Hazards news, 4 September 2010

Britain: Payback offenders attack supervisors
Supervisors of offenders on unpaid work schemes are increasingly being subjected to threats and verbal and physical abuse, with many complaining of feeling intimidated and afraid, according to a union survey. Most threats are made by offenders, but probation officers’ union Napo also points to attacks by rival gangs, including shootings.
The Guardian • Morning Star • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

USA: Safety is top worker concern   
More than eight in 10 US workers — 85 per cent — rank workplace safety their top workplace concern, according to a new study from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago. Robert Shull, the workers’ rights programme officer at the Public Welfare Foundation, commented: “Given the importance that workers themselves place on this issue, we should not have to mourn the loss of people on the job before government and employers take more effective measures to ensure that employees can go home safely after work.”
Public Welfare Foundation news release • NORC survey report [pdf] • The Pump Handle • Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

Britain: Union plan for better community service
Community sentences can deliver a cost-effective alternative to prison – but only with the necessary investment, management and support, UNISON has said. The union is calling for better alternatives to jail terms and has launched an “eight star plan” it says will result in community sentences delivering a real payback to local communities and for the offenders taking part.
UNISON news release • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

Britain: Pensions move will hurt manual workers
Manual workers will suffer serious disadvantage as a result of an upward shift in the retirement age, UCATT has warned. The construction union was commenting after new figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed manual workers were more than twice as likely as professional workers to die before they reach 65 years of age.
UCATT news release • Office for National Statistics • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

USA: BP quizzed on its safety record
US federal investigators last week pressed senior BP officials about whether the company had a troubled record of safety problems even before the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster. Time after time, BP appeared to have gambled with safety, said a chair of the panel, Captain Hung Nguyen of the Coast Guard, noting: “One dot is a point, two dots is a line, and three dots is a trend... There’s a trend there about the safety culture of BP.”
New York Times • Boston Globe • More on BP’s safety record • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

Britain: Derailment underlines guard’s ‘crucial’ role
The crucial role played by the conductor of a train derailed in a level-crossing collision in Suffolk last month has underlined the importance of safety-trained guards, the rail union RMT has said. Twenty-one people were hurt, two seriously, when a train derailed in a crash with a lorry on a level crossing.
RMT news release • BBC News Online • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

Ukraine: Steel worker dies during safety visit
A steelworker has died at an ArcelorMittal steel plant in the Ukraine while the firm’s global safety committee was meeting on the premises. The tragedy at the Kryviy Rih plant on 19 August highlights the “unacceptable” fatality rate at the company, said global metal unions’ federation IMF.
IMF news release • ArcelorMittal/IMF occupational health and safety agreement [pdf] • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

Global: Vedanta stripped of safety award
Multinational mining group Vedanta Resources has been stripped of a British Safety Council (BSC) international safety award after it was revealed it had not declared at least 40 workers died in a chimney collapse on 23 September 2009 at one of its sites in India.
Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

Britain: Death shows need for director accountability
Health and safety campaigners have demanded that company directors be held personally accountable for the “serial killing” of workers after the latest death at a Corus steelworks. Barry Shaw died on 28 August in what police described as a “crushing accident” at Corus's Scunthorpe steel mill.
Hazards Campaign news release • More on Corus’ health and safety record • Morning Star • Grimsby Telegraph • BBC News Online • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010
Britain: Directors get small fine for severed fingers
Two directors in Leeds have been found guilty of safety offences after a worker had his fingers crushed in a hydraulic press. The 57-year-old man, who has not been named, had the ends of two fingers severed in April 2009 at Lupton Fabrications Ltd, a metal fabricating company formerly owned by Dennis Brunt and Peter Critchard.
HSE news release and engineering safety guide • Yorkshire Evening Post • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

Britain: Director guilty after worker’s plunge
A Cheshire building company and its director have been fined after a worker fell nine metres from scaffolding at a building site in Llanfairfechan, sustaining severe injuries. JBB Homes Ltd - which has subsequently gone into liquidation - pleaded guilty to a criminal safety breach and was fined £20,000 plus costs of £10,835 and director, James Burt, pleaded guilty to breaching section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £10,000.
HSE news release and Shattered Lives campaign • Construction Enquirer • Daily Post • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

Britain: Schoolboy died after farm roof fall
A Scottish farming partnership has been fined £13,500 following the death of a 13-year-old boy. Austin Irvine, who was the stepson of a junior partner in the Moray farm, fell through the roof of a farm building on 21 August 2006.
HSE news release • The Sun • Aberdeen Press and Journal • Daily Record • Farmers Weekly • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

Britain: Bricklayer paralysed by falling steel beam
Doncaster based developer Strata Homes has been fined for a criminal safety breach after a worker was left paralysed from the chest down when he was crushed by a steel beam weighing more than 660 pounds. Anton Burrows, 24, was working as part of a bricklaying team sub-contracted to Strata Homes Yorkshire Ltd, at a Huddersfield development on 7 April 2009.
HSE news release, falls webpage and guide to safe lifting operations [pdf] • Construction Enquirer • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

Britain: Man brain damaged by falling panel saw
A Keighley haulage company has been fined £5,000 after one of its employees suffered permanent brain damage when he was struck on the head by a 290 kilogram panel saw. Nicholas Holmes, 49, from Bradford, was delivering panel saws to the Saw Centre in Glasgow on 16 August 2007 when one fell off the vehicle, hitting him on the head.
HSE news release • Telegraph and Argus • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

Britain: Scots sawmill a repeat offender
A Scottish sawmill has been fined £28,000 after two of its employees were severely injured in separate incidents less than three months apart. Adam Wilson and Sons Limited pleaded guilty to multiple criminal breaches of health and safety law in relation to the two incidents and was fined £8,000 for the first incident and £20,000 for the second incident.
HSE news release • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

Britain: Modern-day ‘slaves’ face brutal treatment
Thousands of foreign domestic workers are being abused sexually, physically and psychologically by employers, according to an investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches team. “The first thing to understand when we're talking about slavery is that we're not using a metaphor,” said Aidan McQuade from Anti-Slavery International.
Dispatches • The Guardian • Anti-Slavery International action call to the government on domestic slavery and YouTube film • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

Europe: SUBSPORT guide to chemical substitution
A new European online resource is being developed, to provide information about safer alternatives to the use of hazardous chemicals. The EU-backed substitution portal, being prepared by groups from Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Spain, including the trade union safety research body ISTAS, aims to be the leading database for substitution worldwide.
SUBSPORT website • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

Egypt: Safety campaigners escape military jail    
A military court in Egypt has acquitted three workers accused of leading a strike to protest poor safety conditions inside an army-affiliated factory and has given five others suspended sentences of between six months and one year. Unions, however, are to challenge the legality of the prosecution.
Daily Eygpt News • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

Global: Canada gives asbestos mine more money
A last-ditch effort to revive Quebec’s asbestos industry has received a government cash lifeline while the deadly mining operation scrabbles to find private investors. The rapid approval by the Quebec government of a Can$3.5 million (£2.15m) guaranteed line of credit, plus political support from Canada’s federal government, means the Jeffrey mine in Asbestos, Quebec will reopen for the month of September while it courts possible investors from the UK and India.
IBAS news release • Toronto Star • CBC News • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

Hazards news, 28 August 2010

USA: There are alternatives to toxic chemicals
A comprehensive, proactive federal chemicals management policy should identify toxic chemicals before they are used commercially and force the use of safer alternatives, a new report says. ‘Preventing toxic exposures: Workplace lessons in safer alternatives’ says while new rules are formulated, efforts should concentrate on measures to promote safer alternatives.
Preventing toxic exposures: Workplace lessons in safer alternatives, Perspectives, volume 5, number 1, UC Berkeley Health Research for Action, 2010 [pdf] • California Progress Report • Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Britain: STUC anger at microchip cancer study
The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is to raise formally its concerns about the Health and Safety Executive’s ‘no risk’ claim about cancer rates at a Greenock microelectronics factory. STUC said it intended to write to HSE chair Judith Hackitt “seeking an explanation how the HSE justifies issuing a press release with the heading ‘Research indicates no increased cancer risk at Greenock factory’ when the report quite clearly states that incidences for some types of cancer were higher than they had anticipated.”
Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) news report • Health and Safety Executive (HSE) study webpages, report summary and news release • A further study of cancer among the current and former employees of National Semiconductor (UK) Ltd, Greenock – 2010, HSE, August 2010 [pdf] • The Herald • BBC News Online • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Britain: Campaign refutes HSE’s ‘bogus’ cancer line
The UK’s official workplace health and safety watchdog is helping the microelectronics industry cover up worrying evidence of occupational cancer risks, a campaign group has charged. Phase Two, which represents workers who believe their health was damaged by exposures at National Semiconductor’s (NSUK) plant in Greenock, Scotland and which has the support of STUC, was speaking out on the 24 August publication of a study into cancer rates at the factory.
Phase Two news release and campaign group webpages • National Semiconductor website • Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Evening Times • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

USA: There are alternatives to toxic chemicals
A comprehensive, proactive federal chemicals management policy should identify toxic chemicals before they are used commercially and force the use of safer alternatives, a new report says. ‘Preventing toxic exposures: Workplace lessons in safer alternatives’ says while new rules are formulated, efforts should concentrate on measures to promote safer alternatives.
Preventing toxic exposures: Workplace lessons in safer alternatives, Perspectives, volume 5, number 1, UC Berkeley Health Research for Action, 2010 [pdf] • California Progress Report • Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Britain: Tube staff to strike for safety
Some 10,000 members of London Underground’s two biggest unions will begin a rolling series of strikes on 6 September against plans to axe 800 station and other staff and close ticket offices.
RMT news release • TSSA news release • Morning Star • BBC News Online • The Guardian • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

USA: Retirement dilemma for manual workers
As governments look to reduce the pensions bill by delaying retirement, manual workers could be faced with jobs they can no longer physically manage while not being eligible for a retirement pension. This is the conclusion of a US Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) study which looked at the prospects for older workers in occupations characterised by physically demanding or difficult work.
Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) news release • Hard work? Patterns in physically demanding labor among older workers, Hye Jin Rho, CEPR, August 2010 [pdf] • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Britain: Prison bravery ‘rewarded with reprimand’
A prison officer has been suspended for five months, subjected to an investigation and reprimanded following what his union describes as “heroic actions to prevent injury to other staff” and the attempts of an offender to self harm. The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) says the episode at Whatton prison is estimated to have cost the Ministry of Justice tens of thousands of pounds.
POA news release • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Britain: Eurostar train managers vote for action
Train managers at Eurostar have voted overwhelmingly for action to stop next month’s imposition of the ‘self-dispatch’ of services from Paris, a safety critical function currently undertaken by platform staff.
RMT news release • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Britain: Hospital porter retires early after injury
A hospital porter who was injured at work after his employer refused to respond to health and safety warnings has been forced to take early retirement. UNISON member Peter Streek, 66, received £13,000 compensation in a union-backed claim after suffering a badly ruptured Achilles tendon.
UNISON news release • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Britain: Rail worker received £9,750 burns payout
A rail worker whose leg was badly burned as he cut a rail has received £9,750 compensation. The RMT member, who has permanent scarring, had not been provided with suitable personal protective equipment (PPE).
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Britain: Lost leg costs trainee nurse her career
A former nursing student whose career was ended by a road traffic accident, has received a six-figure payout. UNISON member Lisa Bennett, 43, lost her leg after being knocked off her 125cc motorbike by a car in December 2004.
UNISON news release • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Britain: Offshore deaths rise due to 'cost-cutting'
Deaths and major injuries in the offshore oil and gas industry doubled last year because of cost-cutting, unions have said. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) demanded urgent improvements in safety after revealing that 17 deaths and 50 major injuries occurred in the sector over 12 months.
HSE news release and offshore statistics • Morning Star • STV News • BBC News Online • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Britain: Campaigners call for tougher dogs laws
A 20-strong coalition, including the TUC, several unions, the UK's largest animal charities and law enforcement agencies, is calling for tougher dog safety laws. A joint statement launched this week calls on the leaders of the main political parties to work together to introduce improved and updated legislation to protect dog welfare and public safety.
CWU news release • RSPCA news release • BBC News Online • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Britain: Firms fined £125,000 after fall injury
Two construction firms have been fined a total of £125,000 after a worker fell more than 60ft (20m) from a hospital building site in Newcastle. Laing O'Rourke Construction and Expanded Structures, both based in Kent, admitted health and safety breaches at Newcastle Crown Court.
HSE news release and falls webpages • BBC News Online • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Egypt: Safety protesters face military trial
Eight civilian warplane factory workers have appeared before a military court in Egypt after protesting about poor safety conditions, a spokesperson for the Center for Trade Union and Workers' Services (CTUWS) has said. The legal team defending the Helwan Engineering Industries Company workers was denied the right to receive a photocopy of the investigations report.
Daily News Egypt • Al-Masry Al-Youm • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Britain: Steel cable shoots through shin
A Workington company has been fined £15,000 after a steel cable shot through a worker’s leg, leaving him with a hole through his shin. ACP (Concrete) Ltd, which produces concrete panels, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident, which left worker Jamie Graham, 25, in a hip-to-toe full leg cast for six weeks and on crutches for another four months.
HSE news release • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Britain: Onion firm fined after serious ladder injury
A Spalding onion packing firm has been fined after a worker broke his shoulder falling from a ladder. Moulton Bulb Company Ltd pleaded guilty to a breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,188.
HSE news release and shattered lives campaign • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Britain: Shipbreaker fined over asbestos risks
A North Lincolnshire shipbreaking company put its workers and others at risk of exposure to asbestos, a court has heard. Marine reclamation company Acetech Construction Limited, purchased a Polish former fishing vessel, ‘The Patricia III’, in 2007 for dismantling and selling on as scrap.
HSE news release and asbestos webpages • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Chile: Miners safe, but rescue could take months
The 33 Chilean miners trapped deep underground for over three weeks have been told they may not be rescued for several months. ICEM, the global union federation for the mining sector, cautioned that the rescue of the miners is far from assured.
BBC News Online • ICEM news report • AWU solidarity message • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Britain: Asbestos disturbed at primary school
A Solihull building firm has been fined £1,000 after failing to take precautions against asbestos while working at a school. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the company after bosses at Greswolde Construction Ltd failed to warn employees the substance was present, despite being in possession of a survey detailing the location of the asbestos.
HSE news release • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Britain: Asthma risk in motor repair
Car bodyshop workers are still at risk of occupational asthma from spray paints, according to a new Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report. A probe into the use of two-pack paints containing isocyanates in the trade identified there are still a number of areas of concern, with HSE estimates that vehicle spray painters are 80 times more likely to develop occupational asthma than the average worker in the UK.
HSE news release and vehicle repair asthma webpages • Determining current health and safety practices, awareness of HSE initiatives and economic trends in relation to isocyanate paint use in the motor vehicle repair sector, Research Report 802, HSE [pdf] • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

Hazards news, 21 August 2010

USA: BP agrees to record death blast fine
London-based oil multinational BP has agreed to pay a fine of $50.6 million (£32.5m) for violations related to the 2005 explosion at its Texas City refinery that killed 15 and injured 170. The company also must pay another $500 million to protect workers at the plant, Labor secretary Hilda Solis said.
OSHA news release, remarks by Labor secretary Hilda Solis and the full agreement [pdf] • USW statement. AFL-CIO Now blog • FairWarning • BBC News Online • More on BP’s safety record • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Britain: Pre-employment medicals ruled out
The use of pre-employment medicals to weed out applicants on health grounds is to become illegal. Changes introduced under the Equality Act 2010 and that take effect from October 2010 mean prospective employers cannot ask health questions of applicants “until the applicant has been able to successfully pass an interview, or some other assessment, to show that they meet some of the non-health requirements of the job,” says a TUC briefing.
Equality Act 2010: A TUC briefing for affiliates [pdf] • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Britain: Council condemned over schools risks
The leadership of a London council has been condemned by UNISON for its “staggering” failure to address potentially deadly health risks to school staff and pupils. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into the possible presence of asbestos and legionella bacteria in four schools in the London borough of Waltham Forest found that the council had no plans to deal with the risk of exposure to pupils.
Labournet • Morning Star • Waltham Forest Guardian • Daily Mirror • Asbestos in schools website • HSE legionnaires and asbestos webpages • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

