ARCHIVED NEWS - January - October 2008

More recent news

Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: Strike threat over victimised safety rep
Around 2,500 Tube infrastructure workers at Metronet are to be balloted for industrial action following the victimisation of an RMT safety rep. RMT is also angry at the company’s “dangerous plans” to reduce signals maintenance and attempts to impose rosters.
Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Pakistan: The darker side of glittering bangles
Behind Pakistan’s burgeoning glass bangles industry, is a story of child labour, poverty, deprivation and hardship. An occupational health and safety study in the industry commissioned by the ILO highlighted the risks of working in proximity to the furnaces used in the moulding and joining processes, and also from toxic chemicals during coating and painting.
ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) • Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: Bonus scheme fingered in vibration case
A council roadworker who was forced out of his job aged 25 after developing two related occupational diseases has received a £262,000 compensation payout. UNISON member Adrian Bideau, now aged 28, developed Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS – also known as vibration white finger) and carpal tunnel syndrome, a painful repetitive strain injury, as a result of using vibrating tools such as breaker packs, whacker plates and saws.
Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

India: Stressed Indians leave call centres
A 23-year-old man, barely out of college, has been recovering from a heart attack in hospital. According to a report on the BBC News website, his doctor lays the blame with stress and odd hours of work at a Mumbai call centre.
Who moved my job? • More on work-related heart attacks • Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: Gloves off in vibrating tools campaign
Urgent action to protect workers from Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) is needed, with dozens of workers affected at one council alone, public sector union UNISON has said. The union was speaking out after securing £3,000 compensation for Joseph Beale, a council worker from Bridgend; a Freedom of Information request to Bridgend County Borough Council found that more than 40 staff had developed the condition working at the council.
Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: Homicide charges call after tug tragedy
Clydeport should face culpable homicide charges relating to the deaths of three tug crew, a top union official has said. Unite Scottish secretary John Quigley called for immediate action after the release this week of the Marine Accident Investigation Branch’s (MAIB) report into the sinking of the Flying Phantom.
MAIB report • Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: Safer firefighters mean safer communities
Firefighters’ union FBU is stepping up its campaign to protect services. A lobby of the Westminster parliament on 12 November will press for action on the safety of firefighters and the public.
Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: Union victory for vicars
Church of England ministers are set to get the biggest improvement in their terms of employment since the Reformation nearly 500 years ago. Clergy union Unite says the Church of England has conceded for the first time that its ministers are employed by the Church – and not by God.
Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: Pilots warn of laser beam crash risk
Airline pilots have warned a serious crash is “likely” unless people are stopped from shining laser beams into the cockpits of planes during landing. Balpa, the pilots’ union, said beams dazzled pilots and users were “effectively playing Russian roulette” with passengers' lives and could damage pilots’ eyes.
Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: End asbestos ‘compensation limbo’
Thousands of people with a condition caused by exposure to asbestos during their working lives are stuck in 'compensation limbo' as a result of a House of Lords ruling on negligence, according to the union Unite. It wants the government to overturn a disastrous 2007 Law Lords’ ruling to end a 20 year right for pleural plaques victims to receive compensation.
Unite news release • Unite submission • Thompsons Solicitors news release • Association of Personal Injuries Lawyers news release [pdf] • Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: Unions united on pleural plaques
Unions have taken a common line on pleural plaques compensation – the condition is caused by asbestos and caused by employer negligence, so should be compensated.
Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: Inquiry over mercury poisoning
An investigation is under way after workers at a West Yorkshire recycling firm were exposed to mercury. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said staff at Electrical Waste Recycling Co Ltd in Huddersfield had been put at risk of mercury poisoning.
Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Australia: Hardie 'set out to mislead investors'
Former directors and executives of Australian building giant James Hardie issued inaccurate, misleading and deficient public announcements about the company's ability to compensate asbestos victims, the country’s corporate regulator has claimed. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission this week launched its assault on former Hardie directors and executives in the NSW Supreme Court, which was overflowing with dozens of asbestos victims and their supporters.
The Australian plus follow up story • Sydney Morning Herald • Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: University radiation cancer probe begins
An occupational health specialist is to investigate a possible cancer cluster in a Manchester University building. Professor David Coggon from the Medical Research Council will carry out an independent review of health risks at the university's Rutherford Building; the deaths from cancer of five people have been linked with the building, which is where Nobel prize-winning nuclear physicist Ernest Rutherford experimented with radon and polonium in 1908.
Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Global: Unions say no more to transport pressures
Transport workers are facing increasing pressures as a result of attempts to speed up the movement of goods, a top global union leader has said. ITF general secretary David Cockroft told delegates at a United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) conference in Greece last month that pressure to deal with growing volumes of international trade were translating into “intolerable pressures” on transport workers.
Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: Call for tighter ship cargo rules
Accident investigators have called for hazardous cargo on ships to be more tightly regulated following the deaths of two seafarers in the Channel. The pair suffocated when oxygen levels dropped in a storage area of their vessel, the Sava Lake, in the Straits of Dover in January this year.
MAIB report • Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: Inadequate training led to forklift death
Two firms have been fined after a poorly trained worker was killed when the forklift truck he was driving overturned. Shane Neal, 34, was killed on 2 May 2003 when he was crushed by a truck in Hangar no.1 at the former RAF Cardington, Bedfordshire.
HSE news release and workplace transport webpages • Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: Director banned for asbestos crimes
A company director has been banned from running a firm for four years after removing and transporting asbestos without a licence. Robert McCart must also pay over £44,000 in fines, costs and compensation after being prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Environment Agency (EA).
HSE news release and asbestos licensing webpages • Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: Tories will ‘sweep aside’ safety laws
Conservative plans for education that include “sweeping aside” health and safety legislation have been condemned by teaching union NASUWT. In a speech this week to the Conservative Party’s Birmingham conference, shadow spokesperson for children, schools and families Michael Gove said “we will act to give teachers the power to take children beyond their comfort zone by sweeping away absurd health and safety regulations which attempt to squeeze all risk out of life.”
Speech by Michael Gove MP • Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: Toolkit to tackle retail violence
The Health and Safety Executive has published an online toolkit to help reduce the risk of work-related violence in licensed or retail premises. The online resource and accompanying leaflet provide a detailed backgrounder, and make welcome incursions into common sense areas like union involvement and staffing levels often missed in official safety guidance.
HSE violence toolkit and summary leaflet [pdf] • Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

Britain: Health and safety and agency workers
A new health and safety briefing from the union Unite provides detailed guidance on health and safety and agency workers. There’s a detailed summary of relevant health and safety law, too, and how this relates to other employment laws. On top of this, there are case histories, a listing of sources of further information, a detailed checklist for union safety reps and a pin-up-at-work ‘make sure you’re protected’ poster to direct workers to these reps.
Unite health and safety briefing: Focus on agency workers [pdf] • Unite agency workers campaign • Risks 376
Hazards news, 4 October 2008

 

Hazards news, 27 September 2008

Britain: NUJ launches major anti-stress campaign
Journalists’ union NUJ has launched a major campaign to combat stress. The union says as media organisations continue to cut back on investment in journalism, it has been receiving increasing reports from members that pressures have become so great they represent a risk to journalists’ health and safety.
NUJ news release and campaign, Stressed Out: Putting a stop to stress at work • Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

South Africa: Miners ‘dying like flies’
The horrific death rate in South Africa’s mines is seeing workers ‘dying like flies’, unions have said. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) said 127 had died already this year, adding it “fully supports the NUM’s policy of downing tools every time a worker dies, as both a mark of respect and a protest at the excessive loss of life.”
Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

Britain: Scottish councils put school kids at risk
Some Scottish councils risked children's safety by trying to open schools when key members of staff were on strike this week. School staff union UNISON said opening schools with untrained workers covering fire and other health and safety situations had left parents worried over whether or not they should send their children to school.
Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

Britain: Asbestos victims targeted by ‘greedy’ insurers
A “greedy scheming” insurance industry is plotting to deny asbestos victims their rightful compensation, according to UCATT.
Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

India: ‘Devastating’ asbestos cancer epidemic looms
Record and rising asbestos imports to India will translate to thousands of asbestos-related cancer deaths each year and are already responsible for “a hidden epidemic,” according to an expert report published this week. The authors say the report exposes the Indian government's collusion with asbestos stakeholders at home and abroad, and call for an immediate national ban on all asbestos use.
IBAS news release • India's asbestos time bomb, September 2008 [pdf] • Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

Britain: Migrant detainees used as cheap labour
Detainees at the Campsfield House immigration prison in Oxfordshire are being “exploited for cheap labour” due to staff cuts, a union organisation has revealed. Oxford and District Trades Union Council said the rejected asylum seekers, who are locked up for lengthy periods pending their deportation, are being paid £5 for six-hour shifts of cleaning and kitchen work.
Corporate Watch news report • Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

Britain: Bosses jailed for fireball death cover-up
Two directors of a Dorset firm that broke criminal safety laws leading to the death of an employee, then pressured staff to give “false and erroneous evidence” to cover their tracks, have been jailed along with an employee. Reliance Scrap Metal Merchants (Parkstone) director David Matthews, was sentenced to three years for perverting the course of justice, fellow director Michael Anderson received 15 months, while employee David Lomas was jailed for six months, after admitting the same charge.
Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

Britain: Teenage exposure caused asbestos tragedy
A Greater Manchester family has obtained £205,000 in compensation after their dad was exposed to asbestos as a teenager. The granddad-of-seven, whose name has not been released, died of the asbestos cancer mesothelioma following exposure to the dangerous dust while working during the 1950s for a company which became part of British Telecom (BT).
Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

Britain: Most workers turn in when sick
Nearly threequarters (72 per cent) of UK employees go to work despite feeling so ill they could legitimately stay at home, a survey has revealed. The poll of 2,000 workers by medical insurance provider Axa PPP healthcare indicated that reasons for this 'presenteeism' was people saying they didn't want to let down their colleagues, too much work and fear of losing their job.
Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

Britain: Corus in court again for safety failings
Steel maker Corus has been fined again for serious safety failings. It the latest in a long sequence of prosecutions, the firm was this week fined £15,000 at Hartlepool Magistrates’ Court and ordered to pay £6,248 costs after a crane operator was crushed and seriously injured.
HSE news release • Hartlepool Mail • Northern Echo •
More on recent Corus deaths and prosecutions • Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

Britain: Leg loss costs firm £20,000
NYK Logistics has been fined £20,000 and £5,941 costs after an admin worker lost her leg after being hit by a forklift truck.
Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

Global: Warning sounds on mobile phone makers
Young workers are being exploited in Asia’s mobile phone factories, facing hazardous conditions, exhausting hours and brutal suppression of any dissent. A new report from labour rights campaign MakeITfair says the electronics workers handle chemicals without protective gear, work inhumane overtime hours to scrape a poverty wage and are punished if they make mistakes.
MakeITfair news release and Silenced to deliver report [pdf] • Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

Britain: Unilever doesn’t care for workers’ skin
A UK multinational with a multimillion pound trade in skin care products has been fined after trashing the skin of its own staff. Unilever was ordered to pay £28,000 in fines and costs after 25 Merseyside workers contracted dermatitis.
Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

Britain: Laundry fined after neck-trapping incident
An Essex laundry has been fined £30,000 after an employee was seriously injured when his neck and hands were trapped in a conveyor. After pleading guilty to safety offences, Eastern Counties Laundries Ltd, of Coggeshall, Essex was also ordered to pay £15,000 costs at Colchester Crown Court.
Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

Europe: Campaigners target worst chemicals
A coalition of environmental, consumer and union safety organisations has published a ‘Substitute It Now!’ list of ‘high concern’ chemicals. The aim of the ‘SIN List’ is to speed up implementation of REACH, the new EU chemicals law, by encouraging companies to make sound substitution decisions.
ETUI-REHS news item • SIN List 1.0 • ChemSec • Substitution 1.0 – the art of delivering toxic-free products [pdf] • Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

Britain: TUC guide to risk assessment
The TUC has produced a guide to risk assessment. It says the new resource provides safety reps with the tools to ensure their employer has done a suitable risk assessment and taken appropriate measures to implement the measures required, and adds the guide “should also help safety reps to challenge the employer if they do not do a suitable assessment or do not act to remove the hazards identified in the risk assessment.”
TUC publication alert and TUC guide to risk assessment [pdf] • TUC guide to inspections [pdf] • Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

Britain: Future of safety enforcement conference
A major conference organised by the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) is to examine ‘The future of safety enforcement’. The event, which is supported by the TUC, will take place in London on 24 November.
The future of safety enforcement, Hamilton House, London, 24 November 2008. Cost: £50 (individuals/trade union representatives); £100 (public bodies); £150 (lawyers, private companies); £20 (unemployed). Conference programme and registration form • Risks 375
Hazards news, 27 September 2008

 

Hazards news, 20 September 2008

Britain: Language classes make workers safer
Refuse workers in Brighton are being given English lessons in a union-backed initiative that has led to a dramatic improvement in safety. So many of the 400 staff at Brighton and Hove City Council’s Hollingdean depot were being injured that bosses and union officials teamed up to run the language classes; as a result of the training, the accident rate has plummeted.
Risks 374
Hazards news, 20 September 2008

USA: Experts slam work cancer ‘manslaughter’
The US authorities are doing little to protect workers from occupational cancer and as a result are “bystanders to industrial manslaughter”, top experts have warned.
SUNY Downstate Medical Center news release • The Record • Industrial carcinogens: A need for action [pdf] • Contributions to the President’s Cancer Panel are available on the CHE website • Global Unions zero cancer campaign • Risks 374
Hazards news, 20 September 2008

Britain: Campaign against ‘terrorising’ journalists
A national union campaign against the “terrorising” of journalists by police has gained European support. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has said it is backing efforts by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) to defend journalists covering protests and demonstrations.
NUJ news release and video • IFJ news release • Marc Vallée, photojournalist • Risks 374
Hazards news, 20 September 2008

Japan: Chinese ‘slaves’ injured in Japan
Female migrants from China’s Hubei province who were discovered working in ‘slave-like’ conditions in a laundry in Japan have been injured after trying to escape. The three injured women, who worked 15 hours a day, seven days a week, were part of a group of six who went to Japan in late 2005 through a Chinese job agency and who believed they would be working in the garment industry as skilled seamstresses.
Risks 374
Hazards news, 20 September 2008

Britain: Union action call after shootings
An armed attack on a security van in which a guard and a member of the public were seriously injured has prompted a renewed call from the union GMB for action to protect cash handling staff. The security guard, who is a GMB member, was shot in the leg during a raid at Tesco in Tring.
Risks 374
Hazards news, 20 September 2008

Australia: Trackers ‘drive employees over edge’
Employers are fitting out company vehicles with invasive GPS tracking systems despite claims the technology unnecessarily invades staff privacy and contributed to the suicide of a telecommunications engineer last year. One such tracker, the GoFinder Reporter, sends employers detailed daily time sheets showing every stop made, parked time, driving time, distance covered, maximum speed and even an estimate of the amount of fuel used.
Risks 374
Hazards news, 20 September 2008

Britain: Report calls for focus on ‘good work’
A package of policies designed to create more ‘good jobs’ is needed to create healthier, more worthwhile jobs, a new report has concluded. The Work Foundation’s ‘Good work’ report says the government cannot make serious progress towards the reduction of health inequalities unless it has policies to improve job quality for the most disadvantaged. The Work Foundation news release • ‘Good work’: Job quality in a changing economy [pdf] • Risks 374
Hazards news, 20 September 2008

Global: Insecure jobs have more health problems
Workers who do not have job security develop more physical and mental health problems compared to their full-time counterparts. Research conducted by Dr Carles Muntaner from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto confirmed that job insecurity can lead to anxiety and depression, which can then cause cardiovascular and other physical ailments.
Risks 374
Hazards news, 20 September 2008

Britain: Bootful of cement causes burns
An Oxford building company has been fined £500 after one of its employees sustained burns to his legs after wet concrete poured into his Wellington boots. In addition to the fine, O'Brien & McIntyre LLP was ordered at Stratford upon Avon Magistrates' Court to pay £150 prosecution costs after pleading guilty to breaching the Control of Substance Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH).
Risks 374
Hazards news, 20 September 2008

Britain: Boss escapes jail for silica use
A company boss whose firm used deadly silica despite the process being banned for 58 years has received a £26,000 fine but has escaped jail. Andrew Thomson, trading as Thomson Sandblast, of Great Harwood, was also ordered to pay £24,000 costs and was told that magistrates had considered a custodial sentence.
Global Unions cancer campaign • Risks 374
Hazards news, 20 September 2008

Britain: Trust fined for hospital shock
A hospital trust has been fined after a cleaner suffered severe injuries from an electric shock suffered as he operated a steam cleaner. East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust pleaded guilty at Hastings Magistrates’ Court and was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,466.71 for breaching the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Risks 374
Hazards news, 20 September 2008

Global: Revamped safety site for journalists
The International News Safety Institute (INSI) website has a new look and a new address. It says: “The site provides guidance for those covering international or local conflict, crime and corruption, natural disasters and disease.”
INSI website • Risks 374
Hazards news, 20 September 2008

Britain: Firm fined after ignoring falls warnings
A Liverpool construction firm that ignored repeated stop work alerts relating to unsafe work at height, even after a serious injury to a site worker, has been fined £15,000. J&D Property Services Limited was also ordered to pay £5,000 in costs after pleading guilty to two breaches of safety rules.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 374
Hazards news, 20 September 2008

Britain: Sickness absence and disability discrimination
The TUC has published an online ‘trade union negotiator's guide to the law and good practice’ on sickness absence and disability discrimination. It says ignorance of the detail of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) remains widespread, adding that unions have reported that employers are continuing to get rid of disabled workers by using their sickness absence, capability or other procedures, without taking due account of the disability.
Sickness absence and disability discrimination: A trade union negotiator's guide to the law and good practice, TUC • Risks 374
Hazards news, 20 September 2008

Hazards, 13 September 2008

Britain: Tribunal win for safety conscious post workers
Postal workers’ union CWU has secured payouts from Royal Mail for 27 workers who had their pay docked after taking part in a safe work campaign. The 27 postal staff at London’s Streatham delivery office had up to two days’ pay stopped after participating in a CWU ‘Do the job properly’ campaign in August last year.
Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

USA: Second consumer popcorn lung case
A second US man may have developed ‘popcorn lung’ as a result of microwave cooking and consuming bags of popcorn. Larry Newkirk has been diagnosed with the sometimes fatal lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer • Hazards diacetyl webpages • Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Britain: Unions reduce long hours burden
UK workers still work the longest hours in Western Europe, but UK unions have been particularly effective in winning shorter hours for their members. A report last week from Eurofound - the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions - revealed that full-time employees in the UK put in 41.4 hours per week.
Eurofound news release and full report • Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Britain: Vulnerable workers need better protection
Unions have called for a tranche of measures to provide better protection for vulnerable workers. A motion from retail union Usdaw agreed at the TUC Congress 2008 this week said there must be effective enforcement of rights to protect vulnerable and agency workers.
TUC CoVE • Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Australia: Uniforms recalled after adverse reactions
An Australian energy firm has recalled thousands of newly issued flame-retardant uniforms after hundreds of workers complained they made them sick, and high chemical levels were found. The workers’ union, ETU, also reported that strong fumes emitted when ironing the uniforms had caused some people to vomit.
Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Britain: Councils must learn asbestos lessons
Construction union UCATT has warned local authorities they must not weaken their asbestos removal procedures, in the wake of problems experienced at a Doncaster firm. St Leger Homes has disciplined a number of managers and suspended its chief executive after it was discovered that contractors had been disturbing and removing asbestos without being trained and without protective equipment.
Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Britain: Insurers face further asbestos flak
An insurance industry bid to block a proposed Scottish law which would reinstate the right to claim compensation for an asbestos-related condition has attracted further criticism. Construction union UCATT has added its condemnation of statements by insurers in their efforts to evade payouts for pleural plaques, shadows on the lung caused by asbestos exposure.
Scottish parliament Justice Committee’s Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) (Scotland) Bill webpage • Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Canada: Inquiry call after mushroom farm deaths
The head of the union umbrella organisation in the Canadian province of British Columbia has called for an investigation into the deaths of three mushroom farm workers. “We need a public inquiry that's going to find out how we stop these deaths,” said Jim Sinclair, head of the BC Federation of Labour.
Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Britain: Union vigil for killed site worker
A minute's silence has been held in memory of a construction worker who died after an horrific incident on a building site in Oxfordshire last month. Altin Balla, 28, from Aberystwyth, died after he became trapped by steel girders against his neck.
Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Australia: Concern at paramedic drug exposures
An Australian ambulance union is calling for a commonly used pain killer to be assessed for potential risks to paramedics. Ambulance Employees Australia state secretary Steve McGhie said he had written to Ambulance Victoria asking for a risk assessment into penthrane, which it says has been banned in America due to concerns it may be carcinogenic, and it is also no longer used by West Australian paramedics.
Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Britain: Unions reach Olympic agreement
London 2012 and the TUC have agreed to continue to work together for a safe Olympic and Paralympic Games with fair employment practices and good industrial relations. The London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) and Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) announced this week a set of overarching 'Principles of Cooperation' with the TUC.
Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Britain: HSE passes on on-the-spot penalties
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has waived its right to apply for new civil sanctions open to enforcement agencies under the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill, which gained Royal Assent at the end of July. The bill allows regulars to apply to the minister for new powers to impose fixed monetary penalty notices - on-the-spot fines, variable fines or enforcement undertakings, legal agreements where the offender has to carry out specific activities to improve health and safety.
Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Britain: Companies fined after crane calamity
Two companies have been fined a total of £20,000 following an incident at a Lancashire construction site that could have ended in a multiple fatalities. The firms were prosecuted at Warrington Magistrates’ Court after a 35 tonne truck-mounted telescopic crane overturned.
Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Britain: Firms fined over animal feeder deaths
Two Lanarkshire companies have been fined a total of £63,750 after two men were killed while cleaning an animal feeder which started up unexpectedly. Hamilton Sheriff Court heard the deaths of Charles Lee Hinshelwood and Peter Brown in 2005 could have been avoided if the power supply had been isolated; Galloway and MacLeod Ltd and Barr Electrical Contractors Ltd received penalties reduced by 25 per cent after entering guilty pleas.
Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Britain: Fine after second blast at Glaxo plant
Multinational drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline has been fined £50,000 after a second explosion at its Ayrshire factory – but received the cut down fine because it pleaded guilty. Two workers suffered serious burns and others were treated for shock after the blast – but the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which says bad publicity is part of the punishment facing errant firms, issued no press release on the case.
Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Britain: Death fall after protection was removed
A construction company has been fined £125,000 for health and safety breaches after the death of a Polish worker. Witold Jellen, 56, died in July 2007 after falling eight metres during work to convert the former ABC cinema in Falkirk into a sports bar – but the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which says bad publicity is part of the punishment facing errant firms, issued no press release on the case.
Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Britain: Small fine after big fall
A Hampshire company has been fined just £234 after an employee was seriously injured in a workplace fall. Profile Construction & Interiors Ltd, based in Alresford, pleaded guilty this week at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court and was also ordered to pay £200 costs and a victim surcharge of £15 for a breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Britain: Council guilty after school asbestos blunder
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning employers they must ensure all relevant employees are aware of the location of asbestos in the workplace after a school caretaker was exposed to hazardous dust. North Tyneside Council this week pleaded guilty to five breaches of the asbestos regulations and was fined £17,005 and ordered to pay £3,911 costs.
HSE news release and asbestos webpages • Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

