USA
Workplace exposures double lung disease risks
Exposure to airborne pollutants at work doubles the risk of developing
certain serious and common lung disorders, whether or not you smoke.
Research published in the September issue of the European Respiratory
Journal, suggests approaching a third of all chronic bronchitis and
emphysema cases might be linked to workplace exposures.
Risks
121, 30 August 2003
AUSTRALIA
Unions want a role in substance use at work
Unions in Australia are warning that workplace drugs and alcohol policies
should be introduced only in consultation with unions. The New South
Wales Labor Council says its submission to an official "alcohol summit"
in the state will raise concerns about employers unilaterally imposing
policies, ignoring guidance agreed by unions, police and official safety
and health agencies.
Risks
121, 30 August 2003
BRITAIN
Widow overcomes death certificate to get payout
The widow of a Northumberland miner who died after decades suffering
with lung disease has received £49,250 compensation from British Coal.
The award was made despite no respiratory diseases being recorded on
her husband’s death certificate.
Risks
121, 30 August 2003
AUSTRALIA
TV union gains overtime safety clause
Television company workers in Australia will be able to refuse overtime
on safety, work-life balance and other grounds under new union-negotiated
contract clauses.
Risks
121, 30 August 2003
BRITAIN
Mental health tests planned for police
Police forces in England and Wales are considering regular checks on
the mental health of officers performing stressful duties. A Home Office
working party is looking at the possibility of periodic interviews or
questionnaires to see if officers are coping with the mental strain
of their work.
Risks
121, 30 August 2003
USA
In space, no-one can hear you complain
Nasa has been accused of complacency and suffering from safety "blind
spots" in a damning final report into the Columbia shuttle disaster
seven months ago. Independent investigators attacked the organisation's
flawed safety procedures, finding that those were as much to blame for
the calamity, in which seven astronauts died, as technical faults.
Risks
121, 30 August 2003
SPAIN
Workers at refinery threaten strike over safety
fears
About 1,500 sub-contracted workers at Spanish oil company Repsol YPF
have said they will go on strike if it does not agree to new safety
measures. The move comes after the Puertollano refinery was hit by an
explosion and fire on 14 August, killing six people.
Risks
121, 30 August 2003
AUSTRALIA
Workers stand together in sit-down protest
Postal workers have vowed to take Australia Post to court if it refused
to allow elderly and disabled counter staff to sit down while they serve
customers. The company was ordered to pay $250,000 (£102,000) to Sydney
postal worker Sarah Daghlian in July after managers took away the stool
she had used for 11 years.
Risks
121, 30 August 2003
BRITAIN
Safety and productivity go hand in hand - official
Safer workplaces are better managed and have higher productivity, an
official report has concluded. The HSC/E submission to a Work Foundation
panel of inquiry on work and enterprise concludes better health and
safety management is a key factor in improving productivity.
Risks
121, 30 August 2003
DENMARK
Don’t pay the price for stress
National union federation LO Denmark has pulled together case histories
on workplace stress prevention - and has found successful "preventive
efforts paid off" for companies.
Risks
121, 30 August 2003 • Hazards
Get-a-Life! webpages
GLOBAL
Modern management makes work more dangerous
Modern management trends are making workplaces more dangerous. A review
of 190 studies from 23 countries has led researchers to conclude: "Of
those studies about 80 per cent show a clear deterioration in occupational
health and safety associated with downsizing, job insecurity, outsourcing,
the use of temporary workers and those sorts of changes."
Risks
121, 30 August 2003
SOUTH AFRICA
Xstrata denies obligation to dying miners
Xstrata Coal says it had no moral or legal obligations to three South
African former asbestos miners who are dying of lung cancer. The statement
came as lawyers said they intended to start proceedings against the
company for damages for the workers, who are dying from mesothelioma,
an asbestos cancer.