USA: Record payout for popcorn lung
A jury in Chicago has awarded a $30.4 million payout to a Flavorchem Corp worker disabled by exposure to diacetyl, a chemical used in butter flavouring found in products from popcorn to cakes, sweets and butter substitutes. The verdict awarded to Gerardo Solis, 45, and against BASF Corp, a supplier of diacetyl and the world’s largest chemical company, is the highest to date in popcorn and butter-flavouring worker lawsuits in the US.
Joplin Globe • Business Insurance • Popcorn lung in the UK • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Britain: Security concerns at bio-terror move
The proposed relocation of a key government bio-terror research centre could increase security risks, a union has warned. A Unite survey of Health Protection Agency (HPA) staff at the Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response (CEPR) at Porton Down found staff have “serious concerns” and believe a transfer could lessen security at the centre.
Unite news release • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Britain: Threat to sack all London’s firefighters
Firefighters’ union FBU has condemned a threat to fire all London’s firefighters for resisting what they believe are potentially dangerous changes to staffing levels and shift patterns. The capital's 5,000 firefighters were given 90 days’ notice on 11 August by the London Fire Authority that they would be sacked if they refuse to go along with cuts to night cover.
FBU news release • London Fire Authority news release • Socialist Worker • Morning Star • BBC News Online • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

China: Province shuts all fireworks factories
All nine fireworks factories in Heilongjiang province in northeast China were ordered to shutdown on 19 August, days after a blast at one killed 20 people. The factories have been told to dismantle their production facilities by the end of the month, according to a statement on the website of the Heilongjiang Work Safety Administration.
Xinhua • Fox News • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Britain: RMT warns of Euro rail safety risks
Steps to introduce a train that does not meet key Channel Tunnel safety standards could have “potentially lethal consequences”, rail union RMT has warned. The union alert comes ahead of tests on a Deutsche Bahn ICE (Inter City Express) train in the Channel Tunnel, due to commence in October.
RMT news release • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Britain: Coalition ‘unsafe’ on transport
Transport union RMT has said jobs, quality and safety have been lined up for an all-out assault this autumn, with passengers forced to pay more for “over-crowded, under-resourced and unsafe services.”
RMT news release • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Britain: Union concern over runaway Tube train
Rail union RMT has said it is concerned about any role the use of maintenance contractors may have played in an incident when a runaway train travelled four miles without a driver on a London Tube line. The Rail Accident Investigation Bureau (RAIB) said it had launched a full investigation into the incident on the morning of Friday 13 August.
RAIB current investigations register. RMT news release. Construction Enquirer. BBC News Online • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Britain: Attack leads to job loss for carer
A grandmother who was forced to quit her career as a care worker after an attack by an aggressive patient, has been awarded a £12,500 out of court payout.
UNISON news release • Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Britain: Appeal court backs risky work fines
Big fines for unsafe firms are justified even if they are caught breaking the law before any injury occurs, a Court of Appeal ruling has established. In a case involving the retailer New Look, the Court of Appeal agreed with the sentencing judge that a court does not have to wait until death or serious injury has occurred to express its displeasure at wholesale breaches of the defendant’s responsibilities. 
London Fire Brigade news release • Shoosmiths Solicitors news release. Environmental Health News • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Britain: Putting NHS violence on the record
Patient records can be tagged to warn staff of violence and aggression risk, new official guidance confirms. Guidelines from the NHS Security Management Service (NHS SMS) spell out policy on the use of markers on patients’ care records, to alert NHS staff to the risk of physical violence or aggression, either from the patient or someone associated with them.
NHS SMS news release • Procedures for placing a risk of violence marker on electronic and paper records [pdf] • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Britain: Fine just £8,000 after devastating injuries
A construction company has been fined £8,000 after a young worker was seriously injured when he fell from a building's roof. Delme L James Ltd employee Gwyndaf Davies was 21 when he suffered multiple spine and facial fractures and a brain injury and was in hospital for nine months. was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
HSE news release and falls webpages • BBC News Online • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Britain: Five foot fall hurts steeplejack’s foot
A Stoke-on-Trent steeplejack firm has been fined after one of its workers fell a short distance from scaffolding, suffering foot injuries that left him in plaster for four months. Rafferty Chimneys Engineering Ltd was operating at a site in Tunstall when Kevin Ford fell 1.5m (five feet) to the ground, causing a serious injury to his heel.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Britain: Factory worker gets deafness payout
A process worker has been awarded £15,000 compensation after developing a disabling level of noise-induced hearing loss. Gerald Cox, 52, worked for LG Philips Displays from 1980 to 2005, when the Durham factory closed.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Britain: Trades led to asbestos cancers
Two men from the West Midlands developed cancer as a result of exposures to asbestos at work. Iain Shoolbred, a workplace illness expert with Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, is representing is appealing to former work colleagues of Ronald Webster and Barry Halford to come forward with information about working practices, which could prove essential to their compensation claims.
Irwin Mitchell Solicitors news releases on the Ronald Webster and Barry Halford cases. Anyone who worked with either should contact Iain Shoolbred at Irwin Mitchell solicitors on 0870 1500 100 • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Britain: National inspection day, 27 October
Wednesday 27 October, the mid-point of this year’s European Health and Safety Week, is National Inspection Day, when union health and safety representatives are encouraged to inspect their workplace.
TUC National Inspection Day webpage, guide [pdf] and poster in colour [pdf] and black and white [pdf]
Maintenance in the workplace: A guide for health and safety representatives, TUC, August 2010 • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Britain: Health and safety gone mad?
An online briefing from the Institute of Employment Rights spells out why decent health and safety regulation and enforcement is a lifesaving necessity. The briefing comes as a Hazards Campaign ‘We didn’t vote to die at work’ initiative is attracting increasing support from unions and safety activists.
Health and safety gone mad? An Institute of Employment Rights (IER) briefing, August 2010 [pdf] • We didn’t vote to die at work webpage and facebook group • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Asia: Deaths undermine ‘social responsibility’ claims
The cancer and suicide scandals that have hit microelectronics firms operating in Asia have cast doubt on the supply chain oversight employed by multinationals. The high profile ‘corporate social responsibility (CSR)’ policies of companies such as Apple and Samsung are not delivering in many of the Asian factories actually producing the goods, says global safety campaigner Garrett Brown.
OHS Online • Green jobs, safe jobs blog • FairWarning • Maquiladora Health and Safety Support Network • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

Hazards news. 14 August 2010

Britain: Tube bosses are ‘dicing with death’
Rail union RMT an industrial action ballot of all Tube fleet maintenance staff after London Underground (LU) said it intended to slash the frequency of train safety inspections. “The inspections, of braking systems and other equipment that it is crucial to staff and passenger safety, are being cut in frequency as a blatant cost saving measure which is just part of the overall cuts drive being bulldozed through by Transport for London (TfL),” the union warned.
RMT news release • Morning Star •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

USA: Labour shortages increase offshore risks
The US offshore oil industry is struggling to address the pervasive problem of undertrained and overstretched workers on deepwater rigs like the one used in the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. As the number of huge, high-tech drilling rigs has soared in recent years, finding and keeping experienced staff has become a growing challenge for the offshore industry.
Wall Street Journal •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Britain: London fires fuel Tube job cuts concerns
RMT general secretary Bob Crow has warned the two recent fires on the Tube system “show that it is trained staff at station level who are critical when it comes to spotting potential danger - yet these are the very staff that Transport for London are looking to axe in a cull of 800 Tube station posts.” In results announced on 11 August, RMT members voted by 76 per cent for strike action and by 88 per cent for action short of a strike in opposition to the job cuts.
RMT news release • and news release on the ballot results • Morning Star •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

USA: Metropolis faces deadly work peril
Union members at America’s only uranium conversion plant, in Metropolis, Illinois, say work-related cancers are a central reason the union is refusing to accept the plant operator’s plan to reduce pensions for newly hired workers and health benefits for retirees. On 28 June, Honeywell locked out its 220 union employees after contract negotiations stalled, accusing the union of refusing to give the company 24 hours’ notice of a strike.
New York Times •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Britain: Prison fall leads to pay out
A prison officer who suffered serious facial injuries when she tripped and fell during a night patrol has received an undisclosed compensation payout. The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) member fell over a metal lock back latch that was embedded in a concrete floor.
Thompsons Solicitors news release •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Britain: Deregulation’s deadly reality gulf
A ‘deregulatory blitzkrieg’ by the coalition government could create the conditions linked to incidents like the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster engulfing BP. According to Hazards magazine: “Hand-wringing by prime minister David Cameron over the ‘sadness’ of the Gulf disaster is a seriously unsatisfactory alternative to protecting lives, livelihoods and the environment.”
Abuse of power • Hazards magazine, number 111, 2010 • BIS news release • FPB news release • The Independent • BBC News Online •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Britain: Call to fire ‘abysmal’ leader of safety watchdog HSE
The leader of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has not defended effectively the watchdog’s role and resources and should go, two top safety scholars have said. Dave Whyte said “it is difficult to imagine how the chief of any other public authority could defend such an abysmal record without being thrown out of office.”
Interview with Dave Whyte and Steve Tombs, Hazards Online, 9 August 2010 • 14 August 2010

Global: Top retailers in new sweatshop scandal
Gap, Next and Marks & Spencer have all launched their own inquiries into abuses of working regulations at their Indian suppliers. The retail multinationals have also pledged to end the practice of excessive overtime, which is in breach of the industry's ethical trading initiative (ETI) and Indian labour law.
The Observer •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Britain: Firm must pay for hospice cancer care 
The High Court has ruled a company responsible for a man’s death from an asbestos cancer should contribute to his hospice care costs. The ‘landmark’ case involves James Willson who in 1951, aged 20, went to work erecting new boilers at Deptford Power Station and subsequently died of the asbestos cancer mesothelioma.
Irwin Mitchell Solicitors news release • Loughborough Echo •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Britain: Blacklisting case heads to full tribunal
An electrician blacklisted from the construction industry has won the right to take his case to a full tribunal. Steve Kelly, one of over 3,000 workers whose data was found on an illegal blacklist run by disgraced firm The Consulting Association, believes he was targeted because of his trade union health and safety activity.
Morning Star • Blacklist blog •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Britain: Director fined over high lead levels
An employer has been fined after routinely exposed workers to excessive levels of lead at a Norfolk sheet metal manufacturing company. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which brought the prosecution, told Hazards magazine that airborne levels of lead Anglia Lead Ltd exceeded official limits on “various occasions” investigated by the watchdog and blood tests showed a number of workers were “significantly exposed.”
HSE news release and lead webpages •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Britain: Quarry firm fined after machine plunge
A quarry operator has been fined £30,000 after a trainee driver was injured when a 30-tonne wheel loader vehicle overturned and slid almost 16ft down a sand stockpile. Humberside Aggregates and Excavations Ltd of North Cave, East Yorkshire, was also ordered to pay £10,590 in costs after pleading guilty to three separate breaches of Quarries Regulations 1999.
HSE news release •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Britain: Firm fined £200,000 over vineyard death
A distribution company has been fined £200,000 for safety breaches linked to the death of a Cornish vineyard owner when a delivery of empty wine bottles fell from a lorry tail lift. The Gregory Distribution Ltd vehicle was being driven by an agency driver who had not been give specific safety advice before setting off.
HSE news release and haulage webpages • BBC News Online •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Global: Microelectronics investors demand better standards
A coalition of over 40 European, Australian and US investment groups has condemned abusive workplace conditions in the global electronics supply chain and is demanding improvements. The group, led by Boston Common Asset Management, LLC, Trillium Asset Management Corporation, As You Sow and Domini Social Investments LLC, have told the electronics manufacturers in their portfolios they most ensure better working standards in their supply chain.
ICCR news release and full statement • Good Electronics news release and resources •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Britain: Maintenance job leads to a broken back
A Staffordshire company has been fined £8,000 after a worker fell more than two metres from a scaffold tower, fracturing one vertebra, crushing another and leaving him immobilised for more than six weeks. Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates Court heard that Barry Derbyshire, 61, who was working for Klarius UK Ltd, had been stooping down to try and locate an oil leak when he stood up and possibly overbalanced, falling off the edge.
HSE news release and falls webpages • The Sentinel •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Britain: Jam costs cake worker two fingers
One of the UK's leading food manufacturers has been fined after a worker had two fingers sliced off in one of its mixing machines. McVities Cake Company, part of United Biscuits (UK) Ltd, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation into the incident on 9 April 2009 at a cake baking site in Halifax.
HSE news release •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Britain: Gangmaster ‘trapped’ workers in squalor
A Lancashire gangmaster has had its licence revoked after it was found workers were “trapped” in dangerous and squalid conditions as a result of illegally low pay. Latvian workers with Plus Staff 24 Ltd, based in Skelmersdale, lived in “filthy and dangerous houses without suitable bedding and any electrical safety documentation whilst having to use a toilet covered in mould.”
GLA news release • BBC News Online •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Britain: Would you laugh at a plane crash?
The boss of a health and safety company has hit back at those who deride the topic as a joke or pointless bureaucracy. Karen Baxter, managing director of the workplace risk specialists Sypol, said people who make jokes about “elf and safety” at work wouldn’t take the same attitude towards an air accident.
Sypol online article •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Britain: We still didn’t vote to die at work
As the coalition government continues with a succession of initiatives to reduce ‘red tape’ on business, the ‘We didn’t vote to die at work’ campaign to counter any moves to deregulate health and safety is growing in strength. New resources on the Hazards magazine website are intended to complement the existing Hazards Campaign ‘We didn’t vote to die at work’ initiative, which includes a well-received facebook group, campaign materials and very snazzy t-shirts.
We didn’t vote to die at work – facebook group and Hazards webpages •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Hazards news, 7 August 2010

Britain: Reps stand up for the right to sit down
Union reps at the BBC may have won a sit down victory for retail and catering workers after a health and safety investigation at Television Centre. The two reps, members of the broadcast unions NUJ and BECTU, had raised concerns about the removal of stools provided to workers operating the tills in a studio canteen.
NUJ news release • Daily Mail • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

USA: BP safety boss ‘rather offensive’
A top safety official at BP last month faltered in an attempt to defend the company's safety record before a US Senate committee. BP's vice president of health and safety, Steve Flynn, vowed profit does not supersede safety at the oil multinational, a claim that failed to mollify members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee's employment panel.
New York Times • In These Times • Washington Post • More on BP’s safety record • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

Britain: RMT condemns Tube ‘attack on safety’
A threat by London Underground (LU) to rip up an existing agreement on job protection is “an attack on safety,” rail union RMT had said. The union described the move by Tube management as “blatant intimidation and provocation of members who are currently balloting for action over tube safety and the threat to 800 station-based staff posts.”
RMT news release • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

Britain: Stansted strike warning over abuse
Swissport employees at London Stansted may resort to industrial action in response to the “downgrading” of the company’s ‘non-abuse’ policy. Their union, GMB, says workers have been facing additional problems which have made the protection of staff from irate passengers an even more pressing concern.
GMB news release • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

Britain: Virgin shamed by assault victim firing
Rail union RMT could ballot staff for industrial action following the dismissal of a member who took a period of absence after an “horrific” on-train assault. RMT officials are preparing the ground for an “urgent ballot” of all on-train catering and train manager members [guards] at Liverpool Lime Street following the dismissal of Jackie Catterson.
RMT news release • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

USA: Oil industry ‘malfeasance’ kills hundreds
The US oil and gas industry has been responsible for thousands of fires, explosions and leaks over the last decade, causing hundreds of deaths and widespread habitat and wildlife destruction, a new report has concluded. The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) says its findings underscore “petroleum company malfeasance.”
National Wildlife Federation (NWF) news release and report, Assault on America: A decade of petroleum company disaster, pollution, and profit • Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

Britain: Prison officers press for stab vests
Prison officers are keeping up their campaign for stab vests after a series of violent attacks. Colin Moses, chair of the Prison Officer Association (POA), the union for prison staff, said: “We fully appreciate that prisoners should be treated fairly and we are more than happy to ensure that all of our actions comply with human rights, but we are also determined to ensure the personal safety of our members.”
PPSS news release • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

Britain: Assault on care worker ends her career
A care assistant has had to take medical retirement after being attacked by a resident at an old people’s home in Middlesbrough. The UNISON member, who was employed by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, has now received over £57,000 compensation after an eight year legal battle.
UNISON news release • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

Britain: Lorry driver gets crushed thumb payout
A lorry driver from Grimbsy, whose thumb was crushed as he tried to unload a trailer at work, has received a £5,500 compensation payout. GMB member Ian Castle, who worked for general haulage firm PA Dunwell Transport Limited, was lowering the roof door of the lorry when it crashed down suddenly, hitting him in the shoulder and trapping his thumb against a lever.
GMB news release • Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

Britain: Joinery job led to asbestos cancer
A former joiner has received a payout for an asbestos cancer, despite one of his employers having ceased trading. Unite member Bernard Dean, 61, received a “substantial” payout after developing mesothelioma.
Thompsons Solicitors news release and ELIB campaign • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010
Britain: Firms fail to control cancer risks
Workers producing rubber goods are not being provided the minimum legally-required protection from cancer risks, a survey by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has found. The report adds to earlier concerns about poor control of occupational cancer risks in the chemical sector.
A small survey of exposure to rubber process dust, rubber fume and N-nitrosamines, RR819, HSE, July 2010 • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

