Hazards news, 27 June 2009
Britain: Don’t let them victimise safety rep Penny!
A trade union safety rep was fired in May - just for trying to keep her workplace safe. Penny Gower, an EIS activist was summarily dismissed by Carnegie College in Dunfermline after she undertook a workplace health and safety inspection, a core, legally protected, safety rep function.
Email messages of protest to Carnegie College management and copy to Penny’s EIS branch • Scottish Educational Journal, EIS, June 2009, page 12 [pdf] • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Britain: TUC spells out how to get rehab right
Rehabilitation of sick or injured workers needs the right services available at the right time and an understanding of the particular job and needs of the affected worker, a new TUC guide says.
Rehabilitation: A short guide to the evidence, TUC, June 2009 • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
USA: Voluntary safety approaches failed - report
An investigation by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has confirmed what union and other workplace safety advocates have charged for years - the Bush administration’s reliance on voluntary policing by employers of their safety and health actions did not improve worker safety and let some dangerous employers escape scrutiny.
AFL-CIO Now • GAO report [pdf] • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
UCATT wins blacklist data battle
Construction workers who have been blacklisted will have more time to access their records following the direct intervention of construction union UCATT. In March the Information Commissioner revealed that over 40 major construction companies were using the services of the Consulting Association to blacklist workers, commonly because they had raised concerns about site health and safety.
UCATT news release • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Global: International link up wins rights deal
Unions in the UK and US have linked up to win an employment rights deal for workers in Bangladesh. Workers Uniting, a partnership between UK union Unite and North American union USW said it had achieved a “major victory” at the RL Denim factory in Bangladesh.
Unite news release • NLC statement • Workers Uniting • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Korea: Most teachers suffer from occupational illnesses
Two-thirds of Korean teachers have had or are currently suffering an occupational disease, a union survey has found. The Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations (KFTA) found 67.2 per cent of teachers said they have or have experienced occupational diseases, with the most common symptom was vocal nodules, experienced by over one-in-three teachers (34.4 per cent), and linked to occupational voice loss.
Education International news report • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Britain: Unions fight for asbestos victims
Unions continue to fight for justice for the victims of asbestos diseases and their families.
UNISON news release • Thompsons Solicitors news release on the Unite asbestosis and mesothelioma cases • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Britain: Payouts for asbestos related lung cancers
The most common work-related cancer is lung cancer – but cases are rarely compensated because doctors miss the work link or blame other possible causes like lung cancer. In fact, thousands – and possibly tens of thousands – of cases of lung cancer each year are part or entirely due to workplace exposures.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Field Fisher Waterhouse news release • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
France: Work pesticide use causes Parkinson's
A new study confirms the link between on-the-job pesticide exposure and Parkinson's disease, and suggests that certain insecticides may be particularly risky. In the study, published online in the Annals of Neurology, French researchers found that among nearly 800 adults with and without Parkinson's, agricultural workers exposed to pesticides - including insecticides, weed killers and fungicides - were at greater risk of the disease, with the risk climbing in tandem with the amount of time a worker was exposed.
Alexis Elbaz and others. Professional exposure to pesticides and Parkinson's disease, Annal of Neurology, published online [abstract] • Fox News • ETUI-HESA news report • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Britain: Caution urged after big fall in fatalities
The TUC has welcomed provisional figures showing workplace fatalities at an all time low, but has warned against complacency and has called on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to maintain a focus on enforcing safety laws. Provisional data published by HSE show that 180 workers were killed between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009 - a rate of 0.6 per 100,000 employees.
HSE news release and provisional fatalities figures 2008/09 • TUC news release • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Britain: Director in court on manslaughter charges
A company director appeared in court on 23 June facing charges under corporate manslaughter legislation after one of his employees was buried under tonnes of soil when a trench collapsed. Peter Eaton and his company, Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings Ltd, are being jointly charged in the UK's first prosecution under the 2007 Corporate Manslaughter Act.
Stroud Life • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Britain: Crane hire firm fined over deaths
A crane hire company has been fined after two workers fell to their deaths when a crane collapsed; Gary Miles, 37, and Steven Boatman, 45, died in 2005 as the 118ft (36m) tower crane was being dismantled in Durrington, West Sussex. They were working for Eurolift (Tower Cranes) Ltd, which was taken over by WD Bennett Plant & Services Ltd in 2003.
HSE news release • BBC News Online • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Firm ignored HSE for eight years
An aerospace engineering company routinely ignored health and safety rules for eight years, despite having a series of warnings from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). HSE finally saw Crest Engineering Company Ltd in court this month after finding safety guards missing or not in use on several milling machines, used to shape metal.
HSE news release • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Britain: Firm fined for migrant’s shredder horror
A firm that makes bedding for pets has been fined after a Polish worker was serious injured in a shredder. Snowflake Animal Bedding Ltd, which is based in Ashton-under-Lyne, was fined £13,300 and ordered to pay full costs of £8,655.16p at Boston Magistrates’ Court.
HSE news release and migrant workers and forklifts webpages • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Britain: Rail unions dismayed at fatal crashes snub
Rail unions have criticised a government decision not to hold a public inquiry into two fatal rail smashes. Instead, two “independent inquests” are to be held into rail accidents at Potters Bar in Hertfordshire and Grayrigg in Cumbria, the government said.
Ministerial statement • ASLEF news release • TSSA news release • BBC News Online • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Britain: Tender pressure puts safety at risk
Construction quality and safety standards are at risk as firms are being forced to cut costs to win competitive tenders, a leading industry body has warned. The findings come from a new survey of the sector published by the Scottish Building Federation (SBF), with the group warning that the cost pressure could lead to the possibility of “shoddy work” and “unscrupulous” behaviour by firms desperate to win work.
Construction News • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Europe: Social dialogue improves working conditions
Unions play a big role in making work better and safer, a European Foundation report has concluded. It says its research found social partners and social dialogue play a key role in helping to create better jobs and improve the quality of work and working conditions through influencing policy decisions, negotiating social pacts and collective agreements as well as through participating in particular programmes and policies.
