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ARCHIVED NEWS - January - December
2006
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More recent news
Hazards news, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Safety must stay top of the council agenda
Retail union Usdaw has said health and safety must remain top
of the agenda for local authorities. The call follows the announcement
of a government review of local council statutory responsibilities.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
USA:
Asbestos hazard warning survives challenge
An official warning to mechanics that exposure to asbestos in
brakes can cause deadly disease will not be removed from a US
government website, and official safety watchdog the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will not now suspend a
scientist who had refused to water down the warning.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006 •
OSHA
asbestos brakes warning
Britain:
Teachers back NUT on workload action
Members of the teaching union NUT have responded positively to
their union's campaign to tackle excessive workloads. A ballot
of members showed “overwhelming majorities” in support
of the NUT workload guidelines and possible school level action.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
USA:
Asbestos hazard warning survives challenge
An official warning to mechanics that exposure to asbestos in
brakes can cause deadly disease will not be removed from a US
government website, and official safety watchdog the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will not now suspend a
scientist who had refused to water down the warning.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006 •
OSHA
asbestos brakes warning
Britain:
Six figure payout after injury travelling home
An electrical worker who suffered career-ending injuries on a
ferry when travelling home after working away has been awarded
£140,000. Amicus member George Shimmans, an electrical craftsman
from Denbighshire, received the payout after being medically retired
as a result of back injuries sustained on the Condor Ferries’
craft.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Fat cats clean up as cleaners are washed out
Bankers at multinational firm Goldman Sachs have been warned they
could end up clearing up their own rubbish and cleaning their
own toilets by the over-stretched cleaners who work at their City
of London offices.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Safety watchdog acts after union safety claims
A London food firm targeted by the union GMB after a series of
safety violations has received an official safety warning. A Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation at one of three London
factories run by Katsouris Fresh Foods, owned by the giant Icelandic
Bakkavör Group, has resulted in an improvement notice, after
the safety watchdog found a machine that removed a worker’s
finger tip was inadequately guarded.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006 •
Hazards
migrant workers' webpages
Global:
Workplace risks increasing worldwide
Long hours and longer working lives in developed countries is
leading to greater lifetime exposures to health and safety risks,
a paper in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine has warned.
Finnish researchers also say that due to industrialisation, workers
in developing countries are facing new conditions without the
relevant knowledge and skills to minimise risks.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Union attacks hospital’s xmas puddings
A union has attacked scrooge hospital bosses who say there will
be no staff canteen facilities on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Amicus says Bedford Hospital Trust must provide staff working
over the festival days with the opportunity to have a hot Christmas
lunch and dinner on these days, especially as canteen facilities
will be providing patients with hot traditional Christmas dinners.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Questions asked about Corus ‘justice’
The day steel giant Corus received what has been described as
a “pinprick” fine for criminal safety offences which
led to the deaths of three workers, three sub-contract migrant
workers at another Corus plant were jailed and told they would
be deported for working illegally in the UK. The cases have thrown
into stark relief concerns about the adequacy of existing workplace
health and safety penalties, with the father of one of the dead
men backing a campaign calling for the jailing of company directors
found guilty of deadly safety crimes.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006 •
Fack website
• Hazards
deadly business webpages • Hazards
Corus webpage
Britain:
Building bosses fined after fall through floor
Two Bristol building companies have been fined after a pair of
workers fell through a floor that had been overloaded with bricks.
Mark Anthony Steventon-Smith of Mass Development and Tim Woodman
of Westfield Roofing both pleaded guilty to breaching health and
safety regulations.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Firm fined over lift shaft horror
A Runcorn company has been ordered to pay £30,000 in fines
and costs after pleading guilty to health and safety breaches
which left two staff seriously injured. TJ Morris, trading as
Home Bargains at Halton Lea, allowed two employees to attempt
to hand-wind a stuck goods lift; both fell down the lift shaft
and suffered serious injuries.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Teenage apprentice crushed to death
A teenager has been crushed to death at work. Apprentice plumber
Michael Scott, 18, died after the accident at Anderson Plumbing
and Heating Services in Aberdeen.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006 •
Hazards
young workers webpages
Global:
International contractors sign up to safety
A groundbreaking global agreement will commit construction contractors
worldwide to providing improved and properly costed and resourced
health, safety and welfare standards on public contracts. Global
building workers’ union federation BWI and the international
contractors’ association CICA struck the deal last month.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006 •
BWI news release • Full text of the agreement [pdf]
Britain:
Firms warned over road crashes
More than 1-in-4 road deaths in Britain last year involved an
at-work driver, official figures show. Department for Transport
(DfT) data issued by road safety charity Brake indicate 850 people
died and 6,012 were seriously injured as a result of the crashes.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Jingle hell, jingle hell, jangling nerves all day
Christmas music in shops is stressing out shopworkers, a noise
campaign, a trade union and a peer have warned. The relentless
march of the Little Drummer Boy down Britain’s high streets
and the associated seasonal jingle hell over an ever-extending
festive period amounts to “torture”, some campaigners
say.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Global:
Temporary work is bad for you
A study of the health of workers has found that men in temporary
jobs are more likely to suffer health problems than men in secure
employment. Dr Vanessa Gash from The University of Manchester’s
School of Social Sciences spent two years examining health statistics
of Spanish and German workers.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006 •
Hazards get-a-life
news and resources
Britain:
Kitchen assistant awarded £60,000 after fall
A kitchen assistant who fell after being distracted by a faulty
hot drinks machine has been awarded more than £60,000 in
compensation. Helen Given, 61, broke her hip and right wrist in
the fall, spent 10 weeks in hospital and was bed-ridden for six
months.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006
Britain:
Victory for Scotland's asbestos families
Families of Scottish asbestos disease victims are celebrating
an early victory in their fight for compensation. Changes in Scottish
law to help people with asbestos-related cancer claim compensation
have been brought forward to this week, the Scottish Executive
has announced.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006 •
Hazards asbestos
news and resources
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EARLIER NEWS
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Hazards
news , 16 December 2006
Britain:
Scientist played down work cancer risks
A world-famous British scientist failed to disclose that he held
a paid consultancy with a chemical company for more than 20 years
while investigating cancer risks in the industry. Sir Richard
Doll, the celebrated epidemiologist, was receiving a consultancy
fee of $1,500 a day in the mid-1980s from chemical multinational
Monsanto.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006 •
Hazards
occupational cancer and work and health webpages • HSE
occupational cancer estimates
USA: Construction firms push unions as safer choice
With the number of construction deaths on non-union sites skyrocketing,
New York's largest building contractors’ association has
launched a $1 million (£0.5m) ad campaign to underscore
the importance of hiring union workers. The year-long media blitz
is aimed at “public policymakers and real estate developers,”
said Louis Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers'
Association (BTEA).
