been given the top US workplace safety
job by President Bush.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005
Britain:
Surgical mask menace jailed
A man with a fetish for surgical masks who became a "menace"
to NHS staff has been jailed for three years. Norman Hutchins,
53, of York, phoned hospitals and dental surgeries saying he needed
the masks for charity events and had verbally and physically abused
NHS staff 47 times in five months.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005
Britain:
School whiteboards risk to eyesight
High tech interactive whiteboards, used extensively in Britain's
schools, could present a serious eyesight risk. Tests have shown
that the peripheral vision of users may be harmed even when they
are not looking directly into the beam of the projector.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005
Britain:
Widower loses damages for wife's asbestos death
A former shipyard worker whose wife died from an asbestos cancer
has been stripped of his £82,000 compensation payout. James
Maguire's wife Teresa, 67, contracted mesothelioma through secondary
exposure to asbestos dust on his work clothes.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005 •
Hazards asbestos webpages
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Hazards news, 22 January 2005
USA:
Car crashes on the way home linked to excessive shifts
Grossly excessive work shifts could leave workers at twice the
risk of a car crash, US government-backed research has shown.
It found first year doctors in training who work shifts of longer
than 24 hours are more than twice as likely to have a car crash
leaving the hospital and five times as likely to have a "near
miss" incident on the road as medical interns who work shorter
shifts.
Risks 191, 22 January 2005
Spain:
Unions win new controls over subcontractors
A six year union campaign in Spain has won a law to control construction
industry subcontracting. Spanish building union FECOMA spearheaded
the six-year drive, which included two general strikes in the
industry.
Risks 191, 22 January 2005
Britain:
Amicus says anti-union equals anti-safety
The union Amicus has called for the government to act against
companies using anti-union tactics and intimidation. It warns
that companies are using heavy-handed techniques to deny workers
a right to the safety and employment protection provided by a
union.
Risks 191, 22 January 2005
USA:
BP fined over S1.4m for safety violations
UK multinational BP has been hit by fines of $1.42m (£763,000)
for safety violations on its Prudhoe Bay oilfield in Alaska. In
January 2002, BP has been fined a then record £1 million
for safety breaches at its Grangemouth plant in the UK.
Risks 191, 22 January 2005 •
Hazards guide to BP's recent safety
record
Britain:
RMT fury at use of anti-union laws in safety dispute
Rail union RMT has reacted with fury to the use of anti-union
laws by rail operator Midland Mainline to block industrial action
in a dispute over the safe operation of multiple-unit trains.
Risks 191, 22 January 2005
USA:
Beryllium health scandal hits home
US government safety watchdog OSHA, long criticised for downplaying
the dangers of the highly dangerous metal beryllium, has discovered
that several of its own employees have been affected by exposure
to the deadly metal.
Risks 191, 22 January 2005
Britain:
TGWU welcome for gangmaster watchdog
TGWU has welcomed details of a new watchdog aimed at curbing the
exploitation of agricultural workers and labourers and that was
created after a high profile campaign by the farm work union.
Risks 191, 22 January 2005
Global:
Bad jobs make for bad health
Poor mental and physical health have an "immensely strong
relationship" to poor job satisfaction, a new study has concluded.
It concludes: "The relationships are particularly impressive
for aspects of mental health, specifically burnout, lowered self-esteem,
anxiety, and depression, where it can now be confirmed that dissatisfaction
at work can be hazardous to an employee's mental health and wellbeing."
Risks 191, 22 January 2005
Britain:
Company fined £150,000 after site fall death
A London construction company has been fined £150,000 after
its safety failings led to the death of a construction worker.
McDermott Bros Contactors Ltd (MBCL) pleaded guilty to safety
charges relating to the death of 54-year-old carpenter Vincent
Dooley.
Risks 191, 22 January 2005
South
Korea: Migrants face dirty, difficult and dangerous jobs
Foreign workers in South Korea are being employed in the most
dangerous jobs and are facing an increasing risk of ill-health
and injury as a result. Concern was heightened as the labour ministry
launched a probe into reports that eight female Thai workers had
been severely affected by exposure to toxic chemicals at a sweatshop,
with some hospitalised.