Britain: £75,000 fine after quarry worker dies
A quarry company has been fined £75,000 after a man died at its plant in Cornwall. Robert Bickley, 42, died from head injuries in July 2004 after he became entangled in the fixed guard on a rock crushing machine – and the firm, Aram Resources Ltd, was reprimanded by the judge after it tried to pin the blame on the worker.
HSE news release and quarrying webpages • Risks 373
Hazards, 13 September 2008

 

Hazards news, 6 September 2008

Britain: Leigh, 28, succumbs to asbestos cancer
The asbestos cancer mesothelioma has claimed the life of Leigh Carlisle, 28. Leigh, who was featured in a global Zero Occupational Cancer Campaign poster, died in hospital on 27 August, two years after being diagnosed with the incurable condition.
Zero Occupational Cancer Campaign website and poster • Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

Britain: Overwork and stress are top work concerns
Overwork and stress are the top problems facing workers, according to new TUC research. Its 'What workers want' report is based on an extensive YouGov poll of more than 2,500 people at work in Britain, and identifies safety as both a top three concern and an action priority.
What workers want - an agenda from the workplace, for the workplace, full report [pdf] and poll figures [pdf] • Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

USA: Toxic mine whistleblower wins appeal
A federal review panel has ruled that a US government agency illegally dismissed a manager overseeing the cleanup of a toxic mine site for raising serious worker safety, radiation, air and water pollution problems.
Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

Britain: Safety must be built in to housing plan
The government must demand that house builders directly employ staff and train apprentices in return for new public money, a construction union has said. The union says housebuilding is the most casualised and dangerous construction sector and comprises 15 per cent of the industry.
Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

South Africa: Doctors fired for diagnosing work
When specialist doctors diagnosed at least 10 cases of manganese-specific chronic illnesses at a factory in Cato Ridge, the Assmang manganese company dumped them “like hot potatoes”. Evidence to a government enquiry revealed the firm then replaced them with a new team of doctors that revised the diagnoses to suggest the sick workers might be alcoholics, drug abusers or victims of Aids.
Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

Britain: Asbestos condition ‘is a good thing’ outrage
The trade union Unite has accused the insurance industry of fighting a “virulent” campaign against recognition of the asbestos-related condition pleural plaques. Insurance lawyers and MSPs clashed at a Scottish parliament Justice Committee evidence session over an insurance industry expert’s claim that pleural plaques could be a “good thing” because they proved the body's defences were working.
Scottish Parliament Justice Committee Official Report, 2 September 2008 • The Herald on the union criticism and lawyer attack • Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

Britain: RMT action call on assaults ‘tidal wave’
Urgent action to stem a 'tidal wave' of violence against transport workers has been demanded by the union RMT. The call came as the union launched a campaign to establish an industry-wide code of protection for workers in the rail, bus and ferry sectors.
RMT Charter for Protection of Transport Workers [pdf] • Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

France: Missing cases could cost 1bn euros
Official French statistics massively under-estimate the extent of occupational accidents and diseases in the country, with tens of thousands of cases missed each year. An expert report submitted to the government in July estimated the cost of these unacknowledged cases to the French health insurance system was between 565 million and 1.015 billion euros a year.
Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

Britain: More enforcement needed on opencast sites
A union leader who represents opencast mining workers in Scotland has called for a significant rise in the number of health and safety inspectors to patrol what he describes as “the most dangerous jobs in the country.” Jim Walls, a regional convener was the union Unite, was speaking after Scottish Coal was fined £400,000 for safety breaches in connection with the deaths of two men killed in an accident at the Pennyvenie opencast mine in Ayrshire.
Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

Britain: Most workers won’t blow the whistle
Fewer than one in every three workers would blow the whistle on their employer if they broke health and safety laws, according to the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). A YouGov poll commissioned by IOSH found that only 28 per cent of people would report their company or organisation to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) if it was in breach of health and safety legislation.
Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

Australia: Sleepy shift workers on crash course
Sleep-deprived shift workers are driving themselves to car crashes, trauma surgeons and early graves. While only 14 per cent of Australians are regular shift workers, they make up half the road trauma patients treated at one hospital.
Herald Sun and related story on fatigued ambulance workers. Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

Britain: BAE fined after worker badly burned
A major munitions company has been fined £50,000 after a 21-year-old agency worker was severely burned when pyrotechnic substances ignited. BAE Systems Land Systems (Munitions and Ordnance) Ltd was also ordered to pay costs of £15,000 at Cardiff Crown Court.
Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

Britain: Demolition director done for fall
A director of a Surrey demolition firm has been fined £5,000 after an electrician was seriously injured in a fall. Nicholas Anderson was also ordered to pay £1,657 costs after pleading guilty to a safety offence and Wooldridge Ecotec Ltd was fined £15,000 and £4,971 costs.
Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

Global: Carbon nanotubes cancer review
Friends of the Earth Australia (FoEA) has released an overview of the key studies investigating the potential for carbon nanotubes to cause asbestos-like disease. FoEA says despite health concerns, commercial use of carbon nanotubes is growing rapidly – in sports goods, car and aeroplane parts, reinforced plastics and electronics.
FoEA publication note and full report, Mounting evidence that carbon nanotubes may be the new asbestos [pdf] • Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

Britain: No-one is safe from asbestos
The recent mesothelioma deaths of a plumber’s wife, a TV producer, an office worker and a railway worker demonstrates how no-one can be considered entirely safe from asbestos.
Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

Britain: End ‘insensitive’ treatment of meso families
Campaigners are calling for more considerate treatment for families bereaved by the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. The British Lung Foundation (BLF) says it has been approached by a number of families who have been treated “insensitively”.
BLF news release • Sign the BLF petition to the Prime Minister • Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

Britain: TUC response to health promotion
TUC has issued guidance for safety reps on health promotion initiatives at work. It says ‘lifestyle’ initiatives introduced by employers have their role, but says most of us spend most of our waking hours at work in conditions created by the employer, so employers should first make sure that work hazards are addressed.
Promoting health at work: Guidance for safety representatives • Related information: Hazards magazine ‘futile exercise’ guide, safety reps’ checklist and work and health webpages • Risks 272
Hazards news, 6 September 2008

Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Britain: Advice shortfall for vulnerable workers
Hard pressed employment advisers are struggling to meet the needs of the UK's most vulnerable workers, a TUC report has revealed. The news comes as the government is seeking to reduce safety enforcement cover to many of the sectors identified in the report as particularly badly affected by employment abuses.
CoVE research webpages • Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

USA: OSHA fiddles while workers die
A top US union safety official has accused the government of fiddling workplace death figures. Workplace fatalities figures released last week showed a 6 per cent fall in 2007, but a union official says the government had wrongly attributed the fall to its business friendly policies.
Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Britain: Millions now ‘jittery about their jobs’
More than 3.3 million workers, 13 per cent of the workforce, are not confident they will still be in their job in a year’s time, according to a new YouGov poll commissioned by the TUC. Workers in medium sized businesses are the least confident with 18 per cent of staff in firms with 50 to 249 workers saying they are not confident of being in their jobs in a year, compared to 12 per cent in big workplaces (more than 1,000 employees).
Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Thailand: Paralysed migrant worker fights for victims
A migrant worker seriously injured on a Thai construction site is challenging the country’s compensation agency for denying compensation to migrant workers. Nang Noom Mai Seng, 37, this week started a Supreme Court legal action against the Social Security Office's (SSO) continued refusal to provide her accident compensation from the Workmen's Compensation Fund (WCF).
Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Britain: Injury costs care assistant her job
A care assistant who was hurt whilst lifting a resident at a residential care home in Darlington has been awarded £8,000 compensation from her former employer after losing her job as a result of the injury.
Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

South Africa: Mine union protest at rash of deaths
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa has said a rash of deaths at mining giants AngloGold and AngloPlatinum are pivotal proof that the country is in need of rigid safety regulations. The spate of fatalities came earlier this month, in the same week the Chamber of Mines lobbied against tougher criminal penalties and corporate liability for workplace safety crimes during public hearings of the proposed Mine Health and Safety Amendment Bill
Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Britain: RMT condemns Tube’s ‘cavalier’ attitude
London Underground union RMT has condemned the company’s “cavalier” attitude to safety after it emerged that 23 passengers, including a child, were trapped in a lift at Elephant and Castle station for nearly an hour-and-a-half on Friday night, 22 August. The union says the passengers' ordeal, which began at around 21.30pm, was prolonged unnecessarily because “inexperienced and inadequately trained managers” were drafted in to replace striking station staff.
Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Nepal: Union victory for murdered bus driver
A planned national strike by transport workers in Nepal was called off after the government agreed to provide the family of a murdered bus driver with compensation. On 16 August, after eight days of strike action, the government and unions agreed on a six-point plan, which includes providing the family of Khawas with 1 million Nepalese rupees (£7,800) and arranging free education for his children; as part of the agreement, the government also agreed to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice and to step up security for transport workers, particularly along highways.
Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Britain: Angry asbestos activists doorstep ministers
Asbestos activists have taken their campaign for justice for workers with pleural plaques directly to the seats of two prominent Cabinet ministers. The two constituencies targeted on 29 August were the Blackburn seat of justice secretary Jack Straw and the Leeds Central constituency of environment secretary Hilary Benn.
UCATT news releases on the actions at Hilary Benn’s and Jack Straw’s constituencies. Building • Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Britain: New bank holiday would benefit businesses
Nearly one million UK businesses could benefit from a new bank holiday with workers also benefiting from improved health and well-being, according to a new TUC report. TUC is calling for a ‘Community Day’ bank holiday in late October “to celebrate and encourage volunteering and community activity.”
Community Day campaign • Why the UK can afford a Community Day, TUC report [pdf] • Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Britain: Call to link safety fines to share price
A simple change in the law to vary the powers open to Scottish judges in cases of death or injury at work could dramatically change the climate of corporate responsibility, a member of the Scottish parliament has said. SNP MSP Bill Wilson this week launched a consultation on a proposed Member's Bill to allow judges to fine companies on the basis of their share price rather than their running costs, and to give courts the power to scrutinise company books.
Bill Wilson MSP news release and Criminal Sentencing (Equity Fines) Bill – consultation [pdf] • The Herald • Press and Journal • The Scotsman • Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Britain: Scottish Coal fined over deaths
Scottish Coal Company Ltd has been fined £400,000 for health and safety breaches over the deaths of two miners in Ayrshire. It admitted failing to ensure a safe system of working at Pennyvenie open cast mine near Dalmellington.
Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Britain: Site boss denies teen manslaughter
A building site boss has appeared in court to deny the manslaughter of a 15-year-old Essex boy crushed to death at work. Adam Gosling, from Latchingdon, was killed during the demolition of a brick wall at the site in Hadley Wood, Enfield, on 23 April last year.
Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Global: Social injustice is a major killer
Social factors including poor working conditions are to blame for huge variations in ill-health and life expectancy around the world, an international commission has concluded. The World Health Organisation (WHO) convened commission’s report identified poor work as major contributory factor to health inequities.
WHO news release and Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health, WHO report webpages • Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Britain: Firm fined after groin injury
A Lincoln firm has been fined after a worker suffered a severe groin injury while moving a 96 kilogram oven. Catering equipment manufacturer Lincat Limited was fined £19,400 and ordered to pay £4,800 costs at Lincoln Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and two contraventions of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations.
HSE news release and manual handling assessment guide • Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Britain: Action against rogue gangmasters soars
The number of gangmasters whose licences have been revoked has soared. Figures released this week by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) reveal from April to mid-August 2008, 22 gangmasters’ licences were revoked; this compared to 33 in the 2007 financial year, and 15 in 2006.
GLA news release [pdf] • Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Britain: The asbestos industry’s deadly lies
The deaths of tens of thousands of UK workers from asbestos disease was not an unanticipated tragedy, but resulted from a sophisticated political and public relations campaign to prolong the use of the deadly fibre.
New Statesman • Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Britain: Payout plans for injured officers
Proposals that would dramatically increase payouts to ‘totally disabled’ police officers but that could see many injured officers lose out have been announced by the government.
Review of Police Injury Benefits • Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Britain: Police fear officer death charge
Police bosses in Manchester have set up a £1m ‘contingency fund’ to pay for possible fines and legal costs after an officer was shot dead by a colleague during a training session, according to a report by the Manchester Evening News (MEN). A probe by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, with support from the Health and Safety Executive, is expected to identify a series of blunders which led to the death in June of Pc Ian Terry.
Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

Britain: TUC Organising at Work guide
It’s unions that brought you the weekend, safer workplaces, shorter hours, better wages and leave entitlements and greater equality at work. But winning and maintaining better working conditions is only a possibility if people are organised – and that means unions recruiting new members and increasing the effectiveness of organised workplaces.
Organising at work - Building stronger unions in the workplace [pdf] • Risks 371
Hazards news, 30 August 2008

 

Hazards news, 23 August 2008

USA: How manufacturing doubt kills workers
It happens all the time. When a study is published linking a workplace chemical to serious disease, a scientist working for the industry disputes the finding. Writing in the current issue of Hazards magazine, US academic David Michaels reveals industry has taken its lead “directly from the tobacco industry’s playbook”, employing the same tactics and the same public relations firms.
Spin cycle: Product defence – how industry money protects killer chemicals, Hazards magazine, August 2008 • Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy (SKAPP)

Doubt is their product: How industry's assault on science threatens your health, David Michaels, Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-19-530067-3, £14.99 (hardback) • Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

Britain: Work asthma caused mental problems
Electrical engineer Mark Lawrence has been awarded £100,000 – more than six times the original offer - after he developed occupational asthma which led to a psychiatric disorder. The Unite member was working for Lydmet Limited, now Federal Mogul Camshafts Limited, when he experienced shortness of breath at work in April 2001.
Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

Canada: How to kill a UN convention
It's not every day that Canada gets to kill a UN convention. Writing in the Toronto Star, one of Canada’s most respected newspapers, Kathleen Ruff reveals that with the Rotterdam Convention, which controls trade in the world's most hazardous chemicals and pesticides, Canada is coming close to achieving this result.
Toronto Star article by Kathleen Ruff and editorial backing a ban and just transition • Rightoncanada.ca • Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

Britain: Council staff ‘too scared’ to go sick
Workers at Coventry City Council are scared to call in sick because of a “draconian” sickness and “health at work” policy, according to a trade union official. UNISON’s Sarah Ferguson, quoted in the Coventry Telegraph, said one union member even cancelled a medical appointment because they were too frightened to take time off to attend.
Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

Britain: CWU demands dog attack law
The postal workers’ union is pressing for a change in the law to help reduce the number of dog attacks on delivery staff. CWU said up to 6,000 out of 70,000 staff were attacked each year, some seriously and added the Dangerous Dogs Act is not offering protection, because of extreme difficulties prosecuting owners of dogs that attack on private land.
Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

Britain: Union delivers the truth on post perils
Postal union CWU has condemned a media over-reaction to Royal Mail’s safety-based decision to suspend postal services to the North Yorkshire village of Booze. CWU national health and safety officer Dave Joyce said: “Five years ago we ended up with 40,000 accidents a year, 8,000 of them serious, 25,000 road accidents and 250,000 days lost annually because of accident related sick leave.”
You and Yours webpages • Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

Britain: Action plan cuts cash van attacks
A partnership between the police, the security industry and the union covering the security sector has led to a dramatic fall in attacks on cash vans, latest figures suggest. British Security Industry Association statistics “show that the proactive partnership work between the Home Office, Police, the GMB trade union, and the banking, retail and security industries to reduce cash-in-transit crime is continuing to bring results,” GMB said.
BSIA/GMB campaign to reduce cash-in-transit crime • Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

Britain: Nursery nurse gets back payout
A nursery nurse from Newcastle has secured £75,000 damages following a serious back injury at work. Gillian Scott, 42, a member of UNISON, was working at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary when the contents of a box slipped as she was placing it in a cupboard, causing her to fall against the door which sprung back on her.
Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

Britain: Electrician gets £250,000 for back injuries
A Unite member working as a contract electrician has been awarded £250,000 for the back injuries he sustained when he fell at a Tarmac site in 2003. Union law firm Rowley Ashworth rejected the insurer’s offer of contributory negligence to agree liability on a 75:25 split in favour of the member and issued court proceedings; instead, a final settlement of £250,000 was achieved three weeks before the scheduled trial.
Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

Britain: Asbestos cancers lead to six figure payouts
An asbestos cancer widow and a worker diagnosed with the same incurable disease have both received £190,000 payouts.
Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

Britain: Trust fined for ‘appalling mismanagement’
‘An appalling catalogue of mismanagement’ at Boston's Pilgrim Hospital has resulted in a hospital Trust paying out £18,500 in safety fines. Boston Magistrates’ Court was told how necessary safety measures relating to the use of glutaraldehyde, a chemical used to develop film in x-ray machines, had not been in place.
HSE news release and COSHH webpages • Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

Britain: Company director jailed for manslaughter
Company director Sharaz Butt, 44, has been jailed for 12 months for manslaughter and barred from being a company director for five years after a Chinese builder died while working for him. Alcon Construction employee Wu Zhu Weng was pronounced dead at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital after the fall in January this year.
Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

Britain: Scrapyard perjurers cleared of manslaughter
Dorset firm Reliance Scrap Metal Merchants (Parkstone), where bosses broke criminal safety laws leading to the death of an employee, then pressured staff to give “false and erroneous evidence” to cover their tracks, has been found not guilty of manslaughter. Thomas Mooney, 64, was helping to cut cylinders of highly dangerous gases when an acetylene cylinder exploded at the site in Poole, Dorset, in 2005.
Dorset Police news release • Morpeth Herald • BBC News Online • Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

Britain: Firms fined for ‘preventable’ death fall
Two firms have been fined more than £100,000 for the “entirely preventable” death of a Midlands worker and father of two who fell more than 20ft from a tower scaffold. Darren Handley, 36, died in October 2004. Smethwick-based Spanclad Ltd and its principal contractor, Derby-based Westminster Building Co Ltd were both fined at Northampton Crown Court earlier this month for breaching health and safety laws.
Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

Britain: Small fine after three are seriously hurt
A Wolverhampton scaffolding firm has been fined £3,300 after an incident in which three workers were seriously hurt. Pedley Scaffolding was also ordered to pay costs of £5,318 at Stafford Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to safety breaches.
HSE news release and construction and falls webpages • Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

Britain: Women killed by asbestos dust
The recent cancer deaths of two women highlight the risks posed by asbestos even to those in non-industrial jobs.
Norwich Evening News. Nottingham Evening News • Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

China: Coal mine explosion kills 26
Chinese rescuers have recovered the last four bodies of miners killed in an 18 August gas blast at a coal mine in northeast China, bringing the death toll to 26. A total of 81 miners were working underground when the incident happened at the Baijiagou colliery in Liaoning Province, said Sun Shikui, head of the general hospital affiliated to the Tiefa coal industry group.
Risks 370
Hazards news, 23 August 2008