Risks 287, 16 December 2006 •
Hazards
union effect webpages
Britain:
Don’t sell safety down the river
Maritime union RMT has called on MPs to reject changes to boatmen’s
training and licensing that could have disastrous consequences
for tidal river safety. It says despite vocal objections from
Thames boatmasters, safety campaigners and survivors and relatives
of victims of the 1989 Marchioness disaster, the government is
pushing threw a law RMT says would seriously water down riverboat
safety standards from January 2007.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Britain: Factory blast families angry at prosecution delay
Families of workers who died in the 2004 Stockline factory explosion
in Glasgow have expressed anger at a delay in the prosecution
of the firm that owned the factory. Lawyers acting on behalf of
ICL Tech and ICL Plastics have been given more time to prepare
their defence.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Canada:
Work-related deaths rising sharply
The number of work-related deaths in Canada is rising sharply,
revealing a dark side to the boom in the oil fields, mining and
the construction sector. The escalating work deaths figure also
reflects a steady increase in the number of workers dying from
long-ago exposure to dangerous products such as asbestos, according
to a report from the Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006 •
Hazards asbestos,
work
and health and work
and age webpages
Britain:
Overworking AA staff ‘will lead to fatalities’
AA patrol staff and recovery vehicle drivers are being forced
to work dangerously long hours, their union GMB has said. The
union says compulsory overtime introduced after staff cuts means
its members are to be forced to work up to 11.75 hours per day
for five days in a row, which the union says “will lead
to fatalities and serious injuries to AA patrol staff and to members
of the travelling public who will be the innocent victims.”
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Britain:
Migrant workers facing exploitation and danger
Migrant workers in the UK are facing exploitation and danger at
work, the TUC has warned.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Europe:
Cooperation is key says EU employment chief
High quality industrial relations including safety measures make
a significant contribution to economic performance, from company-level
to the economy as a whole, says a new European Commission report.
It highlights health and safety agreements as prominent examples
of cooperation at work, including Europe-wide deals on telework
and stress and silica dust and ongoing discussions on violence
at work.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Britain:
Firefighters remember biggest blast
A year after the Buncefield oil depot fire, which raged for days
following Britain’s biggest peacetime explosion in December
2005, firefighters’ union FBU has been paying tribute to
the efforts of its members and the public who rallied to tackle
the disaster.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Australia:
Self-insurance for firms to hurt workers
A new Australian government move encouraging big businesses to
self-insure for workers’ compensation could mean substantially
reduced payouts for injured workers and could significantly lower
the national standard of workplace health and safety, union federation
ACTU has warned. It said the federal government is supporting
moves by large businesses to withdraw from state-based schemes
linked to enforcement, and instead sign up as self-insurers under
the national Comcare scheme.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006 •
Hazards
compensation webpages
Britain:
Legal win for widow of youngest mesothelioma victim
The widow of a 32-year-old man who died after inhaling asbestos
on his stepfather's work clothing as a child, has succeeded in
her legal battle for compensation. Claire Welch from Braunstone
in Leicester continued the legal action originally launched by
her husband Barry after he was diagnosed with mesothelioma in
May 2004.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Europe:
MEPs pass diluted REACH solution
The European Parliament has brought the passage of European Union
(EU) legislation on the trade in chemicals close to completion.
A plenary vote by members of the European Parliament leaves the
REACH proposal requiring just the backing of the Council of Ministers,
the final hurdle before implementation.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Global:
IFJ hails UN action to protect journalists
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has welcomed
a move by the United Nations Security Council to press governments
to give more protection to journalists in conflict zones and to
fully investigate cases where media staff are killed under fire.
A draft UN resolution sponsored by France and Greece and backed
by Britain, Slovakia and Denmark says attacks intentionally directed
against journalists covering armed conflicts are war crimes.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Britain:
Blair unveils massive attack on ‘red tape’
Tony Blair has outlined 500 measures the government says will
cut the £14bn cost of red tape to individuals, firms and
charities. A number of safety measures are included in the plans,
which aim to cut red tape by 25 per cent across all government
departments.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Europe:
Cancer problems hidden at work
Occupational cancers are being missed because of flaws in the
reporting system, according to a new report. It says a major factor
in the near invisibility of occupational cancer is that the related
tumours in the great majority of cases only occur after the worker
has retired - however, a pilot scheme by France’s health
protection agency which started in 2005 is using post-occupational
monitoring for employees and self-employed skilled workers.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006 •
Hazards work
and cancer webpages
Britain:
All sides say stop sniping at safety
Safety, enforcement, union and employers’ organisations
have ganged together to call for an end to the “unremitting
criticism” of health and safety and the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE).
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Global:
Finger points at Browne on BP safety
BP chief executive Lord Browne was aware of safety concerns at
the company’s Texas City refinery for at least two years
before a deadly explosion at the plant. An internal email suggested
Lord Browne, the London-based global head of the company, knew
of problems at Texas City as early as 2003 and that he was personally
monitoring the site's monthly safety statistics.
Hazards BP webpages
• Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Britain:
Insurance firms aim to add insult to injury
New research has shown that four out of five personal injury victims
don't trust insurers to compensate them fairly without legal representation
and over three quarters are not confident of bringing a claim
themselves. The Law Society says it research shows an insurance
industry proposal to increase the current limit of £1,000
for personal injury cases on the small claims track, where people
are expected to represent themselves, will effectively leave thousands
of victims unable to pursue justified claims, making insurance
companies the big winners.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Britain:
Fat chance this will work?
The government's health advisers are urging companies to do more
to get their staff on their feet in order to combat a nationwide
epidemic of unfitness. A raft of recommendations from the National
Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) range from
providing bike sheds for those who want to cycle to work to encouraging
staff to take the stairs instead of the lift.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
Britain:
New guide to the new asbestos regulations
The TUC and HSE have produced a brief guide for safety representatives
on asbestos and the new Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.