Risks 191, 22 January 2005
Britain:
Worker gets £50,000 for lost thumb
A Sheffield steelworker has been awarded £50,000 compensation
after his thumb was sliced off in a razor-blade making machine.
Risks 191, 22 January 2005
Britain:
Hairdresser killed by asbestos in old driers
A former hairdresser died as a result of years of exposure to
asbestos in old hood-style hair-driers. Janet Watson, 59, contracted
the asbestos cancer mesothelioma through exposure to dust produced
as asbestos linings in the equipment crumbled with time.
Risks 191, 22 January 2005
Egypt:
Workers fight employer and asbestos disease
Ninety employees, many suffering from debilitating asbestos disease,
have been laid off by Aura-Misr, an Egyptian asbestos company.
The sick workers say a month's supply of basic medicine, that
allows them to continue breathing properly, costs about 70 per
cent of a worker's salary.
Risks 191, 22 January 2005
Europe:
Commission treads cautious chemicals path
The European Commission says it is attempting to find a "balanced
solution" to address the controversy raging about its chemical
safety proposals. The European Commission proposal for REACH -
Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals - is currently
under examination by the European Parliament (EP).
Risks 191, 22 January 2005
Global:
Governments must probe media deaths, says IFJ
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called for
the United States and other governments to take seriously their
responsibility to investigate media killings. IFJ reports that
129 journalists and media employees were killed last year, the
worst 12-month toll on record.
Risks 191, 22 January 2005
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Hazards news, 15 January 2005
USA:
Gridlock in asbestos compensation battle
The US Congress will probably have to decide the size of a proposed
trust fund to compensate asbestos victims, due to a lack of agreement
among affected groups, the senator drafting the measure said this
week. Unions warn that the current proposals would see some asbestos
victims lose out.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
Britain:
Union stands up against low letter boxes
Postal union CWU says it will not stand for low letter boxes,
which it says are a real pain in back for delivery staff. The
union has launched a campaign calling for government action.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
USA:
Sick employees urged to keep their germs at home
US companies realising that it only takes one employee coming
to work sick to spark a workplace disease outbreak and set off
waves of absenteeism down the line. Experts say "the idea
of the 'hero-worker' that manages to punch in for a full day's
work despite illness needs to be discouraged."
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
Britain:
EIS speaks up for teaching staff who can't
Scottish teaching union EIS is warning that voice strain and voice
loss can be a serious problem for teachers and lecturers.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
Taiwan:
New rules on death from overwork
Taiwan has broadened the definition of death from overwork. The
Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) health and safety department said
that the new standard for reaching a verdict of death by overwork,
known in Japan as "karoshi" and China as "guolaosi,"
and serious medical conditions, such as a stroke, will not be
based solely on hours worked.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
Britain:
NUMAST wins £1.7m for injured members
Ship officers' union NUMAST recovered more than £1.7m in
compensation in 2004 for members hurt at work.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
Italy:
Workplace smoking ban takes effect
Smokers in Italy are being forced to curb their habit as a new
law banning lighting up in public places takes effect.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
Britain:
Safety at work requires responsibility in the boardroom
A union-backed campaign for tougher laws to prevent workplace
death and injury and to hold company directors to account for
negligent health and safety practices is now underway, with the
first reading in parliament of the Health and Safety (Directors'
Duties) Bill on 12 January.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
USA:
Air traffic controllers face mental health probes
Air traffic controllers who have taken time off to deal with trauma
after making mistakes that cause close calls could face losing
their jobs because they failed to acknowledge on routine medical
forms that they had sought help for mental health problems.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
Britain:
Company director jailed for roofwork fatality
A company boss has been jailed following the death of a worker
in a fall from a roof. Lee Harper, who was managing director of
Harper Building Contractors Ltd, was sentenced to 16 months following
a prosecution brought by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
Bangladesh:
Factory fire kills 23 garment workers