China: Work death payouts increased
China's basic work-related death compensation award is to nearly double next year to 343,500 yuan (£31,800), state authorities have announced. The State Administration of Work Safety says when funeral expenses and monthly pension payments to the relatives of the deceased are included, the total payment will average around 618,000 yuan (£57,350).
China Labour Bulletin • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

Britain: Companies should come clean on safety
Firms should be required by law to report their health and safety performance and any related enforcement action, the TUC has said. The union body was commenting as the government announced a consultation on ‘narrative reporting’ requirements on business.
BIS news release and The future of narrative reporting - a consultation, BIS, August 2010 [pdf] Closing date for comments: 19 October 2010 • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

Britain: Rail dangers persist, warns coroner
The coroner at the inquest into the deaths of seven people at Potters Bar eight years ago has warned of ongoing concerns about safety on the country's rail network. An inquest jury last week blamed points failure for the disaster.
BBC News Online • The Independent • The Guardian • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

Britain: Unions call for urgent rail safety moves
Unions have called for sweeping improvements in railway safety, with one warning of possible industrial action if problems are not remedied. The comments came after an inquest into the Potters Bar rail disaster warned of ongoing safety concerns.
RMT news release and related commentary • TSSA news release • ASLEF news release • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

Britain: Brothers fined over skull crush horror
Two brothers have been fined a total of £13,000 after a worker was left with a caved-in head and permanent brain damage when he fell through an industrial roof in Carlisle. Alan Hind was helping to demolish the building when he fell six metres to the concrete floor below.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Construction Enquirer • Daily Mail • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

Britain: Architects and site firm fined for death
An architects’ practice and a construction company involved in a Somerset development have been fined a total of £195,000 following a site fatality. Express Park Construction Company Limited (EPCC) and Oxford Architects Partnership pleaded guilty to safety offences.
HSE news release and construction design and management webpages • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

Britain: Pleural plaques payouts scheme kicks off
A controversial government compensation scheme to provide lump sum payouts to some people with asbestos-related pleural plaques is now accepting applications. Thousands will be able to apply for a £5,000 payment, the Ministry of Justice has said.
MoJ news release and pleural plaques compensation eligibility guidelines • Northern TUC news release
Find an asbestos group: Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

Britain: What’s coming up at TUC?
There’s a slew of health and safety motions coming up at the TUC’s September congress, with opposition to the government’s plans for health and safety taking centrestage. The coalition’s move to slash health and safety regulation and enforcement is the subject of three critical motions in the draft agenda, from unions NASUWT, Prospect and BFAWU.
TUC news release, Congress webpages and preliminary agenda [pdf] • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

Hazards news, 31 July 2010

Britain: RMT concern at ‘rigged’ rail injury figures
Rail union RMT is demanding an urgent government investigation into allegations Network Rail has “rigged” injury figures to hit performance targets. The union says it fears a culture of non-recording of incidents is rife at Network Rail (NR) and is directly linked to the senior management bonus culture.
ORR news release and The ORR Health and Safety Report • RMT news release • Rail magazine • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Britain: Old schools equal more asbestos problems
Unions and asbestos groups have warned there will be “hidden consequences” of the government’s decision to scrap the Building Schools for the Future programme, saying there is “a real and increased risk” of children, teachers and support staff being exposed to asbestos fibres.
Northern TUC news release • Asbestos Exposure in Schools website • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

USA: BP’s clean up safety claims queried
BP monitoring figures that show even the oil clean-up workers in the riskiest jobs in the Gulf of Mexico are generally having minimal exposures to hazardous chemicals have been queried by experts. Eileen Senn, an occupational hygienist and long-time workplace safety official, pointed to 10 separate shortcomings in the quality of the company's data release, which OSHA said concentrated on workers with the heaviest potential exposures, including the move to sample for 11 chemicals when many more substances are potentially present in Gulf air.
New York Times • Labor Notes • Sciencecorps on the Gulf oil spill hazards • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Britain: Call for full inquiry into death of a cadet
A seafarers’ union is calling for an urgent inquiry into the death of a cadet on a British-registered ship. Nautilus International is calling for the UK government to ensure there is a “full and transparent” inquiry into the death of a South African cadet on the containership Safmarine Kariba and subsequent allegations of rape and harassment.
Nautilus news release • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Britain: Oil giant Total must be probed
Multinational Total should face an independent probe into serious safety lapses, the union GMB has said. The union says it is demanding a “full independent safety investigation” into the oil giant’s safety record following the death on 29 June of 24-year-old Rob Greenacre at Lindsay Oil Refinery and the £6.2 million fines and costs penalty on the company on 16 July after it admitting failing to protect workers and the public at the Buncefield oil depot site that exploded in 2005.
GMB news release • Grimsby Telegraph • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Mexico: Copper mine dangers resurface
In the rush to get copper production from the Cananea mine back on world markets at time of major shortages of the metal, Grupo México is disregarding the safety of contract workers. The charge comes from ICEM, the global federation for mine and chemical unions, which says there has been an undocumented rash of on-the-job accidents and injuries in the six weeks since federal police opened the mine in Sonora State for the company.
ICEM news report • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Britain: Most rigs are working beyond design life
More than half of the UK’s offshore oil and gas installations “have exceeded their original design life or soon will,” the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned. The watchdog said a new inspection programme of installations on the UK continental shelf is underway “to ensure that ageing infrastructure does not adversely affect safety.”
HSE news release • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Britain: BP’s Tony Hayward gets his life back
He’s the casualty of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe least likely to elicit sympathy. BP announced this week that beleaguered chief executive Tony Hayward will go, but will at 53 qualify immediately for a £600,000 annual pension, a £1.045m pay off in lieu of notice, a multi-million portfolio of company shares, and a place on the board of BP’s Russian offshoot as a consolation prize.
BP news release • Robert Peston’s BBC blog • The Guardian • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Australia: Too many fatalities on the waterfront
Workplace safety on Australia’s waterfront must be overhauled to stem the mounting death toll among stevedoring workers, unions have warned. Three deaths and a spate of serious injuries and near misses in a little over six months is not good enough and suggests that waterfront deregulation has had a detrimental impact on safety, said Ged Kearney, the new president of national union confederation ACTU.
ACTU news release • MUA news release • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Britain: Benefits change forces most back to work
A controversial new system for assessing whether the sick and disabled are capable of working has seen more than threequarters of benefit claimants either told to get a job or abandoning their claim, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) figures show.
DWP news release • The Independent • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Britain: Brum car worker injured by robot
A Birmingham automotive firm has been fined after lax safety controls led to an employee being struck by a manufacturing robot running on auto, leaving his voice box damaged and almost paralysing him down one side of his body. Dura Automotive Body and Glass Systems UK was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 costs in a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution.
HSE news release • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Britain: Firm fined after trainee’s quarry plant plunge
A quarry operator has been fined £30,000 after a 30-tonne wheel loader vehicle driven by a trainee overturned and slid almost 16ft down a sand stockpile. Humberside Aggregates and Excavations Ltd was also ordered to pay £10,590 in costs after pleading guilty to three separate breaches of the Quarries Regulations 1999.
HSE news release and quarries webpages • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

China: Electronics industry labour abuse revealed
Workers in China’s burgeoning electronics sector are enduring poor labour and safety standards in the country’s deregulated Special Economic Zones (SEZs), a new report suggests. The labour standards report released by risk intelligence and rating firm Maplecroft, says with increasing unionisation, worker protests and management initiative, wages and working conditions are being addressed, with some positive results albeit with cost implications for business.
Maplecroft news release • BBC News Online • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Britain: Worker loses leg in paving machine
A Somerset construction firm has been fined £10,000 after a worker's foot was crushed under a paving machine, leading to the amputation of his lower leg. Taunton Magistrates Court heard that Alan Seviour, who worked for John Wainwright & Co Ltd as a delivery driver, was carrying out relief road work on 29 August 2008.
HSE news release • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Britain: Site firm ‘ignored’ falls warnings
A major construction company that ignored a series of warnings has been fined for failing to protect its workers from falls on a site in South Wales. Gee Construction Ltd, the principal contractor on the site in Caerphilly, firm pleaded guilty to a breach of the work at height regulations and was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,514.25.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Britain: Get your TUC safety diploma online
You’ve done the courses, got the experience and you’ve still got a hankering to learn more. If so, you might want to consider the TUC Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety.
Course and application details for the online course for the TUC Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Britain: Research on mental health in teaching
A research report that found the pressures piled on teachers are so severe some staff have considered suicide, has been made available online. The survey for teaching union NASUWT found a lack of support from schools and their management teams was leading to stress, burnout and depression.
Teachers’ Mental Health: A study exploring the experiences of teachers with work-related stress and mental health problems - Research report for the NASUWT • Related NASUWT news release • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Europe: European Health and Safety Week
To help unions and health and safety representatives promote health and safety week in October, the TUC has updated its website. In line with the theme of the week -  maintenance work - TUC has produced an online guide on maintenance activities, including a safety reps’ checklist .
Maintenance in the workplace: A guide for health and safety representatives, TUC, 2010. TUC National Inspection Day webpages • European Health and Safety Week resources from TUC and the European Health and Safety at Work Agency (EU-OSHA), including an EU-OSHA safe maintenance guide [pdf] • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Britain: Stress network conference, 27-28 November 2010
The National Stress Network’s annual conference will be held in the West Midlands on the weekend of 27-28 November. The theme is ‘Stress prevention to secure an effective workplace.’ The organisers note: “Failure to prevent a high stress climate in the workplace should lead to enforcement and prosecution. Prevention is central to success. Cures are too late and ineffective.”
National Stress Network Conference 2010, 27-28 November, Hillscourt Conference Centre, Nr Birmingham. Further details and application form [pdf] • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Hazards news, 24 July 2010

Britain: Firefighter wins human rights safety ruling
A firefighter has won £80,000 in damages after an employment tribunal found he was unfairly dismissed after raising health and safety concerns. FBU member Christopher Bennett, who has arthritis, was fired for gross misconduct for sending an email to colleagues asking whether the reclining chairs provided at work were caused back pain.
FBU news release • Thompsons Solicitors news release • Manchester Evening News • BBC News Online • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

USA: Migrant workers dying in the heat
Recent evidence suggests the heat safety law California passed in 2005 has not saved largely immigrant farm workers and construction workers from painful deaths and health problems caused by toiling often without shade, breaks or water in extreme heat. Each year since the law was passed, workers have died – at least 11 between 2005 and 2009 according to a lawsuit filed last year by the United Farm Workers union (UFW).
Working in These Times • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Britain: Tube workers walk out to defend colleague
Tube workers at Rickmansworth walked out this week in support of a colleague they believe was victimised after a passenger was injured. The 77 ASLEF members stopped work for 24 hours at midnight on Tuesday in protest at the “utterly wrong” decision, with the union saying the incident was “caused by safety deficiencies, especially concerning mirrors, which we had reported regularly to management.”
ASLEF news release • BBC News Online • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Global: True cost of asbestos is exposed
A global network of lobbying groups is ensuring asbestos, banned or restricted in more than 50 countries, continues to be using in developing nations. A four-continent investigation by the US-based Center for Public Integrity (CPI) reports that many scientists fear the continued use of asbestos could significantly prolong a global epidemic of asbestos-related illnesses.
Dangers in the dust – a Center for Public Integrity investigation • BBC News Online. Toronto Star • Montreal Gazette • Vancouver Sun • Risks 466 • 24 July 201

Britain: Tube bosses concede system is rotten
After months of accusing Tube union RMT of scaremongering over the safety impact of cuts on London Underground (LU), tube bosses on 20 July conceded that budget cuts have resulted in services running on dangerous and rotten infrastructure dating back to the 1920s.
RMT news release • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Korea: Investors query Samsung cancers
Institutional investors in Europe and the US have asked Samsung to explain the occupational cancer furore that has engulfed the company. The cancers have been linked to toxic chemicals used at Samsung semiconductor plants in South Korea.
Hankyoreh 21 • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Peru: Site workers in mass safety protest
A safety and pay protest in Peru saw 150,000 workers take to the streets this month. The 14 July 2010 protest, called by Peru’s FTCCP construction workers’ union federation, saw 25,000 demonstrate in Lima, with major events also held in other cities.
BWI news report • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Britain: RMT warns of ‘great danger’ on railways
Transport union RMT is warning of a “great danger” on the railways if government cuts to the transport budget go ahead. Commenting as Network Rail’s annual meeting kicked off this week in Manchester, the rail union warned that cuts of between 25 and 40 per cent planned by the government would have a “catastrophic” and “lethal” impact on rail infrastructure and operations.
RMT news releases on the Network Rail AGM and the Potters Bar inquest • Potters Bar inquest website • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Britain: Sex assault trauma for prison gardener
A gardener at a young offenders’ institute had to give up work as a result a sexual assault by inmates. Unite member David Thomas suffered psychological trauma as a result of the May 2004 attack at HM Prison and Young Offenders Institution Onley, near Rugby, Warwickshire.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Britain: New union face on HSE’s board
GMB general secretary Paul Kenny has been appointed to the board of the Health and Safety Executive. The union leader said he was “proud” to be appointed to the board as an “employee interests” representative, adding: “As a Board member I will do my best to shift the focus to the true value of protecting workers from unsafe working practices, and to the wider benefits for business and society.”
DWP news release • HSE board • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Britain: Oil giants fined for Buncefield blast
Five companies responsible for the 2005 Buncefield oil depot explosion were last week ordered to pay fines totalling more than £9 million. Sentencing the firms at St Albans Crown Court, Judge Sir David Calvert-Smith said: “Had the explosion happened during a working day, the loss of life may have been measured in tens or even hundreds.”
HSE news release • Environment Agency news release • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Britain: Tory MP says Buncefield fines ‘an insult’
Campaigners, lawyers and a Tory MP have criticised the “drop in the ocean” fines levied on oil giants after the Buncefield explosion. Hazards Campaign spokesperson Hilda Palmer said the case for deregulation “has been blown to smithereens in the Buncefield explosion.”
Hazards Campaign news release and We did not vote to die at work campaign • Morning Star • BBC News Online • Channel 4 News • Telegraph • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Britain: Court rejects fatality fine appeal
A company fined £100,000 after a worker was crushed to death has failed in a court appeal against the penalty. London-based Marble City Ltd and directors Gavin and Jamie Waldron were all fined in April after 51-year-old Ronald Douglas was crushed by six tonnes of stone slabs he was helping unload from a lorry.
Local London • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Britain: Face the FACKS – the human face of workplace killing
“Face the FACK - The human face of workplace killing” is a new DVD from Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK). The resource, which was premiered at this month’s National Hazards Conference, features personal accounts from family members bereaved by work.
FACK resources • Face the FACK - The human face of workplace killing, £10 including post and packing, cheques payable to ‘GMHC’, from: FACK, c/o Hazards Campaign, Windrush Millennium Centre, 70 Alexandra Road, Manchester M16 7WD. Telephone: 0161 636 7557 • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Global: New construction safety training guides
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has produced new online construction health and safety training resources. The new tools, co-authored by Fiona Murie of BWI, the global union federation for the sector, and Glamorgan University’s Professor Richard Neale, are “a comprehensive international occupational safety and health training package”, says BWI.
BWI news release • ILO construction safety training materials • ILO construction sector webpages • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Britain: Frozen food firm fined for finger
A Lincolnshire-based international frozen vegetable supplier has been fined after a man's finger was amputated when his hand was crushed at work. The incident occurred at Pinguin Food Ltd's site in Boston on 10 February 2009 when the worker tried to straighten some boxes on an automatic palletising machine.
HSE news release and safe guarding leaflet [pdf] • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Britain: Pneumatic power press cuts off fingers
A Telford packaging firm company has been fined after an employee lost three fingers while working with machinery. Telford Magistrates Court heard how on 22 September 2008 the I2R Packaging Solutions employee was helping another worker remove aluminium foil from a 130-tonne power press, which had become jammed while making foil food cartons.
HSE news release • Packaging News • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Britain: Engineering firm fined after hand severed
A court has heard how a worker had his hand torn off while working for a Peterlee company. The Conder Solutions Limited employee was working on a metalworking lathe, Peterlees Magistrates' Court heard.
HSE news release • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Britain: Pirelli fined over forklift truck injury
Tyre manufacturer Pirelli has been fined £9,000 after a worker suffered a broken leg when he was hit by a forklift truck. Allan Miller, a 62-year-old contractor, was walking through an area in the curing department at the company's Carlisle factory when he was struck from behind by a pallet being carried on a forklift truck.
HSE news release • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

Global: Bladder cancer risk to painters confirmed
Painters are at a significantly increased risk of developing bladder cancer, with the risk increasing the longer a person works in the trade, a new study has confirmed. The large scale “meta-analysis”, published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, found the risk arises not solely from exposure to paint but to factors that can occur in the environment in which painters work, such as the stripping of old paintwork, sanding or exposure to asbestos.
Neela Guha and others. Bladder cancer risk in painters: a meta-analysis, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, volume 67, pages 568-673, 2010  [abstract].
Paolo Vineis. Editorial: Bladder cancer risk in painters, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, volume 67, pages 505-506, 2010 [extract] • Risks 466 • 24 July 2010