European Foundation news release and draft report [pdf] • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Britain: Nuclear problems linked to HSE staffing
Britain’s nuclear safety watchdog does not have sufficient experienced staff to police the industry, its top official has admitted in a secret report. The report, obtained by the Observer, written by the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) chief nuclear inspector, Mike Weightman, discloses that between 2001 and 2008 there were 1,767 safety incidents across Britain's nuclear plants.
The Observer • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Britain: Wind firm blows thousands on dermatitis
A wind turbine firm has been fined £10,000 after workers developed occupational dermatitis. Thirteen workers at the Newport plant of blademaker Vestas Blades UK Ltd developed the condition caused by exposure to epoxy resins.
Isle of Wight County Press • SHP Online • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Britain: Employers must prepare for hotter summers
Employers must plan ahead and address the problems that will arise in UK workplaces as a result of climate change, the TUC has warned. Commenting on the government's UK Climate Projections data, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said “predictions of much hotter summers for the UK in years to come make it crucial that governments of the world strike a deal and prevent further damaging climate change when they meet in Copenhagen at the end of the year.”
Defra webpage on the UK climate change projections • TUC news release • 27 June 2009
USA: Warning to investors on nanotech risks
Nanotech firms are hiding potential long-term problems from investors who could face asbestos like liabilities from risks emerging over the coming decades. The warning comes in report from the Investor Environmental Health Network, a partnership of investment managers concerned about the financial and public health risks associated with corporate toxic chemicals policies.
Bridging the credibility gap: eight corporate liability accounting loopholes that regulators must close, Sanford Lewis IEHN report, June 2009 – full report [pdf] and related YouTube interview with Sanford Lewis • Cold Truth.com • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009
Hazards news, 20 June 2009
Global: Help South Africa's Sappi workers!
Sappi, the global pulp and paper giant, has suspended 19 shop stewards in South Africa who stood up for a worker who refused dangerous work. Their union CEPPWAWU and the global union federation ICEM are asking for your support in urging management at the Enstra mill to reinstate the workers and drop disciplinary proceedings.
ICEM briefing • Send an email letter of protest to Sappi CEO Ralph J Boëttger and copy it to ICEM • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Britain: Send girls to school not work
The TUC is calling on consumers to demand that international supply chains making sportswear and goods for the London 2012 Olympics bring an end to girls' child labour, and provide primary education for all children around the world. A TUC report also reveals that while less than half of all child workers are girls – totalling about 100 million - they are disproportionately represented in the worst forms of work.
TUC news release and report [pdf] • ITUC YouTube video report on child labour •
ILO news release and World Day Against Child Labour, 12 June • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Spain: Government to punish 'barbaric bakery'
A Spanish bakery accused of barbaric behaviour towards an illegal worker will face “the full weight of the law,” the government has vowed. The statement came amid shock over the case of a Bolivian worker whose arm was cut off in an accident at work; the union CC.OO says he was dumped 100 metres from the hospital entrance and the severed limb was thrown in a rubbish bin.
BBC News Online • Think Spain • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Britain: Move to control site gangmasters
Unions are calling for legislation to regulate gangmasters operating in the UK construction industry. Labour MP Jim Sheridan’s 10 minute rule bill proposes extending the legislation to cover construction and is backed by unions in the sector.
Unite news release • UCATT news release • New Civil Engineer. Construction News • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Ireland: Road deaths linked to work vehicles
More than one in every three road deaths in Ireland involves a work vehicle, a conference has heard. Up to 100 people who die in road crashes each year are drivers of vehicles being used for work – and the contribution could be up to 5 per cent higher if deaths in off-road vehicles such as those used on construction sites are included.
Irish Times • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Britain: HSE wrong on bogus employment deaths
Construction union UCATT has accused the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) of failing to track accurately the deadly impact of bogus self-employment in the sector. It said the watchdog’s failure became apparent during an evidence session of the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee last week.
UCATT news release • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Britain: RMT warning on Tube maintenance cuts
Tube union RMT has warned of “potentially disastrous” safety risks over a new £60 million cut in maintenance on the London Underground. “These are real cuts that will hit track, signals, trains and stations maintenance as well as putting yet more tube staff jobs on the line,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said.
BBC News Online • London Evening Standard • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Italy: Deaths reignite workplace safety anger
The deaths of two Italian workers this week after entering a water purification system has reignited anger over the country’s appalling workplace safety record. Cesare Damiano, work spokesperson for the opposition Democratic Party, called for a “culture of safety involving prevention, rules and restrictions.”
Life in Italy • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Britain: Train drivers forced to pee in a bottle
Staff toilet facilities are so poor on some parts of the rail network, train drivers are forced to urinate in plastic bottles. Inability to go to the loo for long periods is linked to a range of chronic health problems.
ASLEF online article • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Britain: Paying the price of a vibration injury
A GMB member has received a £10,000 compensation payout after his hands were left permanently damaged by using vibrating tools at work. Keith Rowley, 55, a fitter from Stourbridge, was has the debilitating condition Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS), also known as vibration white finger.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Stourbridge News • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Global: Paid sick leave benefits business
Paid sick leave is not the burden claimed by business and does not lead to higher unemployment, a major international review has found. The study by US-based think tank the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) examined the connection between government-mandated paid sick days and the national rate of unemployment in 22 highly developed countries.
CEPR news release • Paid sick days don’t cause unemployment, CEPR [pdf]. AFL-CIO Now • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Britain: Union safety rep in honours list
A trade union safety rep has received an MBE for services to health and safety. Unite safety rep Terri Miller, a print finisher who works at De La Rue Security Print in Dunstable, received the honour for services to health and safety in the printing industry.
Unite news release • TUC news release • Print Week • Dunstable Today • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Britain: Council loses £1m sickness case
Cheltenham Borough Council has lost its High Court case against a former managing director after claiming she withheld a history of depressive illness. Mental health charity Mind said the ruling serves as an important reminder to employers about the importance of providing adequate support to people with mental health problems in the workplace.
Mind news release • BBC News Online • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Britain/USA: New concern at lax lead standards
The UK’s occupational exposure limits for lead are leaving workers at risk of serious chronic diseases. The US-based Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) wants a blood lead level of 10 micrograms per 100 millilitres (µg/100ml) or more in adults to be accepted as “elevated ” - the current UK action level for blood lead in male workers is 50 µg/100ml, with workers not suspended until the level hits 60 µg/100ml.