A global union body has demanded immediate action by the Bangladesh
government in the aftermath of a factory fire that has left at
least 23 workers dead and many others seriously injured. The fire
broke out on 6 January on the top floor of the four storey building
which housed the Sun Knitting and Processing factory in Narayanganj,
near Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
Britain:
Hatfield rail crash bosses go on trial
Engineering firm Balfour Beatty and five railway managers are
to go on trial for manslaughter over the Hatfield rail crash in
2000 in which four people died.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
Britain:
Rail crash report damns lax Jarvis safety regime
The rail contractor Jarvis has been condemned in an official report
for lax safety measures which may have led to a commuter train
crash that killed seven people and injured a further 76.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
Britain:
Work rehab works for mental health problems
Rehabilitation is the key to helping employees suffering from
mental health problems return to work, according to new guidance
from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
Britain:
Prostate cancer linked to pesticide exposure
A Department of Health expert committee has found "limited
evidence" of a link between occupational exposure to pesticides
and prostate cancer and called for further investigations. Prostate
cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, with over 24,700
new cases a year and is the second largest cause of death from
cancer in the UK.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
Britain:
Extend gangmaster protection, say MPs
Safeguards to prevent migrant workers from being exploited should
be extended to the construction industry, Labour MPs have said.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
Britain:
Equitas agrees £107 million asbestos payout
Equitas, the reinsurer set up to deal with Lloyd's of London's
multibillion-pound asbestos liabilities, has settled more than
£107 million of claims with four policyholders.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
Hazard!
Health in the workplace over 200 years
The People's History Museum's 'Hazard!' exhibition, in Manchester
from 22 January, will use stunning posters, images and original
objects to interpret the story of industrial health and safety
over the last 200 years.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005
Hazard!
Health in the workplace over 200 years, 11am-4.30pm,
22 January - 10 July 2005, People's
History Museum, Manchester. Admission is free on the opening
day, Saturday 22 January. Normal admission £1, children
and concessions free.
Britain:
HandS up for safety reps
The safety rep colonisation of cyberspace is continuing at warp
speed. A new and extremely impressive addition to the galaxy of
safety reps' websites is "HandS", the brainchild of
an Amicus health and safety rep, is among the most comprehensive
sources of well-targeted information you are ever likely to find.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005 •
HandS website
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Asia:
Labour organisations appeal for tsunami action
The International Labour Organisation says urgent action is needed
to rebuilding the communities and livelihoods of the survivors
of the Asian tsunami disaster, which is now thought to have claimed
in excess of 150,000 lives.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005 •
Labourstart tsunami
webpage.
Britain:
Report dispels the myth of sicknote Britain
A TUC report shatters the myth that UK workers - particularly
in the public sector - are always taking 'sickies', that stress
is not a serious illness and that the solution to 'sicknote Britain'
is a drastic cutback on the numbers of people in receipt of Incapacity
Benefit.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
USA:
Safety enforcer "no longer much of a problem"
US rights to basic protection at work are being fatally undermined
by the Bush government, latest evidence suggests. Mark Friedman,
director of labour law for the US Chamber of Commerce, told the
programme: "There is no reason why workers should have a
voice in negotiating health and safety policy" because OSHA
does not enforce against workers.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
Britain:
Did you have a chilly reception at work?
Did you receive a warm welcome back to work, or was the reception
more ice-box than Christmas box? Over the holidays, TUC called
on employers to make sure that the heating in offices, shops and
factories was turned back on early enough to ensure that their
workplaces reach the minimum legal temperature before staff returned
from the holiday shut down.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
USA: Asbestos
cowboys get lengthy jail terms
A US federal judge has sentenced an asbestos company boss to 25
years in prison, his father to 19 years and has ordered them to
pay about $25 million (£13.3m) in restitution and fines.