 

Hazards news, 17 July 2010

Britain: Tribunal fails to protect safety rep
Penny Gower, a safety rep with the Scottish teaching union EIS, has criticised the flimsy protection provided by employment tribunals to those who stand up for safety. “The ET ruled that I had been unfairly dismissed due to the College summarily sacking me without an appeal, but concluded that they had been right to dismiss me anyway,” said the sacked Carnegie College tutor.
Defend health and safety reps’ rights blog and Penny Gower’s safety rep inspection report [pdf] • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

USA: Campaign wins ban on deadly floor coating
A landmark bill banning the commercial use and sale of a wood floor finishing product linked to fires that left three floor finishers dead has taken effect in Massachusetts. The new law, which was introduced at the urging of an industry-union-community taskforce, targets “lacquer sealer”, a floor finishing product containing nitrocellulose and synthetic resins that can burst into flames at the slightest trigger.
MassCOSH news release, factsheet and report • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Britain: Acid eye damage from duff goggles
A 25 year old man left with an injured tear duct and permanently needing to treat his eye with lubricating drops after acid entered his right eye at work. GMB member Phillip Heeney was injured at Omya UK limited of North Ferriby while moving a drum of liquid acid with a colleague.  
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Britain: Injured elbow points to neglected safety
Problems spanning several years with water leakage from cooling racks eventually claimed a victim at GlaxoSmithKline in Ulverston, Cumbria. Unite member Dorothy Kirby, 52, slipped and fractured the elbow of her right arm.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

USA: ‘Appalling conditions’ on tobacco farms
Tobacco farm workers in the US are enduring deadly conditions, global farm unions’ federation IUF has revealed. Reynolds American Incorporated (RAI), in which British American Tobacco (BAT) holds a 42 per cent share, sources most of its tobacco leaf from the company's home state of North Carolina.
IUF news release • Tell BAT to stop the abuse • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Britain: Stressbusters target not-for-profits
Unite reps in the not-for-profit sector have embarked on a ‘Stressbusters’ campaign. All the union’s reps in the sector are being asked to participate in a national stress survey.
Unite Stressbusters campaign • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Britain: TUC calls for 3R’s – rules, resources and rights
Securing safe and healthy workplaces requires good regulations, proper enforcement and decent rights, TUC has told a government-commissioned enquiry. The TUC comments to Lord Young’s review, which is expected to report in the coming weeks, notes that the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) fatalities figure represents on “a tiny proportion” of those killed by work.
TUC news release • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Britain: There is no compensation culture
There has been a dramatic decline in compensation claims for work-related injury and ill-health, union legal advisers have told a government-commissioned enquiry. They say the government’s own Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU) statistics which show employer liability claims have fallen 69 per cent from 2000/01 to 2009/10 – from 219,183 in 2000/1 to 78,744 in 2009/10.
Thompsons Solicitors submission • Prospect news release • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Britain: Coalition not serious on safety
The health and safety of Britain’s workforce is not being taken seriously by the coalition government, Unite has said. Joint general secretary, Tony Woodley, accused former Tory cabinet minister Lord Young, who is heading a government review, of being “offensive”.
Unite news release • Daily Mirror • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Britain: Deregulation is already bad for you
The UK’s workplace safety standards have been undermined by changes in the official approach to health and safety regulation over the past decade, a new report has found. Academics from the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University found the policy changes have affected the ability of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to enforce effectively health and safety law.
University of Liverpool news release • Regulatory Surrender: death, injury and the non-enforcement of law, Institute of Employment Rights, July 2010. Purchase details from IER, The People's Centre, 50-54 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool L3 5SD, or call 0151 702 6925 or email IER • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

USA: Coalition for Workplace Safety a big con
The ‘Coalition for Workplace Safety’ sounds virtuous enough. But it turns out to be an industry front organisation, bent on derailing attempts to tighten US workplace safety rules.
The Pump Handle • Coalition for Workplace Safety • The Seminal • The Hill • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Britain: We didn’t vote to die at work
The Hazards Campaign has launched a national ‘We didn’t vote to die at work’ campaign. The initiative, which was premiered at this month’s National Hazards Conference in Keele, has already attracted wide support from unions and safety reps.
Join the ‘We didn’t vote to die at work’ Facebook group. If you want to get hold of campaign resources, contact the Hazards Campaign, Windrush Millennium Centre, 70 Alexandra Road, Manchester, M16 7WD, or email  or phone 0161 636 7557. T-shirts cost £6 (that includes postage) and are available in small, medium, large, XL, XXL and XXXL (send a cheque made out to ‘Hazards Campaign’) • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Who pays BP’s disaster bill? You do
If you thought the multi-billion dollar costs of destroying refineries and oil rigs (and killing workers, ruining livelihoods and wrecking the environment in the process), might have a chastening effect on BP, you might need to think again. BP is forecast to pay about $10bn less tax over the next four years as it meets the costs of its huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, hitting the revenues of Britain and the US that receive hundreds of millions of dollars from the company each year.
Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

South Africa: New spate of mine deaths
Seven miners were killed in three separate underground mine accidents in South Africa in the space of a week, including five contract workers at Aquarius Platinum’s Marikana mine in the Bushveld area near Rustenburg, North West Province.
ICEM news report • The Guardian • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Britain: Lab staff exposed to deadly bacteria
The Health Protection Agency has been fined £25,000 for a spillage of the deadly bacterium E.coli 0157 at its centre in Colindale, north London. Three employees were put at risk of contamination although nobody was infected, the Old Bailey heard.
HSE news release • BBC News Online • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Britain: Cleaner killed at plastics firm
A Rochdale plastics manufacturer has been fined £140,000 after a Portuguese cleaner was crushed to death by a pallet of bags weighing nearly one and a half tonnes. TS (UK) Ltd was prosecuted for failing to ensure the safety of its employees and not having a worker trained in first aid on duty.
HSE news release • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Britain: Farm worker crushed in his cab
Farming and haulage company Pearn Wyatt & Son has been fined £21,000 with £54,000 costs after a 24-year-old agriculture worker was crushed to death on a farm in Norfolk. Sam Foley had been using a tractor to tow manure to a field at Grange Farm, in Snetterton, on 8 July 2007.
HSE news release • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Britain: Roofing firm fined £2,000 after teen’s plunge
A roofing company has been prosecuted after a teenage worker fell three metres through a fragile roof, breaking his arm. Apprentice Shaun Jacob, 18, was removing the ridge from a metal sheet roof when a sheet he was standing on buckled and he fell to the ground.
HSE news release • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Britain: Cactus sap put worker in hospital
A worker was hospitalised and suffered long-term eye damage after being squirted with cactus juice. Carl Woodbridge, a technician working for Ambius, a subsidiary of Rentokil Initial UK Ltd, was working at a Milton Keynes shopping centre in October 2008, to carry out pruning on several large cacti, one of which had become unstable.
Milton Keynes Council news release • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Britain: Prefab demolition led to asbestos death
A man who developed cancer after being exposed to asbestos while demolishing prefabricated houses received a compensation payout just weeks before his death. John Manniex, from Leigh in Greater Manchester, died of mesothelioma on 1 July.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Hazards news, 10 July 2010

Britain: Total safety queried after refinery death
Safety standards at the oil giant Total, found guilty of safety breaches last month related to the Buncefield oil depot explosion, have been questioned by unions after the death of a worker at a Lincolnshire refinery. Unite member Robert Greenacre, 24, died after a fire and explosion at Total’s Lindsey plant on 29 June.
Unite news release • GMB news release • Morning Star • Grimsby Telegraph • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

USA: Cheap masks won’t protect Gulf workers
Masks issued to workers in the Gulf of Mexico cleaning up the BP oil spill are not offering the necessary protection, an expert has warned. Industrial hygienist Eileen Senn, writing in The Pump Handle blog, reports the $5 officially recommended masks are “not approved for organic vapours” meaning “this dust mask presumably will remove only small amounts of hydrocarbon vapours, so workers may still be exposed to them.”
The Pump Handle • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Global: Campaigners denounce Canada on asbestos
A protest outside London’s Canada House was intended to “shame” Canada for promoting asbestos exports, the organisers said. The protest on 1 July, timed to coincide with official celebrations to mark Canada Day, took place as plans were being finalised to pump Canadian federal and state funds into an expansion of asbestos production and exports -  demonstrators carried banners bearing messages including: “Canadian asbestos – buy now, die later.”
UCATT news release • GMB news release • Asbestos Forum news release [pdf].
A worn-out welcome: Renewed call for a global ban on asbestos, Environmental Health Perspectives, 1 July 2010 • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Global: RMT sounds safety alarm over rail cuts
Transport union RMT has raised serious safety fears over rail maintenance as it emerged the transport budget is being lined up for cuts of up to 40 per cent as part of the government’s public spending plans. The union said cuts of this magnitude would “savage” maintenance and renewals work.
RMT news release • BBC News Online • The Independent • TUC Cuts Watch • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Britain: Scaffolder gets brain damage payout
A scaffolder who was left with a severe brain injury after a workplace fall has received a “substantial” sum in compensation. Unite member Patrick O’Malley, 35, spent four years in hospital after the injury, suffered while working for Powertherm Access Services.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Finland: Exhaustion trebles work death risk
Work-related exhaustion can be deadly for industrial workers, a new study has concluded. Finnish researchers found industrial employees who are under 45 years of age were almost three times as likely to die as other workers, with the most common causes of death tumour (34 per cent), accident (26 per cent), suicide (26 per cent) and coronary decease (22 per cent).
Trade Union News from Finland • Burnout as a predictor of all-cause mortality among industrial employees: A 10-year prospective register-linkage study, Journal of Psychosomatic Research volume 69, issue 1, pages 51-57, July 2010 [abstract] • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Britain: Ambulance workers under attack
There must be ‘zero tolerance’ of violence against ambulance workers, the union GMB has said. The union’s new analysis of NHS data on assaults shows there were 2,705 assaults on ambulance staff in England in the two years to April 2009.
GMB news release • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Britain: HSE work death figure falls again
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures on the number of people killed at work in Britain fell last year to a record low. The HSE provisional data, which exclude work-related road, marine and air accident deaths and the entire occupational disease death toll, show that 151 workers were killed between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010 compared to 178 deaths in the previous year and an average number over the last five years of 220 deaths per year.
HSE news release, statistics webpage and latest fatality figures • TUC news release • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Britain: Deaths down in construction
There has been a marked decrease in construction fatalities in Britain, the new Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures show. In 2009/10 there were 41 deaths in the construction sector, down from 52 fatalities in the sector the year before.
UCATT news release • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Britain: Deaths up in agriculture
There has been a sharp upturn in the number of workers killed in agriculture. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) fatality figures for the period from 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010 show 38 agriculture workers were killed at work. HSE says this marks a return to average levels of previous years, in contrast to the record low in 2008/09 when 25 workers died.
HSE news release • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

China: Steelworkers killed in bus fire
A shuttle bus carrying steel factory workers in eastern China burst into flame, killing 24 of those on board. The tragedy happened in Wuxi, in Jiangsu province near Shanghai, on a bus from the Wuxi Xuefeng Steel Company.
Shanghai Daily • BBC News Online • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Britain: HSE statistics omit most deaths - official
Unions and campaigners have warned that official workplace death figures only show a small part of the real toll – a point also recognised in an official probe. The UK Statistics Authority checked HSE’s figures against a code of practice for official statistics and indicated they do not make the grade, concluding “HSE does not produce an overall figure for work-related fatalities in Great Britain” and recommends HSE “investigate the feasibility of producing statistics on the total number of work-related injuries and fatalities.”
UNISON news release • Hazards Campaign news release • BIS news release • Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Your Freedom •
Assessments of compliance with Code of Practice for official statistics - 'Statistics on Health and Safety at Work (produced by the Health and Safety Executive), Report Number 42, UK Statistics Authority, 27 May 2010 [pdf] • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Britain: HSE observes hi-tech horror show
Microelectronics firms in Britain have neglected health risks to workers, tampered with crucial safety alarms and have shown no consideration of the risks faced by entire groups of workers, an official report has found. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) uncovered “weaknesses”, “misunderstandings” and poor practices in vital safety procedures across the sector.
Unite news release • Sunday Herald • Rob Edwards website • Control and management of hazardous substances in semiconductor manufacturers in Great Britain in 2009, HSE, July 2010 [pdf] • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Britain: Pesticides linked to cancer increases
A ‘dramatic’ increase in a range of occupational and childhood cancers has been linked to pesticide exposures. A report published last week by CHEM Trust links exposure prior to conception or during pregnancy to higher rates of childhood cancer and warns that farm workers could also be developing cancers caused by pesticide exposures at work.
Chem Trust news release [pdf] and report [pdf] • Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Scotsman • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Canada: Workers see red at ‘green’ hotels
Hotel workers are paying a high personal price so hospitality employers can claim they have gone ‘green’. Staff at the US-based Starwood Hotels chain - which is touting a ‘Make a Green Choice’ programme in its hotels across North America and which includes Westin and Sheraton hotels – say the initiative is a bogus green plan that does nothing for the environment.
Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Britain: Asbestos epidemic reminder from campaigners
More than 60,000 people in the UK will die in the future having previously been exposed to asbestos leading to a total death toll of 90,000 by the year 2050, campaigners have warned. But they say that despite the magnitude of the epidemic, prevention, research and treatment are all seriously neglected.
Asbestos Forum Action Mesothelioma Day events listing • Irwin Mitchell Solicitors news release • HSE news release • BLF news release • Morning Star • Manchester Evening News • North West Evening Mail • Leicester Mercury • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Britain: Construction bosses fined after death
Two directors of PIB (UK) Ltd and their company have been fined after a member of the public died on one of their construction sites. John Blankson, 55, and Steven Moore, 44, pleaded guilty to safety charges and were fined, and Moore was also disqualified from being a director for five years.
HSE news release • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Britain: Global firms fined for crushing death
Two global companies have been ordered to pay a total of £160,000 in fines after a man was crushed to death by a rolling lorry. Logistics company Exel Europe Ltd and Imperial Tobacco Ltd both pleaded guilty to criminal safety breaches relating to the death of 42 year-old Exel heavy goods driver Gary Brooks.
HSE news release • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Britain: Comet fined after fatal roof fall
Electrical chain Comet has been fined £75,000 and ordered to pay £24,446 legal costs after the death of a roof worker at a Wrexham store. Comet had previously admitted failing to ensure the safety of Paul Alker, who fell through a skylight in 2007 and whose boss, Steven Smith of Wrexham Roofing Services, was earlier jailed for two years in 2007 after being convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence.
HSE news release • BBC News Online • Daily News • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

 

Hazards news, 3 June 2010

Britain: Unions slam ‘work until you drop’ move
Unions have condemned government proposals to raise the retirement age, which could leave former workers in some of the poorest parts of the country receiving less than two years pension on average before they die. UCATT general secretary Alan Ritchie said: “By increasing the retirement age the ConDems are effectively forcing many construction workers to work until they drop.”
DWP news release • When should the state pension age increase to 66? – A Call for Evidence • GMB news release • UCATT news release • UNISON news release • TUC news release • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

USA: Sometimes deadly behaviour does not pay
Employers and corrupt public officials frequently get away with deadly behaviour – but not always. A contractor is now under house arrest and a crane inspector who accepted bribes is serving jail time after being linked to deadly workplace incidents in the US.
In These Times • New York Times • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

USA: Roofers face work-related early retirement
A combination of poor health and musculoskeletal disorders is forcing roofers into early retirement, a new study has found. The study of 979 roofers between the ages of 40 and 59 found that 10 per cent left the roofing trade within a year, and of those leaving, 60 per cent left their job due to chronic pain, work-related musculoskeletal disorders and poor health.
CPWR news release [pdf] • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Britain: RMT warns of ‘huge’ rail safety risks
Rail union RMT has warned that a failure to update the country’s rail system will create ‘huge safety risks’.  RMT was responding to an indication from the secretary of state for transport that train fares are going to be jacked up while modernisation and renewal work is to be shelved.
RMT news release • Financial Times • The Herald • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Britain: Six figure payout to injured shunter
A GMB member whose leg was seriously injured when he was flung from a barrow truck while working at a haulage company has received £245,000 compensation. The man, whose name has not been released but who worked as a shunter at GCT in Thorne, was helping to load pallets on to wagons.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Ireland: Voluntary fails, inspection succeeds
A dramatic decline in workplace fatalities and injuries has been delivered in Ireland after its safety agency boosted the number of official workplace inspections. A previous policy, where the watchdog introduced a US-style voluntary programme, was abandoned after it was followed by a marked upturn in workplace deaths.
HSA news release • RTÉ News • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Britain: Unfit fitter finished by flawed floor
A Unite member has been forced to take early retirement as a result of injuries sustained when he tripped over a fire hydrant cover at work. Thomas Mirehouse, 63, from Maryport in Cumbria, has been left with a significant disability in his left shoulder after suffering the injury.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Britain: Tube standards under threat from cuts
This week’s confirmation by London mayor Boris Johnson that Transport for London has completed its takeover of the failed Tube Lines operation, has prompted a warning that planned job cuts on London Underground will undermine standards and safety.
RMT news release • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Britain: Warning on government safety review
A government review of health and safety must not be allowed to undermine essential workplace protection, unions and campaigners have warned. David Cameron last month formalised a government call for Lord Young to review health and safety regulation, a process started pre-election by the Conservatives and which has already faced strong criticism from unions.
FACK letter to Lord Young • Morning Star • Daily Telegraph • Risks 463 • 3 June 201