Earth Times • Sun Herald • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Global: Nanotubes can attack the immune system
Inhaling carbon nanotubes can suppress the immune system, according to new research. The findings raise possible health concerns for those working in the manufacture of the materials.
JD McDonald and others. Mechanisms for how inhaled multiwalled carbon nanotubes suppress systemic immune function in mice, Nature Nanotechnology. Published online: 14 Jue 2009. doi:10.1038/nnano.2009.151 [abstract] • The Guardian • Risk management of carbon nanotubes, HSE information sheet, March 2009 [pdf] • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Global: You may never know its nano
You may never know a product contains nanomaterials, because any mention is fast disappearing from product labels. Top experts addressing a meeting last week of consumer groups from the EU and US said some products containing nanoparticles do not mention this on their labels, while other firms are falsely claiming to have enhanced their products by using nanotechnology.
TACD conference presentations • Euractiv.com • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Britain: No HSE prosecution after nuke near disaster
Questions have been raised about a decision by the Health and Safety Executive’s nuclear arm not to prosecute a nuclear power firm that narrowly and seemingly by chance averted a nuclear disaster. An official interim report suggested that lack of staff resources at the NII was a factor in the decision not to prosecute.
Lowestoft Journal. The Guardian. Where is the justice?, Hazards magazine, number 104, October-December 2008 • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Britain: Firm fined after engineer is electrocuted
A Hatfield firm has been fined £35,000 after 30-year-old Ricky Cronin was electrocuted. SF (UK) Ltd, the engineering arm of British Gas, was also ordered to pay £65,000 costs at St Albans Crown Court.
HSE news release and electricity at work and risk assessment webpages • Welwyn and Hatfield Times • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Britain: Stockline blast victim gets £250k payout
A survivor of the Stockline disaster has been awarded £250,000 damages. An explosion at the Glasgow plastics factory five years ago - which caused the building to collapse - killed nine people and left 30 injured; spray painter Gordon Bell, 48, was trapped under the rubble for 15 minutes before managing to claw his way free.
Scotsman • BBC News Online • Daily Record • ICL/Stockline campaign website • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009
Hazards news, 13 June 2009
Global: Hazards on Facebook
Hazards magazine, the workers’ health and safety journal, has now got a dedicated Facebook group. It took the plunge after a one-off, single issue Facebook group set up close to the 28 April Workers’ Memorial Day proved an unexpected hit, with hundreds quickly signing on from across the globe.
Hazards on Facebook • Hazards magazine • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Europe: Union victory on safer needles
A long running trade union campaign to introduce safer needles and prevent sharps injuries to health workers reached a successful conclusion this week, with the agreement of strict European Union-wide guidelines. The framework agreement signed this week between the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and HOSPEEM - the European hospital and healthcare employers' association - aims to prevent the incidence of injuries with contaminated sharps, protect the workers at risk and establish appropriate response and follow up policies in cases where injuries occur.
UNISON news release • EPSU news release • Nursing Times • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Global: Another dangerous year for trade unionists
Last year 76 trade unionists were murdered around the world because of their work defending workers' rights. The 2009 ITUC Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights Violations, published this week by the global union confederation, details abuses of workers' rights in 143 countries.
TUC news release • ITUC news release and full report, and regional reports for Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East • ITUC YouTube page • BBC News Online • Financial Times • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Afghanistan: Child labour risk ever present
A quarter of all 7- to 14-year-old children in Afghanistan are at risk of leaving school and drifting into exploitative work situations, according to a new report by a Kabul-based think-tank. The report by the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), published in late May, called for interventions to stop children from entering work, better quality education and more employment opportunities for adults.
IRIN News • ILO news release and World Day Against Child Labour, 12 June • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Britain: Chimney firm pays out to asbestos victim
A Unite member who is suffering from asbestos related cancer has received a “substantial” compensation payout. Graham Dancer, 63, from Barnstaple, was diagnosed in 2007 with the incurable cancer mesothelioma, caused by exposure to asbestos while working from 1969 for Selkirk Flue Limited, now owned by Powrmatic.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • North Devon Gazette • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Britain: Concern at power station safety failings
A large steel beam was dropped by a crane near workers at Staythorpe power station – the second serious crane incident on the site in three weeks. In the 1 June “serious health and safety incident” a 5 tonne steel beam fell near workers.
GMB news release • Nottingham Evening Post • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Japan: Record numbers worked to death
Record numbers of Japanese workers were worked to death last year, according to official compensation figures. A total of 269 cases qualified for state compensation last year, one up on the preceding year and a record high for the third straight year.
Japan Today • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Britain: Campaigners blast 'damp squib' strategy
The Health and Safety Executive’s new five-year strategy has been described as a “damp squib” by campaigners. Hilda Palmer of the Hazards Campaign criticised the strategy, which urges employers to sign up to a voluntary safety “pledge”, for failing to call for either statutory directors’ duties or new rights for safety reps.
Hazards Campaign news release • FACK news release • Construction News • SHP Online • Building • HSE ‘Be part of the solution’ strategy and pledge • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Britain: Director fined over shaft death
A construction company and one of its directors have been fined after a Polish worker died in Dundee. Andrezej Freitag, 53, fell down an exhaust shaft at flats being built in the city in May 2008. Kinross-based Discovery Homes (Scotland) Ltd pleaded guilty at Dundee Sheriff Court to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £5,000; company director Richard Pratt also pleaded guilty to breaching section 37(1) of the same Act and was fined £4,000 - only the second successful prosecution of a company director in Scotland in six years for a breach of health and safety legislation.
HSE news release • BBC News Online • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
China: Iron mine landslide 'buries dozens'
A landslide in south-western China last week buried dozens of people, according to state media reports. The victims were buried by the landslide, in an iron-ore mining area of the Chongqing region.