Hazards news, 16 August 2008

Britain: Stamping out foot problems
The TUC has produced a guide for safety representatives on feet and footwear. Many problems are caused by inadequate footwear. The new TUC guide 'Working feet and footwear' states that workers should be able to wear the footwear that is appropriate to their occupation, working environment, and feet - that means employers should ensure that the risk assessment they have to do by law includes risks to the feet as well as slipping risks.
TUC Guide • Hazards standing webpages • Risks 369
Hazards news, 16 August 2008

Britain: Strike threatened over BA threat to cut water
The British Airways Stewards and Stewardesses Association, part of Unite, have said they might be forced to take strike action after the airline cut back on the amount of water they were willing to supply cabin crew free of charge.
Daily Mirror • Risks 369
Hazards news, 16 August 2008

Britain: £1,500 fine after fall from heights convictions
A court in Nottingham has fined the manager of a construction company, Real Estate (Midlands) Ltd. just £1,500 after he was prosecuted for four offences following an incident led to an employee at a site in Mansfield suffering severe injuries, including short-term memory loss. Ronald Cordon, aged 63, suffered major injuries when he fell two metres from an unprotected wall on 6 November 2006 while doing bricklaying work on a housing construction site in Mansfield.
HSE press release • Risks 369
Hazards news, 16 August 2008

Britain: Employers consulting less on health and safety
A survey of 71 organisations by Employment Review, showed that, the numbers of employers consulting their workforce on health and safety has started to decline. Less than half (44 per cent) now consult on health and safety, compared with 68 per cent in 2006 - despite consultation being a legal requirement.
Risks 369
Hazards news, 16 August 2008

Britain: New concern over offshore safety record
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has raised concern over the continuing number of major and significant hydrocarbon releases in the offshore industry, often regarded as precursors to a major accident. Statistics showed that there had been no improvement in the number of this kind of incident during 2007/08.
Offshore statistics • Risks 369
Hazards news, 16 August 2008

Britain: Tyre company fined after pallet injury
A Birmingham company has been fined £13,500 with costs of £2,888.04 after a worker in Wolverhampton suffered a fractured rib from a falling pallet. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK Ltd pleaded guilty on 5 August 2008, to failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of employees.
Risks 369
Hazards news, 16 August 2008

Britain: £12,000 compensation for shoulder injury
Kitchen appliance manufacturer Indesit, has paid £12,000 compensation to a factory Unite member injured at the firm's factory in Denbighshire, North Wales. Richard Williams, 60, was attempting to manually pull down a metal panel to secure it in place on a washing machine but the panel didn't move because it hadn't been positioned correctly; as a result he badly injured his left shoulder and his thumb.
Risks 369
Hazards news, 16 August 2008

Britain: Companies exposed workers to asbestos risk
Two companies in Essex have been fined after workers in their employment were exposed to asbestos containing materials. R Maskell Ltd of Loughton was fined £150,000 with costs of £30,000 at Ipswich Crown Court while LCH Contracts Ltd of Billericay was fined £70,000 and costs of £13,821.
Risks 369
Hazards news, 16 August 2008

Turkey: ‘Human sandbags’ die in shipyard
Workers were used instead of sandbags for a test run of the lifeboat of a ship in Istanbul's Tuzla shipyards resulting in three deaths and 12 injuries. During the test run, the rope tying the lifeboat to the ship snapped and the boat crashed into the water, causing the deaths of Emrah Vato?lu, 19, Ramazan Ergün, 36, and Ramazan Çetinkaya, 25.
Risks 369
Hazards news, 16 August 2008

New Zealand: Employers can help prevent skin cancer
New Zealand researchers have shown that outdoor workers are more likely to use sun protection measures if their workplace has a supportive approach to the issue. A study by the University of Otago found that outdoor workers who felt that their workplaces supported healthy behaviour were more likely to protect themselves from excessive sun exposure.
Health Promotion Journal of Australia • Risks 369
Hazards news, 16 August 2008

Australia: Sedentary work leads to weight gain
Another study has confirmed sedentary occupations carry a significant risk of workers gaining weight than other occupations. The study from the University of North Carolina found only vigorous exercise was significantly associated with non-weight gain - the study comes after recent Australian research added to the growing evidence that shift work negatively impacts on health, revealing shift workers are more likely to smoke and to become overweight.
Risks 369
Hazards news, 16 August 2008

Canada: Asbestos report withheld for giving wrong view
The Canadian government is continuing to withhold a damning report on asbestos on the eve of an international conference at which Canada plans to defend its export of the carcinogen. The report was commissioned by the Conservative government’s Health Canada agency to support it’s long-standing fight to keep chrysotile asbestos off a UN watch list, a position federal officials plan to argue at a convention in Rome this October.
Risks 369
Hazards news, 16 August 2008

Hazards news, 9 August 2008

Britain: Protests at Royal Mail bullying abuse
Around 300 postal workers marched through Bristol on 4 August demanding “justice for the innocent three” Royal Mail employees fired on spurious ‘bullying’ charges. CWU members Colin Tucker, Kay Gibbs and Paula Franklin were sacked following complaints made against them during last autumn’s national postal dispute.
Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

Global: IOC attacked for ‘shameful’ inaction
Campaigners in Hong Kong, backed by the Play Fair 2008 global coalition, confronted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 3 August for what they say is its failure to act on widespread exploitation of workers manufacturing Olympics-branded products.
ITUC news release • Play Fair 2008 news release • Play Fair’s road map for the IOC • Play Fair 2008 research report on working conditions in factories producing Olympic logo goods [pdf] • TUC Play Fair briefing and factfile [pdf] • Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

Britain: Union seeks to vanquish Spirit attack
Pub chain Spirit Group’s bid to increase staff hours and reduce sickness absence has been labelled “totally unacceptable” by the union Unite. A move by the firm to create a single employment contract for pub managers would erode existing terms and conditions, the union said.
Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

Global: Asbestos lobby resorts to intimidation
The asbestos industry may be ailing, but it’s not dead yet. Asbestos is still a money-spinner, and the industry is investing in a major promotional drive to protect its trade in chrysotile (white asbestos) - but it is not limiting this global campaign to product marketing, it is resorting to threats and the courts to harass campaigners for an asbestos ban.
Asbestos threats: Global asbestos industry resorts to thugs and courts, Hazards magazine • Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

Britain: Less than three minutes a day for safety
The government says small firms spend under three and a half minutes a day on safety admin – but thinks this should be slashed further to reduce costs. A 6 August report from the Better Regulation Executive (BRE) found small businesses spend on average 20 hours a year on safety administration, or three minutes and 17 seconds per day – and it says paring this back to a daily average of under two and a half minutes – a 25 per cent reduction – “would save low risk businesses £150 million a year.”
BERR news release • Improving outcomes from health and safety, BRE, August 2008 • Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

Finland: Union call for ban on creosote poles
A Finnish union is calling for the use of creosote-impregnated wooden electricity poles to be stopped on health grounds. The Electrical Workers’ Union says safer alternatives should be used instead.
Trade Union News from Finland • Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

Britain: Union dismay at ‘dangerous’ report
Unions have reacted with dismay to a government report that says small firms who spend just minutes a day on health and safety admin should do even less. TUC said the Better Regulation Executive (BRE) report, ‘Improving outcomes from health and safety’, which considers the effects of the health and safety regulatory regime on smaller businesses, is a “disappointment” and UCATT general secretary Alan Ritchie said it was “dangerous”.
TUC news release • UCATT report • Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

Europe: Union blast on reprotoxins
The European Trade Union Confederation has criticised a European Commission u-turn on substances that are toxic for reproduction. The union body says these reprotoxins should have been brought into the directive that protects workers from carcinogens and mutagens, which is currently up for revision, but is dismayed the Commission has instead changed tack and dropped any mention of reprotoxins from its proposals.
ETUI-REHS news briefing and ETUC note [pdf] • Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

Britain: Vulnerable work action falls short
Unions have welcomed a new government crackdown on rogue employers, but say the measures do not go far enough. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said “an opportunity has been missed to address the legal and regulatory flaws which keep two million workers in conditions which shame a modern economy.”
BERR news release • TUC news release • UCATT news release • CBI news release • The Guardian •
Vulnerable Workers Enforcement Forum • Vulnerable worker enforcement forum: final report and government conclusions [pdf] • Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

Britain: Seafarer deaths hit new high
The number of merchant seafarer deaths recorded by the government’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has hit an all-time high. Seafarers’ union Nautilus UK has said the figures are “disturbing” and have exposed “unacceptable” complacency on the part of some maritime authorities.
MAIB annual report 2007 • Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

Britain: Three die during blaze on boat
Three trawler workers, believed to be two Filipinos and a Latvian, have died in a fire on a fishing boat moored in an Aberdeenshire harbour. It is believed that the crew lived on the vessel while it was not at sea, to save money.
Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

USA: Perils of the new pesticides
The US-based Center for Public Integrity has used official government data to expose the ‘Perils of the new pesticides.’ The free online resource is based on a review of 10 years’ worth of adverse-reaction reports filed with the Environmental Protection Agency by pesticide manufacturers.
CPI Perils of the new pesticides website • Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

Britain: Scottish teachers stressed out
Scottish teachers are increasingly taking time off work to deal with stress and depression. The number of stressed-out teachers is six times higher north of the border, a survey of state school staff has found.
Teacher Support Network • Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

Global: Nanotech needs to learn lessons
Industry, government and scientists must learn the lessons of past health and safety tragedies to ensure the safe and responsible development of emerging nanotechnologies, a report has warned. The expert analysis in the journal Nature Nanotechnology applies the 12 “late lessons from early warnings” identified by the European Environment Agency (EEA) to nanotechnology.
Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies news report • Steffen Foss Hansen, Andrew Maynard, Anders Baun and Joel A Tickner. Late lessons from early warnings for nanotechnology, Nature Nanotechnology, Advance online publication • Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

Britain: Wembley horror witness denied payout
A worker who suffered a serious psychiatric injury after he saw a workmate die during the construction of the new Wembley Stadium has lost his claim for damages. The judge concluded that 43-year-old Stephen Monk was not a “primary victim” of the negligent conduct of the crane operator for which PCH had admitted liability, because he did not satisfy the conditions necessary to be regarded either as a rescuer or as an “unwilling participant” in the accident.
Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

USA: Tony Mazzocchi: A real union leader on safety
If you want to learn about union leadership on health and safety, you should learn about Tony Mazzocchi. And if you want a pacy, intriguing and immensely readable biography of the US trade unionist’s extraordinary life, you should read ‘The man who hated work and loved labor’.
The man who hated work and loved labor: The life and times of Tony Mazzocchi, Les Leopold, Chelsea Green Publishing, ISBN 978-1-933392-64-6 • Watch a video tribute to Tony Mazzocchi • Hazards 103 review • Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

Britain: Director admits manslaughter charge
A company director admitted manslaughter after a court heard how a Chinese worker plunged to his death at a Norfolk building site. Sharaz Butt was charged with the killing following a two month investigation by police and the Health and Safety Executive.
Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

Britain: Construction giant fined for fatal fall
One of Britain’s best known construction companies has been fined £70,000 after a worker died in a “wholly avoidable” workplace fall. Carillion JM Ltd, formerly known as Mowlem plc, was also ordered to pay £24,000 in costs at Maidstone Crown Court for a criminal breach of safety law.
Risks 368
Hazards news, 9 August 2008

 

Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Britain: ‘Disgraceful’ CPS failure on Lloyd killing
Journalists’ union NUJ has said it is appalled by a decision from the Crown Prosecution Service not to proceed with a prosecution over the shooting of ITN journalist Terry Lloyd in Iraq in 2003. A 2006 inquest into Terry’s death found that he was killed by a bullet to the head from an M63 machine gun fired by US Marines.
Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

USA: $5m fine after 13 die in sugar blast
The US safety watchdog OSHA has issued 120 citations and a proposed $5m fine for safety violations at the Imperial Sugar Co plant in Port Wentworth, Georgia, where incredibly high levels of sugar dust fuelled an explosion on 7 February that killed 13 workers. Dozens of other workers suffered serious injuries, and three remain hospitalised, two in critical condition.
Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Britain: Grieving family want manslaughter charges
The family of a GMB member killed by a mechanical digger when depositing grass cuttings at a Newbury recycling centre have said the firm responsible should face manslaughter charges. In a statement, widow Linda Krauesslar and her daughter Victoria called on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to prosecute Biffa for manslaughter over the death of Dennis Krauesslar, 59.
Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Britain: Union is sick of Royal Mail practices
A flagship Royal Mail office is misusing security systems to help track worker attendance in order to dismiss employees and increase profit, the union Unite has charged. The union is angered by statements to the press made by Mike Sibley, head of operations at the company’s Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre (HWDC) in Berkshire.
Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

USA: Prison labour exposed to deadly toxins
US federal health officials have found staff and inmates had no protection against exposure to high levels of lead and cadmium in a prison industry computer recycling plant. The amount of health damage or risk could not be assessed because the Elkton Federal Correctional Institution in eastern Ohio did not conduct medical monitoring or industrial hygiene surveillance.
Full NIOSH report [pdf] • AFGE statement [pdf] • Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Britain: Site union gets casual work commitment
Construction union UCATT has said a blueprint to tackle casualisation in the building industry has been agreed a Labour’s policy review. The union says it was able to persuade the government at the National Policy Forum meeting in Warwick that “issues such as soaring death rates, endemic casualisation and a low levels of skills training must be addressed.”
Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Peru: Chinese owner in mine disease denial
Workers in a Chinese owned mine in Peru are developing deadly dust diseases – but the Chinese metal giant is denying the cases exist. The workers at Shougang Corp’s iron ore mine in Peru have pneumoconiosis, a debilitating and potentially fatal lung scarring caused by dust inhalation.
Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Britain: STUC project tackles violence
A groundbreaking STUC-inspired project to tackle workplace violence has been showcased at the July National Hazards Conference. Four years ago, the Scottish union federation worked with Scotland’s then Labour administration on a report that STUC said “set the foundation for positive collaboration between the trade union movement in Scotland and the Scottish government to raise awareness of the extent of the problem and how to help unions, workers and employers address the issue.”
STUC project presentation [powerpoint] • Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Britain: Tube staff attacked at attack sacking protest
A man was arrested by plain clothes police following an attack on striking station attendants protesting at the victimisation of a colleague after he suffered a violent attack at work. Around 100 RMT members at Elephant and Castle, Charing Cross and Lambeth North Tube stations took 24 hour action on 28 July to demand the reinstatement of Jerome Bowes, dismissed after defending himself against a violent assault on New Year’s Eve.
Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Britain: Overweight firefighter gets his job back
A firefighter sacked for being overweight has been reinstated after a campaign by his union, FBU. Talks between the union and Grampian Fire and Rescue Service brokered by mediator Acas also averted a possible strike.
Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Britain: Campaigners reject work health blueprint
A government approved strategy on work and health is destined to fail, health and safety campaigners have warned. Delegates to the July National Hazards Conference approved unanimously a statement highly critical of Dame Carol Black’s ‘Working for a healthier tomorrow’ report, launched in March.
Hazards Campaign statement and conference motion • Workplace health czar website • Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Britain: Firms fined for fatal cradle plunge
Two firms involved in a workplace tragedy in Sheffield which killed one man and injured three others have been fined a total of £140,000. The incident happened when an access cradle suspended from the exterior of a Sheffield office building partially collapsed in July 2003.
Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Britain: Firm fined £5,000 for tree felling injury
A Sutton Coldfield engineering company has been fined £5,000 after a man suffered serious head injuries while he was helping to remove a branch from a tree. Pro-Mil Engineering Ltd was also ordered to pay costs of £3,314 at Nuneaton Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to a safety offence.
Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Global: Olympics must get it right by London
The sporting goods industry, making a fortune from Olympic branded products, is doing this on the back of increasing exploitation of its global workforce, a top union leader has said. “Four years on from the Athens Olympics, workers in the sporting goods industry are paid less in real terms, work longer, have less job security and suffer more repression when they try to organise,” said Neil Kearney, general secretary of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF).
Full text of Neil Kearney’s speech • Play Fair 2008 • Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Britain: Acoustics firm didn’t listen to lessons
A Lancashire manufacturing firm has been fined £4,000 after two separate incidents in which employees were injured. Janesville Acoustics Ltd of Colne pleaded guilty at Reedley Magistrates’ Court to four charges resulting from the two incidents.
HSE work equipment and risk assessment webpages • Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Global: Browne’s BP blast ignorance revealed
It took more than a year for a dogged Texan lawyer, Brent Coon, to get the former BP boss Lord Browne to answer questions on the legal record about the Texas City oil disaster. A transcript of an hour-long deposition given by Browne about the 2005 tragedy at BP's Texas City refinery in which a group of exhausted labourers overfilled a dilapidated vertical drum with chemicals, causing an explosion which showered burning liquid over accommodation trailers nearby revealed Browne had extremely limited knowledge of the incident.
Transcript of Lord John Browne deposition [pdf] • Brent Coon Texas City Explosion website and court documents • The Guardian • Find out more about BP’s deadly neglect • Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Britain: Teenage exposure led to asbestos death
The family of a man who died from an asbestos related disease are searching for information about the now defunct Bedfordshire business Porch Watt Development Limited, where he was exposed to the deadly fibre. Leigh Boniface from Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire died aged 48 from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma.
If you have any information about Porch Watt Development Limited, email Gill Owen or call on 0161 819 3500 • Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Britain: Usdaw’s hot work warning
Retail and food union Usdaw has issued a seasonal warning on the health risks posed by hot work. The union alert spells out the legal position and the health effects of work in excessive temperatures - sweating, irritability, nausea, headaches, dizziness, fainting, muscle cramps, extra strain on the heart and ultimately heat stroke.
Usdaw alert and temperature at work guidance • Risks 367
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Britain: HSE limps into the video age
First we got ‘podgercasts’, now its videohs. The Health and Safety Executive’s clamour to embrace new technology is continuing, with an online clip of health and safety minister Lord McKenzie outlining “the aims and outputs of the European Campaign on risk assessment” - it’s dull as ditch water, but it’s a different presentation of the usual fare and includes a real time transcript of minister’s speech, making the Lord McKenzie’s witterings more easily available to a wider audience.
HSE Euroweek video clip • HSE podcasts
Hazards news, 2 August 2008

Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Britain: Firm pays after unfair alcohol sacking
Northeast Press has been ordered by an employment tribunal to pay an award of more than £20,000 after unfairly sacking a senior journalist with a drink problem. Journalists’ union NUJ, who backed senior sub-editor Paul Gray’s tribunal case, says it highlights the importance of employers fully implementing their alcohol and drugs policies.
Hazards guidance on drugs and alcohol policies • Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