The online resource, which does not cover the legal functions
of safety representatives, gives basic answers to the following
questions: What is asbestos; why is it dangerous; where do you
find asbestos; who is likely to be exposed to asbestos fibres;
what’s new in the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006;
what is a licence; what do the Regulations say and what should
I do; what should I do if I suspect asbestos materials are present;
and how do I find out more? You can start by reading this guide.
TUC
alert and full guide [pdf]
• Hazards
asbestos webpages
Australia:
Call to tailor safety laws for young workers
A children's watchdog in Australia has called for a change in
workplace health and safety laws after a study found four in every
10 employees aged 16 or under had been injured at work. “Specific
consideration” should be given in law to the health and
safety of workers under 18, the New South Wales (NSW) Commissioner
for Children and Young People, Gillian Calvert, reported in recommendations
on children at work tabled in the state parliament on 13 December.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006 •
Hazards young workers’ webpages
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EARLIER NEWS
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Hazards news, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Scrooge rail bosses in brush with cleaners
Rail and Tube cleaners fed up with dirty and dangerous work for
poverty pay have taken their campaign to rail company HQs. Rail
bosses on 4 December were treated to special performances of the
Cleaners' Christmas Carol at the offices of Network Rail, the
Association of Train Operating Companies and Metronet.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
USA:
BP neglects victims, kills some more, spies on critics
The already tarnished image of London-based oil giant BP is taking
further flak, after the deaths of more workers at its US installations,
accusations that it has reneged on promises to the injury victims
of last year’s Texas City blast, and allegations it spied
on a bereaved daughter and her lawyer.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006 •
Confined
Space on recent BP deaths and the
Texas City aftermath • More
on BP’s health and safety record
Britain:
Radiation advice agreed for airline staff
Cleaners and security staff who came into contact with planes
linked to the London radiation poisoning death of ex-spy Alexander
Litvinenko are to be given help and advice. The deal struck by
the union GMB with aircraft cleaning contractor OCS means employees
who have cleaned the three planes taken out of service for radiation
checks will be contacted and given support.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Europe:
Unions deplore “inadequate” chemical compromise
A deal on Europe’s long debated REACH chemical safety legislation
is a “decisive step” but does not do enough to protect
workers’ health, unions have warned. The European Trade
Union Confederation (ETUC) said the compromise position on REACH,
agreed by the European Parliament and the Finnish Presidency of
the Council last week, “enables Europe to adopt a more socially
responsible approach to managing chemical risks” but added
“ETUC deplores the inadequacy of the text with regard to
protecting the health of workers.”
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Call to cut working hours at sea
Urgent action is needed to tackle excessive working hours at sea,
maritime trade union Nautilus UK has said. The union was commenting
after a survey of 1,800 seafarers found that almost half of respondents
had a working week in excess of 85 hours; half of those who took
part in the study also agreed their working hours were a danger
to their personal safety.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Asia:
Mobile phone factories poison workers
Workers manufacturing mobile phones in Asia are being poisoned,
according to new report. Research by SOMO – the Netherlands-based
Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations – reveals
safety and labour standards abuses in factories producing phones
for the five largest mobile telephone companies, Nokia, Motorola,
Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Bus drivers put industry on hours warning
Bus drivers have backed a call for a major cut in their driving
hours. At the union TGWU’s passenger transport conference
last month, the drivers supported a demand for the maximum driving
time to be cut by an hour to four and a half hours in one continuous
period.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Outrage at “terrible” school asbestos message
The union GMB has said the clearing of a former headmaster of
safety charges after a Derby school was contaminated with asbestos
dust sends out a “terrible message”. In a case brought
by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Phillip Robinson, 50,
denied a charge of failing to ensure the health and safety of
others.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
GMB fingers food firm on union rights
The union GMB has told a food multinational to “get real”
after it defended a safety record that includes several recent
serious injuries. The London plants of Katsouris Fresh Foods,
owned by the Icelandic Bakkavör Group, has 2,500 mainly Asian
and mostly migrant workers producing ready meals for supermarkets
including Tesco, Sainsbury and Waitrose.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006 •
Hazards migrant
workers’ webpages
Britain:
Blast deaths fireworks firm was fined before
Two firefighters have been killed and 12 people injured in a massive
explosion at a Sussex fireworks depot whose owners had a previous
conviction for safety offences. The firm was fined for storing
explosives without a licence in 1999.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Tell your MP to support directors’ duties!
Get your MP to sign up to Early Day Motion EDM 359 on directors’
duties. The motion sponsored by Labour MP Ian Stewart is designed
to send a message to the government on the strength of feeling
on the issue “and calls on the government to introduce appropriate
legislation to ensure that company directors who neglect health
and safety to the point of causing death or serious injury can
be prosecuted.”
EDM
359 on directors’ duties - check to see if your MP has
signed. If not, ask why not. Find
your MP - you just need to know your postcode, MP's name or
constituency name
Britain:
Union seeks answers after officer is stabbed
A Greater Manchester police community support officer (PCSO) who
was in intensive care after being stabbed in the neck is recovering
in hospital. Ben Priestly, UNISON national officer for PCSOs,
said the union is seeking the standardisation of “powers
and training to ensure that every PCSO, wherever they work, has
the tools, ability and confidence to do the job they are asked
to do.”
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Safety is ‘No.1 priority’ for London Olympics
Health and safety will be the “number one priority”
for London’s 2012 Olympics, the organisations responsible
have said. The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and CLM, the consortium
that won the tender to build the venues and infrastructure, made
the commitment to health and safety as CLM signed up to the ODA’s
health and safety standard.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Smoking ban dates announced
The smoking ban for all enclosed public places and workplaces
will begin in Wales from April and England from July, the health
secretary, Patricia Hewitt, has announced. “Thousands of
lives will be saved and the health of thousands more protected,”
she said.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006 •
Hazards smoking
news and resources
Britain:
Work safety system has saved over 5,000 lives
The UK’s workplace health and safety system has saved over
5,000 lives, according to a new official report. The Health and
Safety Commission’s (HSC) Measuring up… Performance
report 2006 estimates this is the number of lives saved since
the introduction of the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act, as
a result of measures to reduce the number of workplace accidents.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006 •
Measuring
Up… Performance Report 2006, HSC, December 2006
Britain:
HSC consults on safety structure reforms
The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has published a public
consultation document seeking views on merging health and safety
oversight body HSC and its enforcement arm the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) into a single health and safety authority. HSC
says a merger with HSE “will modernise our corporate governance
and provide a stronger voice for health and safety.”