Risks
121, 30 August 2003
BRITAIN
Prisons are bad for mental health of staff and
inmates
Prison life is damaging to the mental health of both prisoners and prison
staff, according to a study published in the 30 August edition of the
British Medical Journal.
Risks
121, 30 August 2003
KOREA
Korean union leaders jailed for compo demo
Three representatives of the Korean Metal Workers Federation were arrested
and jailed on 19 July 2003 for participating in a demonstration calling
for repetitive strain injuries to be recognised under South Korean law
as compensable occupational diseases.
Risks
121, 30 August 2003
BRITAIN
Union exposes bully Beeb
Bullying is rife at the BBC, according to a union survey. In a nationwide
survey of broadcasting journalists 87 per cent of those who said they
had experienced bullying worked for the corporation.
Risks
121, 30 August 2003
AUSTRALIA
Call centre stink over time off in loo
Employees at a company owned by Australia's second biggest telecoms
company say their bosses have ordered them to record as "personal time"
the amount of time they spend in the toilet. The workers at the RSL
COM call centre are being forced to time themselves going to the toilet
and make up the time at the end of the day or risk losing pay.
Risks
120, 23 August 2003 • Hazards
toilet breaks webpages
IRAQ
Unions call for probe after US kills another
media worker
The death of a cameraman in Iraq, fired on by a US tank, has led for
renewed calls for an investigation of the US military top brass. The
latest International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) call came after
the shooting of Mazen Dana, an award-winning journalist working for
the Reuters news agency.
Risks
120, 23 August 2003
SOUTH AFRICA
Dying are too poor for asbestos care
Workers in South Africa are dying of agonising asbestos diseases, but
without the medical care they need to ease their pain. Without private
medical care, the plight of the men and their families is desperate.
Risks
120, 23 August 2003
CANADA
Workers want survivable jobs
Canadian workers are stressed out, overworked and tired, a union has
claimed. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is calling for
improved management of workload and time, which would ease tensions
in the workplace and off the job.
Risks 120, 23 August 2003
BRITAIN
HSE sets individual prosecution criteria too
high
Official guidance for safety inspectors could mean some guilty parties
are not prosecuted. A briefing by the Centre for Corporate Accountability
(CCA) says HSE inspectors have been told that the prosecution of directors,
managers and other individuals should only take place in certain, very
limited, circumstances.
Risks
120, 23 August 2003
AUSTRALIA
Spitting mad rail workers
Rail workers sick of being spat on by passengers want authorities to
consider using portable DNA kits to track down the culprits. Transport
union RTBU says spitting and verbal abuse directed at guards and station
staff is increasing as passengers vent their frustration at delays and
breakdowns.
Risks
120, 23 August 2003
BRITAIN
Employees stressed more, employers clueless
Half of all sickness absence is due to stress and one in five workers
is taking time off because of the problem, according to a report from
insurance firm Unum Provident. It also found the past decade has seen
an explosion in employee claims for "mental and psychological problems,"
which were rare a generation ago.
Risks
120, 23 August 2003
GLOBAL
Workplace health research isn’t the fairest of
them all
A gender blind approach to occupational health research is can undermine
efforts to properly assess the impact of work on health. An international
group of researchers, writing in the American Journal of Industrial
Medicine, conclude gender-sensitive practices enrich the scientific
quality of research and should lead to better data and ultimately to
well-targeted prevention programmes.
Risks
120, 23 August 2003 • Women
and hazards webpage
GLOBAL
Drug testing plans backfire on bosses
Attempts by airlines to force through mandatory drug tests are facing
stiff union resistance. Qantas union AMWU has said the tests are an
unacceptable breach of privacy, don’t work and are a diversion from
real safety concerns. And unions in New Zealand say if New Zealand Air
is really concerned about "impairment," that is what it should test
for - and should clampdown on the fatigue and other work factors that
are a far more likely cause.