Xinhua news release • BBC News Online • Asia News • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Britain: A dead rabbit gets swifter, better justice
Safety campaigners have reacted furiously after the death of a rabbit was treated more seriously by the courts than the death of a construction worker. Discovery Homes (Scotland) Ltd was fined £5,000 and the firm’s director Richard Pratt £4,000 on 8 June after the death of employee Andrezej Freitag; on the same day Steven Appleton was jailed for causing unnecessary suffering to a rabbit at Magistrates Court in Caerphilly after he stamped it to death, receiving a six month custodial sentence.
FACK news release and website • The death at work of Gordon Field, Sharon Norman’s father [pdf] • Contract Journal. BBC News Online • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Britain: Shame of site firm’s double conviction
Construction firm Bouygues UK has said the two safety convictions it received in court over the past week – including one for the death of a worker – were “deeply regrettable”.
HSE news releases on the 8 June 2009 and 3 June 2009 fines • Construction News • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Britain: Heat exhaustion killed silo worker
The parents of Scunthorpe worker Paul Sharp, who collapsed and died while working in a fat silo, have told of their heartache after their son’s death. Gainsborough-based Silocheck Limited was fined £30,000 at Swindon Crown Court last week after admitting breaching two counts of the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997.
HSE news release • Scunthorpe Telegraph • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Britain: Two in five teachers sick with stress
More than two out of five teachers (43.9 per cent) have suffered from stress related illnesses, a new poll has revealed. The Teachers TV survey, based on responses from 772 primary and secondary school teachers, found a quarter of the affected teachers said they have lived with anxiety (27.1 per cent), with others suffering from depression and insomnia.
Teachers TV news release • NASUWT news release • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Australia: Deadly grounds for a sit down protest
Prolonged sitting is killing Australian workers – both blue and white collar – and even 30 minutes' exercise a day may be insufficient protection from this growing occupational health and safety hazard. New Australian research shows hours of sedentary activity, like typing emails or sitting at a quality control station, are associated with higher cardio-metabolic health risks that are independent of time spent in moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity.
Queensland Safety Conference news release • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Britain: Job problems drove school head to suicide
A headmaster hanged himself after discovering that the parents of a pupil were bringing a tribunal complaint about his school, an inquest has heard. Neil Sears, 52, who was found hanging from a heating pipe in the boiler room at Meadowgate School, in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, on 20 January this year left a note on a fax machine, which read: “I just give up, sorry.”
The Telegraph • Wisbech Standard • Norfolk Eastern Daily Press • Peterborough Today • Hazards occupational suicide webpages • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Britain: Bullying probe after teacher dies
A member of staff has been suspended after bullying allegations were raised at an inquest into a teacher's death. Britt Pilton, 29, collapsed and died at High Greave Junior School in Rotherham in February, with a coroner concluding she Pilton died from the effects of bulimia which arose out of long-standing anxiety at the school.
BBC News Online • The Sun • Daily Mirror • Daily Mail • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Britain: Asbestos victims expose insurance ‘disgrace’
Asbestos victims, their families and workplace justice campaigners have taken their campaign for justice to a major insurance industry event. Protesters greeted industry representatives attending the Association of British Insurers (ABI) conference in London on 9 June, calling for a change to employers’ liability insurance rules to provide for an insurance fund of last resort, where the insurer holding an employer’s policy cannot be identified.
Unite news report • Irwin Mitchell Solicitors news release • Daily Mirror •Asbestos Forum • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Britain: Ballerinas face work hazards
Professional ballerinas, like highly driven young female athletes, face quadruple work-related health threats - disordered eating, menstrual dysfunction, the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, and early signs of cardiovascular disease.
Fox News • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Britain: Yvette Cooper is new work secretary
Yvette Cooper has been named by Gordon Brown as his new work and pensions secretary after James Purnell’s resignation last week. She will take the reins on issues such as welfare reform and the construction deaths inquiry and the introduction of a mandatory tower crane register; the Department of Work and Pensions also oversees the work of the Health and Safety Executive.
DWP news release • Construction News • Risks 410 • 13 June 2009
Hazards news, 6 June 2009
Britain: Union wins gun trauma payout
The driver of the tube train on which an innocent member of the public was shot dead by anti-terror police has received £1,000 compensation for trauma because he was chased down an underground tunnel by officers in the aftermath of the incident. ASLEF member Quincy Oji had to take time off work with post traumatic stress after being caught up in the tragedy at London’s Stockwell tube station in July 2005.
ASLEF news release • The Guardian • BBC News Online • The Telegraph • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
USA: They want more than blood
American Red Cross blood transfusion centres have been picketed across the US in response to plans to boost profits by jeopardising the safety of the blood supply and mistreating workers. The union-backed protesters are concerned that blood safety will suffer because the Red Cross national office is insisting that workers take pay cuts and that qualified nurses be replaced with unlicensed supervisors.
Union gal blog • AFL-CIO Now blog • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Britain: GMB warning on airport fumes
Passengers and staff are being exposed to high levels of potentially toxic aircraft fumes at a London airport, the union GMB has said. GMB says London City Airport’s extremely unusual parking system causes jet engine exhaust to be propelled straight towards the arrivals lounge in the airport building.
GMB news release • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Britain: Asbestos danger message driven home
Residents and maintenance workers are at risk from asbestos because of “huge deficiencies” in the rules covering the management of asbestos in people’s homes. UCATT general secretary Alan Ritchie commented: “The report demonstrates that new regulations are urgently needed in order to ensure that construction workers undertaking maintenance and refurbishment work are properly protected.”
UCATT news release • IDS news release • Morning Star • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
South Africa: Health workers face TB risk
Health care workers in South Africa may be at much higher risk of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) than the general public, according to new research. A study of 3,639 patients referred between 2003 and 2007 to KwaZulu-Natal province’s King George V Hospital specialist treatment centre confirmed that poor TB infection control measures in many of South Africa's health facilities are putting health care workers at risk.
IRIN news • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Britain: Unite anger at compensation law delay
The union Unite has reacted angrily after a Scottish law intended to create a fairer compensation system for victims of accidents and diseases was blocked this week by SNP, Conservative and Liberal Democrat members of the Scottish Parliamentary Justice Committee.
Unite news release • Proposed Damages (Scotland) Bill [pdf] • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Britain: Food workers welcome gangmaster action
A crackdown on abusive gangmasters has been welcomed by a food union. GMB was commenting after two gangmasters has their licences revoked.