A
stronger voice for health and safety - A Consultative Document
on merging the Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety
Executive, CD210. Comments on the consultation should be sent
to Ami
Badmus, HSE, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London. SE1 9HS.
Closing date for comments, 5 March 2007.
Britain:
Greedy boss fined over death of worker
A businessman has been called “greedy and ruthless, with
no moral scruples” by a judge after a fatal workplace incident.
Shaun Riley, aged 31, from Leigh, died in January 2003 after a
dumper truck overturned during drainage work at Heskin Hall Farm,
Heskin, Lancashire, where he had been assigned to operate a dumper
truck carrying two-and-a-half tonnes of soil.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Firm fined after two lose hands
A company has been fined £175,000 for selling a grass collector
which it had been warned posed a safety risk and which subsequently
chopped off the hands of two workers at separate firms. Agricultural
machinery firm Kubota UK was warned in 1999 that its bladed grass
collector had injured a man, but continued to supply the product
unaltered until it was forced to stop in May 2004.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Czech worker injured by unsafe saw
An Oldham firm has been fined £10,500 after a Czech employee
suffered serious hand injuries in a circular saw. Factory Reconstruction
Co (Manchester) Ltd was also ordered to pay £1,956 costs
at Trafford Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to three criminal
HSE charges.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Weak killing law won’t work
The draft corporate killing legislation debated in parliament
on 4 December would have made no practical difference to the four
major railway disasters since 1997 had it already been in place,
a study for rail union RMT has found. The “corporate manslaughter”
label is the only achievement the government can claim if the
Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill passes unamended,
concludes the report, prepared for RMT by Thompsons Solicitors.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006
Britain:
Families vow to continue killing campaign
Relatives bereaved by workplace tragedies have vowed to continue
their campaign for companies and their directors to be made more
responsible for safety crimes. The call came after the 4 December
Commons debate on the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide
Bill.
Risks 286, 9 December 2006 •
Fack
website
|
LATEST NEWS
|
Hazards news, 2 December 2006
Britain:
Union exposes evidence of “doctored” DHL timesheets
Union officials have discovered drivers’ timesheets at distribution
firm DHL Exel in Redditch have been deliberately changed by managers
without the drivers' knowledge. TGWU said the changes were made
in red ink by local managers to show the drivers as being on a
"period of availability" instead of driving.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards stress
webpages
USA:
Non-union workers at greater risk on site
Union members in New York are less likely to be injured or killed
at work, US safety officials have said. Richard Mendelson, the
Manhattan director for OSHA, decried the lax safety enforcement
at construction sites, and acknowledged a connection between union
presence and worker safety.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
union effect webpages
USA:
DaimlerChrysler to make $20m asbestos payout
Global car giant DaimlerChrysler must pay $20 million (£10.3m)
to a retired police officer and brake repairer whose right lung
was removed because of cancer caused by asbestos. The automaker
was responsible for the amount owed by the now-defunct companies
because the jury found it acted with reckless disregard for the
safety of others, the lawyer for the victim said.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006
• Hazards
asbestos webpages
Britain:
Teachers ‘victims of sexist bullies in class’
Young teachers are increasingly seen as “fair game”
by some pupils for sexual harassment including touching and innuendo,
according to a report from teaching union NUT. The union’s
study found young female teachers in particular are frequently
confronted with sexist language and bullying in school.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards women
and hazards webpages
China:
Spate of mines tragedies sparks fury
China's top safety official has blasted “unscrupulous”
mine owners and local officials after a string of incidents killed
at least 88 miners in recent days. State media reported that an
angry Li Yizhong, director of the state administration of work
safety, launched the attack on the mine owners and officials in
a teleconference with safety officials around the country.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
CWU rams home workplace rights message
Communication workers’ union CWU has repeated its call for
new rights for union safety reps and for them to be given better
official support. CWU national health and safety officer Dave
Joyce said: “Trained safety reps are at the cutting edge
when it comes to addressing the new health and safety hazards
of the 21st century.”
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Safety
reps’ news and resources • Hazards
union notices webpages
Britain: Union calls for action on cash van robberies
Criminal gangs of robbers attacking security guards must be taken
off the streets, the union GMB has said. The union says it intends
to raise with Britain's chief police officers the “growing
problem” of “cash-in-transit” (CIT) attacks.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006
Sweden:
Work still hurts one in four Swedes
Almost a quarter of Swedish employees (24 per cent) had suffered
from a health problem caused by their work in the preceding year,
an official survey has found. More women reported work-related
health problems, with over a quarter (27 per cent) saying work
had affected their health, compared to 21 per cent of men, the
figures representing a 1 per cent drop on last year’s report.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
work and health webpages
Britain:
Government promises to cut red tape
The government has delighted the business lobby by promising to
slash red tape. Prime minister Tony Blair told the CBI conference
this week he plans to order every government department to cut
regulation by 25 per cent - the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
is the UK’s second largest official regulatory and inspections
body, after the Environment Agency.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
enforcement webpages
Britain:
HSE action “too late” says grieving family
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) improvement notice came “too
late”, a grieving family has said. The action to improve
electrical safety on Camden council sites came two months after
the electrocution of scaffolder Ralph Kennedy on a construction
job.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
deadly business webpages
Britain:
Family’s grief after preventable site death
A family mourning the loss of a construction worker in a tragedy
the workplace safety watchdog said “could easily have been
prevented” have told of their grief. The family’s
comments came after Christopher Lucas pleaded guilty to safety
offences and was fined £15,000 at City of London Magistrates
Court.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006
Britain:
Firm fined £100,000 after worker, 21, is killed
A Chorley company has been fined £100,000 after pleading
guilty to three criminal charges brought by the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) after the “entirely preventable” death
of an employee. Pin Croft Dyeing and Printing Co Limited was also
ordered to pay the £18,895 costs of the case which followed
the death of 21-year-old Daryl Wayne Lloyd in a tow tractor incident.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
young workers webpages
New
Zealand: Reports warn of under-reporting problem
The New Zealand authorities are urging family doctors to improve
their reporting of work-related diseases or injuries, and to encourage
their patients to do likewise. Two reports released by the Department
of Labour (DoL) detail the diseases linked to workplace exposures
that have been registered with the department, and notes doctors
are failing to attribute work-related ill-health to the jobs done
by their patients.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
work and health webpages
Britain:
Iceland fined after preventable accident
A Plymouth store employee was left trapped and injured when a
cage fell on her in a stock room in a “preventable”
accident, a court has heard. Food giant Iceland was fined £12,000
plus costs following the incident on 23 October 2005.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006
Britain:
New warning on insurers