Global: Condemnation of Canada’s asbestos ruse
Moves to use public money to underwrite the cost of a massive expansion of asbestos mining in Canada are attracting condemnation in Canada and worldwide. This week, in a letter sent to Quebec leader Jean Charest, the Canadian Cancer Society urged the premier not to approve a Can$58 million (£36.6m) loan guarantee to Jeffrey Asbestos Mines, based in Quebec.
Canadian Cancer Society news release and position statement • Public Citizen news release • Montreal Gazette • CBC News. RightOnCanada • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Britain: Enforcement bad on safety, terrible on health
Enforcement action by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has plummeted on almost all major indicators, the watchdog’s board has been told. The report to the HSE board suggests prosecutions on health issues are especially rare – an HSE guesstimate indicates they are outnumbered 7-to-1 by safety prosecutions - despite work-related diseases outnumbering officially reported workplace injuries by five to one.
Review of enforcement by FOD, paper to the HSE board, 30 June 2010 [pdf] • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Britain: Son of Workplace Health Connect flops
An attempt to tweak a failed official initiative to provide health and safety advice to smaller, non-union firms has also been an expensive flop. “The government should accept roving union safety reps are the answer to improved safety in smaller firms, rather than unworkable, unwanted advisory services,” commented Hazards magazine’s Jawad Qasrawi.
Healthy workplaces Milton Keynes pilot: Evaluation findings, HSE research report RR809, June 2010 [pdf] • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Britain: Directors need statutory safety duties
Most company directors are not taking health and safety seriously at boardroom level, so statutory directors’ duties on safety are the only alternative, the findings of a government commissioned review suggest. TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson said most firms had done nothing, “so the case for statutory duties is now unanswerable.”
The report of the Steering Group overseeing an independent evaluation of measures taken to strengthen director leadership of health and safety, HSE, June 2010 [pdf] • UCATT news release • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Europe: Safety is an investment not a cost
Recession-hit firms should not let health and safety slip down the list of priorities, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has said. “Spending on workplace health and safety should be seen as an investment and not a cost,” commented EU-OSHA director Jukka Takala at the launch of the agency’s 2009 annual report.
EU-OSHA news release, Annual Report 2009  and Summary • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Britain: Controversy over fitness to work tests
Iain Duncan Smith has denied reports that ministers are considering trebling ‘fitness to work’ tests on people claiming incapacity benefit. The work and pensions secretary said the government has at the moment “absolutely no intention” of changing the 10,000 a week rate begun under Labour.
The Guardian • BBC News Online • Personnel Today • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Britain: Wood dust caused nose cancer
A widow has received compensation after her husband died of a work-related nose cancer. Barry Haw contracted the condition after being exposed to wood dust while working as a craftsman for Robert Thompsons Craftsmen Limited.
Irwin Mitchell Solicitors news release • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Britain: Did vinyl chloride cause deadly stomach cancer
Irwin Mitchell Solicitors is seeking information to help in the case of Jonathan Cooke from Stourport on Severn, who died age 39 of stomach cancer on 4 December 2007. His work at Dura Automotive for over 20 years could have exposed him to the potent human carcinogen vinyl chloride.
Information request: Anyone who worked at Dura Automotive in Stourport is being asked to contact Satinder Bains at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors on 0870 1500 100 • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Britain: BP’s unsafe UK record exposed
The troubled oil giant BP has been caught breaking health and safety regulations 54 times over the past five years in the UK, according to Health and Safety Executive (HSE) records. The official action against the British multinational relates to a series of maintenance and operating lapses which put workers and the environment at risk from major leaks, fires and accidents in the North Sea and elsewhere.
Sunday Herald • More on BP’s safety record • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Britain: Government to adopt BP business model
John Browne, Tony Hayward’s predecessor as chief executive of BP, has been appointed by the UK government to oversee moves to make Whitehall “more businesslike.” Lord Browne was the architect of the much criticised BP cost- and safety-cutting strategy implicated in the Texas City refinery disaster, which killed 15, and a sequence of other safety and environmental crimes.
Cabinet Office news release • Green jobs, safety jobs blog • BBC News Online • AFL-CIO Now blog • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Britain: Man killed in oil refinery blast
A worker has been found dead after a fire and explosion at an oil refinery in North East Lincolnshire. The man, whose name was not released in the immediate aftermath of the blast, was working near a crude oil distillation which exploded at Total’s Lindsey Oil Refinery in North Killingholme on 29 June.
BBC News Online on the 29 June and 19 June fatalities at the Total refinery site • Hartlepool Mail • Peterlee Mail • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Britain: Company fined £280,000 after horror death
A brick firm worker who had only been on site for two weeks was killed when his head was crushed between concrete blocks and a metal platform. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted brick manufacturing company Hanson Building Products Ltd, after the death of Peter Clarke, 57, at the company's distribution plant in Coleshill on 26 April 2008.
HSE news release • Coventry Telegraph • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Hazards news, 26 June 2010

USA: BP disaster victims could lose out
Thanks to a 90-year-old legal loophole, the families of the 11 workers killed on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig may be denied full compensation for the loss of their loved ones. Under the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA), unlike occupational fatalities on land – where the worker's family can sue for both pecuniary (lost wages) and non-pecuniary damages (recompense for the loss of a loved one) - the families of the victims of the Deepwater Horizon disaster are only able to recoup lost wages.
In These Times • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

USA: Probe to fine ‘root causes’ of BP well disaster
The Chemical Safety Board (CSB), the organisation that investigated BP’s Texas City disaster and pinned much of the blame on the company’s London-based global board, is to investigate the “root causes” of the latest industrial catastrophe blighting BP’s record.
CSB investigation announcement [pdf] • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

Britain: Tory review wrong from the start
The outcome of a government health and safety review, which seems to have been pre-ordained by the time David Cameron kicked off the process last week, has been strongly criticised by the TUC. Five days after the prime minister announcing Lord Young was to undertake the review, the former Tory employment and trade secretary was telling the Times “People occasionally get killed, it’s unfortunate but it’s part of life” and declaring health and safety regulations protecting office workers were “nonsense”.
BBC News Online • Scotsman • IOSH news release • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

USA: Pratt study did show cancer rise
Pratt & Whitney Aircraft has been accused of burying evidence of higher cancer rates at a Connecticut factory. A series of headlines this month trumpeted the company line: ‘No cancer link found at P&W’; ‘Study: Pratt & Whitney Workers Got Brain Cancer At Same Rate As Overall Population,’ and ‘Study Shows No Cluster At North Haven Plant.’
New Haven Independent • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

Britain: Don't play politics with safety
David Cameron should not play politics with workplace health and safety, a union expert has warned. Roger Kline, from the children’s services union Aspect, notes: “In the year when the cost of cutting corners on health and safety killed oil rig workers, polluted an ocean and threatens the very existence of BP, our prime minister, (without a dissenting squeak from his coalition partners) claims we need to end the ‘compensation culture’ in health and safety.”
The Big Picture, Community Care blog • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

USA: Work safety laws are top public issue
Health and safety regulations are the most important workplace issue for the public, new US research has found. A national poll on by the Public Welfare Foundation and researchers at the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center found a massive 85 per cent say workplace safety regulations are “very important”, heading the poll.
Public Welfare Foundation news release • full report and audio release • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

Britain: Strike breaking jeopardised swim safety
Unions last week raises ‘serious concerns’ about health and safety arrangements at a major UK swimming event affected by strike action. Glasgow branch secretary Brian Smith, speaking on day one of the ‘rock solid’ action, said the safety concerns were so acute the unions contacted the Health and Safety Executive.
UNISON news release • Glasgow Life news release • Morning Star • BBC News Online • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

Global: Campaign aims to scupper pirates
Workplace violence a big issue for trade unionists – and maritime professionals are having to deal with one of the most extreme forms of workplace violence: piracy. Mark Dickinson, general secretary of seafarers’ union Nautilus International, says it is “incredible” his members are still at risk “on a daily basis”.
Touchstone blog • Global Campaign Against Piracy - sign the petition now! • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

Britain: Bosses pocket bonuses as pubs crumble
Directors of a major pub chain are pocketing ‘massive bonuses’ but neglecting essential maintenance to their properties with potentially deadly consequences, GMB has said. The union has called on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to investigate all Pubco Enterprise Inns premises “before someone is killed.”
GMB news release • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

Britain: ‘Lethal’ plan for driverless Tube trains
Tube union RMT has condemned ‘lethal and unworkable’ plans hatched by Conservatives on the London Assembly to move the entire London Underground train system to driverless operation.
RMT news release • BBC News Online report, including the Tory memo [pdf] • Personnel Today • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

Britain: You decide, says firm – eyes or ears?
A West Midlands fitter was forced to make a choice between protecting his ears or his eyes at work. The 66-year-old Unite member is now deaf in his left ear and suffers from tinnitus after he was exposed to excessive levels of noise while working for a factory for 40 years.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

Britain: Worker maimed in molten metal spill
A foundry worker who suffered 65 per cent burns during a spillage of molten metal has received a ‘substantial’ sum in compensation. The 28-year-old Unite member from Horwich, whose name has not been released, suffered extensive burns to his legs, feet, arms, hands and torso and was put into a medically induced coma following the incident at PMT Industries in Tonge Moor in January 2008.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

Britain: Oil giants guilty in Buncefield blast
A company controlled by Total and Chevron has been found guilty of grave safety failures that led to the Buncefield oil depot explosion. Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited (HOSL), which was owned by the oil giants, failed to prevent major accidents and limit their effects, a court has found.
HSE/Environment Agency joint statement • HSE Buncefield webpages • The Guardian. Buncefield Investigation website • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

Britain: Campaign leads to fewer quarry injuries
Reportable injuries in the quarry sector are down 76 per cent since the 'Hard Target' initiative was launched in 2000, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has said, with reportable injuries down from over 500 to below 200 a year.
HSE news release and campaign details • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

Britain: Worker loses leg under waste recycling truck
A Cheshire recycling company has been fined £10,000 after a worker lost part of his leg when he was crushed by an 18-tonne truck. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted WSR Recycling Ltd after the incident, which led to the worker’s left leg being amputated below the knee.
HSE news release and waste webpages • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

Britain: Council fined after school death fall
A council has been fined £56,000 after an electrician was killed when a work platform collapsed in a school gym hall. Robert McGill suffered severe brain injuries in the 6 April 2009 incident at Kilmarnock Academy, and died later in hospital.
HSE news release and falls webpages • BBC News Online • Glasgow Evening Times. Scotsman • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

Britain: Father fined after son’s fall
A sawmill and the father of an injured worker have been fined after the roofing contractor fell through a skylight and suffered serious head injuries. Woodgate Sawmills Limited, and Stanley John Frederick Stephens of The Longhope Welding Company were prosecuted after Robert Stephens, 40, fell through a fragile skylight on 1 June 2007 while working on the roof of a sawmill building in Coleford.
HSE news release • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

Britain: Workers caught short on toilet breaks
Many of us are being short-changed by our employers when it comes to the call of nature. A study by the Labour Research Department (LRD) has found many British workers are suffering because of inadequate toilet facilities and restrictive toilet break rules.
LRD news release • BBC News Online • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

China: Illegal coal mine kills 47
A coal mine in central China's Henan Province where an underground explosion killed 47 people on 21 June was operating illegally, officials said. The operation license of Xingdong No. 2 Mine in Weidong District, Pingdingshan City, expired on 6 June, and the district government cut its electricity supply on 7 June, according to local officials.
Xinhua • BBC News Online • The Independent • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

India: Panel reconsiders Bhopal leak action
Cabinet ministers are recommending that India's government revisit its response to the 1984 toxic gas leak in Bhopal. The fact that the Bhopal tragedy is back in the news at the same time as the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has added to the sense that victims of the 1984 disaster have been terribly let down.
The Guardian • BBC News Online. The Hindu • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

Hazards news, 19 June 2010

USA: Oil companies all fail the safety test
Members of the US Congress tore into the big energy corporations on 15 June for filing almost identical and identically flawed Gulf of Mexico oil spill response plans. The verbal assault by committee members undermined attempts by the oil giants to suggest that their working practices differ from those of BP; and that the catastrophe, which killed 11 workers, would not have happened if the well had been theirs.
Green jobs blog • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

USA: Corporate greed causes work deaths
As oil mucked the Gulf of Mexico and families mourned 11 dead rig workers, BP officials proclaimed that the corporation’s priority always was safety. This mirrored the tack taken by Massey Energy, whose officials also declared safety was paramount after an explosion in the corporation’s Upper Big Branch mine killed 29 workers.
Campaign for America’s Future • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

Britain: Cash van driver overturns conviction
A security van driver found guilty of assault and a parking offence has had his conviction overturned. The GMB member, whose name has not been released, had parked his G4S van on double yellow lines at Kings Cross Station in central London while collecting in excess of £20,000 from rail firm GNER.
GMB news release • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

Britain: Workers creaking under the strain
British workers are suffering physical pain as well as stress from working long hours, not taking lunch breaks and going to work when they are sick, research carried out for the physios’ union CSP has found. A survey commissioned by CSP found a quarter of people regularly work all day without taking a break, and more than half said they often go to work when they are stressed or physically unwell.
CSP news release • BBC News Online • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

USA: 'Nailed' – an enforcement blog with teeth
Many followers of health and safety will be used to official enforcement and compensation agencies adopting one of two voices – a serious and measured tone when things go wrong or enthusiastically extolling the virtues of partnership and cooperation in better times. But in the US, Washington State’s Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) has launched a blog that is altogether more pithy.
Nailed blog • Washington State Department of Labor & Industries news release • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

Britain: Slipped disc costs scaffolder his job
A Scunthorpe scaffolder has had to give up his job after suffering a serious back injury at work. Unite member Kenneth Higgins, 55, suffered the slipped disc while working for Powertherm Access Services in February 2005.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

Europe: Have your say on green jobs
As oil laps on the US coast, there’s renewed energy in discussions of green jobs. And that means new opportunities and, potentially, new risks, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) says. In response, its European Risk Observatory (ERO) “has commissioned a foresight study to explore the potential impact that key technological innovations may have on workers’ health and safety, both positively and negatively, in jobs in the green economy (‘green jobs’) and what new and emerging risks to occupational safety and health (OSH) this may bring by 2020.”
EU-OSHA blog and online questionnaire • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

Britain: Bread sandwiches worker against rail
A bakery worker who was pinned against a safety rail by an 80 kilo stack of bread has received almost £4,000 in compensation for his injuries. The worker, a member of the union BFAWU, was left with soft tissue injuries to his lower back and severe bruising to his thigh following the incident at a bakery in Stockton in December 2009.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

Britain: Government aims to remove safety rules
The TUC has said a review of UK health and safety regulation announced this week by David Cameron will undermine the “already limited” legal protection of UK workers. He said the prime minister was pandering to the businesses that are responsible for hundreds of thousands of workers falling sick each year.
10 Downing Street news release • TUC news release • Stronger Unions blog • Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Morning Star • The Guardian • The Independent • Daily Mail • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

Britain: Review must debunk ‘burdens’ myth
Unions and campaigners have warned that essential regulation and enforcement of health and safety must not be abandoned by the government. Hilda Palmer of the Hazards Campaign said: “There is a lack of evidence or fact to support the need or value of cutting regulation of health and safety, a lack of balance in failing to mention the burden on workers hurt or made ill, and on the families of those killed, and a failure to mention the massive cost of up to £30 billion per year of bad health and safety, the majority of which employers externalise onto all of us.”
Prospect news release • NASUWT news release • HSE news release and facts about HSE’s role webpages • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

Britain: Controversial MP is new safety minister
A member of parliament referred to in the press as a Conservative Party ‘attack dog’ and who before becoming an MP worked for a union-busting PR firm that creates front organisations for polluting industries is the new health and safety minister. Chris Grayling, who was shadow Home Secretary before the election, is now minister of state at the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).
Green jobs blog • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