GMB Universal Services Ltd news release and GMB Saphire news release • GLA news release • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Britain: Six digit payout for wrecked hand
A GMB member who lost four fingers after his hand was mangled at work and who later had to have his thumb amputated has received a six-figure sum in compensation. His employer was also fined £50,000 for criminal safety breaches related to the incident. The 49-year-old worker, from Farnworth near Bolton was working as a waste disposal operative for Greater Manchester Waste Limited when his left hand was crushed in a machine in December 2005.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Britain: Employer ignored workers’ concerns
Unsafe employers continue to pay compensation rather than remedy safety problems. Unite member Gerard Healey, 59, received a “substantial” sum in compensation after his former employer Mayr-Melnhof Packaging Limited failed to listen to employees’ health and safety concerns.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Britain: Firm pays twice for firing injured worker
A major events organiser fired a worker after he broke his foot at work – but ended paying for both his unfair dismissal and his injury. BECTU member Tony Pike was dismissed from his job as a production manager for Dream Events Limited after he suffered a stress fracture in his foot.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Europe: Backdoor attempt to undo regulation
Health and safety legislation across the European Union is being threatened by an unaccountable “high level group” created by the European Commission with a deregulation brief. The ETUC’s health and safety research arm, HESA, says the Stoiber group is “taking positions that far exceed its remit limited to administrative burdens”, and instead is trying to attack legislation and its application, including REACH, drivers’ hours rules and working time regulations.
Community bureaucracy and “better regulation”… pot – kettle?, special report on better legislation, HESA newsletter, number 39, 2009 and [pdf] • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Britain: Work’s a lot worse than you think
Workers massively under-estimate the risk of suffering a serious workplace injury, new research has found. Survey results released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to coincide with the launch of its new strategy reveal almost half of Britain’s workers know someone who has been injured at work but, on average, employees think that just 3,000 people were killed or seriously injured at work last year – 45 times lower than the number reported each year to HSE.
HSE news release and Be Part of the Solution strategy and pledge • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Britain: Official safety guides to lose price tag
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is making millions of pounds worth of its priced publications available free online. The move, pressed for by the TUC and unions, was announced this week at the launch of the new HSE Be Part of the Solution strategy.
TUC news release • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Britain: Survivor stress hits the workplace
British workers are experiencing panic attacks and insomnia because of stress associated with the economic downturn, a survey has suggested. Norwich Union Healthcare polled 200 GPs, 200 business leaders and 1,000 employees for its Health of the Workplace survey and found half the workers admitted to being stressed, while one in five reported suffering depression.
BBC News Online • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Global: Stop exploitation of shipbreaking workers
International union bodies are calling for a new independent authority to govern shipbreaking. In a joint submission to the European Commission, the International and European Metalworkers' Federations have called for the establishment of a new independent authority to regulate one of the world's most dangerous industries.
IMF news release • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Britain: TUC’s cautious note on fit notes
The TUC has sounded a note of caution about government proposals announced last week concerning the reform of the sick note. Workplace health campaigners have raised concerns about the ability of GPs to make judgments about what work a patient may be able to undertake when the medics have no knowledge of a workplace or a job and little training in occupational health.
DWP news release • TUC news release • EEF news release • Personnel Today • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Global: Pleural plaques linked to lung cancer
One in eight patients with lung cancer also had pleural plaques, a study has found. The Japanese study comes at a time the insurance industry is challenging moves to compensate pleural plaques in Scotland and across Britain.
The Yomiuri Shimbun • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Britain: Firm fined £280,000 for fatal breaches
A shipping firm was fined £280,000 last week for safety breaches which a judge said probably contributed to the deaths of three workers. Finlay MacFadyen, 48, died on board the Viking Islay in September 2007 as he tried to save two colleagues from an oxygen-starved compartment.
Nautilus news release • Press and Journal • BBC News Online • Yorkshire Post • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Britain: Shell fined record sum over fire safety
Shell International was fined £300,000 this week over deficiencies in fire safety at the Shell Centre in central London, London Fire Brigade (LFB) said. The company was also ordered to pay £45,000 in costs after it pleaded guilty at Inner London crown court to three breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO).
London Fire Brigade news release • The Guardian • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Britain: Injury fine for serial offender
A West Midlands flooring firm has been prosecuted and fined for a third time for failing to guard moving machinery parts. The latest court appearance for The Amtico Company Ltd came after employee Ian Burridge’s hand was crushed between heated high-speed rollers in September 2007.
HSE news release and 'Using work equipment safely' guidance [pdf] • Coventry Telegraph • Risks 409 • 6 June 2009
Hazards news, 30 May 2009
Britain: Fire crews warn of staff cut dangers
Firefighters and the public will be put at risk if plans to cut the number of firefighters go ahead, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has warned.
FBU news releases on the North Yorkshire, Essex and Greater Manchester plans • Personnel Today • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
USA/Iraq: KBR gets bonuses for deadly work
The US Department of Defense paid former Halliburton subsidiary KBR more than $80 million (£50m) in bonuses for contracts to install electrical wiring in Iraq. The award payments were for work that resulted in the electrocution deaths of US soldiers, according to Department of Defense documents revealed last week in a US Senate hearing.
The Nation • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Britain: Firm failed to listen to union
London Underground has paid “substantial” compensation to a Tube driver after it ignored union complaints about dirty, hazardous train carriages. Derek Walters, 45, is facing surgery on his hand after his finger was slit open by a piece of broken glass left in a train cab.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Britain: Skanska promises to stop blacklisting
Site union UCATT has won a commitment from construction multinational Skanska that no form of blacklisting will be tolerated on their sites and that an investigation will be launched into their past conduct.