Risks
120, 23 August 2003
GLOBAL
Report highlights BP management failings
A series of management failures were responsible for life-threatening
accidents at BP's Grangemouth complex in Scotland, an official report
has found. The company, criticised by Hazards for safety failings worldwide,
has also angered unions with plans to cut up to 1,000 jobs at the plant
that will further "jeopardise safety."
Risks
120, 23 August 2003 • Hazards magazine BP
webpage
NEW ZEALAND
Tinnitus causes depression
Many tinnitus sufferers are afflicted by depression because of the condition,
new research has shown. The condition can be work-related and, like
occupational deafness, is frequently caused by exposure to noise a work.
Risks
120, 23 August 2003
BRITAIN
Pizza Hut bans smoking
Restaurant chain Pizza Hut has introduced a smoking ban in all its UK
restaurants. The company said it hoped the move would protect customers
and staff at its 500 branches from the dangers of passive smoking.
Risks
120, 23 August 2003
INDIA
Asbestos cases are covered up, say experts
Doctors in India are under pressure from the asbestos industry to label
patients with asbestos disease as having tuberculosis or bronchitis
and to underplay the health impact of asbestos, a public health team
has said.
Risks
120, 23 August 2003
BRITAIN
Six digit sick digits payout
James McKenna, 42, a Scottish former railway worker who developed vibration
white finger and medically retired after years of using power drills
and jackhammers, has been awarded £212,829 damages.
Risks
120, 23 August 2003
BRITAIN
Passive smoking is a drag for musicians
The Musicians’ Union (MU) says passive smoking is a drag for musicians
and is backing the union campaign for protection of workers from other
people’s smoke. An MU motion to TUC’s September Congress calls on TUC
to urge the Health and Safety Executive to produce the long-awaited
code of practice on passive smoking.
Risks
120, 23 August 2003
BRITAIN
Safety confirmed as a top union priority
The union world’s top meeting has safety high on its agenda. Safety
is a top topic at TUC’s annual Congress this year, with corporate killing,
stress, violence and other health and safety priorities making up 8
per cent of the motions and amendments.
Risks
120, 23 August 2003
BRITAIN
HSE treats overheated workers worse than pigs
Unions are turning up the heat on the government’s safety agency for
refusing to protect sweltering staff. Unions protesting outside HSE's
London HQ want the cold-hearted watchdog to introduce a workplace temperature
ceiling like the one protecting cattle and pigs and transit - something
HSE says it won't do.
Risks
120, 23 August 2003
BRITAIN
GPMU opposes bogus safety incentive schemes
Print union GPMU says it is concerned about the growth of "safety incentive
programmes" offering bonuses or prizes when accident figures fall, because
they could encourage fewer reports rather than fewer accidents.
Risks
120, 23 August 2003 • Hazards guidance
on safety incentive schemes
CANADA
Strains up and work is to blame
One in every 10 Canadian adults had a repetitive strain injury (RSI)
serious enough to limit their normal activities in 2000/01, according
to a Statistic Canada study - with work hazards the most common cause.
Stressful work increased the risks, the study found.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
USA
Unions cut costs, grief and injuries says motor
giant
A union drive for safer car production at General Motors (GM) has led
to a greatly improved safety record and better industrial relations
- and massive cash savings for the company. The United Auto Workers
union (UAW) says the Detroit-based automaker now has among the lowest
number of workdays lost to injury among major automakers in the US.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
INDIA
Oil workers strike over helicopter crash
Rescuers have found the wreckage of a helicopter that crashed off India's
west coast, killing up to 27 people, as angry colleagues at the country's
biggest oil company vowed a nationwide strike over safety.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
INDIA
Global union launches shipbreaking organising
project
A global union has launched an organising drive to improve standards
in India’s notoriously hazardous shipbreaking industry. First tackling
yards in Mumbai, the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) project,
"Organising metalworkers in the shipbreaking industry in India," will
be extended to the much larger shipbreaking sites in Alang and Sosiya
at a later stage.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
BRITAIN
Family calls for help to prove asbestos death
link
The family of a Derby rail worker who died aged 58 from an asbestos-related
disease is calling for his former work colleagues to come forward to
help with a compensation claim.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
AUSTRALIA
Drug testing plan backfires on bosses
Attempts by Australian airline Qantas to force through mandatory drug
tests has taken a big blow. A top industrial relations official has
suggested the tests be restricted to 700 senior executive staff based
in Sydney while arbitration continues.