Alex Salvagno, 38, and his father, Raul, 71, were found guilty
of racketeering and conspiracy to violate environmental laws for
rushing asbestos abatement jobs, placing staff at deadly risk.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
Britain:
Average unpaid overtime was worth £4,650 in 2004
UK employees did unpaid overtime worth £23 billion in 2004,
according to TUC - a mindblowing £4,650 worth per worker.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
Australia:
Massive payout to gunned-down Coke worker
Soft drink giant Coca-Cola has been ordered to pay almost Aus$3
million (£1.2m) to a former employee who was shot five times
while loading a coke-vending machine the day he returned to work
after an earlier attack. Craig Pareezer, 39, had previously complained
about the dangers and his boss knew he had already been bashed
unconscious by a gang targeting vending machines at the college.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
Britain:
£1/2m pay victory spurs rail hours investigation
Amicus is to launch a major investigation into breaches of the
working time regulations after securing an out-of-court settlement
in excess of £500,000 holiday pay for 282 rail maintenance
workers.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
Europe:
Occupational health priorities in Europe
A new report says estimates that over 100,000 people in European
Union are killed each as a result of a work-related accident or
disease are infact "no more than an approximate minimum,
because no exact figures can be put on it. It is a conservative
and certainly understated guesstimate."
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
Britain:
Amicus says bullying firms could be named
Amicus says it will "wage war" on workplace bullying
in 2005 with a campaign to expose employers who tolerate bullying
in their workplace. The union says it is working in partnership
with good employers who recognise the damaging effects of bullying
on staff but says it will expose bad employers.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
USA:
$1/2m passive smoking payout
A US state appeals court has upheld a $500,000 (£265,500)
award to a flight attendant who blamed secondhand smoke on planes
for her bronchitis and sinus trouble.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
Britain:
Family court staff face rising intimidation
Family court staff have faced a mounting campaign of intimidation,
including verbal and physical abuse, from aggrieved fathers over
the last 12 months, according to the probation officers' union
Napo.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
Denmark:
Night shift linked to late pregnancy loss
Pregnant women who regularly work the night shift may have an
increased risk of a miscarriage late in pregnancy or a stillbirth,
a new study suggests. The researchers also found evidence that
job stress could be a factor in night shift workers' higher risk
of miscarriage and stillbirth.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
Britain:
Union calls for law to protect health workers
Health service union UNISON is calling for tough new laws to protect
staff from violence and abuse and to punish the offenders.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
Japan:
Health alert over flat screen TVs
Workers in factories that make flat screen televisions could suffer
long-term health damage, say scientists. A worker exposed to the
indium tin oxide (ITO) used in screen coatings became ill with
a respiratory condition called pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that
kills half its victims within five years.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
Britain:
Fatigue is top 2005 concern at sea
A campaign to combat fatigue at sea will be a top priority during
2005, says ship officers' union NUMAST.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
Britain:
UNISON nabs £37m from unsafe employers
UNISON obtained a record £37,388,262 compensation in 2004
for members injured at work, up £3 million on 2003.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
Britain:
Call for Scottish schools to act on accidents
Educational employers must make employee health and safety a priority
for 2005, says Scottish teaching union EIS. The call came as the
union announced it secured in 2004 a total of £250,000 in
compensation payouts and legal costs for injured EIS members.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
Britain:
New rights to safety information take effect
The Freedom of Information Act has come into full effect and gives
individuals a statutory right to see a massive amount of information
held by government departments and thousands of public bodies,
including the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Commission
(HSC).
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
Britain:
Working wounded at higher risk of heart attack
Men who never take a sick day even though they are not in good
health may be setting themselves up for a heart attack, according
to a new study. Dr Mika Kivimäki and colleagues used a study
of 5,000 British male civil servants aged 35 to 55 to examine
the relationship between sickness absence, "presenteeism"
- working while ill - and the rate of serious coronary events,
including fatal and non-fatal heart attacks.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
Britain:
Dyslexia in the workplace
Dyslexia affects up to 2.9 million workers in the UK, but many
employers are not doing enough to assist affected workers, says
a TUC report.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005
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