UCATT news release • The Observer • Contract Journal • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Global: Urgent action call on swine flu
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is calling for government action to reduce the risk at work from “swine flu”. ITUC general secretary Guy Ryder said: “Trade unions are uniquely placed to help in the fight against this and other diseases through their close connections with their members at work.” He added: “They have particular expertise from decades of work on occupational health and safety, including programmes on infectious disease, such as HIV-AIDS. Governments and employers need to work with trade unions to help make sure that the risk of transmission of this virus in workplaces is contained.” ITUC said one measure that can reduce the risk is encouraging people who feel sick to take time off work to avoid transmission in the workplace. “However, millions of workers around the world have no entitlement to sick leave for themselves or to look after family members, in particular the lowest-paid whose families simply cannot afford to lose even a day’s income,” it said. “The reality for many workers is that they risk dismissal or other sanctions for simply taking a day off work due to illness. Without urgent action by governments to deal with this issue, measures to reduce transmission in the workplace are likely to be weak or ineffectual in the countries concerned.”
ITUC news release • PSI health blog • US union guidance on ‘pandemic flu’ • TUC guide • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Britain: ‘Gutless’ blacklister sent to the Crown Court
Construction union UCATT has “warmly welcomed” the decision to refer blacklister Ian Kerr to the Crown Court for sentencing. The private investigator, who did not attend this week’s hearing at Macclesfield Magistrates Court, pleaded guilty to running an unlawful blacklisting service on building workers.
UCATT news release • ICO news release [pdf] • The Guardian • Contract Journal • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Britain: Digger death company closed down
A haulage firm responsible for an incident that led to a woman's death has been put out of business by the Traffic Commissioner. A public inquiry in March heard 28 prohibitions had been issued against Munro & Sons (Highland) Ltd for safety breaches since 2005.
BBC News Online • Scotsman • Press and Journal • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Britain: £10k fine for untrained worker injury
Havering Council has been told to pay almost £20,000 in fines and costs after an untrained temporary worker was injured when he severed a main power cable. The StreetCare employee struck the 11,000 volt cable while using a hydraulic breaker.
HSE news release • Romford Recorder • Contract Journal • Construction News • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Canada: Iron ore workers map out ill-health
Former workers of a Canadian iron ore plant have got together to investigate how their jobs have damaged their health. A union-organised occupational disease clinic this month targeted former employees of the Inco Ltd sintering plant, their widows or other survivors.
The Sault Star • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Britain: Polish worker electrocuted on farm
A fruit farmer has been fined less than £10,000 after a Polish berry picker was killed by an 11,000 volt shock from an overhead cable. Farmer Peter Thomson had been warned about the danger just two weeks before the tragedy, but took no action.
HSE news release and electricity webpages • BBC News Online • Daily Record • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Britain: Polish workers 'exploited' by gangmaster
A gangmaster has been stripped of his licence after a seven week investigation identified a catalogue of safety and employment abuses. Jagjit Singh, who ran Saphire Trading in Southampton, is said to have created an “atmosphere of fear and intimidation in the workplace.”
GLA news release • BBC News Online • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Britain: Rehab industry issues voluntary code
A voluntariy guidelines have been produced with the aim of cleaning up the private rehabilitation industry. TUC said proper regulation of the industry would be more effective than voluntary guidelines.
UK Rehabilitation Council standards • BBC News Online • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Britain: Knitting workers win noise appeal
Noisy knitwear factories could face a big compensation bill after the Court of Appeal ruled they should have been taking measures to protect workers’ hearing for over 30 years. Up to 700 workers employed in the knitting industry are seeking damages for what they say is work-induced deafness.
Nottingham Evening Post • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Australia: Union wins drug test concessions
An Australian construction union has negotiated major concessions on a random drug testing policy introduced by oil giant Shell. CFMEU described the deal, which prohibits urine tests, as a “significant decision in protecting employees’ privacy and improving drug and alcohol testing standards throughout the workforce.”
CFMEU news release • Sydney Morning Herald • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Britain: Sellafield workers exposed to radiation
Nuclear company Sellafield Limited is to be prosecuted for alleged breaches of health and safety law after two site workers were exposed to airborne radioactive contamination. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said two employees of a site contractor had been exposed to the radiation during the decontamination of an area of concrete floor in July 2007.
HSE news release • Construction News • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Britain: Paint spraying job killed man
A car paint sprayer died of pneumonia after long-term exposure to paint fumes, an inquest has ruled. Car paint sprayers are exposed to chemicals including diisocyanates, a potent cause of COAD, the condition that killed David Mathis, aged 66.
Hastings Observer • A job to die for, Hazards magazine, 2005 • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Britain: Untrained worker trapped by dumper
Employers are being warned to make sure staff are properly trained to use heavy workplace vehicles, after an Ascot company was prosecuted for a criminal safety breach. Ascot-based Shorts Group Ltd was fined at Maidenhead Magistrates Court following the incident on 21 May 2008 when a demolition labourer was injured.
HSE news release and HSE Construction Information Sheet 52 - Safe use of site dumpers [pdf] • Maidenhead Advertiser • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Britain: Firm fined for forklift folly
A chance sighting of unsafe work practices has landed a Macclesfield company with a £6,000 fine. Eazyfone Ltd was also ordered at Macclesfield Magistrates' Court to pay £2,285 costs after pleading guilty to a criminal breach of safety law.
HSE news release and Shattered lives campaign • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009
Hazards news, 23 May 2009
Global: Get your Hazards now!
The latest edition of the multiple-award winning workers’ health and safety journal Hazards is available now. Hazards was the only magazine and the only UK entry to feature this year in a US list of the world’s top 50 most influential contributors on occupational health and safety.
Hazards magazine. For further information, contact Hazards, tel: 0114 201 4265 • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Britain: Don’t let them turn a crisis into a tragedy
As company bosses flap in the face of the current economic uncertainty, health and safety might not be at the forefront of their minds. And that’s why the union Prospect is handing its union reps new guidance on how to navigate safely through “organisational change”.
Prospect news release • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Britain: Postal workers refuse offensive mail
Postal workers can refuse to deliver “offensive” mail on health and safety grounds, their union has confirmed. The CWU’s national agreement with Royal Mail notes a refusal to deliver will be acceptable “where an individual believes that delivery of a particular item may incur personal risk.”
CWU news release • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Global: World Bank says avoid asbestos
The World Bank, which finances massive building projects across the globe, has said asbestos-containing materials (ACM) “should be avoided in new construction, including construction for disaster relief. In reconstruction, demolition, and removal of damaged infrastructure, asbestos hazards should be identified and a risk management plan adopted that includes disposal techniques and end-of-life sites.”