AMWU
Online, 14 August 2003
FRANCE
Bus drivers strike over shorts and sunglasses
French bus drivers have announced they are going on strike over the
right to wear shorts and sunglasses during the heatwave. Bus drivers
in Besancon, eastern France, say they will hold a one-day strike in
order to win better conditions for drivers in the heat.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
BRITAIN
You’re not healthy any more
One in three football managers has heart trouble, a study has found.
The League Managers Association (LMA) study found that heart problems
affected 15 of the 47 men who volunteered for testing as part of its
"Fit to manage" programme.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
BRITAIN
Cash poor HSE changes enforcement policy
A new Health and Safety Executive policy will mean inspectors will undertake
more preventive inspections, but will investigate fewer major injuries
and are under orders to undertake quickie inspections, with an explicit
instruction to "conclude investigations as early as possible."
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
CHINA
At least 37 dead in mining disaster
A coal mine explosion in northern China has killed at least 37, according
to state press reports. Since the blast occurred early Monday 11 August,
rescuers have hauled a stream of corpses from the Datong city coal mine
in northern Shanxi province.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
BRITAIN
Trolley injury payout for injured nurse
An occupational health department nurse who was badly injured when a
hospital trolley collapsed has been awarded £23,000 out-of-court settlement.
Hilary Horsley was working in the occupational health department at
Sharoe Green Hospital in Preston at the time of the accident in November
2000.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
USA
Work stress is a costly problem
Most US workers are suffering from work-related stress, and companies
are paying a price too. "Stress is increasing dramatically," said Dr
Paul Rosch, president of the American Institute of Stress (AIS), which
estimates 1 million workers in the US are absent daily due to stress.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
BRITAIN
Casino worker receives asthma payout
A GMB member who claimed he developed asthma because of passive smoking
at work has won his battle for compensation. Michael Dunn was reportedly
paid up to £50,000 in an out-of-court settlement by Napoleon's Casino
in Leicester Square, central London.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
SOUTH AFRICA
Union investigates crap jobs
A union health and safety inspection team has been locked out of the
Beaconfield sewage plant in Kimberley, South Africa. The team of South
Africa’s Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) experts went to the plant
accompanied by journalists as part of their nationwide inspection of
working conditions.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
BRITAIN
Wilting workers walk-out at over-heated hospital
Staff at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary staged a walk-out on 12 August after
claiming it was too hot inside for them to work. Around 40 workers took
part in the demonstration outside the £180 million hospital, which was
built using the controversial private finance initiative.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
BRITAIN
Expectant and new mums feeling the heat
UK retail union Usdaw says we are all sweltering in the record temperatures
- but adds if you are working and pregnant it is 10 times worse. The
union says pregnant women tolerate heat less and may more readily faint
or be more liable to heat stress.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
BRITAIN
Asbestos-related diseases review s
The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), the independent bodyadvising
the government on the industrial injuries scheme and which includes
TUC representatives, is to review the asbestos related 'prescribed'
diseases that qualify for industrial injuries benefit payouts.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
BRITAIN
TGWU negotiators take tough line on bus hours
Bus industry pay negotiators from the Transport and General Workers
Union will be taking a tough line in future talks with employers when
the subject of working hours comes up.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
BRITAIN
Row looms over working hours
Unions have given a cool response to a suggestion the government aims
to keep its opt-out from the European Union wide working week ceiling
of 48 hours. To the dismay of unions, Tony Blair negotiated a temporary
deal with the European Union in 1997, ensuring that British employers
can ignore the hours limit if staff agree.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
BRITAIN
Some workers can't choose to refuse
Finance union UNIFI has said anyone who thinks workers are freely opting
for long work hours is sadly mistaken. The union was responding to a
7 August leader in The Times that suggested prime minister Tony Blair
should argue that government, the unions or Europe have 'no business
stopping people working as many hours as they want to.'