Britain: Job loss digger driver killed himself
A digger driver from Hull hanged himself after losing his job, an inquest has heard.
Patrick McLaughlin, 52, been made redundant when the company he was working for went into liquidation in August last year.
Hull Daily Mail • TUC news release • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

Britain: Union welcome for medic hours probe
The TUC has welcomed the findings of a government commissioned independent review, which concludes it is possible to deliver high quality training for hospital doctors within the 48 hour limit on average weekly working time.
TUC news release • Time for training - a review of the impact of the Working Time Directive on the quality of training • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

Europe: Strain injuries in Europe
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) remain the most common occupational disease in the European Union and workers in all sectors and occupations can be affected, a new report from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has concluded. It says: “The report highlights the main issues and aims to provide a well-founded evidence base, helping policy makers, actors at enterprise and sector level, as well as researchers and those who record, prevent and compensate occupational diseases in the European Union to set the agenda for the next years.”
OSH in figures: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders in the EU - Facts and figures • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

Britain: Bakery bosses exposed workers to flour, power
The directors of a Bedford based DG Bakery Ltd have been fined after a series of health and safety breaches exposed staff to serious danger - including electrocution and exposure to flour dust.
HSE news release • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

Britain: Manager fined after teen trainee is injured
The manager of a Fareham diving company has been fined £2,500 for health and safety breaches that led to teenage trainee Jonathan Holmes breaking his ankle at work. Andrew William Steel Baillie, general manager of Sub Surface Engineering Ltd, pleaded guilty to the charges brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
HSE news release • Portsmouth News • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

Britain: Asbestos protest, Canada House, London, 1 July
Asbestos and safety campaigners are to protest outside Canada House on 1 July. The event, on Canada’s National Day, is to protest at Canada’s continuing support for Quebec’s exports of asbestos to the developing world.
Asbestos protest at Canada House, Trafalgar Square, London 10am to 12 noon, 1 July 2010. Event details • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

Hazards news, 12 June 2010

Global: Olympic suppliers ‘degrade’ workers
Appalling and degrading conditions are being endured by millions of workers producing sportswear and Olympic branded merchandise, unions and campaigners have warned. The TUC, along with Labour Behind the Label, unions and human rights campaign groups, is part of the Playfair 2012 campaign calling on the organisers of London 2012 and the Olympic movement to ensure that workers’ rights are respected.
TUC news release • Labour Behind the Label • Playfair 2012 • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Mexico: States forces back ‘homicide’ mine
Unions have condemned an assault by heavily armed federal riot police on striking mineworkers at the Cananea copper mine near the US border. On Sunday 6 June at about 10pm, hundreds of police surrounded the mine, which has been occupied by the miners, and used tear gas to dislodge the workers.
IMF news release • USW news release • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Britain: Derailment shows why guards are essential
Rail union RMT has again demanded Scotrail call an immediate halt to plans to extend Driver Only Operation (DOO) on its services after eight people needed hospital treatment as a result of a train derailment on Sunday 6 June.
RMT news release • Scotsman • Morning Star • BBC News Online • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Britain: Unite safety alert after Corus death
The union Unite is calling on all safety reps to make sure employers take all the necessary steps to prevent fatalities after a member was killed at work. The call for vigilance follows the 23 April death of an electrician working for Corus at their Scunthorpe Concast Plant.
Unite news release • Scunthorpe Telegraph • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Global: Union work gets more deadly
There has been a dramatic increase in the number of trade unionists murdered, with new figures revealing there were 101 killings in 2009 – up 30 per cent over the previous year. The latest Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights, published by global union confederation ITUC, also reveals growing pressure on fundamental workers’ rights around the world as the impact of the global economic crisis on employment deepened.
ITUC news release and survey, video and multimedia resources • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Global: UCATT slams Australian ‘show trial’
UCATT has said called on the Australian authorities to abandon the ‘show trial’ of an Australian union rep who stood up for safety. The UK construction union has sent a message of solidarity to its Australian sister union CFMEU and construction worker Ark Tribe, who refused to answer to an anti-union “interrogation squad”.
UCATT news release • CFMEU news release • Rights on site • Find out more about Ark Tribe’s case • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Britain: Train deaths led to nervous breakdown
A Hull train driver suffered a nervous breakdown after he was involved in a fatal collision on a railway crossing. ASLEF member David Jarrad, 56, suffered post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and permanent phobic anxiety after the incident in June 2005 when his train hit a car crossing the line between Thorne and Goole.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Britain: Ear protection came 30 years too late
A GMB member who was exposed to dangerous levels of noise in the workplace for over 30 years has been left with occupational deafness and tinnitus. Terence Haywood, 62, has received £13,000 in compensation for the damage to his hearing caused by the noise from his job as a dye caster for Hallams Castings.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Britain: Union warning on over-crowded schools
A teaching union is calling for better school facilities after a primary school teacher suffered a serious injury in a cluttered school corridor that was being used as a temporary classroom. NASUWT said the 37-year-old union member permanently damaged her spine after she fell while trying to navigate the corridor at a Hartlepool school.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Britain: US oil spill prompts UK rig action
Energy secretary Chris Huhne has said the UK government will increase its inspection of drilling rigs and monitoring of offshore compliance with legal standards. In addition to increased scrutiny by his department (DECC), the government has asked a new oil industry-led group, OSPRAG, to report back on the UK’s ability to prevent and respond to oil spills.
DECC news release • HSE comment on Deepwater Horizon • The Independent • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Britain: Don’t just criticise BP ‘criminals’, try them
Can you have serial crimes but no criminal? Critics say BP’s directors have proved as slippery as the gulf’s oil smeared coastline, with none so far facing criminal charges relating to the Deepwater Horizon disaster or other deadly incidents.
The White House blog • US Department of Justice news release • The Progressive • Creators.com • ITUC/Hazards green jobs, safe jobs blog and related BP criticism • Think Progress • CNN News • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Europe: Stress hurts workers, but so what?
Most European company bosses are aware of serious stress problems in their workplaces, but most opt to do nothing concrete about it. New data from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) shows 79 per cent of European managers are concerned by work-related stress, but less than a third of companies have set procedures to deal with it.
European Agency news release and ESENER survey results • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Britain: RAF flew in the face of pregnancy law
The Royal Air Force (RAF) ignored its risk assessment duties and created an “offensive environment” for an officer who was denied the right to stay in her job when she became pregnant.  A tribunal found she had faced discrimination and its recommendations included calling on the Ministry of Defence to carry out an individual risk assessment for each pregnant woman and to consider adjusting her role to enable her to remain in her post.
EHRC news release • Leigh Day and Co news release • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Britain: Fewer heart attacks after smoking ban
There were 1,200 fewer hospital admissions for heart attacks in England in the year after July 2007, when the smoking ban came in, a major study suggests. The 2.4 per cent drop was much more modest than that reported in some areas where similar bans have been introduced.
Michelle Sims and others. Short term impact of smoke-free legislation in England: retrospective analysis of hospital admissions for myocardial infarction, BMJ Online first, June 2010. BBC News Online • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Canada: Deathbed reprieve for killer industry?
The battle to end Canada's export of deadly asbestos may be about to be lost, a top human rights group has warned. Kathleen Ruff of the Rideau Institute says: “Economically, the industry is on its deathbed,” but adds that it has reason to believe it will soon receive a multi-million dollar bail-out from Canada’s federal and Quebec governments.
Toronto Star • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Britain: Wide social inequalities in work cancers
The occupational cancer burden in the UK has been consistently under-estimated and is concentrated almost entirely in certain social classes, a new study shows.
SOM meeting. Lesley Rushton and others. Occupational and cancer in Britain, British Journal of Cancer, volume 102, pages 1428–1437, 2010 [abstract]. Related HSE report: The burden of occupational cancer in Great Britain, research report 800, HSE, 2010 [pdf] • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Britain: More sickness policies, fewer sick days
The average UK worker took 6.4 days off through sickness last year, the lowest number since 1987, a survey by employers’ organisation the CBI suggests. This compares with 6.7 days in 2007, the last year surveyed.
CBI news release • BBC News Online • The Independent • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Britain: Security firm fined for poisoning
Glasgow-based Alpha Group Security Ltd has been fined £7,000 following the poisoning death of a construction site security guard. Thomas Fraser, 37, died of carbon monoxide poisoning at an on-site flat used as a base for employees.
HSE news release • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Britain: Out of control lift kills lift engineer
A defunct Kent-based lift company has been ordered to pay £45,000 in fines and costs following the crushing death of a self-employed lift engineer. J Brown Services Ltd was prosecuted following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after 35-year-old Andy Bates died while completing the installation of a new lift at a site near Oxford Street in Central London.
HSE news release • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Britain: Firm guilty after young worker’s death
Flowserve (GB) Ltd has been fined £150,000 following the death of a 21-year-old employee. The prosecution at Lewes Crown Court related to the 7 May 2008 death of Philip Locke, who received fatal injuries when carrying out a pressure test on a high pressure valve.
HSE news release • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Europe: REACH - an opportunity for trade unions
The marketing of chemicals - especially those that could harm human health - has been covered by the EU-wide REACH regulations since 1 June 2007. But ‘REACH: an opportunity for trade unions’, a new publication from the trade union research institute ETUI, concludes real progress, including outlawing the most toxic chemicals from workplaces, “will not happen unless union representatives take ownership of the law.”
REACH: an opportunity for trade unions.
Putting knowledge to work in the workplace, Tony Musu, ETUI, 2010. ISBN 978-287452176-8. Price: 10 Euros. ETUI publications notice and contents and preface [pdf] • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Hazards news, 5 June 2010

Britain: TUC prescription on drugs and alcohol
A decent policy is the key to addressing drug and alcohol problems at work, the TUC has said. The union body adds: “Under no circumstances should a drugs or alcohol policy be part of a disciplinary policy.”
TUC guide on drugs and alcohol policies [pdf] and drug testing in the workplace [pdf] • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

USA: Safety rules fail the biotech test
Workers in cutting edge biotechnology labs are facing serious and seriously unregulated risks. “Worker safety cannot be sacrificed on the altar of innovation,” said OHSA head David Michaels.
New York Times • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Britain: Firm’s blind eye on safety goggles
A driver whose requests for safety goggles were repeatedly ignored has received a “substantial” sum in compensation after he suffered permanent damage to his eye at work. After being hit in the eye by work equipment, the 57-year-old GMB member working for Coast and Country Housing Limited needed surgery to correct a detached retina and then another operation a year later to remove a cataract.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Britain: Nuke plant slip hurt worker’s prospects
A nuclear plant surveyor who suffered a trapped nerve at work in a workplace slip missed out on promotion as a result. The 54-year-old GMB member, whose name has not been released, was forced to go on restricted duties after slipping on liquid while working at Sellafield in Whitehaven.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

USA: Rig spill clean up makes workers sick
A chemical dispersant being used to fight the gulf oil spill is making workers sick, recent reports suggest. The disaster, where BP has failed repeatedly to stem the oil gusher and which started with an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 workers, has led to an increasing clamour for criminal charges to be levelled at BP, the company that owns the well.
Green jobs, safe jobs blog • New York Times • Minnesota Independent • Working In These Times • Truthout • Nola.com • BBC News Online • The Guardian • Fairwarning • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Britain: Caterpillar didn’t move after warning
A Unite member working as a painter for Caterpillar needed two operations to correct a hernia following a workplace injury has received more than £7,000 in compensation. Keith Robinson, 43, needed the major surgery after moving a 12ft high and 30ft long walkway to access a work area.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Britain: Tory ‘attack dog’ is safety minister
Chris Grayling, a member of parliament referred to in the press as a Conservative Party ‘attack dog’ and who before becoming an MP worked for a union-busting PR firm that creates front organisations for polluting industries is the new health and safety minister.
Green jobs blog • 5 June 2010

Britain: Warning on ‘heavy-handed’ welfare plans
More support and not more penalties is what are needed to get the workless into work, unions, safety professionals and poverty campaigners have told the government. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “Unions will support measures to help unemployed and disabled people into work but there is no excuse for such a heavy handed, punitive approach.”
DWP news release • Iain Duncan Smith’s speech • The State of the Nation: Poverty, worklessness and welfare dependency in the in the UK • TUC news release • PCS news release • IOSH news release • CPAG news release • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Britain: Not quite the right fit note
A new healthy work guide to assist GPs in fitness for work assessments skirts the issue of curing the unhealthy jobs that make many workers sick in the first place. The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is behind Healthy Working UK, a website it says will provide GPs and other healthcare professionals with information, training and decision aids concerning the relationship between work and health.
RCGP news release • RCGP Healthy Working UK website • Fit for purpose, Hazards, Number 110, 2010 • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Global: Unions call for action on Foxconn suicides
A global union confederation has said it is “gravely concerned” at the tragic suicides at Foxconn Technology Group in Shenzhen, China. ITUC says the Taiwanese Foxconn group is at the heart of the ‘Made in China’ export model.
ITUC news release • Good Electronics and makeITfair joint statement • Sign up to the Labourstart appeal in support of the Foxconn workers • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Britain: Bed makers remove mattress strains
An initiative to address greatly elevated strains risks in bed manufacture has met with some success, says the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The watchdog says “employees in the bed manufacturing industry are around twice as likely to suffer manual handling injuries such as back and upper limb disorders than those in any other manufacturing sector,” with jobs like the manual handling of mattresses particularly problematic.
HSE news release and mattress handling initiative • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Australia: Union bans nuke work
An Australian union has banned its members from working in uranium mines, nuclear power stations or any other part of the nuclear fuel cycle. The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) says other unions have expressed strong support for the campaign against uranium, which it has labelled the “new asbestos” of the workplace.
ETU news release and When the dust settles video part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5 • Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Sydney Morning Herald • Brisbane Times • Beyond Nuclear radiation and health webpages and Australia webpages • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Britain: BP spill prompts North Sea discussions
North Sea oil industry leaders have created an advisory group to review procedures in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster. The Oil Spill Prevention and Response Advisory Group (OSPRAG) was formed by the industry body Oil and Gas UK and includes offshore unions Unite and RMT, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and other government agencies.
Offshore Magazine • BBC News Online • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Britain: Site death fine increased eight-fold
A building firm has had a fine following the death of a worker increased eight-fold by appeal court judges in Scotland. Discovery Homes (Scotland) Ltd was originally fined £5,000 after admitting a criminal safety breach linked to the death of bricklayer Andrezej Freitag, 55.
Scottish Appeal Court judgment • STV News • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Britain: Laundry boss jailed for exploiting immigrants
A Berkshire man who hired 23 illegal immigrants and kept them virtual prisoners at a laundry in Hampshire has been jailed for a year for assisting unlawful immigration. Qing Wu, 42, employed the workers at Universal Chinese Laundry in Alton.
Portsmouth News • BBC News Online • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Britain: Fingers chopped off at plastics firm
A plastics recycling factory in St Helens has been fined £15,000 after a worker had parts of two fingers cut off by blades on a high-speed fan. The Roydon Granulation Ltd employee, who has asked not to be named, suffered serious injuries to four fingers on his left hand including the partial amputation of two.
HSE news release • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Britain: Premier league club fails on safety
Premier League football club Aston Villa has been fined after a worker was badly injured in a fall through a roof during the redevelopment of its training ground. The club, its contractor and Mechanical Cleansing Services’ director, Damon Roe, all admitted health and safety offences.
HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • BBC News Online • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Britain: High voltage shock for stationery worker
A London stationery manufacturer has been fined after admitting removing safety guards and exposing a worker to a high voltage shock that left him permanently disabled. The man was investigating a fault on a plastic welding machine at Chart Design Ltd in Wembley in June 2007 when his fingers came into proximity with components carrying several thousand volts.
HSE news release • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Britain: Vibration disease costs stonemason his job
A stonemason has been forced to give up his specialist trade after his hands were left permanently damaged by using vibrating tools at work. The 46-year-old from Tadcaster, whose name has not been released, has received £56,000 in compensation after being left with the debilitating condition Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS), caused by using vibrating tools on a daily basis in his job as a stonemason for a Yorkshire company.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Hazards news, 29 May 2010

Britain: Random drug tests of ‘dubious legality’
The TUC has warned that random drug tests at work are of ‘dubious legality’ and has called on the government to produce clear guidelines. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said employers cannot ignore drug use at work, but added “the way to tackle this danger is by having proper policies in place for dealing with drug and alcohol abuse in the workplace, rather than introducing random testing which is not only a breach of a person’s right to privacy and dignity, but also of dubious legality.”
TUC news release • Drug testing in the workplace [pdf] • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

Britain: Supermarket slip costs worker her job
It wasn’t a fall in her own workplace that caused a bakery worker to give up work, it was a visit to the supermarket. But the BFAWU member still received £45,000 in damages after her union stepped in with legal support.
BFAWU news release • Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