USA: Secret Bush rule to protect toxins
The Bush administration has been caught trying to introduce secretly an eleventh-hour rule that would make it harder to set new safety standards limiting workers’ exposure to chemicals. The Labor Department has refused to discuss or disclose the proposal, which has spurred anger and condemnation from unions, Democrats in Congress and public health scientists.
Washington Post and related earlier coverage • AFL-CIO Now • Requirements for DOL Agencies' Assessment of Occupational Health Risks. Action: Proposed Rulemaking. Department of Labor, RI 1290-AA23 [pdf] • Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Britain: Nine of out 10 hacks say bullying affects them
Nine out of ten journalists who responded to a survey by media union NUJ said they had been affected by bullying. The survey, carried out on the union's website, showed that 74 per cent of respondents had themselves been bullied whilst a further 18 per cent had witnessed it happening in their workplace.
NUJ bullying handbook [pdf] • Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Britain: Probe into ‘dangerous’ housing association
An official investigation has been launched into union claims that a housing association flouted rules on handling deadly asbestos. William Whalen, an official with the construction union UCATT, presented a petition at a drama filled meeting of Carlisle City Council calling for Carlisle Housing Association to be wound up and its 6,140 homes handed back to the council.
Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Britain: Teachers warned on minibus use
Teaching union NUT is advising its members to “consider very carefully” whether they should agree to drive school minibuses. It says NUT “is not advising members generally that they should not under any circumstances drive school minibuses,” but instead it outlines stringent safety considerations that should be met before teachers get behind the wheel.
NUT minibus safety briefing • Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Britain: Motor firm pays for wrecked knee
A Unite member from Maidstone has been paid £517,500 compensation after suffering a serious workplace knee injury when using faulty equipment. Glyn Davies, aged 62, was dismantling and re-erecting large industrial racking systems at automotive manufacturer Intier when he sustained the injury in November 2002.
Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Britain: £1 million payout for travel-to-work injuries
The value of union legal services inside and outside the workplace has been starkly illustrated by a £1 million payout to a union member seriously injured while cycling to work. The Unite member, whose identity has not been revealed, has been awarded £1,123,676.98.
Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Holland: Solvent repro hazards prompt review
The Dutch government has ordered a review of workplace solvent health effects after new studies added to evidence of a significant reproductive risk in exposed workers. The Dutch State Secretary for Social Affairs has asked the Health Council of the Netherlands to investigate the issue.
ETUI-HESA news report • Occupational exposure to organic solvents: effects on human reproduction, Health Council of the Netherlands, 2008 [pdf] • Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Britain: Six figure payout for drill injury
A production worker from Ashford has been awarded £220,000 compensation after being injured by a defective drill. Unite member Caroline May, 47, was working for Cohline (UK) Limited when she suffered serious arm injuries in May 2003. She did not know the drill she was using was defective. When she operated it, it kicked back striking her right arm.
Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Britain: HSE loses deaths information case
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was wrong to withhold the names of people killed at work, the Information Commissioner has ruled. A decision by the Information Commissioner’s Office requires the HSE to provide the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) with the names of those who have died in work-related deaths once the opening of the coroner’s inquest has taken place.
CCA news release and deaths, inquests and prosecutions database
ICO news release [pdf] • Decision notice, ICO reference FS50104541, 21 July 2008 [pdf] • Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Britain: BP again avoids a jury verdict
London-based oil multinational BP Plc has again avoided a jury verdict over the deadly 2005 explosion at its Texas refinery by settling claims of four injured workers before all evidence could be presented in a court case in Galveston, Texas. The curtailed legal proceedings have ensured top BP bosses at the time of the disaster have avoided the stand.
More on BP’s safety record • Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Britain: ICL boss denies gas check responsibility
The boss of a Glasgow factory that exploded killing nine people has told a public inquiry he was not involved in making crucial safety critical decisions as the company was a “democratic organisation”. Campbell Downie, 73, was chair of ICL Plastics when the plant in Maryhill blew up on 11 May 2004.
Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Britain: Chemical firm’s small fine over dust blast
A chemical company in Wales has been fined £12,000 following an “entirely foreseeable and avoidable” April 2006 dust explosion and fire. Warwick International Group Ltd has since changed procedures and spent £1.3 million in rebuilding the part of its Mostyn factory destroyed in the blaze.
Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Australia: Deadly work demands strong laws
Australia’s poor record on workplace death and injury underlines the need for the highest possible national workplace health and safety standards, the country’s national union federation has said. ACTU assistant secretary Geoff Fary was speaking after a national meeting of unions resolved to push strongly for new national laws that impose a duty of care on all employers and give unions the capacity to initiate prosecutions over breaches of workplace safety law.
Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Britain: Rolls-Royce fined for dangerous exposures
Rolls-Royce has been fined £120,000 for failing to ensure that five of its agency staff were sufficiently protected against dangerous substances. Derby Crown Court heard the workers developed ill effects, including skin rashes, bowel problems and breathing difficulties, while decommissioning a light alloy foundry at the firm's plant in Osmaston Road, Derby, between July and October 2005.
HSE COSHH webpages • Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Global: Union precarious work campaign
‘Precarious work affects us all’ is a global union campaign to stop the rise in precarious employment and to regain power and justice for working people. Campaign webpages prepared by the global metal unions’ federation IMF provide links to materials, background information and details on what trade unions around the world are doing to mobilise against precarious work.
IMF ‘Precarious work affects us all’ campaign websites • Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Britain: Safety offences bill moves a step closer
The Health and Safety (Offences) Bill successfully completed its Committee Stage in the House of Lords on 18 July. The Bill, put forward by Labour MP Keith Hill, cleared the Commons in June after being given an unopposed third reading; the next stage of the process, Report and Third Reading in the House of Lords, is now expected to take place on 7 October.
Health and Safety (Offences) Bill • Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Britain: 'Work for benefits' plan criticised
Unemployed people will be forced to work for their benefits, as part of welfare reforms unveiled by work and pensions secretary James Purnell. The Welfare Green Paper includes plans to scrap incapacity benefit and make those jobless for more than two years work full-time in the community; critics says the proposals duck the issue of the availability of suitable, decent jobs, instead blaming the victims for their plight.
Hazards Campaign news release • Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Britain: Physiotherapists want work fitness role
Physios’ union CSP has welcomed a government decision to pilot an NHS-based Fit for Work service. Commenting on the decision, revealed in the DWP welfare reform green paper, chief executive Phil Gray said: “Physiotherapists are ideally placed to provide the advice and treatment that will keep people in work and help people return to work, reducing sickness absenteeism and increasing productivity.”
Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

Britain: Government plans in need of rehabilitation
Government efforts to get the long-term sick off benefits and back to work risk being undermined by low levels of rehabilitation support in the workplace, according to a survey. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) Annual Absence Management Survey 2008 found over a third (36 per cent) of employers offer no rehabilitation support.
Risks 366
Hazards news, 26 July 2008

 

Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Britain: ‘Lax’ offshore safety enforcement warning
An offshore union has warned that the industry still does not pay enough attention to safety, two decades after the Piper Alpha disaster took the lives of 167 workers. RMT said safety enforcement is lax, and the number of safety inspectors has fallen by almost 40 per cent since 1994; it added that despite “significant” safety measures introduced after the 6 July 1988 tragedy, workers are still under threat of being told they are ‘Not Required Back’ (NRB) if they raise safety issues.
Commons debate, 2 July 2008 • Press and Journal and follow up article on the industry response • Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

South Africa: Union plans safety strike at Gold Fields
South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has said it is planning industrial action at Gold Fields’ four mining operations, in protest at its worsening safety record. Gold Fields is responsible for about a quarter of South Africa's 85 mine fatalities this year.
Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Britain: HSE relocation risks health and safety
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) administrative staff began a campaign of industrial action on 7 July to protest at plans to move hundreds of staff out of London. The union PCS said so far only 10 out of more than 300 staff had expressed an interest in relocating to HSE’s new Bootle HQ.
Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Britain: Freelance gets injury payout
A freelance screen engineer from Bradford who was injured by a crane at Chester Race Course has secured £35,000 damages. Paul Bowling, a member of the entertainment union BECTU, was dismantling large video screens at the end of a race meeting when he was hit by a Crane Hire Direct Limited crane being used to move the equipment.
Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Global: Asbestos industry resorts to threats
A top asbestos campaigner in France is facing libel action from an industry lobby group. Unions have vowed to support François Desriaux, a driving force behind the French asbestos victim support group Andeva who is facing libel charges brought by the Montreal-based Chrysotile Institute.
ETUI-HESA news release • Andeva • Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Britain: Six figure settlement for crushed hand
A factory worker whose hand was crushed at work and had to be rebuilt by surgeons has received a £130,000 settlement. A pallet had jammed in the machine Michael Pattison was operating at Carlisle firm Crown Bevcan.
Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Britain: Action needed on hours at sea
Port authorities need to get tough on seafarers’ working hours, the union Nautilus UK has warned.
Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Europe: ETUC wants paint stripper outlawed
Europe’s trade union confederation ETUC is calling for a blanket ban on paint strippers that contain dichloromethane. The union made its position clear as the European Parliament's (EP) Environment Committee prepares to publish its opinion on a Commission proposal to restrict the sale and use of products containing the chemical.
European Commission proposal [pdf] • Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Britain: Bus bosses jailed for death cover-up
Two bus firm directors who lied about the hours their drivers worked following a crash in which a 27-year-old worker died have been jailed. Managing director Vincenzo Casale, 44, and his transport manager David Ellis, 37, both directors of UK North and GM Buses Enterprises, were each jailed for 15 months and were banned from being company directors for ten and five years respectively.
Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Britain: Widow’s anger at crane ‘accident’ verdict
The widow of a Polish construction worker crushed to death on a Liverpool building site has expressed her anger at an inquest’s accident verdict. Father-of-two Zbigniew Roman Swirzynski was struck by a 2.4-ton concrete counterweight which fell from the crane on 15 January last year. FACK/BCDAG news release • Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Britain: Polish worker died in fireball
A Polish worker who died after a blast at a Sheffield metals factory was not wearing protective clothing that could have saved his life and had not received proper training. Patrycjusz Handzel, aged 24, suffered 80 per cent burns in the explosion at Transition International on 17 March last year.
Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Australia: Bust up beckons on safety law
Big business in Australia is set for a bust up with unions over occupational health and safety laws, with the Australian Industry Group calling for a shake-up of standards and enforcement regimes. Australia’s safety regulation is currently set at state level, with safety rights for workers and unions and safety duties on employers varying markedly between states.
Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Britain: Firm fined £10,000 for trainee’s fall
A housing organisation has been fined £10,000 after a trainee council plumber fell 3 metres through a skylight onto some stairs. The Haringey Council employee, who was working for arms-length agency Homes for Haringey Ltd, was changing a water tank at a flat on 18 January 2007 when he fell through the skylight, which was covered by loft insulation material, and injured his spine.
Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Britain: Warning on buried cable dangers
A Yorkshire construction firm has been fined after a worker escaped with burns after coming into contact with a live cable. Hogarth (Construction) Ltd of South Cave was fined £4,000 plus £1,616 costs at Beverley Crown Court for failing to ensure the safety of an employee.
HSE underground cable guidance • Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Britain: Government u-turn hits disease sufferers
Workers developing occupational diseases could lose out as a result of a government u-turn on retention of insurance records by employers. The government is pressing ahead with a move to drop the requirement on firms to keep their employers’ liability insurance records for 40 years – despite opposition from workplace health groups, lawyers, unions and insurers.
Asbestos Forum news release [pdf] and briefing [pdf] •
Employers’ Liability Compulsory Insurance, EDM 2010 • Has your MP signed the EDM? If not, ask why not: you can find out how to contact your MP here – all you need is your postcode • Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Britain: Government extends meso benefits
The government has closed a loophole in the disease benefits system that meant that people developing mesothelioma but not exposed at work missed out. On 7 July, the House of Lords approved The Mesothelioma Lump Sum Payments (Conditions and Amounts) Regulations 2008 that mean from 1 October those with non-occupational mesothelioma – for example, through exposure to contamination on a relative’s work clothing – will be entitled to a lump sum compensation payout, in the region of £10,000 per case.
House of Lords report for 7 July 2008, Hansard • Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Britain: Port worker gets payout at last
A Felixstowe port worker has received a compensation payout nine years after being seriously injured at a container terminal. Doctors said Alan Thorne, 49, from Felixstowe, would never be able to work again because of the back injuries he suffered.
Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Britain: More public workers getting stab vests
The growing fear of knife crime in Britain is forcing hospital trusts and local authorities to supply body armour to frontline workers, including accident and emergency (A&E) staff, hospital porters, teachers, benefits officers and traffic wardens.
Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

Europe: Production and reproduction - the risks
A new guide from the ETUC’s safety thinktank, HESA, sets out to improve awareness of work-related reproductive hazards. ‘Production and reproduction: Stealing the health of future generations’ says potential risks include chemicals, ionising radiation, vibration, heat, biological agents and stress. Adverse effects include male and female infertility, miscarriages, birth defects and impaired child development.
Production and reproduction: Stealing the health of future generations, ISBN 978-287452126-6, 10 Euros. Order online • Risks 364
Hazards news, 12 July 2008

 

Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Britain: Unions slam ‘complacent’ government
The government’s response to a highly critical Commons select committee report on the work of the Health and Safety Executive has been described as “complacent” and “disappointing” by unions. The 21 April committee report warned that lack of funding was undermining HSE and called for more cash, more front line inspectors, more inspections and more prosecutions, but the government response said improvements would be achieved by HSE “prioritising and targeting its activities” and indicated it would persevere with the existing HSE policy.
Work and pensions committee news release and full government response • Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

USA: Welding firms pay for manganese disease
US firms facing thousands of compensation claims from manganese-exposed welders with serious nervous system disease, have been paying millions to scientists who have then produced papers denying any link between the metal and “manganism”, a Parkinson’s-type condition.
Mother Jones • Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Britain: Government blasted on crane register refusal
Safety campaigners have reacted angrily to a government refusal to introduce a central register of cranes. Construction union UCATT said “the reasoning that the register is not feasible because the cranes are mobile is spurious.”
BCDAG news release • Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

USA: Beryllium firm caught in spin mode
A major US firm that denied outright having used notorious industry spin doctors to block regulatory action on highly dangerous beryllium was lying, evidence suggests. Earlier this year, David Michaels and Celeste Monforton of the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy (SKAPP) published a paper, ‘Beryllium’s public relations problem: Protecting workers when there is no safe exposure level,’ criticising beryllium giant Brush Wellman for its efforts to prevent workplace safety agency OSHA and the US Department of Energy from lowering exposure limits for the highly toxic metal, linked to problems including cancer and debilitating lung and other diseases.
DefendingScience.org and documents relating to Brush Wellman • SKAPP case study: Beryllium - Science or public relations? • Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Britain: Why did rail firm ignore deadly hoist warning?
Rail union RMT is demanded the withdrawal from use of ‘Unimog’ hydraulic hoists after an incident in Essex left three workers injured, one subsequently succumbing to his injuries. RMT had earlier raised concerns about the safety of the hoists.
Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Britain: Injured bus driver gets payout
A Newcastle bus driver who was medically retired following a vehicle smash while working has secured significant damages with the support of the GMB union’s Friends and Family scheme. Kenneth Lansley suffered debilitating injuries when a BMW drove into the side of his vehicle.
Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Britain: BP neglect caused asbestos cancer
BP Oil UK has been told it must pay compensation to the family of a former worker who died from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. Unite member Wilf Human worked at the firm’s refinery on the Isle of Grain from 1957 until 1979.
Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Britain: Payout from Boots for thigh injuries
Unite member Fred Stedham, 53, a Boots the Chemist warehouse worker who was forced to do a job despite raising safety concerns has received £8,000 compensation after it resulted in him being injured.
Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Britain: Journalists throw the book at bullying
Journalists’ union NUJ it telling its union reps how to tackle workplace bullying. NUJ equality officer, Lena Calvert, said: “Everyone should be treated with dignity and respect at work, but too often this is not the case.”
Stop bullying: Challenging bullies and achieving dignity at work [pdf] • Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Britain: Not-for-profits are not for bullying
The union Unite is challenging the “unacceptably high” levels of bullying in the not-for-profit sector. It says recent research showed 43 per cent of Unite members in the sector had experienced bullying in the last two years.
Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Global: Olympic movement from sports goods firms
A month before the start of the Beijing Olympics, key sporting goods brands including Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Umbro and Speedo have formed a groundbreaking joint working group with trade unions and campaign groups.
Play Fair 2008 • Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Britain: Golden toilet bid to flush out breaks pay
An MP is backing a union campaign for paid toilet breaks at a Scottish meat firm supplying the supermarket chain Tesco. Workers at Brown Brothers in Kirkconnel are forced to take unpaid lavatory breaks - a policy that has been condemned by Labour MP Russell Brown and the union Unite as unacceptable.
Guidance on toilet breaks • Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Britain: Oil firms accused of putting production first
Offshore oil operators have been accused of deliberately delaying maintenance operations to produce as much oil as possible to exploit sky-high world prices. The claim by Liberal Democrat MP Malcolm Bruce came in a Commons debate on the 20th anniversary of the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster, in which 167 workers perished.
KP3 report [pdf] • Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Britain: Small dip in work deaths
There has been a small dip in the number of people killed at work this year, but the workplace death rate has remained significantly higher than record low recorded in 2005/06. The figures show the general fatality rate for employees, the self-employed and all workers has remained broadly the same over the last five years.
HSE statistics webpages • Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Britain: Top medical journal backs nano precaution
The Lancet Oncology, one of the world’s top cancer journals, has called for the precautionary principle to be used when dealing with nanotechnologies.
Leading Edge: Space elevators, tennis racquets, and mesothelioma, The Lancet Oncology, volume 9, number 7, page 601, July 2008. DOI:10.1016/S1470-2045(08)70157-8 • Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Britain: The price of teen’s life at work - £7k
An Altrincham firm has been fined £7,000 for safety offences that led to the death of a teenage apprentice. S Cartwright & Sons (Coachbuilders) was prosecuted after 16-year-old Ashley Saunders sustained fatal injuries when he fell through a fragile roof whilst retrieving a football during a lunchtime kick-about on 7 February 2006.
Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Britain: ‘Shocking’ failures led to fatal petrol burns
A Twickenham garage has been fined £20,000 after pleading guilty to safety breaches that led to the death of employee Biagio Malacaria. Alexanders of Twickenham Ltd, a car MOT, service and repair business, was also ordered at City of London Magistrates Court last week to pay costs of £16,905.
Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Britain: Smoking ban is a major life saver
A year after England’s smoking ban took effect more people are trying to quit smoking, the air in pubs and bars is cleaner and rates of compliance with smokefree laws remain high, according to a report from Smokefree England. Its survey found 76 per cent of people and 55 per cent of smokers now support the law.
Department of Health news release, and report, Smokefree England - One year on • Effectiveness of smoke-free policies. John P Pierce, María E León, on behalf of the IARC Handbook Volume 13 Working Group, IARC Secretariat, Lancet Oncology, volume 9, pages 614-615, 2008 • Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Europe: Top union body calls for nano precaution
Europe’s trade union confederation ETUC has called for the precautionary principle to be applied to nanotechnologies. It says “significant uncertainties” revolve around potential benefits of nanotechnologies and their harmful effects on human health and the environment.
ETUC resolution on nanotechnologies and nanomaterials • Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

 

 

Hazards news, 28 June 2008

Britain: Seasoned safety reps get online training
Safety reps who already have basic training under their belt, now have the option to take the next stage of their union safety education online. From October, TUC’s ‘Next steps for safety reps’ course will be available web- as well as college-based.
Further information • TUC’s full range of safety rep courses, explained in the latest issue of Hazards magazine • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

USA: Watchdog complicit as firms bury victims
The US system for measuring workplace safety is flawed and misses up to half of all workplace injuries, according to a report presented at a hearing on OSHA, the federal agency charged with protecting workers' safety and health. “Without accurate injury and illness statistics, employers and workers are unable to identify and address safety and health hazards, and policy makers are unable to assess the state of workplace safety in this country,” said George Miller, chair of the House Education and Labor Committee.
House Education and Labor Committee news release and report [pdf] • Wall Street Journal • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

Britain: Fire crews lack basic flood safety gear
Fire crews are working without basic flood safety equipment like lifejackets, waterproofs and boots, one year on from the deluge of summer 2007, firefighters’ union FBU has warned.
FBU news release • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

Turkey: Union protests win safety concessions
More than 5,000 supporters joined 300 striking shipyard workers in a 16 June protest in Turkey’s Tuzla shipyards. The high profile action, which was in response to horrific rates of work-related deaths and injuries, led within days to safety commitments from the Turkish prime minister.
IMF news release • Turkish Daily News • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

Britain: Family receives asbestos payout
The family of a former UNISON member has received more than £140,000 in compensation following his death from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. Jim Crowe died aged 79 in June 2007 after developing the incurable disease.
UNISON news release • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

Britain: Scaffold boss jailed for ignored HSE notice
A Rotherham scaffold boss has been jailed for three months after a worker was seriously injured just months after the firm received a formal Health and Safety Executive (HSE) stop-the-job notice for the same safety failings. Philip Wolstenholme, the boss of A1 Access Scaffolding, was charged after one of his workers fell six metres on 12 January 2007.
HSE news release • Building • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

Philippines: Union says deadly shipyard must close
A Philippines shipyard with a horrendous safety record should close, a union has said. Instead of bringing economic development to the Central Luzon area, the shipbuilding facility in Subic Bay operated by Hanjin Heavy Industries Cooperation Philippines (HHIC) has become a “graveyard” for workers, construction union NUBCW said.
BWI news release • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

Britain: Construction giant fined over driver’s death
A construction company has been fined £120,000 after a worker fell to his death at one of its yards. Lorry driver Nigel Sargeant, 45, plunged 15ft (4.6m) to the ground at Calders and Grandidge Limited in Boston, part of the global Saint-Gobain group, as he was trying to reduce the height of his trailer-load of steel poles.
HSE news release • BBC News Online • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

Britain: Fruit packer fined over work injury
A Sittingbourne company has been fined £3,000 after its failure to train workers and assess work risks led to a worker sustaining serious injuries. Fruit packing company Cross and Wells Ltd was also ordered to pay full costs of £3,422 at Sittingbourne Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to safety offences.
HSE news release • Packaging News • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

Bangladesh: Zara forces Dhaka factory closure
Fashion firm Zara has forced the closure of a supplier's factory in Bangladesh after workers reported harsh treatment, including physical and verbal abuse. The supplier has agreed to close the factory, redeploy its workers, and recognise trade unions at its other factories.
BBC News Online • Global Business – listen to the latest programme • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

Britain: Dangerous plan to ditch insurance records
Workers who develop ‘long-tail’ diseases could miss out on compensation as a result of government plans to axe the requirement on firms to hold onto their insurance records for 40 years. The draft regulations also seek to remove the requirement on businesses to display a current employers’ liability insurance certificate.
DWP employers’ liability insurance proposals [pdf] • Employers’ liability insurance, EDM 1839, David Taylor MP • Retention of workplace insurance policies, EDM 1829, Andrew Dismore MP • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

Britain: Scotland acts on asbestos payouts
A bill to help those affected by past exposure to asbestos has been published by the Scottish government. The legislation would overturn a House of Lords ruling which said damages could not be claimed for benign scarring of the lungs.
Scottish government news release and Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) (Scotland) Bill • UCATT news release • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