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
BRITAIN
Forensic tests to protect transport staff
A train operator is to use forensic technology to deter attacks on its
staff. Central Trains is to issue DNA testing kits to help identify
abusers, with staff able to take DNA swabs of saliva if they are spat
upon.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
BRITAIN
Drop dead! Deadly diseases of the modern workplace
Workers exposed to stress for at least half their working lives are
25 per cent more likely to die from a heart attack, and have 50 per
cent higher odds of suffering a fatal stroke, according to the "modern
workers health check" in the TUC-backed Hazards magazine.
Risks
118, 9 August 2003
NEW ZEALAND
Unions take on the epidemic of overwork
Unions in New Zealand are calling for more work-life balance to reverse
an epidemic of overwork related health problems. Risks
118, 9 August 2003
AUSTRALIA
Stressed employees are worked to death
Australian union safety campaign UnionSafe is warning that work practices,
the demise of job security, escalating demands, and violence and bullying
in the workplace are creating tired and stressed out employees prone
to heart attacks, strokes, disease and depression and more likely to
take their own lives.
Risks
118, 9 August 2003
USA
Overtime showdown looms in Senate
"Unless the White House amends its proposed changes to the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938, this critical showdown will determine if the
fabric of American working life disintegrates any further under President
Bush’s brand of compassionate conservatism," warns a Labor Research
Association briefing.
Risks
118, 9 August 2003
BRITAIN
Hospital told to cure stress or else
An NHS hospital has been told it must act to reduce workplace stress
among its 1,100 staff. A Health and Safety Executive improvement notice
ordered the Dorset county hospital to undertake a risk assessment of
the burden being placed on employees.
Risks
118, 9 August 2003
ARGENTINA
Supermarket cashiers can’t check out for loo
breaks
Supermarket cashiers in Argentina are being forced to wear nappies (diapers)
because they can’t take toilet breaks at work, a union official said.
Female cashiers in western Mendoza province must wear adult nappies
in case "cold, nerves, pressure or stress" provoke incontinence, union
official Jorge Cordova said.
Risks
118, 9 August 2003
AUSTRALIA
Unions just say no… to drugs tests
Australian employers are finding they are testing workers’ patience
as they attempt to railroad mandatory drug testing a work. Thousands
of Qantas workers at mass meetings this week resolved not to participate
in the airline’s drug testing proposals.
Risks
118, 9 August 2003 • Hazards
drugs and alcohol guides
AUSTRALIA
Workers "speak up together" for safety
Workers are being urged to 'speak up together' for health and safety
as part of a massive new union campaign in the Australian state of Victoria.
Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) says it aims to provide extra support
to union safety reps, increase the profile and number of safety reps,
provide more information to workplaces on health and safety, and advocate
for the provision of more training and resources for reps.
Risks
118, 9 August 2003
BRITAIN
Heatwave workers at boiling point need protection
Britain’s sweltering workforce needs the legal protection of an enforceable
maximum workplace temperature, according to the TUC. It says while there
is a legal minimum temperature below which no-one should have to work,
there is no equivalent if it gets too hot.
Risks
118, 9 August 2003
SOUTH AFRICA
100 workers die every month
South Africa’s Department of Labour says an average of 100 workers who
are killed in workplace accidents in the country every month.
Risks
118, 9 August 2003
GLOBAL
Preventable, predictable and all too common
Knowledge of the risks doesn’t mean employers will do anything about
them, recent tragedies show - even when those risks have been known
from antiquity.