Britain: Union welcome for bookie standards
Betting shop union Community has welcomed a new voluntary standard intended to protect bookies’ staff from violence. The union say the industry-backed measure comes after Community’s intensive lobbying in the wake of a rise in robberies and attacks.
Community news release and betting shops webpages • Safe Bet Alliance news release • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

Britain: Bending machine wrecks worker’s hand
A factory worker whose hand was crushed in a defective machine was forced to take five months off work as a result of the horrific injuries. GMB member Darrell Neromilotis, 46, needed two operations to save his hand following the November 2007 incident at outdoor equipment manufacturer Playdale Playgrounds Ltd.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

Britain: Sellafield fitter hurt by wrong tool
A mechanical fitter who needed surgery on his shoulder following a workplace injury has received more than £5,000 in compensation. Unite member Geoffrey Burns, 59, from Whitehaven had to take six months off work following the incident in August 2008 while working for nuclear firm Sellafield.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

Britain: BMA calls for safe shifts for docs
Doctors who work shifts are more prone to health risks and sleep deprivation, a report from BMA Scotland has concluded. The report, produced by the BMA’s Scottish Junior Doctors Committee (SJDC), highlights the dangers of irregular shift patterns on health and performance and makes a series of recommendations to reduce these dangers.
BMA news release and the Shiftwork, rest and sleep: Minimising the risks report • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

Britain: Firm broke chemicals laws before blaze
The boss of a chemical company that suffered a serious blaze leading to a multi-agency major incident response has claimed the factory had never before had problems with health and safety. However, official papers show Huddersfield-based Grosvenor Chemicals attracted a series of Health and Safety Executive (HSE) improvement notices last year for a catalogue of breaches of safety laws, including regulations covering dangerous, explosive and hazardous substances – and there had been a death at the site.
Environmental Agency news release • Kirklees Council news release • Huddersfield Daily Examiner and related report. • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

Global: Will BP’s ‘disaster-prone’ board face jail?
Directors of BP’s London-based global board seem to be above justice when it comes to the firm's serial workplace safety and environmental crimes, claims a new report. Campaigning magazine Hazards, which has been monitoring the multinational’s safety performance for years, says if more attention had been paid to BP’s deadly workplace safety record the risks would have been “shockingly apparent”.
ITUC/Hazards green jobs blog and BP webpages • The Daily Beast • Greenpeace BP logo competition • CBS News • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

Britain: Business wrong again on regulation
A business group has published updated estimates of the cost to business of regulations without addressing concerns raised last year that the figures were “rigged”. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) ‘Business Burdens 2010’ estimates these safety regulations lead to a combined recurring annual cost to business of £374 million – but deliberately omits from the calculation the savings accrued from preventive action required by regulation – including the savings made by business from operating safely.
BCC news release and Burdens barometer 2010 [pdf] • Who pays?, Hazards magazine, number 106, 2009 • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

Britain: Blacklist bosses to be named and shamed
Construction bosses who personally sanctioned the use of blacklists in the industry are set to be named and shamed. A tribunal ruling means the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) must now reveal full details relating to a number of test cases – including invoices, correspondence and documentation detailing the business and organisational relationships between The Consulting Association and construction firms must be released under the terms of the ruling.
Construction Enquirer • Blacklist blog • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

Britain: Freight firm fined after crushing death
A Leeds freight company has been fined after a 59-year-old worker was crushed to death by a case of glass. Alan Fletcher tried to stop the two-tonne case from falling as it was unloaded at Roadways Container Logistics, Leeds Crown Court heard, fining the firm £250,000 plus £100,000 costs.
HSE news release and Fletcher family statement • BBC News Online • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

Britain: Waste giant fined after landfill death
A major UK waste management and recycling company has been fined after a driver was killed at a Northamptonshire landfill site. Sita UK Limited was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the death of bin driver Gary Carter, 32, at the Cranford landfill site on 4 January 2007.
HSE news release • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

Britain: Contractor guilty after wall crushed worker
Contractor Keith Gardner, trading as KP Gardner Builders, was fined £7,000 last week for breaching health and safety law after a builder broke his back and ribs when a wall fell on him at a London construction site. Jason Lunnon, 41, was seriously injured when he was struck by the falling concrete blocks on the site in Newham.
HSE news release • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

Britain: Council fined after dumper truck injury
 Bridgend County Borough Council has been fined after an incident that saw a driver injured when his dumper truck overturned. Council employee Mark Morgan was driving the one tonne vehicle through woodland on 25 September 2008 when the truck began to slide.
HSE news release and risk management webpages • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

Britain: Seven-metre fall stops man working
Construction firm Hartog Hutton Ltd and building owner Fluorocarbon Company Ltd have each been fined after a builder suffered fractured vertebrae when he fell from a factory roof in Hertfordshire. Danny Langdon, 63, injured his spine in the seven metre fall on Christmas Eve 2008 and has been off work since.
HSE news release and Shattered lives campaign • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010
Britain: Hazards Conference, 9-11 July 2010, Keele University
The National Hazards Conference, organised by the Hazards Campaign and supported by UK unions, is the biggest annual educational and campaigning event for trade union safety reps and activists.
National Hazards Conference background and registration information • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

Morocco: Firm ignores global safety deal
Union reps in Morocco employed by a company part-owned by the multinational ArcelorMittal are demanding the firm respects its global agreement on health and safety. A monitoring mission from the global union federation IMF met last week with shop stewards from SONACID production sites, where workers are reported to be subjected “to psychological pressure” and told they could lose bonuses, other benefits and career opportunities “to convince them not to report accidents,” IMF said.
IMF news release • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

Turkey: Unions necessary to prevent disasters
Unions provide the ongoing scrutiny of workplace safety standards that can keep Turkish mines safe, a union safety expert has said. Speaking in the wake of three methane explosions in three different mines in the last six months, Fikret Sazak said the disasters were a direct result of a lack of proper precautions and strong workers’ union.
Hurriyet Daily News • Today’s Zaman • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

USA: Call for mine manslaughter charges
US legislators and trade unionists last week grilled the owner of a mine where 29 workers died in a blast last month, slamming the “alarming record” of serious safety violations at the Massey Energy mine in West Virginia. Highway billboards calling for a manslaughter prosecution of Massey Energy are appearing around West Virginia and read: “29 Coal Miners Dead, Prosecute Massey for Manslaughter.”
Prosecute Massey for Manslaughter website • Morning Star • . USW blog. Counterpunch • Pittsburgh Tribune-Review • Fairwarning.org • Truthdig • New York Times • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

USA: Confronting blame-the-worker programmes
When US firms get lean-and-mean, injuries can increase, official safety inspections become more likely and workers’ compensation premiums soar. But many employers have found a novel response: hide the injuries.
Labor Notes • USW webpages on BS programmes • Hazards behavioural safety webpages • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

 

Hazards news, 22 May 2010

Britain: Fighting for your life
Hazards magazine is pressing head with its campaign to defend workplace safety from a retreat from regulation and enforcement. In a pointed reminder to the Conservatives and the Lib Dems – both of whom have called recently for deregulation – a stark poster warns: ‘We didn’t vote to die at work’.
Hazards magazine, issue 110, April-June 2010. Contents list and We didn’t vote to die at work poster • 22 May 2010

USA: Obama to set up oil spill commission
US President Barack Obama has vowed to end the “cosy relationship” between oil companies and US regulators in the light of the Gulf of Mexico disaster. He also condemned “the ridiculous spectacle” of oil executives “falling over each other to point the finger of blame.”
BBC News Online on the presidential commission and the blame game •   The Guardian • In These Times • Center for Public Integrity news report • More on BP’s safety record • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

Britain: Reps told to be wary of BS
The TUC is warning union reps to be on the lookout for behavioural safety (BS) schemes that pin the blame for injuries and illness at work on “unsafe acts” by workers. The union body says the schemes – which also go by the name of “behavioural modification” or “behaviour based safety” – require that “management should target specific behaviours and aim to change these based on observing and monitoring workers.”
Behavioural safety: A briefing for workplace representatives, TUC, May 2010 • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

Britain: Industrial action threat at Tube Lines
London Underground union RMT has started a ballot for industrial action by members employed by Tube Lines. It says the move is in response to a continuing threat to jobs and safe working conditions and in support of a decent pay increase.
RMT news release • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

China: Electronics giant faces suicide controversy
Foxconn Technology, the giant contractor that manufacturers the iPhone and other brand name consumer electronics, has defended its employment standards after the suicide death of an eighth worker.
CBC News • Cult of Mac • Xinhua.net • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

Britain: Payout after seven floors plunge
A civilian worker with the police who was in a workplace lift that plunged seven floors to the ground has received a “substantial” sum in compensation. The PCS member, who works for the Metropolitan Police in London and whose name has not been released, suffered from neck and back pain as a result of the incident in May 2008 and required treatment for an anxiety disorder after she was left with a fear of getting in lifts.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

Britain: UCATT calls for more site protection
Construction union UCATT has vowed to keep the pressure on government over blacklisting and bogus self-employment.
Morning Star • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

Britain: Action needed on commercial fishing deaths
Britain’s top marine accident investigator has criticised lax attitudes to safety after the deaths of three fishermen in a two week period. The death rate among fishermen was “consistent and disproportionate,” the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said.
MAIB triple investigation report and 2009 Safety Digest [pdf] • Press and Journal • BBC News Online • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

China: Electronics giant faces suicide controversy
Foxconn Technology, the giant contractor that manufacturers the iPhone and other brand name consumer electronics, has defended its employment standards after the suicide death of an eighth worker.
CBC News • Cult of Mac • Xinhua.net • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

Britain: Fishing boat firm fined following fall
A Scarborough fishing boat operator has been fined after an electrician suffered serious injuries when he fell from a ladder while aboard the company’s boat. Contractor Philip Parcell, 53, from Newby, broke his back in three places, fractured his skull in two places and sustained nerve damage to the left side of his face after plummeting between decks of the Our Julia when it was moored in Scarborough harbour on 16 July last year.
HSE news release • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

Britain: RAF painter disabled by solvents
A services painter who was left with a devastating degenerative neurological condition after he was exposed to dangerous toxins while working in ‘Victorian conditions’ has won his 17-year battle for compensation. Shaun Wood, 52, was diagnosed with Multiple System Atrophy-P (MSAP), a Parkinson’s type condition which affects the nervous system, after exposure to a cocktail of solvents as a painter and finisher at RAF sites across the world.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

USA: Blood lead levels tied to nerve disease
A study has strenghtened evidence linking long-term lead exposure to the risk of developing the fatal neurological condition amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease. The study found a doubling of blood lead levels led to a near doubling of the chances of developing ALS.
F Fang and others. Association between blood lead and the risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, American Journal of Epidemiology, volume 171, Number 10, pages 1126-33, 2010 • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

Britain: Stress again linked to the recession
Work pressures during the recession have caused a big rise in mental health problems, a mental health charity has said. A survey for Mind suggests that one in 11 British workers has been to their GP for stress and anxiety arising the financial squeeze and 7 per cent said they were prescribed medicines to help them cope.
Mind news release and Taking care of business campaign • BBC News Online • The Independent • The Observer • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

Britain: Raleigh fined over worker’s death
Bicycle company Raleigh has been fined £72,000 after the death of a forklift truck driver at its Nottingham depot. John Whittington, 59, was hit by a falling girder when part of his forklift truck, which had its forks raised, struck a door frame at the Eastwood site in September 2007.
Nottingham Post • BBC News Online • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

USA: Nurses rally for safe staffing
Some 1,000 registered nurses from around the US rallied on Capitol Hill, Washington DC, on 12 May to show their strong support for legislation to establish minimum nurse-to-patient ratios for all hospitals in the country. Brandishing signs that read ‘I’m A Patient Advocate,’ ‘Safe Patient Ratios Save Lives’ and ‘Safe Lift Now,’ members of National Nurses United (NNU), made the case that the care they are able to give their patients is being hampered by long working hours and cutbacks.
AFL-CIO Now blog • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

Britain: Worker crushed in building collapse
Two firms have been fined a total of £7,000 after part of an office block under construction collapsed, seriously injuring one worker. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the building’s designer, Peter Wallace of the Wallace Partnership, and the principal contractor, Jack Smith (Builders) Ltd, following the collapse in Kirkham.
HSE news release • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

Britain: Firms fined after site fall
Businesses are being urged to take proper precautions when their staff work at height after a West Yorkshire worker sustained serious back injuries when he plunged more than three metres from a terrace retaining wall on a construction site. There were no guardrails in place to prevent Graham Parkin falling from height as he accessed a work area.
HSE news release • Ilkley Gazette • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

Britain: Confectioner fined after 1 tonne blow
A Telford confectionery company has been prosecuted after a worker’s head was hit with a one tonne force. Magna Specialist Confectioners Ltd (MSC) was fined a total of £75,000 and ordered to pay costs of £37,500 by Shrewsbury Crown Court.
HSE news release • BBC News Online • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

Britain: College fined after window cleaner falls
Lincoln College has been fined £1,500 after a window cleaner fell four metres, suffering broken ribs and a serious back injury. James Theaker, 50, from Lincoln, was employed by A Nicoll & Son Ltd, when he was contracted to clean windows at Lincoln College on 4 November 2008.
HSE news release • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

Britain: Widow calls for insurance fix
An asbestos widow has called on the government to help asbestos victims and their families overcome barriers to obtaining compensation. Caroline Squires from Wacton in Norfolk has voiced her support for an Employers’ Liability Insurance Bureau (ELIB) after her husband, Almer, died from asbestos related cancer mesothelioma. Mr Squires, died in October 2008, aged 66.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

Europe: European conference, 10-12 September, Leeds
The 12th bi-annual European Work Hazards Conference is to be held in Leeds from 10 to 12 September 2010. This year’s conference, hosted by the UK Hazards Campaign, “will give hazards activists the chance to meet and work with activists from throughout Europe and other parts of the world”, say the organisers.
European Work Hazards Network (EWHN) website and conference details • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

 

Hazards news, 15 May 2010

Britain: We didn’t vote to die at work
In a pointed reminder to the new Conservatives and Lib Dem coalition government, a stark poster from Hazards magazine warns: ‘We didn’t vote to die at work’. This “fighting for your life’ edition is intended to provide unions and campaigners with the ammunition they need to defend workplace health and safety standards.
Hazards magazine, issue 110, April-June 2010 • Contents list and We didn’t vote to die at work poster • 15 May 2010

Britain: HSE inspections down to once in a lifetime
A decade ago, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) could be expected to turn up at the average UK workplace once every few years. But unpublished official figures obtained by the trade union safety magazine Hazards show workplaces are now lucky to see the pared back watchdog once in a working lifetime and also show HSE enforcement “has crashed”.
Once in a lifetime - HSE inspection and enforcement drops off the chart, Hazards magazine, number 110, April-June 2010 • 15 May 2010

Britain: Only unions mean real worker involvement
Worker involvement is currently the biggest thing in health and safety, says the TUC. But Hugh Robertson, the union body’s head of safety, has warned the positive chatter from enforcers and employers is not always translating into meaningful consultation at the workplace.
Better talk?, Hazards magazine, issue 110, April-June 2010 • 15 May 2010

USA: More regulation is the solution
Whether the problem is blood spilled in the workplace or oil spilled in the oceans, a series of recent disasters show why more regulation of profit-hungry industries is needed, a US union leader has said. “Twenty-nine dead coal miners in West Virginia, seven dead workers at an oil refinery in Washington State and 11 dead on a Gulf of Mexico oil rig followed by an ecological calamity, all in the span of a month, illustrate in blood the need for more regulation and stiffer enforcement,” said Leo W Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers (USW).
AFL-CIO Now blog • In These Times • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

Britain: Safety victory for rail union
Rail union RMT says Southern Trains has stepped back from a move that would have undermined rail safety by extending driver-only train operation. The rethink came after RMT threatened industrial action.
RMT news release • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

Britain: Temp’s lack of training led to injury
A GMB member who suffered a broken jaw and lost seven teeth in while on placement from an employment agency has received £47,500 in compensation. John McFarlane, 42, from Washington was hit in the mouth by a tool called a warwick after he was forced to work on his own in a new temp placement, after just two days of a promised seven day training programme.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

USA: President’s panel calls for cancer action
Policymakers in the US should abandon a reactionary approach to regulation of cancer causing chemicals and champion a precautionary approach, top advisers to Barack Obama have said. The report from the President's Cancer Panel recommends: “A precautionary, prevention-oriented approach should replace current reactionary approaches to environmental contaminants in which human harm must be proven before action is taken to reduce or eliminate exposure,” adding that this new approach “should be the cornerstone of a new national cancer prevention strategy that emphasises primary prevention.”
Reducing environmental cancer risk: What we can do now, President’s Cancer Panel, 2010 [pdf] • Huffington Post • Effect measure • Washington Post • USA Today • Los Angeles Times • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