Britain: PM urged to act on breast cancers
The prime minister is being asked to take action to prevent breast cancers caused by occupational and environmental exposures. Breast cancer campaigner Helen Lynn has launched an e-petition on the 10 Downing Street website.
Sign the prevent breast cancer petition – it takes less than a minute (UK residents only) • No more breast cancer campaign and the Hazards websites • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

Britain: Workers make a stink over loo breaks
A meat company supplying Tesco has been accused of “Dickensian employment practices” by making workers clock off when they go the toilet. The union Unite is now calling on Tesco to intervene to stamp out the practise at Dumfriesshire-based Brown Brothers.
BBC News Online • Hazards magazine toilet breaks webpages • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

Britain: MP calls for end to young worker deaths
An MP is calling for a course on basic health and safety awareness to be built into the National Curriculum. Labour MP Michael Clapham, the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health, raised his concerns at a House of Commons seminar to highlight the perils facing young workers.
IOSH news release • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

Britain: Health, safety and migrant workers
A new webpage from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides advice for their employers. HSE’s online guidance targets employers, employment agencies, employment businesses, gangmasters and other labour providers and spells out their responsibilities under health and safety law towards migrant workers.
HSE guide for employers of migrant workers • TUC guide for migrant workers • TUC guide for union safety reps on supporting migrant workers [pdf] • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

 

Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Britain: Charter calls for migrant worker rights
Scottish employers are being urged to sign up to a charter of migrant workers’ rights. Around 40 migrant workers from 14 countries met in Edinburgh to present the charter to Scottish parliament members and explain the problems they face when coming to Scotland to work.
UNISON Scotland news release and charter [pdf] • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Korea: Shipyard deaths linked to deregulation
A spate of deaths in South Korea’s highly profitable shipyards has been linked to the government’s deregulation of health and safety in the sector. The Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU) reports that 15 shipbuilding workers have lost their lives at work in the last year.
IMF news release • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Global: Seafarers hear piracy action call
Amid a fresh flurry of global pirate attacks, particularly in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia, an action call from Nautilus UK and Nautilus NL – the UK/Dutch seafarers’ union - has been adopted unanimously at the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) seafarers’ conference in Stockholm.
Nautilus UK news release • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Britain: It’s worse than murder at work
At least twice as many people die from fatal injuries at work than are victims of homicide, a new report has revealed. Academics Professor Steve Tombs and Dr Dave Whyte found that at least 1,300 people died as a result of fatal occupational injuries in 2005-06 in England and Wales, compared with 765 homicide deaths.
Centre for Crime and Justice Studies news release • A crisis of enforcement: the decriminalisation of death and injury at work, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, 17 June 2008 • Response to the report from HSE chief executive Geoffrey Podger • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Britain: IOSH questions ICL safety cover
The organisation representing health and safety professionals is urging the inquiry into the Glasgow ICL explosion to take advantage of safety officers’ expertise to help find the underlying causes of the disaster. The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has submitted a 'statement of case' to the ICL inquiry, which is due to start on 2 July, focusing on the availability and use of competent health and safety advice.
IOSH news release and evidence to the ICL Inquiry [pdf] • The ICL/Stockline campaign website • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Italy: National one-hour stoppage for safety
Metalworkers across Italy downed tools from 11am to noon on 17 June in support of a new draft law on health and safety at work. The action follows a public outcry at the escalating toll of workplace deaths in Italy, including a series of recent tragedies.
IMF news release • BBC News Online • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Britain: Safety Bill moves to the Lords
The House of Lords is to look at tougher penalties for those who breach health and safety laws after proposals were passed by MPs. The Health and Safety (Offences) Bill put forward by Labour MP Keith Hill cleared the Commons after being given an unopposed third reading.
IOSH news • Health and Safety (Offences) Bill • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Britain: HSE dismay as most sites fail safety test
Thirteen out of 15 Merseyside construction sites visited in a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspection blitz were issued with enforcement notices for breaches of safety law. A February blitz of over 1,000 sites saw over 300 sites shut down for serious safety breaches.
HSE news release • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Britain: Government told to fund site safety or fail
The government needs to provide adequate safety training and an increase in Health and Safety Executive inspectors if its new strategy for the construction industry is to succeed, a top safety organisation has said. Safety professionals’ organisation the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) said for the government strategy to succeed there must be “an eventual doubling” in the number of frontline inspectors.
IOSH news release • BERR Strategy for Sustain Construction webpage • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Britain: Fall leads to £15,000 fine
A Darlington building firm has been fined £15,000 following an incident in which one of its workers was seriously injured in a workplace fall. Bussey and Armstrong Ltd pleaded guilty to a safety offence and was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,193 at Darlington Magistrates’ Court.
HSE news release • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Britain: Chemical burns blast firm pays twice
A worker who suffered serious burns after an explosion at a Brighouse chemical container site has been awarded £15,000 compensation. Mohammed Ahmed Ali suffered 15 per cent burns to his forearms, thighs, genitals and lower abdomen when a chemical container he was working on at Pack2Pack exploded in March last year.
Brighouse Echo • Halifax Evening Courier • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Britain: Weetabix worker loses fingertips
Cereal manufacturer Weetabix has been fined £3,500 after a worker lost his fingertips in a workplace machine. HSE inspector Peter Snelgrove said the injury could have been avoided if the company had obeyed the law.
HSE news release • Risks 361

Britain: Jail for asbestos dumpers
Two men have been jailed for a £1.2 million flytipping scam which saw thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste including asbestos dumped at bogus construction sites emblazoned with mock health and safety notices. James Kelleher, from Dagenham and Patrick Anderson, from the Irish Republic, were accused of dumping over 14,600 tonnes of waste – the equivalent of 750 lorry loads - at 15 sites in London and Essex.
Environment Agency news release • BBC News Online • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Britain: Memorial remembers fallen reporters
A memorial to media staff killed while doing their work has been unveiled by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon. The 10m (32ft) glass and steel cone on top of BBC Broadcasting House in central London will shine a beam of light into the sky every night at 10.00pm.
INSI news release • UN news release • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Italy: National one-hour stoppage for safety
Metalworkers across Italy downed tools from 11am to noon on 17 June in support of a new draft law on health and safety at work. The action follows a public outcry at the escalating toll of workplace deaths in Italy, including a series of recent tragedies.
IMF news release • BBC News Online • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Britain: Deadly fishing hazards targeted
A £250,000 government scheme to help fishers attend a programme of training is aiming to improve the sector’s dire safety record. A recent study by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) showed that the fishing industry is 115 times more dangerous than the construction industry, and that those working in the under 16.5m sector, representing 89 per cent of the fleet, are particularly at risk.
DfT news release • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Norway: Overtime causes anxiety and depression
If you work a lot of overtime, especially on a low income or doing heavy manual labour, you're at increased risk of anxiety and depression. Researchers at the University of Bergen in Norway found even moderate overtime hours appears to raise the risk of “mental distress” and said their results support EU-style regulation setting a working hours ceiling.
Elisabeth Kleppa, Bjarte Sanne and Grethe S Tell. Working overtime is associated with anxiety and depression: The Hordaland Health Study, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, volume 50, number 6, pages 658-666, June 2008 [abstract] • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Britain: Inquest told of mother’s work stress
A nurse who was suffering from work-related stress was found dead after consuming a cocktail of sedatives, an inquest has heard. Statements read at Michele Wood’s inquest, where the coroner recorded an open verdict, revealed how the pressures of her job mounted in the days leading up to her disappearance.
Ipswich Evening Star • Hazards suicide webpages • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Australia: Depressing text message leads to suicide
The family of Tony Cecere, a 53-year-old Australian worker with a history of depression who killed himself after being fired, has been awarded Aus$367,000 (£177,000) in compensation. A judge ruled a text message calling on him to return his mobile phone and work car triggered an acute depressive episode leading to his suicide.
News.com.au • Hazards suicide webpages
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Britain: National Hazards Conference 2008, 18-20 July
The premier annual event for union safety reps is less than a month away - the 19th National Hazards Conference will take place at Keele University, Newcastle-under-Lyme, from 18 to 20 July. The conference includes top national and international speakers, workshops and the best chance you’ll get to exchange organising ideas and experiences with other union safety reps.
Hazards conference book form [pdf] • Delegate fees are £195 (residential) and £105 (non-residential) • Further information: email the Hazards Campaign, c/o GMHC, 70 Alexandra Road, Manchester M16 7WD • Tel: 0161 636 7558 • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Europe: New risk assessment campaign launched
Most accidents and diseases are preventable, and the first step in preventing them is risk assessment. That is the message of ‘Healthy Workplaces. Good for you. Good for business,’ a Europe-wide information campaign on risk assessment launched by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA).
EU-OSHA news release • EU-OSHA risk assessment website and risk assessment factsheets number 80 and number 81 • HSE European campaign webpages • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

Global: Europe’s chemical law has long reach
The REACH chemical safety law that started to come into force in Europe this month, is also forcing US companies to improve their chemical health and safety approach. The EU regulations take a far more precautionary approach than US law, where regulators must prove a chemical is harmful before it can be restricted or removed from the market.
Washington Post • Risks 361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008

 

Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Britain: Unwelcome return of the long hours culture
An extra 180,000 people across the UK are now working more than 48 hours a week, according to a TUC analysis of official statistics. The figures, included in a new TUC report, ‘The return of the long hours culture’, show the number of people working long hours has increased at a faster rate over the last year than the decline in excessive working between 1998 and 2006.
TUC news release and report, The return of the long hours culture [pdf] • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

USA: New committee to push a US asbestos ban
US public health advocates have launched a Committee to Ban Asbestos in America (CBAA). The new group, created by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) and The John McNamara Foundation say many people wrongly believe asbestos is already banned in the US.
CBAA news release • ADAO website • BanAsbestos.us • International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Britain: Mixed progress on agency and hours laws
The UK government will keep its opt-out from the European Union’s 48 hour weekly work ceiling, but has agreed a series of improvements to working time rules. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the Socialist Group of MEPs in the European Parliament have both said they will challenge the working time compromise.
TUC news release and briefing on changes to working time rules • ETUC news release • Socialist Group of MEPs news release • BERR news release • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Global: Play Fair campaigners confront IOC
Play Fair 2008 activists turned out at the International Olympic Committee’s Swiss headquarters on 10 June to protest at the organisation’s failure to tackle safety and labour rights violations by firms making Olympic merchandise. “The IOC has had years to consider these issues yet continues to delay – their response to the labour rights crisis in the production of Olympic goods is inadequate and risks tarnishing the reputation of the Olympic movement,” said campaign spokesperson Esther de Haan.
ITUC news release • Play Fair 2008 • Catch the Flame • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Britain: Tony’s death was no accident
The family of a Hartlepool council labourer who was struck down by a car as he put up signs has criticised the inquest process following a verdict of accidental death. Hartlepool Borough Council worker Tony Gate remained in a coma for nearly three years after being struck by a car in July 2003.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Northern Echo • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Global: Union dismay at more journalist deaths
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) says the deaths last week of journalists in Afghanistan and Somalia, both of whom worked for the BBC, underscores the need for comprehensive international action to confront the global crisis of violence against independent reporters.
IFJ news release • NUJ news release • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Britain: Network Rail ‘playing Russian roulette’ with safety
Network Rail is playing Russian roulette with rail workers’ and passengers’ safety by cancelling crucial rail-defect testing scheduled for the eve of a two-day maintenance strike due to start at mid-day on 14 June, rail union RMT has warned. The union has called on the railways inspectorate to investigate Network Rail’s decision to scrap testing scheduled to take place on Friday 13 June.
RMT news release • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

USA: Does popcorn poison cause Parkinson’s?
A top expert on diacetyl, the chemical responsible for an outbreak of the potentially fatal lung disease ‘popcorn lung’, now fears it could also be linked to Parkinson’s disease. David Egilman, a physician and clinical associate professor at Brown University in the US, says he is aware of two cases of Parkinson’s disease in men who were flavourists at Givaudan in Cincinnati, a large flavourings company.
The Pump Handle • Seattle Post-Intelligencer ‘Secret Ingredients’ blog • Hazards diacetyl webpages • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Britain: Rail cost cuts ‘bad news for safety’
The financial squeeze on Network Rail announced this week by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) could compromise safety, rail union RMT has warned. ORR said Network Rail (NR) would receive £26.5 billion to carry out the programme set by the government between 2009 and 2014 - nearly £3 billion short of the £29.3 billion it sought.
RMT news release • ORR news release • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Britain: Convicted fatality firm fined £2
A company convicted of workplace safety crimes after a fatal gas blast sent a fireball through its premises has been fined just £2. Factory worker Christopher Knoop, 50, was killed and three others were seriously hurt when liquified petroleum gas exploded at North West Aerosols Ltd in Aintree in 2005.
FACK news release and website • HSE news release • Daily Mirror • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Britain: Firework boss charged over deaths
A firework depot owner and his son have been charged with manslaughter over the deaths of two firefighters. Martin Winter, 50, and Nathan Winter, 23, have been bailed to appear at Lewes Magistrates' Court on 18 June; the company, now known as Alpha Fireworks Ltd, has been summonsed for breaches of explosives regulations.
The Telegraph • BBC News Online • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Britain: Five metre fall ends in fine
A five-metre fall that left Rhondda carpenter David Morgan with serious injuries that may well have ended his career has resulted in a fine for his employer. Loft conversion company Allied Welsh Ltd pleaded guilty at Bridgend Magistrates’ Court last month to a safety breach and was subsequently fined £25,000 at Cardiff Crown Court and ordered to pay costs of £8,600.
HSE news release and Shattered lives web resource • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Britain: Five grand fine for near fatal fall
A worker was nearly killed when he tried to fix a ceiling unit and fell from a ladder, a court heard. Wellingborough firm Spray-Craft Coating Limited was fined £5,000 after the unnamed employee fell more than two metres from the top of a spray booth, resulting in several fractures and bleeding to his brain.
HSE news release • Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Britain: Waitrose fined for teen’s crushed arm
Supermarket chain Waitrose has been fined £25,000 after a teenage worker had his arm crushed in a machine at a Birmingham store. The 17-year-old broke both bones in his arm and was trapped in the machine for an hour and a half, Birmingham Magistrates’ Court heard.
Birmingham City Council news release • Birmingham Post • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Britain: MP savages insurance industry jackals
Insurers have been accused of being hypocrites and “jackals” because of their ongoing efforts to evade liability for asbestos compensation payouts. Labour MP Michael Clapham, the chair of the Commons all party asbestos sub-committee, was speaking in a 4 June Westminster Hall adjournment debate about the ongoing fight to restore compensation to victims of pleural plaques.
UCATT news release • Hansard report of the 4 June Westminster Hall debate • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Britain: Pressure wins pleural plaques review
A government consultation into a House of Lords ruling on the asbestos-related condition pleural plaques will begin this month. The commitment came in an adjournment debate in parliament on 4 June, initiated by Labour MP Michael Clapham.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Britain: Strains follow workers out of the office
More than two thirds of workers now suffer from repetitive strain injury, costing £300 million in lost working hours, a new study has found. The research from Microsoft revealed cases soared by more than 30 per cent last year because more staff than ever work both inside and outside the office.
Microsoft webpage and report, Ergonomics and repetitive strain injury [pdf] • Daily Mail • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

USA: Diabetes higher in pesticide sprayers
People who spray pesticides have a higher risk of diabetes than the rest of the population, according to a new study. Scientists from the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) found that people who spent more than 100 days using chlorinated bug sprays were 20 to 200 per cent more likely to get diabetes, depending on which chemical they worked with.
NIEHS news release • MP Montgomery and others. Incident diabetes and pesticide exposure among licensed pesticide applicators: Agricultural health study, 1993-2003, American Journal of Epidemiology, volume 167, pages 1235-1246, 2008 [abstract] • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Britain: Get working on occupational health
TUC’s new occupational health workbook is now available free online. Over the next year, the TUC hopes that around 15,000 workplace safety reps can be trained using the new guide, 'Occupational health: Dealing with the issues'.
Occupational health: Dealing with the issues [pdf] • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

 

Hazards news, 7 June 2008

Britain: Court challenge to cancer payouts
A nine-week battle started this week in the High Court and will see insurance companies seek to evade liability for a large number of asbestos compensation payouts. The court will decide whether insurers are liable for damages from sufferers’ first exposure to asbestos, or from when they become ill.
Unite news release • The Guardian • BBC News Online • The Times • Risks 359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008

USA: Unions win in Las Vegas strike deal
A construction safety strike that started on the Las Vegas strip on Monday 2 June, ended on Tuesday after unions secured major safety commitments. Construction workers had marched in circles outside the locked gates of the massive $9.2 million CityCenter development, picket signs raised above their heads reading “Unsafe job site.”
Las Vegas Sun feature and coverage of company statement • Risks 359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008

Britain: Dismay at ICL inquiry means testing
The families of those killed in the May 2004 ICL/Stockline disaster in Glasgow have voiced concern over plans to means test those wishing to have legal representation during the forthcoming public inquiry.
STUC news release • ICL/Stockline independent report and campaign website • Risks 359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008

Europe: Unions REACH out on chemical safety
Unions will play an active role in promoting the Europe-wide chemicals regulation REACH, union confederation ETUC has said. The commitment came on 3 June 2008 as the Helsinki-based European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) became operational.
ETUC news release • ECHA news release [pdf] • Risks 359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008

Global: Worldwide safety pact with steel giant
The world's largest steel company and trade unions representing its employees worldwide have signed a groundbreaking agreement to improve health and standards throughout the company. The global union federation for the metalworking sector, IMF, said the agreement with ArcelorMittal recognises the vital role played by trade unions in improving health and safety.
IMF news release and global agreement [pdf] • Risks 359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008

Britain: Union cover protects injured cyclist
A former British Energy employee from Selby, who was knocked off his bike on his journey home from work and suffered a stroke, has secured over £200,000 in compensation.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008

Australia: Job stress causes depression
High work demands are to blame for widespread depression in Australian workers, with women workers worst affected, according to Melbourne University research. The study, led by associate professor Tony LaMontagne, found that almost one in six cases of depression among workers in the state of Victoria was caused by job stress.
The Age • The Australian • Risks 359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008

Britain: Union backs criminal attack fund
A fund to provide financial assistance to security employees who suffer serious injury as a result of a criminal attack at work has been launched. The Criminal Attack Fund (CAF) initiative is by security firm G4S Cash Services (G4S) and the union GMB.
GMB news release • Risks 359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008

Britain: UK bids to weaken formaldehyde standard
The UK government has attempted to undermine a proposed new European exposure limit to protect workers from a chemical linked to allergies and cancer. Commenting on new standards agreed by the European Commission’s Advisory Committee for Safety and Health at Work, the European Trade Union Confederation’s (ETUC) research arm, ETUI-REHS, reported: “The German and British governments actively supported the formaldehyde industry’s campaign, while the other governments were divided.”
ETUI-REHS news report • Fatal failings on formaldehyde, Burying the evidence, Hazards magazine, number 92, 2005 • Global Unions zero cancer campaign • Risks 359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008

Australia: Board sick thanks to formaldehyde
Tom Connelly knows all about the symptoms of sick house syndrome. As a carpenter he comes into regular contact with the formaldehyde-rich building materials that create health problems for residents. Construction union CFMEU is campaigning for low formaldehyde building boards, to protect workers from allergies, irritation and cancer risks.
Sydney Morning Herald • Risks 359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008

Britain: Stress inaction requires enforcement action
The TUC has welcomed new research showing how managers can take action to prevent workplace stress, but has said those who don’t get the message should face a genuine prosecution risk.
CIPD news release • TUC news release • Risks 359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008

Britain: Bus firm failed to learn deadly lesson
A bus firm that missed “blindingly obvious risks” even after experiencing a workplace fatality has been fined £60,000. The London Central Bus Company Limited was prosecuted following an incident in which employee Omar Maouche fell into a pit and suffered spinal injuries, just over a year after another employee died in similar circumstances.
HSE news release • Risks 359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008

Britain: Fined transport firm loses its appeal
A transport firm fined for safety failings that led to a worker being seriously injured has lost its appeal against the penalty. Harris Transport Ltd failed in its 2 June bid at Southampton Crown Court to overturn the £28,000 fine imposed in January 2008.
HSE news release • Risks 359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008

Britain: Six figure fine for mechanic’s death
A Staffordshire vehicle maker has been fined £166,000 for health and safety violations after a 39-year-old mechanic was crushed to death. Simon Rose, a field engineer at Dennis Eagle Limited, was trying to cure a brake fault on a bin wagon at a council depot, Stafford Crown Court heard.
HSE news release • Risks 359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008

Britain: Freight firm fined for lorry driver death
A transport firm has been fined £22,000 after a lorry driver was killed. Martyn Simm, 45, was killed in March 2006 when a defective sliding metal gate weighing 0.4 tonnes fell onto him as he was closing it, at Berser International Cargo Services Ltd’s site in Chesterton.
HSE news release • Risks 359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008