Injured people should not be pursued and pressured by third party
insurers who offer them upfront cash to “deal direct,”
the president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL)
has warned. Unions have also raised concerns about their members,
who are entitled to union legal cover for workplace and frequently
out of work accidents, getting poor treatment at the hand of no-win/no
fee outfits.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
compensation webpages
Britain: Government promotes school trips action
Teaching union NASUWT has welcomed new government policy which
it says while help protect teachers and pupils alike. HSE has
launched new “getting it right” webpages providing
guidance for education staff.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006
Britain:
Security guards to protect train staff
Private security guards are to ride trains in the north of England
to crack down on the abuse of rail staff. The action follows more
than 300 incidents of abuse and assault on Northern Rail staff
so far this year. Rail union RMT says some of its members have
been kicked in the head, punched in the face and so badly assaulted
that they have taken weeks off work, prompting a union campaign
for a zero tolerance approach to violence on Northern Rail.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006
Global:
Intensive mouse use is harmful to health
Intensive computer use appears to be associated with hand, arm,
neck and shoulder symptoms, with mouse work worse for health then
general computer use. A review of the occupational health literature
by Dutch researchers concluded there was moderate evidence linking
mouse use and hand-arm symptoms, with the likelihood of symptoms
increasing with use in a “dose-response” relationship.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
computer workstations checklists webpage
Britain:
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease webpage
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published new webpages
on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). These “obstructive”
conditions are commonly caused by workplace exposures, a problem
Hazards magazine last year warned was massively under-estimated
by UK authorities, with possibly hundreds of thousands of cases
missed in workers in dusty trades.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
HSE
COPD webpages • A
job to die for?, Hazards 92, November 2005
Canada:
Government lied on asbestos motives
Canada uses its international prestige to promote asbestos worldwide
in an informal marketing deal which means low-cost foreign producers
in exchange don’t drive Canada’s asbestos producers
out of business, according to an official federal government document.
The document was produced by a group that included assistant deputy
minister Gary Nash, the former head of the Montreal-based Chrysotile
Institute, the government-backed industry association spearheading
promotion of asbestos trade worldwide.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006 •
Hazards
asbestos news and resources
|
LATEST NEWS
|
Hazards
news, 25 November 2006
Britain:
One in three workers fear being unfit for work by 60
Over one third of UK workers believe they could be unable to do
their job at 60, according to new statistics. A report in Hazards
magazine shows that in just six years the UK has slipped from
being number one in the European league table for the proportion
of workers who are confident they will be up to their current
job when aged 60, to sixth.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006 •
Hazards age and
work and older
workers webpages
Britain:
CWU wins £8m mail terror risk action
Royal Mail has bowed to demands from the communication workers’
union CWU and agreed to introduce an £8 million package
of anti-terrorist equipment. The new kit, to be deployed in 70
major mail-processing plants, will be used to “detect any
contaminated packages and letters which may be carrying threats
to postal workers and the public,” says CWU.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
USA:
Multinationals blame workers for chemical cancers
Nine former employees of a US tyre plant who developed occupational
cancers as a result of toxic exposures have been told by chemical
giants it was their own fault. The group, who all worked at Uniroyal
Goodrich Tire Co. in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, were exposed
to benzene but have been told they caused their own cancer because
they “voluntarily used the chemicals knowing the dangers
and risks, and they failed to take precautions which could have
avoided injuries.”
Risks 284, 25 November 2006 •
Hazards workplace
cancers webpages
Britain:
Union calls for action on asbestos by post
Royal Mail union CWU has called for an end to the potentially
illegal use of the mail to send asbestos samples, a practice which
could place both the public and postal workers at risk. Royal
Mail has launched an investigation after it was revealed a South
Wales company was encouraging the public to take their own asbestos
samples and stick them in the post.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
Poland:
Rescuers confirm 23 deaths in mine blast
Mine rescue workers have confirmed 23 workers died in an underground
explosion on Tuesday 23 November, making it the worst mine accident
in Poland for many years. The accident happened at Halemba mine
in Ruda Slaska, about 300km (190 miles) south-west of Warsaw.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
Britain:
One in three journalists bullied at work
Almost one in three journalists complain of bullying in the workplace.
The NUJ 2006 Membership Survey found in the newspaper sector,
40 per cent had been bullied, in TV and radio 21 per cent and
a quarter in magazines and press and PR.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
Britain:
Increasing workloads stressing out lecturers
Disturbing levels of sleeplessness, anxiety and exhaustion are
affecting lecturers in colleges and universities, according to
a new union study. Provisional research findings released by college
and lecturers’ union UCU reveal high levels of stress as
workloads increase.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
Britain:
Warehouse worker, 45, killed by asbestos
A warehouse worker in hospital for surgery for a workplace lifting
injury was told he was suffering from a deadly asbestos cancer.
Peter Nicholas Wilkinson, 45, who died on 2 September, had been
admitted to hospital last July after tearing a hernia at work
but tests revealed he had contracted the asbestos cancer mesothelioma
Risks 284, 25 November 2006•
Hazards
asbestos webpages
Britain:
Uninsured boss fined £11,500 after teen injury
A company owner who did not have the legally required injury insurance
has been told to pay up £11,500 in fines, costs and compensation
after a teenage mechanic was injured. Andrew Richardson was found
guilty of not having Employers Liability Compulsory Insurance
after 17-year-old mechanic Yana Jones, who he paid £3 an
hour, suffered injuries to her left leg resulting in a hospital
stay and permanent scarring.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006 •
Hazards
young workers webpages
Global:
More inspections equals few injuries, lower costs
Beefed up health and safety inspection systems reduce costs and
injuries, the International Labour Organisation has said. The
ILO report proposes a series of measures designed to “reinvigorate”,
modernise and strengthen labour inspectorates worldwide, including
tripartite labour inspection audits to help governments identify
and remedy weaknesses in labour inspection, the development of
ethical and professional codes of conduct, labour inspection fact
sheets, global inspection principles, and hands-on tools for risk
assessment, occupational safety and health management systems
and targeted training for inspectors.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
Britain:
Call centre staff face 'hearing risk'
Two-thirds of UK call centres fail to protect their workers against
hearing damage from noise, a report has warned, with many of the
UK’s 900,000 call centre staff at risk. Experts say increasing
numbers of injuries and illnesses are being caused by acoustic
shock and other noise related hazards.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
Global:
Five-step check for nano safety
A team of experts has drawn up five “grand challenges”
to evaluate the safety of nanotechnology. Writing in the journal
Nature, the team says that fears about nanotechnology's possible
dangers may be exaggerated, but not necessarily unfounded.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006 •
Hazards nanotechnology
webpages
Global:
Fatal errors put BP’s reputation ‘in the toilet’
BP’s carefully nurtured ethical reputation has been seriously
damaged by a series of safety and environmental catastrophes.