Britain: London mayor’s ‘smokescreen’ on cuts
Tube union RMT has said London mayor Boris Johnson is throwing up a “smokescreen” under the guise of a Transport Strategy in a bid to deflect attention away from a massive transport cuts package. The union says the mayor’s plan threatens thousands of jobs, ticket office closures and “a systematic undermining of current safety standards.”
RMT news release • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

Britain: Union asbestos register pinpoints exposure
A former engineer has spoken of his relief in obtaining compensation after being diagnosed with the incurable asbestos cancer mesothelioma in February 2009. Unite member David Marren, 63, became aware of the diseases caused by asbestos when his union launched a National Asbestos Exposure Register.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

Britain: Double tragedy for asbestos cancer victim
An asbestos cancer sufferer whose first wife died from the same disease has received compensation from his former employer. Unite member Roland Lakin, 70, from Chorley in Lancashire was diagnosed with the incurable cancer mesothelioma in July 2009 after he nursed his first wife, Thelma, through the disease until she died in 2006.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Chorley Citizen • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

Russia: Ninety feared dead in mine blasts
It is feared 90 workers have died in a tragedy at a Siberian coal mine, after a methane gas blast. Russian rescue on 13 May suspended the search for 24 men still missing after the mine disaster that killed at least 66 because of fears of new underground blasts, the emergencies ministry said.
ITAR-TASS news report • BBC News Online. Business Week • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

Britain: Calling all safety reps!
The TUC wants to hear from trade union safety reps – what you are doing, what concerns you, and what problems and successes you are encountering while wearing your union safety hat. The eighth TUC survey of safety reps is designed to provide the TUC and individual unions with information about their safety reps and their experiences and needs.
TUC survey of safety reps • Deadline for responses, 1 July 2010 • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

Global: New impetus to end child labour
Amid growing concerns over the impact of the economic downturn, the International Labour Office (ILO) has warned that efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour are slowing down and has called for a “re-energised” global campaign to end the practice. On 11 May, more than 450 delegates from 80 countries attending the global child labour conference in The Hague agreed on a ‘Roadmap’ aimed at “substantially increasing” global efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour by 2016.
ILO news release, child labour conference website, conference news release and Roadmap [pdf] • Accelerating action against child labour, ILO, May 2010 • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

Britain: More overtime equals more heart risk
The more overtime you work, the greater your risk of heart disease, a study of UK workers has found. The study of 6,014 British civil servants, published online this week in the European Heart Journal and part-funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), followed the workers for an average of 11 years.
Marianna Virtanen, Jane E Ferrie, Archana Singh-Manoux, Martin J Shipley, Jussi Vahtera, Michael G Marmot, and Mika Kivimäki. Overtime work and incident coronary heart disease: the Whitehall II prospective cohort study. European Heart Journal, published ahead of print 11 May 2010. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehq124 [abstract and related editorial] • BBC News Online • The Guardian • Los Angeles Times • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

Britain: Union welcomes detention of fatigue ship
 The temporary detention of a passenger ship in Portsmouth because of concerns that senior officers were suffering from fatigue, was welcomed this week by the seafarers’ union Nautilus. The Bahamas-flagged cruiseship Prince Albert was held for several hours following a Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) inspection on 10 May.
Nautilus news release • MCA news release • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

Britain: Managing director gets four year ban
A managing director has been disqualified from running a firm for four years after a 23-year old worker from Kettering fell more than nine metres, leaving him paralysed from the chest down. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted SDI Group UK Ltd, Construction Ltd and Richard Mark Berwick, the managing director of RM Berwick Steel Erection Services Ltd, after the incident on 8 February 2007 in Glossop, Derbyshire.
HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

Britain: Coroner calls for better falls standard
The death of a young roofer whose fatal fall was a result of “inadequate” planning and site supervision has prompted a coroner to call on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the industry’s trade body to introduce improved standards. Daniel Hollington, 21, plummeted to his death on 30 October 2007 after falling through a warehouse skylight and landing on the concrete floor 40 feet below.
Thurrock Gazette • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

Britain: Firm fined after teen has leg crushed
A Wolverhampton manufacturer has been fined £8,000 after a teenage employee was trapped under a load of steel, breaking his leg. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Dranson Ltd after 17-year-old Jamie Meredith was left pinned to the floor in agony after approximately 700 kg of steel fell off a trolley he was pushing.
HSE news release • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

Britain: Nurses back dangerous dogs campaign
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has given its full support to a union’s campaign for full legal protection for workers from out-of-control dogs. The union CWU says members who deliver post or repair, maintain and provide residential telephone services have been attacked - and, in some cases, seriously injured - by domestic pets.
CWU news release • CWU Bite Back campaign • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

Global: A trade union guide to ethical trade
The TUC has published an online trade union guide to ethical trade. The guide calls on UK firms to sign up to the Ethical Trade Initiative (ETI) Base Code. As well as demanding firms require their suppliers work towards providing safety and hygienic working conditions, membership looks for UK firms to seek a supply chain that meets eight other key minimum labour rights standards, including freedom to form and join trade unions, no use of child labour, working hours that are not excessive and freedom from discrimination and abuse.
A trade union guide to ethical trade • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

 

Hazards news 8 May 2010

 

Britain: Union puts grubby train cabs on report
Train drivers’ union ASLEF is calling on its members to report every grubby cab in the repair book. The union argues that there are two important principles involved – safety and status. 
ASLEF news release • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

USA: Union called in at anti-union deaths mine
 Three weeks after the 29 non-union miners died at Massey Energy’s, Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, the colliery did what other non-union miners have done in recent times when company negligence has caused a disaster. They called in the union participate in the investigation - in the past 15 months in the US, 53 miners have perished; 52 of them worked at non-union operations.
ICEM news report • Washington Times • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

Britain: Eurostar action vote over lone working
Eurostar train managers have voted by more than 9-to-1 for industrial action over a failure by the company to give assurances they will not introduce lone working. Rail union RMT this week issued an instruction to its train manager members to take industrial action short of a strike.
RMT news release • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010   

USA: Union called in at anti-union deaths mine
 Three weeks after the 29 non-union miners died at Massey Energy’s, Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, the colliery did what other non-union miners have done in recent times when company negligence has caused a disaster. They called in the union participate in the investigation - in the past 15 months in the US, 53 miners have perished; 52 of them worked at non-union operations.
ICEM news report • Washington Times • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

Britain: Nuclear worker suffers vibration injuries
A GMB member has received £35,000 in compensation after developing a strain injury from prolonged use of vibrating tools. The 49-year-old from Cumbria, whose name has not been released, was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) after working at the Sellafield nuclear waste plant in Calder Bridge for 23 years.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

Britain: Scaffolder’s leg broken by 300k weight
A scaffolder who needed surgery after a 300 kilo weight fell on his leg has received £30,000 in an out of court payout. Unite member Michael Simpson, 63, was trapped under the heavy metal block when it fell onto his ankle in December 2005 while he was working at Felixstowe Docks.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

Britain: Staffing cuts leave Tube stations ‘dangerous’
Rail union RMT says “reckless” staffing cutbacks on London’s Tube network have made some stations “a muggers’ paradise”.
RMT news release • The Independent • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

USA: Retailer discouraged accident reports
Californian supermarket chain Raley's Inc has agreed to pay a $550,000 settlement to resolve an unlawful business practices case after pressuring workers out of reporting injuries and claiming compensation. An investigation found Raley's managers routinely attempted to dissuade injured employees from filing compensation claims, suggesting that injured employees use their own health insurance for work-related injuries instead of reporting accidents and injuries as required by state workers' compensation law.
Sacramento Bee • Sacramento Business Journal • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

Britain: Breast cancer link to shiftwork confirmed
Nearly 2,000 women contract breast cancer every year in the UK because they work night shifts, according to a new report. The figure, published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), is based on 2005 data and attributes 1,969 new cases of breast cancer and 555 deaths from the disease that year to shiftwork.
The Herald • The burden of occupational cancer in Great Britain, research report 800, HSE, 2010 [pdf] • While you were sleeping, Hazards magazine, number 106, Summer 2000 • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

Britain: Work cancer toll was (and is) under-estimated
Thousands of occupational cancer deaths each year have been missed in official estimates, a new study for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has shown. The report puts the number of cancer deaths in 2005 that were attributable to work at 8,023 – which compares to the 6,000 deaths a year HSE defended as a “best available estimate” until two years ago – and HSE now concedes even the new figures “are likely to be a conservative estimate of the total attributable burden.”
The burden of occupational cancer in Great Britain, research report 800, HSE, 2010 [pdf] • TUC occupational cancer guide [pdf] • Global Unions cancer campaign • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

USA: Young workers at risk
Younger workers in the US are twice as likely as their older counterparts to be treated in hospital emergency departments for work-related injuries, official research has shown. On average each year from 1998 to 2007, about 800,000 workers 15 to 24 years of age were treated in emergency departments and nearly 600 died from work-related injuries.
NIOSH science blog • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

Britain: Young women 'face work stress risk'
Stress at work can greatly raise the risk of heart disease for women under 50, a study of more than 12,000 nurses suggests. The study, published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, concludes work pressure has a greater effect on young women than those in their 50s and 60s.
Yrsa Andersen Hundrup and others. Psychosocial work environment and risk of ischaemic heart disease in women: the Danish Nurse Cohort Study, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, volume 67, pages 318-322, 2010 [pdf] • BBC News Online • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

Britain: Insurers must not evade payouts
The new government must provide injured workers with enhanced access to compensation, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL). The association was commenting as a government consultation, Accessing Compensation, which closed on 5 May.
APIL news release [pdf] • Assessing Compensation consultation, DWP • Law Gazette • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

Britain: Scotland takes a lead on dogs law
Postal workers’ union CWU has welcomed new dangerous dogs legislation passed unanimously by the Scottish parliament. The new law will give police, councils and courts in Scotland greater powers to impose penalties on the owners of dangerous dogs.
CWU news release and Bite Back campaign • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

Britain: Right-leaning lobby ignorant on safety
A leading professional body has joined unions and campaigners in criticising a report by a Tory-linked think tank that calls for health and safety deregulation. The report, ‘Health and safety: reducing the burden,’ produced by the right-leaning Policy Exchange, “is marred by a number of conceptual weaknesses,” according to the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).
IOSH news release • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

Britain: Food firm fined for finger loss
A specialist bread manufacturer has been fined after a worker was injured by a dough mixing machine and had his finger amputated. Thambirasaiyah Roy, 39, was using a spiral mixing machine to make dough in October 2006, at the company's factory in Hendon.
HSE news release • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

Britain: Steel beams fall on site worker
A Hertfordshire company has been fined after a worker was seriously hurt when he was struck by steel beams falling from a tower crane. Stephen James, 58, was working as a slinger, a person directing crane drivers, for John Doyle Construction Ltd at a residential development in September 2007.
HSE news release • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

Britain: Water firms fined after roof fall
A water services company and its sub-contractor have been fined after a technician fell through the roof of a pumping station in Cambridgeshire, fracturing his back. Technician Matthew Morgan, sub-contracted to Anglian Water Services, fell through an unmarked fragile roof light while taking a reading from a rain gauge on top of a pumping station in Willingham, near Cambridge.
HSE news release and Shattered lives campaign • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

Britain: Stress research and statistics
If you want some official background stats on workplace stress, or a quick look at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) research on the topic, then your task has just got a bit easier. HSE has produced a dedicated ‘Work related stress –research and statistics’ webpage.
HSE stress research and statistics webpage • Risks 445 • 8 May 2010

 

Hazards news, 1 May 2010

Global: Everyone wants a piece of 28 April
It wasn’t just Gordon Brown that saw the necessity to speak out on Workers’ Memorial Day. Around the globe, everyone from world leaders to international safety and health organisations have been chipping in. The 28 April event, which was created by unions and remains a union-led activity, was even the subject of a “presidential proclamation” from Barack Obama.
Presidential Proclamation • Risks 454 • 1 May 2010

Britain: Gordon Brown praises the union effect
The first 28 April commemoration in the UK to have the official stamp of approval has been accompanied by a ringing endorsement for union safety reps from Gordon Brown. A Workers’ Memorial Day statement from the Labour leader, which said he was “proud” a Labour government had given the day official recognition, continued: “It is fitting that this year’s theme for Workers' Memorial Day is 'Unions make work safer.'
ITUC/Hazards 28 April webpages • TUC Workers’ Memorial Day webpages • Risks 454 • 1 May 2010

Britain: Tories face protests over safety axe plans
Tory plans to cut safety laws and to allow firms to opt for self-regulation have prompted angry protests from construction union UCATT. On 27 April, a union organised demonstration was led by someone in full Grim Reaper regalia, carrying a “thanks for the business Dave” placard; other placards warned “Danger – Tory safety policy: Profit before workers’ lives.”
UCATT news releases on the Millbank and John Penrose protests • Morning Star • Hazards Campaign news release and manifesto for workplace safety [pdf] • Risks 454 • 1 May 2010

Italy: Executives jailed for asbestos deaths
A Sicilian court has jailed three former executives of a shipbuilding company for negligent homicide after 37 workers died from exposure to asbestos. The sentences ranged from three to 7½ years for the three Fincantieri executives, the ANSA news agency reported.
TerraNet • The Province • Risks 454 • 1 May 2010

Britain: UNISON anger at shortcuts before safety
Public sector union UNISON has revealed that in the last year it has secured nearly £2 million for members with asbestos-related diseases. The union says the figure, released on Workers’ Memorial Day, highlights the risk that many workers face just doing their day-to-day jobs.
UNISON news release • Risks 454 • 1 May 2010

Britain: Dangers in store outside stores
Store workers lined up at Usdaw's annual conference to denounce their employers' disregard for women workers' safety. Usdaw deputy general secretary Paddy Lillis told a thousand Usdaw reps “safety at work should not stop at the store entrance,” adding: “Journeys to or from work can expose workers to the threat of violence and women feel particularly vulnerable waiting at a bus stop in the dark, walking home at night or parking their car in an isolated spot.”
Morning Star • Risks 454 • 1 May 2010

Britain: These boots weren’t made for walking
A highways worker who had to take three months off work after she was forced to wear unsuitable footwear at work has received £3,600 in compensation. PCS member Deborah Allen developed Achilles tendonitis when her eczema flared up after she was forced to wear synthetic work boots.
Thompsons Solicitors • Risks 454 • 1 May 2010

Britain: Site firms scoop blacklisting awards
Campaigners from the Blacklist Support Group provided some extra entertainment at the swish National Building Awards 2010 dinner at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. The campaign presented its own alternative Blacklister of the Year Awards as the construction industry revellers assembled for the 22 April black tie event.
Blacklist blog • Risks 454 • 1 May 2010

Britain: ‘Just’ jail term for teen’s site death
 A builder whose negligence led to the death of a 15-year-old boy has failed in a challenge against his jail term at London's Court of Appeal. Colin Holtom admitted the manslaughter of Adam Gosling at the Old Bailey in July 2009 and was sentenced to three years in prison, with appeal court judges agreeing that although long, the sentence was “justifiably severe.”
Essex Chronicle • Risks 454 • 1 May 2010

Britain: Big bonuses for death pit bosses
Directors of the UK’s largest coal producer, which last year killed two mine workers, have received five figure bonuses to top up their six figure salaries. However, the bonuses would have been higher still if health and safety targets had been met.
UK Coal preliminary financial results for year ended December 2009 [pdf] and Financial results presentation [pdf] • Risks 454 • 1 May 2010

Global: BP accused over rig safety
Oil giant BP is facing accusations that it lobbied against new offshore safety rules and breached “numerous regulations” at a rig that exploded on 20 April, where 11 workers are missing presumed dead.
Huffington Post • The Guardian • Risks 454 • 1 May 2010

Britain: Confectionery giant fined for machine death
The UK's largest confectionery firm has been convicted of two criminal safety breaches and fined £300,000 after an employee was crushed to death in one of its sweet-making machines. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Tangerine Confectionery Limited following the death of employee Martin Pejril at its Poole factory.
HSE news release • Bournemouth Echo • Risks 454 • 1 May 2010

Britain: Family farm fined for crushing death
A family farm in Scotland has been fined £20,000 after a farmworker was crushed to death by a one tonne concrete panel. On 3 June 2008, Colin Hill was helping to build a perimeter wall on an open hay shed at Hamilton Farmers (East Lothian), when the pre-cast concrete panel toppled over and crushed him.
HSE news release • Risks 454 • 1 May 2010

Global: Asbestos exports are ‘a crime’
An Indian health group is accusing Jean Charest of backing human rights abuses because of the Quebec premier's views on asbestos exports to the country. Mohit Gupta of the Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India says Charest is dismissing Indians as second-class citizens.
Ban Asbestos India news release • BWI news release • Winnipeg Free Press • Risks 454 • 1 May 2010

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