 

Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Britain: HSE is still facing staff crisis
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) announcement that it is to recruit 40 new inspectors will still leave the safety watchdog too stretched to properly do its job, critics have warned. After a spate of construction deaths in New York, the city – which is similar in size to London – has just announced it is to hire 63 more inspectors to enforce safety rules at construction sites.
PCS campaign • IOSH news release • CIEH news • New York Times • Hazards magazine deadly business webpages • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Japan: Toyota acts on deadly overwork
Toyota is taking steps to deal with a corporate culture that been linked to deaths from overwork. From June, the company is to pay workers overtime for attending out-of-hours ‘kaizen’ or quality control (QC) circle meetings - it previously only allowed workers to claim two hours' overtime a month for such “voluntary” activities.
Asahi Shimbun • BBC News Online • More on karoshi and karojisatsu • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Britain: Spit kits need union input
Transport union Unite has welcomed the announcement that London’s bus drivers are to be issued with DNA “spit kits”.
Unite news release • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Iran: Chemical plant fire kills 30
At least 30 people have been killed and 38 injured, many of them suffering severe burns, in a fire in a chemical plant in central Iran on Sunday 25 May, the state news agency IRNA has said. The fire in the cosmetics and detergent-producing plant near the town of Shazand is reported to have been caused by a blast during welding work.
ABC News • BBC News Online • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Britain: Payouts for stone dust disease
Two foundry workers who developed silicosis, one of the longest recognised occupational lung diseases, have received compensation. The Unite members, who both worked in the melting department of Federal Mogul’s Southwick factory on Wearside, have received “substantial” payouts in an out of court settlement.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Sunderland Echo • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Europe: Campaign challenges corporate abuses
Victims of human rights and environmental abuses by European companies around the world could find justice in European courts under proposals unveiled this week at an international conference at the European Parliament. The European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) revealed policy proposals developed by a team of legal experts which if adopted by the European Union would guarantee the legal responsibility of companies based in Europe, and their directors, for human rights or environmental violations committed by their subsidiaries or subcontractors anywhere in the world.
ECCJ news release, including links to the full report, Fair law: Legal proposals to improve corporate accountability for environmental and human rights abuses, ECCJ report, 29 May 2008, executive summary [pdf] • Smart regulation: Legislative opportunities for the EU to improve corporate accountability, ECCJ conference, 29 May 2008 • European Coalition for Corporate Justice • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Britain: Paramedic gets vehicle crash payout
A paramedic who was injured after a van driver overshot a red light and collided with his ambulance has received a £62,856 payout. North East Ambulance Service paramedic David Fenwick, 55, suffered a serious shoulder injury that required two operations.
Thompson Solicitors news release • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Canada: Pro-asbestos lobby gets caught out
Canada’s pro-asbestos lobby has faced stern criticism for wrongly implying a long-delayed government commissioned report opposes a ban on asbestos. Critics including the chair of the Health Canada panel of experts that prepared the report have denounced both the delay and the misrepresentation of their findings.
CBC News • Ottawa Citizen • International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) • Ban Asbestos Canada • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Britain: Unions act on education’s mental stresses
Unions representing workers in education have issued guidance designed to remedy work-related mental health problems in the sector. A joint letter to head teachers from the unions GMB, NUT, UNISON and Unite says their new guide “will, we hope, provide you with valuable information, both on how to prevent the development of mental health conditions and on how to support staff who do fall ill.”
NUT news release and joint union guide, Preventing work-related mental health conditions by tackling stress: Guidance for head teachers [pdf] • Hazards work-related suicides news and resources • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Global: Pursuing the corporate killers
The trades union-backed health and safety magazine Hazards is stepping up the pressure on deadly bosses with the launch of new ‘deadly business’ web resources. Hazards magazine’s Jawad Qasrawi said: “The Hazards ‘Deadly business’ online resource provides tools, information and news to help trades unions and campaigners build the pressure on killer bosses.”
Hazards magazine deadly business webpages • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Britain: Head teacher ‘suicide’ inquiry call
Relatives of a Scottish head teacher thought to have taken her own life after a critical school inspection have demanded a fatal accident inquiry. The death of Irene Hogg, 54, at the end of March follows a spate of work-related teacher suicides, a number linked to school inspections.
BBC News Online • The Times • Daily Record • Daily Mail • Scottish Borders Council tribute page to Irene Hogg • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Britain: Common solvents threaten fertility
Men regularly exposed to chemicals found in paint and other common products may be more prone to fertility problems, UK research as indicated. Men such as painters and decorators, who work with a family of solvents called glycol ethers, are two-and-a-half times more likely to produce fewer “normal” sperm; the findings reinforce warnings issued in 1983 by the US authorities about reproductive hazards to both male and female workers from occupational exposure to certain glycol ethers.
Sheffield University news release • Science Daily news release • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Britain: Former nurse's shock at asbestos illness
Another former nurse has fallen victim to the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. Diane Coote, 57, believes she was exposed to the deadly dust in her 10 years nursing at hospitals in Norwich.
Norwich Evening News • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Britain: Beehive firm doesn’t cut it on wood dust
A Lincolnshire firm making beehives has been fined after a worker was injured by a cutting machine and colleagues were exposed to potentially harmful Western Red Cedar wood dust. Company managers had attended a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) woodworking safety and health awareness day only seven months earlier, but have now been criticised by HSE for not acting on what they learned.
HSE news release • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Britain: Firm fined for four flattened fingers
An engineering firm has been fined £7,000 after an employee had his fingers crushed in an unguarded 60 ton power press. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) brought the case following its investigation into the incident on 25 June 2007 at Metal Products (Arden) Ltd's site in Burntwood.
HSE news release • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Britain: Meat firm chops off fingers
A multinational meat processing firm where a worker had the tops of three fingers sliced off, another received a serious electric shock and employees and contractors were using dangerous walkways 60 feet above the factory floor has been fined £265,000 and ordered to pay £21,653 in costs. Michael Warnes was changing a mould on a packaging machine at the Tulip factory in Thetford in October 2005, when machine parts moved.
HSE news release • BBC News Online • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Britain: Worker dies after being buried in waste
A worker died after being buried in rubbish at a waste dump, a court has heard. White Reclamation Ltd was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £30,000 at Manchester Crown Court, after pleading guilty to workplace safety offences.
HSE news release • Hazards magazine deadly business webpages • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Britain: Experts slam corporate manslaughter law
Legal experts have warned the new corporate manslaughter law is not tough enough because it fails to hold individual directors accountable for deadly mistakes. No director or senior manager of a large of medium-sized UK firm has ever been jailed for workplace manslaughter.
Contract Journal • Hazards magazine deadly business webpages • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Britain: New occupational cancer resources
New resources on occupational cancer prevention have been made available online.
Stirling work cancer conference papers and CCOHS work cancer recognition and prevention course • Global Unions zero occupational cancers campaign • Risks 358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008

Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Britain: Get trained, get organised, get safe!
Training trade union safety reps in the links between workplace safety and union organisation is a top priority for TUC. Liz Rees, head of TUC’s education service, made this plain in a new interview with the trade union safety magazine Hazards.
Don’t be a safety nerd, Hazards, Number 102, pages 20-21, 2008 • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

USA: Court dismisses industry’s unsafe assumption
A well-resourced attempt by industry lobby groups has failed in a legal bid to keep under wraps a listing of non-statutory, non-binding chemical exposure limits. In a summary judgment, a federal judge in the United States District Court in Macon, Georgia dismissed the last of four counts in a lawsuit against the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH).
ACGIH news release • The Pump Handle • DefendingScience.org • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Britain: Workers need mental health support
A new TUC guide is intended to help employers and unions support people with mental health problems at work. TUC says every organisation in Britain is affected by mental distress and ill-health in the workplace, and at any given time one in six workers will experience depression, anxiety, or stress-related problems.
TUC news release • Representing and supporting members with mental health problems at work [pdf] • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Britain: Injured then sacked by ‘cavalier’ council
A Scottish roadworker who was fired by a “cavalier” council after taking time off sick after a workplace injury has won an unfair dismissal and disability discrimination claim. GMB member James McGrath, 52, was awarded more than £25,000 compensation by an employment tribunal.
Clydebank Post • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Britain: TUC works for vulnerable workers
A government minister has seen a groundbreaking TUC-run project that is providing vulnerable workers in London’s East End with badly needed employment advice. Minister for employment relations Pat McFadden met with local workers at the TUC's Vulnerable Workers Project (VWP).
TUC news release • TUC Vulnerable Workers Project • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Global: Around the world in a training daze
Fiona Murie has trained thousands of safety reps and has got – literally - a world of experience. As director of health and safety for the Building Workers’ International, an umbrella group of unions in the sector with over 12 million members in 135 countries, she has worked with affliates worldwide and concludes: “It is not so much about the technical knowledge, it’s about organising.”
Hazards magazine • BWI website • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Britain: UCATT calls for big safety reforms
Major improvements including an overhaul of the building industry's Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) are needed, according to UCATT leaders. Other resolutions passed at the union’s conference included a renewed demand for an extension of the Gangmasters Licensing Act to cover construction and a call for the International Workers’ Memorial Day to become a bank holiday.
Contract Journal • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Britain: Yet another meso widow
The widow of a Unite member has received over £115,000 in compensation after her husband died from the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma. The grandmother of one, who does not wish to be named, received the damages after her husband was exposed to asbestos while working for Young, Austen & Young heating engineers in Sussex.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Britain: Energy worker gets cancer payout
A retired power station worker has received £120,000 in compensation after developing an incurable asbestos cancer. Lionel Waldridge, 78, from Ipswich, was awarded the damages from energy firm E.ON Plc after he was diagnosed with mesothelioma.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Global: ‘Asbestos warning’ on nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes might be as harmful as asbestos if inhaled, according to a study. A paper in the scientific journal Nature Nanotechnology reports that animal studies indicate that these long and very thin carbon molecules could cause mesothelioma, a cancer previously associated almost exclusively with asbestos exposure.
Craig A Poland and others. Carbon nanotubes introduced into the abdominal cavity of mice show asbestos-like pathogenicity in a pilot study. Nature Nanotechnology Online 20 May 2008. doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.111 [abstract] • The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies news release • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Australia: Union launches asbestos probe
An Australian union has organised the largest asbestos survey and research programme to ever be undertaken at a single work site in the country. The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) says the Cement Australia site at Railton, Tasmania, contains asbestos building products and the company’s predecessor on the site, Goliath Cement, manufactured and distributed asbestos-containing materials between 1947 and 1986.
AWU news release • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Britain: Agency workers to get equal rights
Temporary and agency workers will receive the same rights as permanent staff after 12 weeks under an agreement this week between the government, the CBI and the TUC. The business secretary, John Hutton, said the deal, which is the culmination of a lengthy dispute between employers and unions, would achieve the government's twin objectives of “flexibility for British employers and fairness for workers.”
BERR news release • TUC news release • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Britain: Agency worker loses a finger
A Staffordshire fence manufacturer has received a £2,000 fine after an agency worker’s finger was cut off by an unguarded saw. The Fence Factory Ltd was also ordered to pay costs of £2,645 at Stafford Magistrates’ Court after admitting a safety breach.
HSE news release • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Britain: Tesco fined £25,000 for lift injury
Supermarket giant Tesco have been fined a total of £25,000 after a faulty lift in a Sheffield store knocked an employee unconscious. The incident happened when the hydraulic arm of a scissor lift struck the employee on the head - four days after it had been reported as defective by a council safety inspector.
Sheffield Star • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Britain: Bad move could lose key HSE staff
A cost-cutting move to shift the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) HQ from London to Bootle is causing a recruitment and retention crisis for the beleaguered safety watchdog. A news report from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) notes: “For a body that is struggling to keep its staff and to recruit new ones, the Health and Safety Executive’s move from London to Bootle could not have come at a worse time.”
CIEH news • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Britain: Dead at 50 from T&N’s asbestos
A widow’s seven year wait for compensation for her husband’s death has finally come to an end after she received a six figure payout. The unnamed woman from Bolton received £218,000 from the trustees of Turner and Newall (T&N).
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Britain: Court rules asbestos causes lung cancer
A High Court ruling has confirmed the lung cancer and asbestos link. Although it has long been accepted asbestos causes lung cancer, proving the link in court has been difficult because, unlike mesothelioma, the condition can be caused by a wide range of other factors, including smoking.
Irwin Mitchell news release • John Shortell (executor of the estate of John Joseph Shortell deceased and litigation friend of Eileen Shortell) v BICAL construction Ltd (sued as successor to BIC Construction Ltd), in the High Court of Justice (Queen’s Bench Division), Liverpool District Registry, Case No: 7LV30059, 28 April – 1 May 2008 • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Britain: Stressed BBC worker killed herself
A senior BBC executive has become the latest victim of work-related suicide. Kari Boto, 53, killed herself after feeling “isolated and under-supported” in her job, an inquest has heard. She was found immersed in the sea on 27 June last year - three days before her BBC contract had been due to expire.
Evening Star • Mail on Sunday • Hazards work-related suicides webpages • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Britain: A dangerous case of compost lung
A retired council worker had half a lung removed after developing a disease caused by inhaling fungal spores released by rotting vegetation. He believes the condition may have been caused by exposure to compost.
Barnsley Chronicle • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

 

Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Britain: Union heat improve school ventilation
A long-running union campaign has won a multi-million pound improvement programme in Glasgow schools. Scottish teachers’ union EIS had warned that schools across the city had inadequate ventilation systems, causing overheating, low humidity and uncomfortable, unhealthy teaching and learning conditions.
Too hot to handle? Scottish Educational Journal, volume 92, number 2, pages 18-21, EIS, 2008 [pdf] • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

USA: Put death mine bosses in the dock
The mine manager and other senior staff at the Crandall Canyon coal mine in Utah hid information from US federal mining officials that could have prevented the disaster and should face criminal charges, a congressional committee said. Last August, six miners and three rescue workers died after the mine collapsed.
AFL-CIO Now blog and YouTube coverage of the committee findings • UMWA news release • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Britain: Fourth ‘unacceptable’ EDF death
The union GMB has criticised energy multinational EDF after the fourth death of an employee in a year. EDF Energy maintenance worker John Higgins, 59, died from the effects of burns and inhalation of toxic gases at an EDF sub station in Chelmsford on 7 May.
GMB news release • BBC News Online • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Britain: Gangmasters need policing everywhere
Construction union UCATT has renewed its call for the Gangmasters Licensing Act to be extended to the construction industry. The union was speaking out after a gangmaster lost its licence because the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) found this month it used “forced labour, intimidation and abuse” in the flower-picking sector.
UCATT news release • GLA news release [pdf] • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Global: Exposing Grupo Mexico’s worker abuses
When multinational firms behave badly, putting the lives and livelihoods of their workers at risk, they usually do this unseen by outside eyes. Not any more. Unions are harnessing the internet to expose wrongdoing and as a focus for campaign action.
USW news release • The record speaks for itself website • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Britain: Welsh firm canned on machine safety
A firm making cans has had to cough up compensation after a worker seriously injured his thumb. Unite member Gerald O’Reilly, 58, a machine operator at Impress Merthyr Tydfil Limited, secured £11,000 damages with the help of the union.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Britain: Rubbish slip leads to rail payout
A train driver has secured nearly £6,000 compensation from Northern Rail following a serious back injury caused as he stepped onto discarded rubbish. As ASLEF member Peter Kelly, from Selby, North Yorkshire, boarded a train, he stepped on rubbish that had been thrown onto the train but not cleaned up; the 49-year-old fell backwards onto the platform and badly injured his lower back.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Britain: HSE's ‘shocking’ failure costs lives
There is growing concern that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is failing at its job. HSE has reduced the number of its inspectors by around 25 per cent in five years from 916 to 680; firms on average face an HSE inspection just once every 14½ years; and meanwhile the number of policy officers the HSE employs has more than doubled from 38 to 87.
The Observer and related article • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Global: Solutions to the cancer epidemic
A new book, ‘Cancer: 101 solutions to a preventable epidemic,’ lays out a preventive response to cancer risks in a clear and accessible manner. The Canadian publication shows how you can stop cancer by eliminating the carcinogens in your home, your school, your community, and your workplace and how you can work with others to make the world safe for yourself and your children.
Cancer: 101 solutions to a preventable epidemic, Liz Armstrong, Guy Dauncey, and Anne Wordsworth. ISBN 978 0 86571 542 4. £12. New Society Publishers, Canada • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Britain: Fumes death boss is fined but free
A company boss has been cleared of the manslaughter of a worker who died after inhaling poisonous fumes – but was fined £17,500 for a health and safety breaches. John Beckett, 44, was accused over the death of “right hand man” Dean Cox; the 21-year-old was found slumped over a vat of chemicals used to strip alloy wheels at Wolverhampton firm A1.
Express and Star and related story • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Britain: Fines not jail time for guilty managers
A court has fined two contractors and two individuals after a German worker died at a depot in Worksop, Nottinghamshire – but a manager was found not guilty of manslaughter. Hans Zdolsek fell 8.5m while he was working at the Wilkinsons distribution centre in February 2004.
Building • Contract Journal • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Britain: Tribute to Stockline blast victims
The fourth anniversary of the ICL Stockline disaster was marked on 11 May at the memorial garden outside the factory where nine people died in one of Scotland's worst industrial tragedies. Families of the victims were joined by the local community as more than 100 people turned up at a short ceremony at the site in Maryhill, Glasgow.
Glasgow Evening Times • The Herald • ICL Stockline disaster website • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Britain: Rail firms fined after worker loses leg
Three rail companies have each been fined £200,000 after a worker was electrocuted, suffering horrific injuries. Richard McBride was one of three men working on an overhead electric line at Marston Green during modernisation work to the West Coast Main Line route in July 2003.
ORR news release • Birmingham Post • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Britain: Building firm fined £10k for employee fall
A Sunderland building firm has been fined £10,000 after one of its workers was injured falling 2.8m from rafters onto a concrete floor. South Tyneside Magistrates' Court fined Murray Construction and Development Ltd £10,000 after the company pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
HSE news release • Contract Journal • Building • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Britain: TUC slams CBI’s sick response
The CBI should quit its bellyaching about sickness levels and do something to make work less sickening, the TUC has said. Commenting after the publication of employers’ organisation’s annual absence survey, TUC said the CBI should acknowledge sickness rates are falling and instead of making claims about the cost of “sickies”, should instead encourage employers to address the unhealthy workplaces and work practices that are making workers sick.
CBI news release • Scotsman • The Guardian • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Britain: Workforce involvement is ‘essential’ offshore
Everyone working in the offshore oil industry has a part to play in driving up safety standards in the sector, the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) top offshore official has said. HSE’s Ian Whewell said: “I hope companies will take the opportunity afforded by this conference to commit to real improvements in the way the workforce can be involved and demonstrate that commitment by agreeing to work with HSE and the trades unions to do so.”
HSE news release • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Britain: Turner and Newall kills again
The family of a former Turner and Newall (T&N) employee has received compensation of over £28,000 after their sister died from the lung disease asbestosis. The unnamed 83-year-old from Cheshire developed the disease after working at T&N’s Widnes factory for 40 years.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Britain: Insurers threaten Scots asbestos payout plans
Insurance companies have threatened legal action against the Scottish government if it passes legislation allowing people with certain asbestos-related health conditions but who are not seriously ill as a result to sue for damages.
The Times • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Hazards news, 10 May 2008

Britain: Roofing boss jailed for teen's death
Roofing firm boss Roy Clarke has been jailed for 10 months for the manslaughter of a teenage apprentice who plunged to his death in his first week at work. Daniel Dennis, 17, who had no safety training, died when he fell through an unguarded skylight in April 2003.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • HSE news release • Western Mail • BBC News Online • Risks 355
Hazards news, 10 May 2008

USA: Democrats want tougher safety penalties
People can get more prison time for mail fraud than for violating safety standards that can kill workers, Democratic senators said as they called for tougher punishment for workplace fatalities and stricter enforcement from the federal safety watchdog OSHA.
Kennedy report on OSHA [pdf] • St Louis Post-Dispatch • Las Vegas Sun • Risks 355
Hazards news, 10 May 2008

Britain: Vulnerable worker abuse a ‘national scandal’
Two million workers in Britain are “trapped in a continual round of low-paid and insecure work where mistreatment is the norm,” according to a new report. A TUC-convened commission found some employees being paid £1 an hour, some working 70 hours a week and others facing sexual abuse and hazardous workplaces.
TUC news releases on the CoVE report, vulnerable female workers, bogus self-employment in the construction industry and the shortage of employment rights advice • Commission on Vulnerable Employment (CoVE) • Hazards vulnerable workers’ webpages • Risks 355
Hazards news, 10 May 2008

Iraq: Media killings highlight press peril
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has warned that the killing of a freelance reporter in a 4 May kidnap attempt reveals that the situation for media workers in Iraq remains as perilous as ever. Sarwa Abdul-Wahab, a lawyer who defended journalists and also worked as a reporter for a Kurdistan News Agency, was killed in Mosul in the north of Iraq when she resisted attempts by gunmen to bundle her into a car.
IFJ news release • Boston Globe • Risks 355
Hazards news, 10 May 2008