BWI news report • World Bank asbestos good practice guide [pdf] • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Britain: Teaching assistants face routine violence
Half of all teaching assistants experienced violence or abuse at work in the last year, a survey by public sector union UNISON has found. In the light of the “shock” findings, the union is calling for better training to help teaching assistants cope with attacks at work, with clearer guidance and more comprehensive risk assessments.
UNISON news release • Personnel Today • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Britain: Underground action on safety
Victoria Line Tube drivers took a second day of action in a dispute over a failure to install door safety equipment and what their union RMT described as the ongoing bullying, harassment and victimisation of staff. The union hit out at London Underground (LU) and Transport for London (TfL) bosses who have said that the strike is “nothing to do with safety.”
RMT news release and earlier related RMT news release • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Australia: Go-ahead for national safety law
Australia is to move to a national system of workplace safety laws after state and territory governments agreed to harmonise their laws in a move designed to reduce business red tape. Unions have criticised the changes, with Jeff Lawrence, secretary of the national union federation ACTU, saying they would “significantly undermine protections” for many workers.
The Age • Sydney Morning Herald • The Australian • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Europe: Victory on working hours for drivers
Europe’s transport unions have won support for safe driving hours. The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) applauded the European Parliament’s decision to reject a proposal on a revised working time directive for road transport.
ITF news report • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Britain: London cabbies protest at toilet rip-off
London taxi drivers picketed Westminster City Council for an hour on Wednesday 20 May over “rip-off” parking charges which are forcing them to spend up to £3 just to use the toilet.
RMT news release • Hazards toilet breaks webpages • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Britain: Six figure payout for serious leg injury
A warehouse operative has been awarded a £359,717.62 payout for a workplace leg injury which may eventually result in amputation. Unite member Michael Crane, 62, received this interim compensation award from Lenham Storage one week ahead of scheduled High Court hearing.
Pattinson and Brewer news release • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Australia: Dire prognosis for health check scheme
A state-wide system of health checks in Victoria, Australia, has been found to be in a very bad way. The state-government funded WorkHealth programme had been opposed by unions because the initial design omitted any consideration of health problems caused or exacerbated by work itself - and now employers’ groups have abandoned the scheme, which could end up a fraction of its intended size.
The Age • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Britain: Family lost dad to asbestos cancer
The family of a former Unite member who died of an asbestos-related disease has received “substantial” damages. John Squirrell received the compensation on behalf of his dad, widower Noel Squirrell, who died from the cancer mesothelioma in September 2007.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Britain: Shiftworkers get second class treatment
Shiftworkers in the UK are facing serious health risks but are getting second class safety because the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) clocks off outside normal office hours, according to a new report. Report author Professor Andrew Watterson calls for more HSE resources to be targeted at workers on atypical hours, rigorous enforcement of working time law, an end to the UK opt-out from the working time directive’s 48-hour working week ceiling, and for the UK government to follow the Danish government’s lead and compensate workers with breast cancer caused by long-term night work.
Stirling University news release. While you were sleeping, Hazards magazine, Number 106, 2009 and related working hours webpages • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Britain: Drug tests used to jettison staff
Employers are increasingly using drug testing to get rid of staff without having to make redundancy payouts, a drugs and human rights charity has said. Release has reported a four-fold increase in calls to its drugs team about problems with workplace testing in the first three months of 2009 compared with the same period last year.
The Guardian • Hazards drugs webpages • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Britain: Action call on construction gangmasters
Migrant worker abuse in the construction industry must be tackled within two years or the gangmaster law should be extended to cover the sector, a government select committee has recommended. The recommendation of the Home Affairs Select Committee has been welcomed by unions, but they say action should not be delayed.
The Trade in Human Beings: Human Trafficking in the UK, Home Affairs Committee - Sixth Report • UCATT news release. Unite news release • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Britain: PM urged to act on asbestos deaths
A petition with over 24,000 signatures has been handed into 10 Downing Street calling on the government to fund a National Centre for Asbestos Related Disease (NCARD). Campaigners are fighting for a virtual centre to help fund research into asbestos related diseases including mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Shields Gazette • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Britain: Insurers face asbestos protest
The Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK is to hold a demonstration at the Association of British Insurers (ABI) general meeting on Tuesday 9 June 2009 at the Grange St Paul's Hotel, 10 Godliman Street, London. It will call for an Employers’ Liability Insurance Bureau (ELIB), paid for through insurance premiums.
Asbestos Forum • 23 May 2009
Britain: Cricketers get skin cancer tests
Members of the Professional Cricketers’ Association are to receive regular screening for skin cancer. PCA, which represents the interests of players, organised the programme after one in seven county players were referred to specialists when potential melanomas were found during check-ups.
BBC News Online • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Global: Green jobs aren’t necessarily safe jobs
While politicians worldwide are all waxing lyrical about the wonders of green jobs, few are actually giving any attention to the workers who will end up doing them. Recycling, for example, is one of the UK’s mostly deadly industries. And this includes high tech industries - computer and TV recycling exposes workers to lead and dozens of other toxins. Luckily, workplace safety experts in the US are pressing to make sure green jobs are also safety jobs.
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition ‘Green jobs platform’ • Labor Occupational Health Program Health and safety and green jobs guide. NYCOSH ‘Are green jobs safe jobs’ presentation and ‘Green buildings, green jobs’ presentation • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Britain: Fine after worker loses leg
Agricultural contractor Pete Mellor Ltd has been fined £12,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,564 after a worker’s leg had to be amputated as a result of being crushed by a falling weight.
HSE news release • Burton Mail • Derby Evening Telegraph • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Britain: Who’d have thought rotating blades were dangerous?
A metal recycling firm has been fined after an employee working on a machine with inadequately guarded rotating blades suffered a severe hand injury. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted JBM International Ltd for its failure to make a suitable risk assessment of the dangers posed by the rotary valves of the dust extraction unit.