Athan Manuel, director of lands protection at the Sierra Club,
a North American environmental network, said: “Their reputation
is pretty much in the toilet.”
Risks 284, 25 November 2006 •
Hazards’
BP webpages
Britain:
Firefighter sees off compensation threat
An injured Surrey firefighter has defeated a Court of Appeal challenge
which could have overturned his compensation payout. Surrey Fire
and Rescue Service (SFRS), which had argued John Pennington “should
not have attempted to save a driver’s life”, lost
its appeal which would have stripped the firefighter of £3,115.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
Global:
Union safety reps want Hazards
The latest issue of the award-winning Hazards magazine –
the only magazine written especially for trade union health and
safety reps –asks whether workplace health and safety has
had its chips, as healthy lifestyle and “work is good for
you” initiatives come to the fore, and looks at issues from
work and the older worker, to deadly shipbreaking hazards in Asia.
Hazards magazine,
No.96, 2006 • Subscription
information, including online or print-off-and-post order forms
Britain:
Danger, cancer at work
Hazards magazine is campaigning for greater recognition of the
occupational cancer risk. It needs evidence from UK workplaces
to add additional weight to its arguments and wants to hear about
any cancer risks where you work, compensation payouts made to
people developing occupational cancers, union guidance on the
issue or union initiatives to remove or reduce workplace cancer
risks.
Hazards cancer
webpages
Australia:
Hardie campaigners sign final compo deal
After six years of campaigning and two and a half years of intensive
negotiations with the James Hardie company, unions and asbestos
victims groups have secured a final deal from the company to compensate
Australian victims of its asbestos products. Greg Combet, secretary
of the national union federation ACTU, said the deal “is
a final, open ended, un-capped and importantly tax-office approved
funding agreement from James Hardie which will see the company
pay in excess of $4.5 billion [£1.83bn] into a fund to compensate
current and future Australian victims of its asbestos products.”
Risks 284, 25 November 2006
Costa
Rica: Pineapples take a bitter toll on workers
The workers harvesting the pineapples found on UK supermarket
shelves are working in desperate conditions, an investigation
has found. The fact-finding mission made up of Costa Rican trade
unionists, representatives from the non-governmental organisation
Banana Link and the UK’s GMB trade union carried out their
own independent tour of one particular plantation this month visited
the Pinafruit SA plantation in Limon province on Costa Rica's
Atlantic coast.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006 •
Banana Link website
and
Union to Union initiative.
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards
news , 18 November 2006
Britain:
Verbal abuse mars working lives of teachers
Chris Keates, the general secretary of teaching union NASUWT has
warned: “Constant challenges to authority, refusal to obey
school rules, offensive remarks and swearing are marring teachers'
working lives.”
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
USA:
What a difference a vote makes - hopefully
An end to Republican attacks on workplace safety standards could
be a major outcome of the US elections, in which Democrats gained
control of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Reports
say Democratic senator Edward Kennedy, who will chair the Senate
labour committee, will reintroduce legislation to reform OSHA,
the official safety watchdog, and increase penalties and provide
coverage to many workers who are not currently covered by OSHA,
including public employees.
Confined
Space
Britain:
Scots campaign against betting shop abuse
Betting shop union Community is backing a Scottish Executive campaign
to encourage workers to report all incidents of abuse. Heather
Meldrum, Community organiser for Scotland, said: “We're
launching this campaign to raise awareness of the issue of violence
against betting shop workers and encourage them to report it,
however small and insignificant they think it is, because only
then can we get a picture of the scale of the abuse.”
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Egypt:
Thousands walk out after dock death
About 3,000 workers at Egypt's largest shipyard downed tools last
week in protest against the death of a colleague who was killed
in a crane accident. The 8 November strike brought Port Said shipyard
to a standstill.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Britain:
End of the line for rail violence
Rail workers are demanding more be done to tackle violence on
trains and at stations across the north of England. Staff at Northern
Rail, which operates services across the region, are calling for
a zero tolerance approach, according to the RMT union.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Britain:
Support for Scotland’s seasonal shop shutdown
Retail union Usdaw has welcomed a report by MSPs backing a new
bill that aims to stop large stores from opening their doors on
Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Thousands of Usdaw members
have lobbied their MSPs to back the bill put forward by Labour
backbencher Karen Whitefield.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Britain:
Poisonous package leads to payout
A TGWU member who was taken ill after being exposed to toxic fumes
at work is to receive £1,200 compensation. Tony Green from
Solihull was employed as a stock controller by Yuasa of Birmingham,
one of the world’s largest manufacturers and suppliers of
valve regulated lead-acid batteries.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Britain:
Union cuts traffic accident deal for teenage butcher
A teenage TGWU member from Devon has secured £4,000 in compensation
after being hit by a car as he used a zebra crossing. Butcher
James Broom, 19, was injured in August 2004 when a driver failed
to give way at the crossing.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Global:
Asbestos touts get official backing
The governments that blocked an October bid to get right-to-know
warnings on asbestos exports are ratcheting up their global promotional
activities for the deadly fibre. Canada, which led the campaign
to derail a widely supported push for more stringent export controls
under the Rotterdam Treaty, has now approved a continuation of
the Can$250,000 (£116,000) annual funding for the asbestos
industry front organisation, the Chrysotile Institute.
IBAS
report • Risks 283, 18 November
2006
Britain:
Work injury forces octagenarian’s retirement
A Sheffield octogenarian has had to give up work after sustaining
a serious workplace injury. John Moffatt, 80, received a £5,000
out-of-court settlement from his former employer after suffering
the shoulder injury at work in January 2005.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Global:
Using maps to find problems
Workplace mapping techniques have become a highly popular and
effective union tool to identify health and safety problems in
the workplace and the measures necessary to resolve them. Dorothy
Wigmore, a Canadian safety specialist who has been a key advocate
of the technique, working with unions in North and Central America
and Europe, has now written a clear and concise guide to what
it is all about.