Britain: Gangmaster watchdog wants wider role
The leader of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) and the report of a TUC-convened Commission have both called for all sectors of the economy to be protected from gangmaster exploitation. GLA’s Paul Whitehouse said if the government “wish to extend our remit into other sectors, as the Commission recommends, our committed and enthusiastic staff are willing and ready to accept the challenge of reducing exploitation elsewhere.”
UCATT news release • TUC news release • Risks 355
Hazards news, 10 May 2008

USA: Dust law pending – but deaths came first
US legislators have taken the first steps towards a law to protect workers from dust explosions. The measure, though, comes after decades of inaction, hundreds of factory explosions and a shocking death toll.
The Pump Handle • US House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor, YouTube video of the debate and US combustible dust inaction timeline • Risks 355
Hazards news, 10 May 2008

Britain: Prison Service refused stabbing protection
Prison staff should be provided with stab proof vests, their union has said. Commenting after a prison officer was stabbed at a Cheshire prison on 1 May, Colin Moses, the national chair of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA), said the union’s earlier warnings had fallen on deaf ears.
POA news release and stab proof vests call • Risks 355
Hazards news, 10 May 2008

Britain: Care assistants face back breaking work
Healthcare assistants need better training if they are to escape career-ending injuries, the health service union UNISON has warned. The union alert came after a UNISON member suffered a serious back injury, forcing her to give up the job she loved.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 355
Hazards news, 10 May 2008

South Africa: The deadly price of gold
A spate of deaths in South African mines operated by Gold Fields Ltd have highlighted the industry’s continuing failure to address its appalling fatality rate. At least 14 miners have been killed at the company’s mines in the last two weeks, including nine on 1 May at South Deep Mine near Randfontein.
ICEM news release • The Times • Risks 355
Hazards news, 10 May 2008

Britain: Minister hears victims of retail abuse
A Cabinet minister has heard victims of workplace abuse put the case for better protection. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith met with members of Usdaw at the retail union’s annual conference in Blackpool.
Usdaw news release and Freedom from Fear campaign • Risks 355
Hazards news, 10 May 2008

Britain: Death firm bosses evade justice
Bosses of a factory where a man was killed in an explosion have failed to appear at related court hearings, will not face any personal penalties and their firm may end up with only a token fine which the judge thinks might not be paid. The case, which could add weight to union arguments for explicit safety responsibilities on directors, involves the workplace death of Christopher Knoop.
Liverpool Daily Post • Risks 355
Hazards news, 10 May 2008

Britain: HSE pleads for industry leadership
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) chair Judith Hackitt has again called for top managers to take safety seriously. At an HSE ‘Leading from the top - avoiding major incidents’ event attended by 200 ‘industry leaders’ from major hazards industries, Ms Hackitt said the initiative was an opportunity to share good practice and to learn from incidents such as those at Texas City, Buncefield and the Thorp plant in Sellafield.
HSE news release • HSE leadership principles • Risks 355
Hazards news, 10 May 2008

Bangladesh: Synthetic materials harm garment workers
Synthetic materials used in Bangladesh’s massive ready-made garment (RMG) sector are causing widespread ill-health in the industry’s workforce.
The Daily Star • Risks 355
Hazards news, 10 May 2008

Britain: Everest fined over work at heights
A home improvement company has been fined £6,000 after pleading guilty to breaching the work at heights regulations. Everest Ltd was prosecuted at Luton Magistrates’ Court after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found workers were repeatedly exposed to the risk of falling from height.
HSE news release • Risks 355
Hazards news, 10 May 2008

Britain: ICI did not warn of asbestos danger
An employee of chemicals giant ICI was exposed to asbestos dust at work for more than 20 years – but was never warned of the risks. Brian Raw, who died of the asbestos cancer mesothelioma in October 2007, was never given a mask or safety advice an inquest was told.
Cheshire Today • Risks 355
Hazards news, 10 May 2008

Britain: Weed killers cause work cancers
Common weed killers have been linked to cancers in exposed workers.
Claudine M Samanic and others. Occupational exposure to pesticides and risk of adult brain tumors, American Journal of Epidemiology, volume 167, pages 976-985, 2008 [abstract] • Reuters on the brain cancer risk • Katherine A McGlynn and others. Persistent organochlorine pesticides and risk of testicular germ cell tumors, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, volume 100, pages 663-671, 2008 [abstract] • Reuters on the testicular cancer risk • Global Unions zero cancer campaign • Risks 355
Hazards news, 10 May 2008

Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Global: New union push on work cancers
Union bodies worldwide are increasing the pressure for an end to workplace cancer risks. Australian national union federation ACTU has launched a zero cancer campaign and says more than 1.5 million workers may be exposed to cancer-causing substances on the job without even knowing it.
BWI news release • Global Unions occupational cancer prevention campaign • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Australia: Union alert on formaldehyde cancers
Australia's biggest building union is calling on the federal government to start an urgent investigation into the use of formaldehyde in household products. CFMEU said formaldehyde poses a real cancer risk to workers and must be subject to stringent laws.
CFMEU news release • Atsuya Takagi and others. Induction of mesothelioma in p53+/- mouse by intraperitoneal application of multi-wall carbon nanotube, Journal of Toxicological Sciences, volume 33, number 1, pages 105-116, 2008 [pdf] • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Britain: Safety reps get well active!
The TUC is to train up thousands of workplace safety reps to target prevention efforts at the work-related health problems that affect over two million workers. A new occupational health guide from TUC intends to improve the skills and activity level of safety reps. Over the next year, the TUC hopes that around 15,000 workplace safety reps can be trained using the new educational workbook, ‘Occupational health: Dealing with the issues’.
TUC news release • Unionlearn • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

USA: Latinos worst affected by deaths hike
Workplace fatalities have increased sharply for Latino and immigrant workers in the US, according to a shocking new report. The new edition of ‘Death on the job: The toll of neglect’, published by the US national union federation AFL-CIO, reports that 2006 fatal injuries among Latino workers increased by seven per cent, with 990 fatalities.
AFL-CIO news release • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Britain: Computer chip firms in cancer ‘fantasy’
The microelectronics industry is inhabiting an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ fantasy world when it comes to facing up to possible cancer risks to its staff, the union Unite has warned. It is pressing for the UK computer components and semiconductor industry to initiate industry-wide research into the risks.
Unite news release • Global Unions zero cancer campaign • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Britain: Protest at HSE’s bad move
Unions in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have warned its planned HQ move from London to Bootle will lead to a haemorrhage of experienced staff. Over 100 PCS members working at HSE’s London HQ joined Workers’ Memorial Day protesters outside the building.
PCS news release • Contract Journal • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Britain: Unions make work safer
Trade unions are by far the best vehicle to win better safety at work, transport union RMT has said. RMT said that Britain's new corporate manslaughter law still lets killer bosses off the hook - and that unions remain workers’ best friend.
RMT news release • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Britain: Dead teen’s family calls for maximum sentence
Lawyers acting for the family of Daniel Dennis, killed aged 17 after falling through a skylight, have called for company boss Roy Clarke to be given the maximum sentence available to the court. Clarke, the owner of North Eastern Roofing, admitted manslaughter in March after the family’s five year campaign for justice.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Britain: Dog attack man gets nine months
A dangerous dog owner has been jailed after his two dogs savaged a Sheffield postal worker. Post union CWU has welcomed the nine month jail term handed down to Jamal Richards at Sheffield Crown Court, following the savage mauling of postie Paul Coleman.
CWU news release • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Britain: Widow gets six figure asbestos payout
The widow of a Unite member has secured £120,000 in an out of court compensation settlement after her husband died from the asbestos related cancer, mesothelioma. The unnamed 71-year-old from Mold in Wales was exposed to asbestos while working for the Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Company in Trafford Park, Manchester, now known as AEI.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Britain: Safety’s not first for many bosses
Many employers put other business concerns ahead of worker safety, a major employee survey has found. When asked to rank their boss’s business priorities, 31 per cent felt that keeping customers and clients happy was their boss’s top concern.
IOSH news release • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Britain: Boards must gave safety priority
Companies have been told they have to take safety seriously at board level, or there could be consequences. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) chair Judith Hackitt reminded board members and senior business directors to put effective health and safety performance high on their agendas.
HSE news release, leadership conference news release and leadership webpages • Judith Hackitt podcast • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Britain: Another six figure death fine for Corus
An incident that saw a Corus worker crushed to death has cost the company £200,000 in fines and costs – the second time it had received a six figure fine related to a fatality in less than three months. It was also fined £125,000 in August last year after a worker suffered horrific, near fatal burns at its Scunthorpe plant.
HSE news release • More on recent Corus deaths and prosecutions • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Britain: Cost-cutting firm cost worker an eye
Weldex UK, a Gateshead company that failed to properly maintain machinery or train its staff, has been fined £10,500 following an incident that left a worker blind in one eye. Magistrates blamed the horrific incident on bosses looking to save money.
HSE news release • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Morocco: Murder charge call after fire deaths
Moroccan police have arrested the owner and manager of a Casablanca mattress factory engulfed by a fire that killed at least 55 people. The global union federation for the garment sector, ITGLWF, had earlier called for murder charges to be brought against those responsible.
ITGLWF news release • ITUC news release • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Britain: Glass firm fined after worker severs artery
A company has been fined after a worker severed an artery after falling from a ladder while repairing a window. Carlisle Glass Ltd was fined £10,000 by Carlisle magistrates and ordered to pay costs of £1,100 after admitting the safety breach.
HSE news release • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Britain: Finger loss costs glue firm £9,000
A Corby firm has been fined after a worker lost part of her middle finger in a machine. Melissa Graham, 31, was working for glue manufacturer Chemence Ltd when the 18 July 2007 incident occurred.
HSE news release • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Britain: Quarry fined after rock smashes head
A Bromsgrove company has been fined £5,000 after an employee suffered a serious injury when a 66lb lump of sandstone fell on his head. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Wildmoor Quarry Products Ltd following the 21 March 2007 incident.
HSE news release • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Britain: Worker narrowly escapes quarry death
A quarry company and one of its employees have been fined after an incident which “could have killed” a worker. Northumberland firm W&M Thompson (Quarries) Ltd and foreman Alan Armstrong admitted breaching safety regulations when they appeared at Bishop Auckland Magistrates’ Court.
HSE news release • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

Britain: HSE migrant worker webpages
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has improved its multi-lingual migrant worker webpages to provide guidance for workers from overseas and their employers. HSE says the pages for workers have been translated into several languages, and are also available in English.
HSE news release and migrant workers webpages • Risks 354
Hazards news, 3 May 2008

 

Hazards news, 26 April 2008

Britain: Superhub safety rep sorts out chutes
Parcelforce Worldwide has agreed to a £1.4m package of improvements to Coventry’s ‘superhub’ distribution centres after a union report highlighted major health and safety problems. A briefing from CWU national health and safety officer Dave Joyce noted: “This can be regarded as a hard fought and well won victory for the CWU which I take pride in and so should the Coventry engineers who stuck by their insistence that action needed to be taken.”
CWU briefing [word] • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

USA: Doctors feel push to downplay injuries
A leading group of US occupational doctors has spoken out against pressure from companies to downplay workplace injuries. “Our members feel they are being methodically pressured... to under-treat and mistreat," said Dr Robert McLellan, president of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).
Charlotte Observer • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

Britain: River Clyde pilots in safety strike
Workers who provide safe passage for ships on the River Clyde have taken strike action over safety. The Pilots Group, which is represented by the union Unite, said the action was to defend the health and safety of the pilots and of maritime traffic.
Unite news release • BBC News Online • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

Global: Sportswear industry’s Olympic shame
As the clock ticks down to the Beijing Olympics, workers producing for the international sportswear companies that spend millions on Olympic and athletic sponsorship deals are still working excessive hours in exchange for poverty wages. ‘Clearing the hurdles,’ a damning new report from the labour rights coalition Play Fair 2008 (PF08), reveals violations of worker rights is still the sportswear industry norm.
Play Fair 2008 webpage and full report, Clearing the hurdles: Steps to improving working conditions in the global sportswear industry, Play Fair 2008 (PF08) [pdf] • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

Britain: Napoli inquiry says profits override safety
The container ship industry is putting profits before safety, marine safety inspectors have warned in a report on the “catastrophic” failure of the MSC Napoli, which was beached off the coast of Britain in gales last year.
Nautilus UK news release • MAIB news release • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

Global: Unions call for asbestos ban support
Global union federations representing tens of millions of workers in the construction and metal sectors have renewed their call for a global asbestos ban. The Building and Woodworkers’ International (BWI) has written to the Canadian Labour Congress appealing for help from Canadian trade unions to end the export of Canadian chrysotile asbestos to the developing world.
BWI news release • Canadian asbestos: One killer export, Ban Asbestos Canada Network • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

Britain: Shipyard exposures caused asbestosis
A Unite member has been awarded £20,000 in provisional damages after exposure to asbestos in a shipyard wrecked his health. Peter Guy developed asbestosis after being exposed to the dangerous dust while working for Harland & Wolf shipyard during the 1960s.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

Bangladesh: Latest death leads to rights call
The death of yet another Bangladeshi garment worker as a result of employer negligence highlights the need for trade union rights to be reinstated in the country, global union federation ITGLWF has said. Trade union rights were suspended under emergency rule over a year ago.
ITGLWF news release • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

Britain: Payout deal for stressed teacher
A teacher who said his job ruined his health has been paid a “substantial” sum as compensation for his ordeal. NUT member Andrew Massey, 54, has been unable to work since going sick with stress from New College in Leicester.
BBC News Online • Leicester Mercury • Hazards suicide report • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

Global: Dangers of mind-numbing jobs
Boring jobs turn our mind on to autopilot, say scientists - and this means we can seriously mess up some simple tasks. Monotonous duties switch our brain to “rest mode,” whether we like it or not, the researchers report in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.
Tom Eichele and others. Prediction of human errors by maladaptive changes in event-related brain networks, PNAS, volume 105, number 16, pages 6173-6178, 22 April 2008 [abstract] • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

Britain: Lecturers are stressed and insecure
An independent report on college staff satisfaction has revealed a dedicated workforce that is deeply dissatisfied and facing stress, bullying and insecurity. 'FE colleges, the frontline under pressure?', produced for lecturers’ union UCU, found that while students are happy with college staff, the staff are far from happy with their jobs.
UCU news release • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

Britain: MPs warn safety is under-funded
There is “widespread concern that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is inadequately funded,” undermining its ability to carry out its work, MPs have warned ministers. The Commons Work and Pensions Committee report called for more “front line” health and safety inspectors, more frequent site visits, bigger fines and more prosecutions, all measures running counter to HSE’s practice over recent years.
The role of the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive in regulating workplace health and safety, House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee, 21 April 2008 • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

Britain: Ministers urged to heed report findings
The TUC and the unions representing Health and Safety Executive (HSE) staff have urged the government to act on the recommendations of the House of Commons select committee on work and pensions.
TUC news release • Prospect news release • PCS news release • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

Britain: Action call on ‘toothless’ HSE
Unions have said the government must respond positively to the House of Commons work and pensions committee’s call for an increase in Health and Safety Executive (HSE) funding and enforcement activity. Bud Hudspith, Unite’s national health and safety officer, said: “A toothless Health and Safety Executive has been starved of resources and the power to penalise those who disregard the safety of workers and the public.”
Unite news release • UCATT news release • UNISON on the report and directors’ duties • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

USA: Formaldehyde linked to Lou Gehrig's disease
New preliminary research suggests that exposure to the chemical formaldehyde, present in workplaces from laboratories to hospitals to MDF factories, could greatly increase a person's chances of developing Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Those who reported more than 10 years of exposure to formaldehyde were almost four times more likely to develop ALS.
Marc Weisskopf and others. Prospective study of chemical exposures and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mortality, AAN Meeting 2008; Abstract # S25.005. AAN news release [pdf] • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

Britain: Not much naming, less shaming
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) commitment to name and shame dangerous firms is failing because of the watchdog’s “simply extraordinary” failure to publicise most convictions. A Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) analysis found in 2007 HSE issued news releases after only 33 per cent of safety convictions, just 167 cases out of 502; of the 84 convictions that involved a death, HSE only issued a news release following 45 cases, or 54 per cent of the total.
CCA news release • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

Britain: Family critical after man's death
The family of a man who died after a sugar factory explosion has said he would still be alive if more “care and attention” had been paid to equipment. Robert Howe, 52, was showered with hot coals when a boiler exploded at British Sugar’s Allscott factory.
Shropshire Star • BBC News Online • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

Britain: Depression hidden because of work stigma
A third of people with clinical depression say they have been turned down for jobs because of their mental health problems, a study has found. More than two-thirds (71 per cent) feared that disclosing their depression to colleagues would have a detrimental impact on their careers, according to the research by charity Depression Alliance.
Depression Alliance news release [pdf] • Risks 353
Hazards news, 26 April 2008

 

 

 

 

 

Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Thailand: Migrants face death or deportation
Survivors of a human smuggling tragedy in Thailand, in which 54 migrants including two children were found suffocated in a locked container truck on 10 April, will be deported back to army-ruled Burma (Myanmar), a Thai court has ruled.
Seattle Times • ANROAV report • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Thailand: Migrants start compensation test case
Three Shan workers are seeking to overturn a policy which is denying migrant workers in Thailand compensation for their work-related ailments. With support from the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF), which last year launched a migrant workers’ health and safety project, the trio decided to bring their case to the court after the workers’ compensation authority in January denied them compensation.
ANROAV news release • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Britain: Union vigilance call after Corus death
Construction union UCATT has said companies must strive to improve safety, after a young member was killed at a Corus plant on Teesside. Kristian Norris, 29, was a refractory bricklayer employed by sub-contractor Vesuvius UK to perform maintenance work.
UCATT news release • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Britain: Jail terms needed to deter work killers
There must be a root and branch review of health and safety on construction sites to tackle the persistently high death rate, construction union UCATT has said. The union warning came after provisional Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures revealed 69 construction workers were killed at work in 2007/8.
UCATT news release • HSE news release and fatality statistics • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Britain: Concerns at ultrasonic rail inspections
Rail union RMT is warning that prompt action to address track defects is being hampered as a result of a new ultrasonic track testing system. The union says the technology trial poses a serious safety risk to rail staff and passengers.
RMT news release • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Britain: Cleaner solution to hospital infections
Hospital cleaners need greater resources to defeat health care-associated infections, the union UNISON has said. Delegates to the union’s health conference heard the government’s target of halving MRSA incidents by April 2008 looks like it hasn’t been met, and called for more cleaners, better paid and with modern equipment.
UNISON news release • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Britain: Six figure settlement for explosion stresses
A gas worker whose career was wrecked when he was traumatised by an explosion has received a £230,000 payout. GMB member Danny McLoed, 50, a Transco employee, received the payout from Schememade Limited, which admitted liability for cutting through the gas pipe when laying cable.
GMB news release • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Britain: Rail worker gets asbestos payout
A former British Rail worker has been awarded £180,000 in compensation after developing the incurable asbestos cancer mesothelioma. ASLEF member Kenneth Chapman, 74, worked for New Southern Railway, part of British Rail, from the 1950s until he retired in 1996 and was exposed to asbestos while working as a fireman, boiler cleaner and train driver.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Britain: Union improves the odds of safer bookies
The union Community has launched a campaign to end violence against betting office staff in Scotland. It is asking trade unionists and members of the public to sign an e-petition calling on the Scottish parliament to ask bookmakers in the country to display a purpose designed poster highlighting the legal penalties facing those abusing their staff.
TUC briefing document • Community Respect at Ladbrokes campaign • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Britain: Council fined over gardener's death
York Council has been fined £20,000 after the “entirely avoidable” death of gardener Frank Smith, 54, who crushed by a mower on an embankment. The council, which had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing, was also ordered to pay £20,425 in prosecution costs, including the £9,332 cost of a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation.
Yorkshire Post • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Britain: Firm guilty after worker set on fire
A utility firm has been fined £32,000 for failing to make safe a live cable which then turned a worker into a human fireball. SP Power Systems, a Scottish Power subsidiary, should have tackled the danger five months earlier, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
BBC News Online • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Britain: Six figure penalty after sub-contractor dies
Edeco Petroleum Services has been fined £200,000 after a sub-contractor was asphyxiated on a drilling job. The company was also ordered to pay costs of £47,400 at Hull Crown Court on charges relating to the death of Neil Millar, a 36-year-old sub-contractor.
Hull Daily Mail • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Britain: Tiny fine for massive brick maker
The world’s largest clay brick and tile manufacturer has received a £2,000 fine after two employees developed a classic metal fume related occupational disease. Wienerberger Ltd pleaded guilty to two breaches of the chemical control regulations COSHH following an incident in May 2007 which led to one of the employees being hospitalised with welding fume fever.
HSE news release • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Britain: More white collar asbestos victims
A former benefits officer and a nurse are the latest workplace victims of mesothelioma, the incurable asbestos cancer.
Thompsons news release • Irwin Mitchell news release • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Britain: Family members face asbestos peril
Asbestos exposure is so dangerous it is killing the family members of workers who brought home the dust on their clothes.
Evening Post • Gazette and Herald • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Britain: Study highlights cancer in hairdressers
Hairdressers probably face an increased risk of cancer because of the dyes and other chemicals they work with, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). A Lancet Oncology report of a IARC working group’s findings concludes. “Because of the few supporting findings by duration or period of exposure, the working group considered these data as limited evidence of carcinogenicity and re-affirmed occupational exposures of hairdressers and barbers as ‘probably carcinogenic to humans.’”
ETUI REHS news report • Robert Baan, Kurt Straif, Yann Grosse, Béatrice Secretan, Fatiha El Ghissassi, Véronique Bouvard, Lamia Benbrahim-Tallaa, Vincent Cogliano, on behalf of the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer Monograph Working Group. Carcinogenicity of some aromatic amines, organic dyes, and related exposures, The Lancet Oncology, volume 9, number 4, pages 322-323, April 2008 • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