Risks
117, 2 August 2003
USA
Workers hit by depression era hours
US workers are facing work pressures not seen since the great depression.
Press reports say Americans manage to live with the stingiest vacation
allotment in the industrialised world - 8.1 days after a year on the
job, 10.2 days after three years. And workers now logging more hours
than any time since the 1920s.
Risks
117, 2 August 2003
BRITAIN
Toilet waste "hampers rail repairs"
Toilet waste from trains is building up on parts of the UK rail network,
affecting track inspections and raising fears about health risks to
staff.
Risks
117, 2 August 2003
BRITAIN
Working mothers are "too stressed"
Flexible hours and other "family friendly" employment policies are of
limited help to working mothers if their work spills over too much into
their home life and they feel overloaded and under stress while at work,
according to a new study.
Risks
117, 2 August 2003
USA
Korean-Americans warned of workplace dangers
A drive to make New York’s Korean-American community more aware of the
dangers lurking in the workplace has been launched by local advocacy
groups.
Risks
117, 2 August 2003
GLOBAL
Concerns over trucker safety
Fatigue related road traffic accidents are causing concern worldwide,
the global transport workers’ union federation ITF has said. The union
body, which is preparing for its fatigue-themed International Road Transport
Workers' Day of Action on 13 October, said there is public concern in
more and more countries about the dangers of drivers being put under
pressure to work excessive hours or break speed limits.
Risks
117, 2 August 2003
USA
Laundry company told to clean up its act
A union-busting company facing a raft of charges for breaches of US
labour law has added serious safety breaches to its record. The US Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has fined laundry giant Cintas
over $10,000 (£6,190) for violating federal safety and health laws.
Risks
117, 2 August 2003
BRITAIN
Boss jailed for workers' deaths
The head of paint stripping firm ENG Engineering has been sentenced
to nine months in jail for the manslaughter of two of his workers. Mumtaz
Hussain, 43, and 22-year-old Ghulum Sarwar died after being overcome
by toxic fumes. Company boss Ian Morris was found guilty of manslaughter
at an earlier hearing.
Risks
117, 2 August 2003
BRITAIN
Migrant labourers face deadly work threat
A spate of deaths involving foreign labourers on UK farms has highlighted
the risks facing migrant labourers.
Risks
117, 2 August 2003
BRITAIN
Doctors could sue over hours
Junior doctors may be able to start suing hospitals as three out of
four fail to meet targets on long hours, the British Medical Association
(BMA) has warned. On 1 August limits on the hours worked as well as
guaranteed breaks became part of junior doctors' contractual rights.
Risks
117, 2 August 2003
NEW ZEALAND
Unions needed for safe chemical handling
A New Zealand government inquiry has recognised the need for worker
involvement in the prevention of exposures to hazardous substances at
work. National union federation CTU said the findings of the Ministerial
Inquiry into the Management of Certain Hazardous Substances "backs up
the CTU experience that greater worker participation in hazard management
will result in much less exposure to toxic chemicals."
Risks
117, 2 August 2003
BRITAIN
Amicus seeks the time of our lives
Amicus is pushing forward with its campaign for a better, less stressful,
balance between life and work. A series of "the time of our lives" regional
conferences for union reps in the autumn will address '"ssues around
productivity and negotiating away excessive working hours."
Risks
117, 2 August 2003
BRITAIN
Work deaths "a blemish on a civilised society"
Britain’s top safety boss has given a cautious welcome to workplace
fatalities statistics showing a 10 per cent reduction in the number
of deaths at work last year. HSC chair Bill Callaghan added, however,
that "226 deaths also represent continuing failure. Worker fatalities
are a blemish on a civilised society. They mark a failure of a basic
human right - to have our health and safety protected."
Risks
117, 2 August 2003
BRITAIN
The fall and rise of construction death figures
Construction deaths dropped again last year, but have since taken a
dramatic upturn, Health and Safety Executive figures show.
Risks
117, 2 August 2003