Labor
Notes • More on mapping
techniques and other workplace
tools – try out the Hazards
detective
Britain:
Government not doing enough for older workers
The government should set itself more challenging employment targets
if it is to successfully cope with demographic trends and an ageing
workforce, older workers’ campaign TAEN has said. TAEN says
the government’s ‘Health, Work and Wellbeing’
agenda must be seen to address the 50+ workforce “because
the extension of working life requires action on well adapted
workplaces, occupational health and the reduction of ill-health
as a reason for early retirement.”
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Global:
Concern over chemicals brain risk
Industrial chemicals may be causing a pandemic of brain disorders
because of inadequate regulation, researchers have warned. An
online report in the Lancet identifies 202 chemicals, including
metals, solvents and pesticides, which have potential to damage
the brain.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Global:
HSE’s cancer favourite had “secret ties to industry”
Researchers have revealed that the co-author of the most frequently
cited but much criticised estimate of occupational cancer prevalence
had “secret ties to industry”. An analysis of the
academic literature on occupational cancer found: “The most
striking case is that of Sir Richard Doll, co-author (with Richard
Peto) of one of the most influential papers in cancer epidemiology,
one that concluded
Risks 283, 18 November 2006 •
Hazards cancer
and work
and health webpages
Global:
Raised cancer risk in firefighters
Firefighters are at a far higher risk of developing certain cancers
than people in many other professions, according to new research.
A University of Cincinnati team said exposure to substances such
as benzene, chloroform and soot posed a threat.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006 •
Hazards cancer
and work
and health webpages • US
firefighters' union IAFF webpages on presumption laws in the
US and Canada
Britain:
Firefighters welcome new legal protection
Firefighters have welcomed a new law to help protect emergency
services workers from abuse and attack and which will make it
an offence to “obstruct or hinder” emergency service
staff. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said the Emergency Workers
(Obstruction) Bill will extend the protection to emergency workers,
introducing measures in England and Wales similar to those which
recently took effect in Scotland.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Britain:
BT cleared over engineer’s death
BT has been cleared of safety charges brought after the 2001 death
of telephone engineer Tara Whelan. The company was criticised
at the 2003 inquest into the death by a coroner, the police and
Ms Whelan’s union, CWU, which expressed surprise at the
verdict.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Britain:
Firms fined after railway death
Network Rail has been fined £130,000 and a sub-contractor
£33,000 for the death of a worker who was hit by a train
near Edinburgh in April 2005. Scotweld Employment Services and
Network Rail both admitted at Edinburgh Sheriff Court breaches
of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Britain:
Widows appeal for asbestos help
Widows who lost their husbands to asbestos-related disease are
appealing for help from their former workmates.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006
Global:
Gender equality, work and health
‘Gender equality, work and health’, a new review published
by the World Health Organisation (WHO), documents the relationship
between gender inequality and health and safety problems. It reviews
gender issues in research, policies and programmes on work and
health, and highlights some specific issues for women, including
the types of jobs they do, as well as their need to reconcile
the demands of work and family.
Gender
equality, work and health: A review of the evidence, WHO,
2006 • Full report [pdf]
|
EARLIER
NEWS |
Hazards
news, 11 November 2006
Europe:
Union dismay as working time opt-out stays
Ministers from European Union (EU) countries have been unable
to agree an end to the UK opt-out from Europe’s 48-hour
working week ceiling. Commenting on the failure of the Social
Affairs Council to resolve the issue, TUC general secretary Brendan
Barber said: “This was a missed opportunity to ensure that
UK workers are properly protected against the dangers of overwork.”
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards
get-a-life webpages
Britain:
Work vehicles in 150 smashes a day
New evidence revealing the massive number of work vehicle crashes
each day highlights the need for urgent Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) action, the union GMB has said. Department for Transport
(DfT) annual road casualty statistics showed work vehicles were
involved in over 54,000 crashes in 2005, or 150 per day.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006
Japan:
Suzuki liable for overwork death
The family of a Suzuki Motor Corporation employee who killed himself
in April 2002 due to work pressures and depression are to receive
compensation for karoshi, death from overwork. A lawsuit brought
by the family was settled on 30 October 2006 when it was determined
Suzuki had not implemented appropriate policies to reduce employee
workloads and so was liable.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006
• Hazards
worked to death webpages
Britain:
Semiconductor cancer deaths inquiry call
The UK semiconductor industry and the official safety watchdog
must take urgent action to address cancer risks in the semiconductor
industry, a union has said. Manufacturing union Amicus has called
for an inquiry into cancer risks in the computer and semiconductor
manufacturing industry following damning new research from the
United States.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards
work cancer webpages
Global:
Major push to stop paraquat poison
Unions and health campaigners are calling for a ban on all uses
of the pesticide paraquat in agriculture and an end its “devastating
health impacts”. Sue Longley of the global farmworkers’
union federation IUF said: “Paraquat not only kills weeds,
it kills workers, which is why our members, agricultural workers'
unions around the world, are committed to its elimination.”
Risks 282, 11 November 2006
Britain:
Ladder fall victim lands £90,000 payout
A GMB member who suffered a serious wrist injury in a workplace
fall has received £90,000 compensation. Ian Mitchell suffered
“terrible injuries” in a fall from a ladder caused
by dangerously uneven flooring.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards
compensation webpages
Britain:
Welder receives £100,000 in injured hand case
A welder who suffered an horrific hand injury leading to the amputation
of a finger has received a £100,000 payout. Amicus member
Donald Ford received the out-of-court settlement from Langley
Holdings plc after suffering a serious injury to his left hand
in December 2003.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards
compensation webpages
Europe:
Work still risky, now more frantic
Over a quarter of Europe’s workers believe their job places
their health and safety at risk and over a third believe it is
affecting their health, according to the first findings of the
fourth European Working Conditions Survey. Interviews carried
out with 30,000 workers in 31 countries late in 2005 found that
27 per cent felt they were at risk at work.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006
Britain:
Employers urged to tackle office bullies
Bullying is steadily increasing in UK workplaces, according to
new TUC figures released on 7 November to coincide with National
Ban Bullying at Work Day. Fifteen per cent of the union safety
reps questioned in the latest TUC biennial survey of union safety
reps said bullying was a major problem in their workplace, up
from 12 per cent in 2004 and 10 per cent in 2002.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006
Britain:
Amicus slams falling enforcement
A major drop in official enforcement action could lead to an increase
in work-related injuries and illnesses, the union Amicus has warned.