Canada: Resign call over ‘death’ rebates
A Canadian union body has called for a compensation board’s executives to resign after it was discovered some companies were receiving cash rebates for “good” safety performance when another arm of government had prosecuted them for safety offences involving workplace deaths. The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) and other groups say Steve Mahoney should be fired from his post as chair of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) in the province.
NUPGE news release • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

China: Journalists raises Olympics safety concerns
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed concern over the safety of journalists and media staff in the run up to the Beijing Olympics. “In the last few weeks some journalists have been threatened and there has been an increase in violations of promises to let media work without interference,” said IFJ’s Aidan White.
IFJ news release • Risks 352
Hazards news, 19 April 2008

 

Hazards news, 12 April 2008

Global: Are you read for Workers’ Memorial Day?
Check out the Hazards Workers’ Memorial Day webpages for news on 28 April events from Angola to Zimbabwe.
Global 28 April webpage • YouTube Workers' Memorial Day resources and video clips • AFL-CIO Workers' Memorial Day, 28 April, online resource pack • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

Britain: Experts highlight spreading cancer risks
A global epidemic of preventable industrial cancers is killing hundreds of thousands each year because governments and employers are failing to take simple and effective preventive action. Top cancer prevention experts and trade union officers and workplace reps from around the world, meeting in Scotland later this month will reveal the full extent of the problem and will call for the use of safer substances and processes and a phase out of the worst cancer-causing culprits.
Stirling University news release • Global union zero cancer campaign • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

Britain: Campaign wins manslaughter admission
The owner of a roofing company has admitted manslaughter following the death of a 17-year-old employee who fell through a store skylight. On the eve of a trial at Cardiff Crown Court, Roy Clark admitted the charge relating to the death of Daniel Dennis in April 2003.
South Wales Echo • BBC News Online • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

USA: Unions urge action on serial offenders
US unions have called on politicians to take urgent action to ensure greater safety oversight of companies with a history of serious safety violations. Eric Frumin, health and safety coordinator for the Change to Win partnership, told the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety earlier this month: “Employers bear the primary responsibility for protecting workers, but too often, companies would rather squeeze out extra profit than save employees' lives.” Teamsters news release and In harm’s way report • Change to Win news release • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

Britain: TUC looks for manslaughter action
The TUC has said the new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act is a step in the right direction, but would have been more effective if it had provisions to see dangerous directors in the dock.
Ministry of Justice news release • TUC news release • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

Britain: Unions seek stronger work death measures
Unions have said additional measures are necessary to make negligent employers fully accountable for workplace deaths.
Unite news release and corporate manslaughter webpage. GMB news release • UCATT news release • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

Britain: STUC challenge on Scottish work deaths
The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is urging Scotland’s government to act quickly to remedy deficiencies the new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act. STUC general secretary Grahame Smith said: “While this legislation is being peddled as the machinery to deliver that justice for bereaved families, it is clear that the governments in both Westminster and in Holyrood have let down the families of workers killed by their employers.”
STUC news release • The Herald • BBC News Online • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

Britain: Assaults register call after stabbing tragedy
Public sector union UNISON is demanding a national system to register attacks on local government workers. The call comes after the tragic death of a council worker in Lancashire.
UNISON news release • BBC News Online • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

Britain: Colleges warned after acid explosion injury
Lecturers’ union UCU has urged colleges to learn urgent safety lessons after the prosecution of City of Bristol College. The legal action came after a UCU member was injured in an acid explosion.
UCU news release • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

Britain: MoD ignored work injury warnings
A Ministry of Defence (MoD) stores assistant who suffered a serious back injury due to continuous heavy lifting and whose employer then failed to shift her to lighter work has received £60,000 in compensation.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

Britain: New rail ballots on control room safety
Safety critical operators in electrical control rooms (ECR) in Cathcart and Romford are being balloted for strike action in an escalation of a dispute over plans to slash staffing levels in the electrical control rooms.
RMT news release • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

Britain: Tube strike averted after safety guarantees
A three day strike on London’s Tube system was averted after unions won a string of safety and staffing guarantees. Rail unions RMT and TSSA say London Underground (LUL) has now abandoned what they saw as a fundamental attack on Tube safety standards and the casualisation of safety critical work.
RMT news release • TSSA news release • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

Australia: Union push for stronger safety rules
Australian unions are to call for stronger workplace safety rules, in response to the new Labor government’s review of the country’s safety system. The federal government has said it is seeking to harmonise laws across all states and territories in the country.
ACTU news release • Australian government news release and review terms of reference • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

Britain: Lung cancer survivor gets payout
A man who developed lung cancer after being exposed to asbestos in the workplace has been compensated by his former employers. Widower, Joseph Douglas, 66, from Ellesmere Port has received £65,000 in damages after he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2004.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

Britain: NHS workers sidelined and under attack
Health service union UNISON has called for action to better involve NHS staff in the running of the service and to address the stubbornly high rates of attacks and other injuries to staff.
Healthcare Commission news release and report, National survey of NHS staff 2007 • UNISON news release • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

Britain: Firm falls short on work at heights
A Leicester firm has been fined after an employee suffered severe back injuries in a fall from a stepladder. Air Plant Dust Extraction Ltd was fined £5,000 with £5,147 costs at Norwich Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to a breach of safety law.
HSE news release and shattered lives campaign • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

Britain: McDonald’s fined after teen worker is scarred
Burger giant McDonald's has been fined £20,000 after a teenage worker was left scarred for life. The 17-year-old girl slipped on a piece of cardboard left to soak up cooking oil and, as she put out an arm to save herself, plunged it into the scalding hot liquid.
Leicester Mercury • Risks 351
Hazards news, 12 April 2008

 

 

Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Global: Conference to work out work cancer solution
Occupational and Environmental Cancer Prevention - from research to policy to action at international, national and workplace levels, Friday, 25 April 2008, University of Stirling, Scotland.
Further information, including conference programme, contact details and fees (including union reductions) • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Britain: Hit-and-run firefighter gets £280k damages
A firefighter knocked from his bike on his journey home from work has received over £280,000 in damages. David Frith, a member of the firefighters’ union FBU from Leicester, received the award via the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) untraced drivers scheme after the hit-and-run incident.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

USA: Site workers rushed to an early grave
In the shadows of the cranes, steel and concrete upon which Las Vegas has pinned its addiction to growth, a body count has emerged. Nine construction workers have died in eight accidents since the end of 2006 at the towers that are redefining the Las Vegas skyline - workers describe construction sites that are crowded with equipment and people, combined with consistent - though often unstated - pressure to do everything at top speed, and nervously refer to the CityCenter site as “CityCemetery” or “CemeteryCenter.”
Las Vegas Sun and follow up article on the official enforcement failure • The Pump Handle • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Britain: Don’t blame the workers for terminal troubles
Heathrow unions have said their members didn’t cause the chaos at Terminal 5’s opening last week, but they can help to solve it. Problems with baggage handling facilities led to flight cancellations, baggage mountains and a massive amount of passenger frustration.
GMB news release • Unite news release • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Britain: Teaching union calls for risk assessments
Schools must carry out proper risk assessments to protect staff and pupils, teaching union NASUWT has said.
NASUWT news release • HSE news release • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Britain: Wire industry campaign success
A wire industry safety campaign backed by unions and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has led to dramatic improvements in accident rates. Steel industry union Community says the UK Steel Live Wire Accident Reduction Campaign, launched in July 2006, has surpassed its target of a 10 per cent reduction in accidents “by a significant margin.”
Community news release • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Britain: New regulating rules for safety watchdogs
Revised standards for health and safety enforcers have been released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in response to a new government code covering official regulatory activity. The Regulators’ Compliance Code, which from 6 April applies to all regulatory agencies including HSE and local authority workplace safety inspectors, “is a statutory code of practice intended to encourage regulators to achieve their objectives in a way that minimises the burdens on business,” says HSE in an online briefing.
HSE short guide on its role and the Regulators’ Compliance Code • Usdaw news release • Local authority enforced sectors • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Britain: HSE absorbs HSC
The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) merged on 1 April. The new combined body will be called the Health and Safety Executive.
DWP news release • HSE merger statement • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Britain: What difference will the killing law make?
The new corporate killing law, effective from 6 April, has received a mixed welcome, with some staying it will lead to greater corporate accountability and others suggesting while there may be some large firms facing charges it lets negligent bosses off the hook. Prosecutors will no longer have to prove that an individual acted as a ‘directing mind’ and was responsible for a death - they can charge a company instead.
Financial Times • BBC News Online • HSE and Ministry of Justice corporate manslaughter law webpages • TUC corporate accountability webpages • FACK • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Britain: Oil boat deaths report highly critical
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is considering whether there were any breaches of UK legislation before the Bourbon Dolphin tragedy off Shetland. The rig support vessel capsized with the loss of eight lives in April last year – however, because the eight deaths occurred offshore and were not investigated by HSE, they will not be included in this year’s official UK work fatality statistics.
Norway ministry of justice news release and report • BBC News Online and earlier report • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Britain: Aga fined for work injury
Luxury cooker manufacturer Aga has been fined £25,000 after an employee lost a thumb in an incident at its Coalbrookdale foundry. Anthony Bridgewater had been checking to see whether sand had clogged machinery when his hand hit a rotating blade, amputating his thumb and breaking his finger.
Shropshire Star • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

South Africa: Lobbyists fail to block asbestos ban
A new law banning asbestos in South Africa took effect in late March. Environmental affairs and tourism minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said the regulations prohibit the use, processing, manufacturing, and import and export of any asbestos or asbestos-containing materials (ACMs).
South African government news release and asbestos regulations webpage • Mail and Guardian • International Ban Asbestos Secretariat • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Britain: MPs vow support for meso sufferers
Members of parliament have vowed support for a campaign for better compensation for sufferers of the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. The members of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health’s asbestos sub-committee made the promise after watching a short film calling on the government to amend the law on government asbestos payouts.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Japan: Government releases asbestos firms list
The Japanese government has grudgingly released the names of 2,167 companies and offices around the nation where workers had received compensation for asbestos-related illnesses. Campaigners say the list will enable those who lived near the companies or who had family members who worked there to get checked for diseases such as the asbestos cancer mesothelioma.
Asahi Shimbun • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Britain: MP raises alarm over nail bars
A Labour MP is campaigning for increased protection for customers and staff in nail bars. Dr Phyllis Starkey’s 10 Minute Rule Bill, which would extend licensing for nail bars to areas outside London, was debated in the Commons last month and will have a second reading on 25 April.
Nail Bars and Special Treatment Premises (Regulation) Bill 2007-08, Hansard • CIEH news report • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Australia: Brain cancer linked to mobile phone use
A top Australian neurosurgeon has warned the world's heavy reliance on mobile phones could be a major threat to human health. Vini Khurana, who conducted a 15-month “critical review” of the link between mobile phones and malignant brain tumours, said using mobiles for more than 10 years could more than double the risk of brain cancer.
Mobile phone-brain tumour, Public Health Advisory, www.brain-surgery.us
Sydney Morning Herald • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

USA: Pesticide exposure ups Parkinson’s risk
There is strong evidence that exposure to pesticides significantly increases the risk of Parkinson's disease, experts have concluded. A study of people with the neurological disease found that sufferers were more than twice as likely to report heavy exposure to pesticides over their lifetime as family members without the disease.
Dana B Hancock and others. Pesticide exposure and risk of Parkinson's disease: a family-based case-control study, BMC Neurology, volume 8:6, 2008, doi:10.1186/1471-2377-8-6, abstract and full paper [pdf] • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

UK: Toxic plane fumes inquiry call
Airline staff and passengers are at risk from toxic fumes leaking into aircraft cabins, according to the Global Cabin Air Quality Executive pressure group. The group wants a public inquiry into why more has not been done to protect people and inform them of health risks and charges that the Health and Safety Executive and the Civil Aviation Authority “have failed to ensure that airlines abide by health and safety guidelines and basic principles.”
GCAQE news release • Global Cabin Air Quality Executive • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Australia: Work exposures up vet miscarriage risk
Female vets run twice the risk of miscarriage as a result of exposure to anaesthetic gases and pesticides, suggests a study. Women carrying out surgery and exposed to anaesthetic gases that were not filtered out of the atmosphere, for an hour or more a week, were almost 2.5 times more likely to miscarry, those who used pesticides during the course of their work were also twice as likely to miscarry, and those who performed more than five x-rays a week were around 80 per cent more likely to miscarry than those performing fewer procedures. Maternal occupational exposures and risk of spontaneous abortion in veterinary practice Online First, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 3 April 2008, doi: 10.1136/OEM.2007.035246 [abstract] • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

USA: The Construction Chart Book
If you know the problem, then you can start working out the solution. For US construction unions, this task has just got a whole lot easier, with the publication of the Construction Chart Book - a useful resource for construction unions anywhere, giving a well-structured and detailed overview of major issues facing site workers wherever you find them.
The Construction Chart Book: The US construction industry and its workers, 4th edition, 2008 • Health and safety chapter • CPWR (Center for Construction Research and Training) • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

France: Stress crisis prompts national action
An apparent workplace stress crisis afflicting French workplaces had prompted the government to launch an evaluation of the extent of the problem and to plan a surveillance system for work-related suicides.
REHS news releases on the Peugeot report and the French government stress study • Hazards work-related suicides webpages • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Europe: Lidl accused of spying on its staff
German supermarket group Lidl has denied that it spied on its staff, but has admitted that it placed secret cameras in its stores. The multinational company, which also confirmed it had employed private detectives, insisted that it carried out the measures simply to combat shoplifting.
BusinessWeek • The Times • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

Global: Studies reveal neglected toll of work cancers
New studies have confirmed the numbers of workplace cancers has been massively under-estimated. Investigators from Massey University's Centre for Public Health Research in New Zealand say work-related cancers affect between 700 and 1,000 people a year in the country and kill 400 yet fewer than 40 cases a year are notified to the Labour Department.
Sunday Star Times • Massey University research outline • Global union zero cancer campaign • Risks 350
Hazards news, 5 April 2008

 

 

 

 

Hazards news, 29 March 2008

Britain: Death threat kitchen assistant gets payout
A kitchen assistant who was eventually forced to leave her job following a violent incident has been awarded £40,000 compensation. Diana Gruber, 60, received the payout from Leicestershire County Council after a verbal attack at Coalville Resource Centre.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

USA: Laundry work infection risk probed
The US government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating several cases of laundry and housekeeping workers suspected of having become infected with HIV as a result of needlestick injuries at work. Between 1981 and 2006, the CDC documented two cases of laundry and housekeeping employees who were infected with HIV as a result of occupational exposure to blood and identified 13 more possible cases.
American Laundry News • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

Britain: Unite maps safe route for beer deliveries
Employers and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) must join with the workforce to create new safety standards for beer delivery workers, their union Unite has said. Brian Revell, Unite national organiser, said the union had prepared a six-point action plan, arising out of a meeting of 24 Unite senior shop stewards that discussed the problems faced by the workforce.
Unite news release • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

Britain: Teachers need more protection
A growing number of pupils are taking weapons and drugs into a hard core of schools in troubled areas, research for teaching union NUT suggests. The proportion of teachers finding weapons on pupils on a weekly basis had almost quadrupled from 2001 to 2008, according to the study by Warwick University researchers.
NUT/Warwick University report • BBC News Online • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

China: Nine jailed for coal mine deaths
Nine coal mine bosses have been sentenced to between two and six years in jail for a 2005 blast that killed 108 miners and injured 29 others in north China's Hebei Province. The gas blast was caused by the illegal operation of the mine, Li Yizhong, former director of the State Administration of Work Safety, had said.
China Daily • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

Britain: Cyber bully pledge for teachers
The government has promised action to protect teachers from bullying through mobile phones and the internet. The move comes after teaching unions raised concerns about the impact of cyber bullying on teachers and pupils.
DCSF news release and YouTube webpage • BBC News Online on NASUWT and ATL • ATL news release • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

South Korea: Union campaign to seat workers
South Korea’s largest union umbrella group has launched a campaign to make discount stores and other workplaces provide chairs for workers who are needlessly forced to stand. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) said the move is to prevent standing-related health problems.
Korea Times • Hazards guide to workplace standing hazards • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

Britain: Teaching can jeopardise voice and health
The majority of teachers are suffering voice loss and other work-related ill-health, surveys by teaching union ATL have found. Overall 60 per cent of teachers surveyed had experienced voice problems, with 68 per cent of teachers working in maintained schools experiencing voice problems compared to 57 per cent in independent schools.
ATL news releases on voice loss and health and stress • Hazards voice loss webpages • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

Britain: Rail workers block ‘unsafe’ work
Maintenance work on overhead power lines along the East Coast and branch lines was cancelled after key engineering staff in four Network Rail depots refused to issue work licences on safety grounds. Rail union RMT said workers at Morpeth, Leeds, Doncaster and Hitchen depots invoked 'Worksafe' procedures and sought alternative duties on the night of 19 March after learning managers doing the work of highly skilled staff on strike from the York electrical control room had had as little as six days' training.
RMT news release • BBC News Online • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

Britain: Tube union demands skills proof
Union leaders are demanding that London Underground construction workers have the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card before they are allowed to work on the Tube network. The call came as the collapsed public-private partnership (PPP) operator Metronet faces allegations of unqualified companies carrying out electrical work and a police investigation into alleged corrupt contract awards.
Contract Journal • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

Britain: Health service urged to drop allergy gloves
Medical experts are calling for action to reduce the potentially fatal risks to health service staff posed by latex. ‘Latex allergy: Occupational aspects of management’, new guidelines from the Royal College of Physicians and NHS Plus, falls short of calling for a total ban on latex gloves, with union safety experts warning the strategy might also fall foul of the COSHH regulations, which require substitution of hazardous substances were suitable, safer alternatives are available.
RCP news release • ‘Latex allergy: Occupational aspects of management’ is available on the RCP [pdf] and NHS Plus websites [pdf] • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

Britain: Firm fined over two electrocution deaths
Maintenance firm Colas has been fined £90,000 six years after a safety breach that cost two workers their lives. Fred Cook, 38, and colleague John Crimmins, 33, were electrocuted when the mobile tower light they were pushing came into contact with a high voltage power line.
HSE news release •Newcastle Chronicle • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

Britain: Waste firm fined for horrific injuries
A waste company has been fined £10,000 after a worker suffered serious injuries when he was run over by a workplace vehicle. FOCSA Services (UK) Ltd was also ordered to pay costs of £4,277 at Calderdale Magistrates' Court, after pleading guilty to a breach of safety law.
HSE news release and workplace transport webpages • Huddersfield Daily Examiner • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

Britain: Dairy fined for finger-severing incident
A dairy firm has been fined £12,000 after a worker had parts of her fingers cut off at a Worcestershire factory. The incident happened in April 2006 at Robert Wiseman Dairies’ Droitwich plant.
Worcester News • BBC News Online • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

Britain: Six figure payout for asbestos death
A Yorkshire widow has received a six-figure compensation payout after her husband died of an asbestos cancer. Sylvia Worth, 54, was awarded £122,000 in damages.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Find your local asbestos group on the Asbestos Forum website • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

Britain: Consultation on pleural plaques payouts
Top personal injury lawyers have welcomed a pledge by prime minister Gordon Brown to produce a consultation paper on the plight of victims of pleural plaques, an injury caused by exposure to asbestos. In October last year the highest court in the UK, the House of Lords, announced that it would not overturn a ruling of the Court of Appeal in January 2006, which now prevents sufferers of pleural plaques from claiming compensation.
Irwin Mitchell news release • Sign the e-petition to the prime minister calling for the reinstatement of pleural plaques compensation • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

Global: ITF takes safety to air and sea
Global transport unions’ federation ITF has launched safety initiatives for workers toiling in the air and at sea. It is carrying out a worldwide study on stress and fatigue in the aviation industry “to strengthen its campaign activities and help win the argument for better working conditions” and it has launched an on-board safety film to support seafaring safety reps.
ITF news releases on the aviation survey and the on-board safety film •