HSE news release and risk assessment webpages • Risks 407 • 23 May 2009
Hazards news, 16 May 2009
USA: WR Grace escapes justice on asbestos crimes
A federal jury in Montana has acquitted chemical giant WR Grace and Company and three of its former executives of knowingly exposing mine workers and residents of Libby, Montana, to asbestos and then covering up their actions. The verdict has was greeted with disappointment in Libby, where residents had already seen to their increasing dismay a hostile judge repeatedly attack prosecutors and rule inadmissible key evidence of WR Grace’s culpability.
Andrew Schneider Investigates • Democracy Now! • The Pump Handle • Risks 406 • 16 May 2009
Britain: Move to stop blacklisting of union reps
The government intends to introduce new regulations to prevent union members being denied employment by secret blacklists, business secretary Peter Mandelson has said.
BERR news release • Personnel Today • BBC News Online • The Guardian • Risks 406 • 16 May 2009
Britain: UCATT welcomes blacklisting action
Construction union UCATT has welcomed the government’s commitment to outlaw blacklisting but says it is disappointed that the process will be delayed as a result of a fresh consultation exercise. The Information Commissioner announced in March that over 40 major construction companies were paying a company called the Consulting Association to routinely blacklist workers.
UCATT news release • Construction News • Morning Star • Risks 406 • 16 May 2009
Norway: Rail workers win violence protection
Railway workers in Norway have won improved protection against violence at work, following their unions’ lobbying efforts. Workers represented by Norsk Jernbaneforbund and Norsk Lokomotivmannsforbund won an amendment to existing criminal law after the union engaged the government in talks to improve the plight of railway workers who were experiencing increasing violence, particularly at night.
ITF news report • Risks 406 • 16 May 2009
Britain: Victimised union activist seeks justice
Construction giant Sir Robert McAlpine is facing a compensation claim from a blacklisted bricklayer who believes he was turned down for work by the company. UCATT activist Mick Dooley has lodged his claim with the Employment Tribunal.
Contract Journal • People Management • Risks 406 • 16 May 2009
Britain: Call to tackle asbestos in schools
Teaching unions have renewed their call on the government to remove asbestos from schools when they are refurbished under the Building Schools for the Future programme. The call came in private meeting with Gordon Brown this week.
The Guardian • Western Mail • Asbestos in Schools website • Risks 406 • 16 May 2009
Global: Campaign pushes for good work
Unions, businesses, academics and development organisations have launched a new group aimed at improving the employment conditions of workers around the globe. At the event at TUC’s London HQ this week, TUC deputy general secretary Frances O'Grady said while the global slowdown was causing much pain and misery amongst UK workers who have lost their jobs, the impact on workers in poorer countries was devastating.
TUC news release and Frances O’Grady’s speech • Risks 406 • 16 May 2009
Britain: Death case may affect site fatalities probe
The chair of the government convened inquiry into construction industry fatalities has indicated the prosecution last week of a construction giant could influence her findings, a trade journal has reported. Rita Donaghy was present at last week’s Old Bailey judgment against Laing O’Rourke, when the firm was fined £135,000 and told it should be “thoroughly ashamed” over a workplace fatality.
HSE news release • Laing O’Rourke annual review [pdf] • Construction News• Building • Dartford Times • FACK • Risks 406 • 16 May 2009
China: Bosses cover up mine deaths
Seven people died of gas poisoning in a central China coal mine earlier this month, but the management attempted to conceal most of the deaths. A local government investigation found that five bodies had been removed to other places and one who died in a hospital went unreported, reported the city government of Dengfeng, where the incident took place.
Xinhua China Daily • Risks 406 • 16 May 2009
Britain: Families remember ICL blast victims
Families who lost loved ones in a Glasgow factory disaster gathered this week for an emotional church service to mark the fifth anniversary of the tragedy. Nine people died and 33 others were injured, many of them pulled from the rubble, in the 11 May 2004 blast at the ICL/Stockline Plastics factory in Maryhill.
Patricia Ferguson MSP and Ann McKechin MP joint statement • Evening Times • ICL/Stockline campaign website • Risks 406 • 16 May 2009
Britain: Two suffocated on fish farm barge
Two men have died after suffocating in a fish farm barge. Maarten Pieter Den Heijer, 30, and 45-year-old Robert MacDonald died on Loch Creran, a sea loch north of Oban, on 11 May; a third man, aged 42, survived after being airlifted to hospital.
Strathclyde Police news release • BBC News Online and earlier report • The Herald • Risks 406 • 16 May 2009
Australia: Unions push for tougher laws
Tougher national health and safety laws are needed urgently to tackle the terrible toll of death, disease and injury facing Australian workers, unions have warned. Families of victims of workplace tragedies and unions this week launched a hard-hitting new advertising campaign that aims to lift health and safety standards and improve legislative protections for workers.
ACTU news release, action campaign and factsheet [pdf] • VTHC news release • ABC News • The Australian • Risks 406 • 16 May 2009
Britain: New rights plan for agency workers
Agency workers are set to get the same pay and conditions as permanent staff, the government has said. Launching a consultation on the changes, the government said the new rights would build on last year's agreement between TUC and Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
BERR news release • TUC news release • Unite news release • UCATT news release • Risks 406 • 16 May 2009
Britain: Scots transport workers welcome safety bill
A draft law intended to reduce violence to transport workers in Scotland has been welcomed by unions. Transport unions had demanded for transport workers equal protection in law as a nurse, doctor or any emergency service worker, but up to now have been unable to convince the Scottish government to act.
ASLEF news release and draft bill [pdf] • Risks 406 • 16 May 2009
Global: Overworked to death making Makro jeans
Low-priced jeans sold by cash and-carry giant Makro are being produced in horrific conditions in a sweatshop factory in Bangladesh. Workers toil up to 14 hours a day seven days a week for wages as low as 8p an hour, a report from the US National Labor Committee has found.
NLC report and 9 May 2009 letter to Metro • The People • Risks 406 • 16 May 2009
Britain: HSE action on one in five sites
One in five construction sites failed health and safety checks during the latest national inspection blitz carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). HSE took enforcement action on 348 of the 1,759 sites visited - the equivalent of almost 20 per cent of all sites visited - and inspectors issued nearly 500 enforcement notices.
Contract Journal • | 