Calling for more inspections, better enforcement and stronger
laws, the union said the statistics from the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) released last week show that enforcement notices
and prosecutions have now fallen for the last three years.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards commission impossible webpages
Britain:
Older women’s workplace health “neglected”
Too little is known about the work and health of older women,
according to a new report. ‘Older women, work and health’,
a research paper jointly commissioned by Help the Aged and TAEN
– The Age and Employment Network - shows that few studies
have explored the links between the work and health of older women
despite their increased participation in the labour market.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards women
and work hazards webpages
Britain:
Granddaughter gets asbestos cancer
A 45-year-old woman dying as a result of exposure to asbestos
from her grandfather’s work clothing has been awarded a
£145,000 payout. Michelle Campbell said she loved sitting
on granddad Charles Frost’s knee and enjoying a chat when
he popped in to visit on his way home from his job at Portsmouth
dockyards.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards asbestos
and cancer
webpages
Britain:
Assaults against NHS staff fall
The number of NHS staff being physically assaulted has fallen,
official figures have shown, although NHS hospitals have bucked
the trend. NHS Security Management Service data showed there were
58,695 physical assaults against NHS staff in England in 2005/06,
down 1,690 from 2004/05.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006
Britain:
Hospital troublemakers face spot fines
Individuals who abuse staff at a Greater Manchester hospital face
on-the-spot £80 fines in a bid to crackdown on yobs on its
casualty ward. The Royal Bolton Hospital has launched the initiative
as part of a three-month pilot to curb misbehaviour.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006
Britain:
Paralysed refuse worker, 21, gets £3.75m payout
A 21-year-old refuse collection worker has been awarded £3.75m
compensation after an accident which left him paralysed. Birmingham
High Court heard Richard Taylor was in a refuse lorry which overturned
last year.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards
compensation webpages
Britain:
Site firm fined after teen injured in fall
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned construction
firms of the dangers of working even at relatively low heights
after a teenage worker suffered multiple fractures when he fell
from the open edge of a first floor working platform. Lotus Construction
Limited of Otley, West Yorkshire, was fined £5,000 and ordered
to pay full costs of £1,143 and compensation totalling £500,
for failing to provide an edge protection barrier would could
have prevented 17-year-old sub-contractor Richard Green from falling.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards
young workers webpages
Britain:
New safety qualification for young people
A new qualification has been designed to improve young people’s
understanding of safe working when taking part in work experience.
Last week the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), in partnership
with the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH),
British Safety Council Awards (BSC Awards) and ENTO, unveiled
the new workplace hazard awareness course and qualification.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards
young workers webpages
Britain:
HSE and young people at work
The Health and Safety Executive has produced new “young
people at work” webpages. HSE says that inexperience and
others factors mean workplace novices – and that frequently
means young workers - are at a far higher risk of workplace injury.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006 •
Hazards
young workers webpages
* Britain:
6th Scottish Hazards Conference, Glasgow
The 6th Scottish Hazards Conference will take place at STUC’s
Glasgow offices on 16 November. Speakers include occupational
medic Dr Thora Brendstrup, who works with trade unions in Denmark
and top asbestos campaigner Tommy Gorman will speak on occupational
cancer risks and the lessons of Scotland’s asbestos disease
epidemic.
6th
Scottish Hazards Conference.
|
EARLIER NEWS
|
Hazards news, 4 November 2006
Britain:
Preparing for Hazards Campaign Wales
The first workplace hazards campaign group in Wales is swinging
in to action. Hazards Campaign Wales wants interested individuals,
union branches, regional and national unions and others to get
in touch now.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
Hazards
Campaign Wales
Britain:
Stress still the biggest problem at work
Stress is still the biggest problem facing UK workplaces, with
excessive workloads, job cuts and rapid change the most common
triggers for rising stress levels amongst employees, a TUC survey
has found. Six out of 10 union safety reps (61 per cent) questioned
by the TUC for its 2006 biennial safety reps’ survey reported
stress to be their most pressing concern at work, up from the
two previous surveys.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
Hazards
worked to death and get-a-life
stress webpages
Global:
Multinationals accused of China hypocrisy
US and European multinationals have been accused of double standards
for adopting codes of conduct requiring their suppliers behave
ethically on the one hand, while on the other lobbying against
China’s proposed new labour laws which, if implemented,
would greatly clean up the country’s supply chain.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006
Britain:
Union action on soaring lecturer stress
Lecturers’ union UCU is taking action to tackle workplace
stress and nerve-fraying workloads, problems it says have made
nearly half of lecturers ill. The new UCU-backed College and University
Support Network (CUSN) will be the first dedicated national counselling
telephone support line for university and college lecturers and
their families.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006
Canada:
Union body says no to drug and booze tests
Unions should oppose mandatory drug and alcohol testing, a top
Canadian union body has said. The call came in a new policy statement
from the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), the province’s
largest union body, which says testing does not improve safety
performance but does impinge on workers’ rights.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
AFL
news release • Workplace drug and alcohol policy statement,
AFL, October 2006 [pdf]
•
Hazards workplace testing webpages
Britain:
Vibration plus repetition equals compensation minus job
A worker who suffered career-ending ill-health caused by exposure
to vibration and repetitive work has received a £20,000
compensation payout. Amicus member Michael Jones, 63, developed
vibration white finger (VWF) then carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)
while working at a GE Engine Aircraft Services plant near Caerphilly,
and received compensation for both.
Risks 281, 4 November 2006 •
Hazards
compensation webpages
Australia:
Mine survivor insists bosses must take rap
Brant Webb, trapped with a colleague for 14 days in the Beaconfield
gold mine disaster earlier this year that killed his friend Larry
Knight, has called for directors to be jailed if their companies
are found responsible for workplace deaths. He told a workplace
safety forum: “If they made not the top management but the
directors accountable for a life - so if you take a life, you
go and sit inside a pen or jail for 15 years - things would change.”
Risks 281, 4 November 2006
Britain:
Supermarkets face action over fruit pickers
A rolling programme of trade union pickets at Sainsbury's and
Tesco stores began this week as the supermarkets were urged to
act to ensure fair treatment of workers employed by strawberry
supplier S&A Produce. Farmworkers’ union TGWU raised
concerns about S&A's Herefordshire | |
