31 January 2004

Britain
TUC calls "work your proper hours" day
It will be a case of "thank god it's Friday" on 27 February 2004 - the day the TUC has designated the UK's first national "work your proper hours" day.
Risks 141, 31 January 2004

Britain
Amicus wins safety rep time off tribunal
An employer was wrong to deny a union safety rep paid time off to attend an advanced TUC occupational health and safety certificate course, an employment tribunal has ruled.
Risks 141, 31 January 2004

Britain
HGV drivers secure milestone hours deal
An agreement between the union Usdaw and A F Blakemore & Son Ltd means lorry drivers are set to maintain their earning levels for working fewer hours. This is one of the first agreements in the country linked to the Road Transport Working Time Directive, due to come into effect in March 2005.
Risks 141, 31 January 2004

Britain
Where there's a chill there's a way
Retail union Usdaw says its members are having to resort to drastic measures to keep warm in freezing workplaces, even though the law says employers should maintain a "reasonable temperature" in the workplace.
Risks 141, 31 January 2004

Britain
RMT action call in working-while-sober sackings
Rail union RMT is to hold a strike ballot over the dismissal of five Metronet Tube maintenance workers, fired after empty beer cans were found in a cabin. RMT says the "Farringdon Five" were randomly selected for the chop - all five had negative drug and alcohol tests.
Risks 141, 31 January 2004

Global
West faces asbestos cancer epidemic
Industrialised nations are facing an epidemic of mesothelioma cancers among workers exposed to asbestos, top doctors have warned. Writing in the 31 January edition of the British Medical Journal they say in the developed world alone 100,000 people alive now will die from it.
Risks 141, 31 January 2004

Europe
MEPs support end to working time opt-out
Members of the European Parliament have voted for workplace safety and against Britain's opt-out from the Working Time Directive.
Risks 141, 31 January 2004

Global
International RSI Day, 29 February
International RSI (repetitive strain injury) Awareness Day is held on the last day of February each year - the only day that doesn't repeat every year. That means that this year, a leap year, RSI Day is 29 February. Union organisations and workplace disease advocacy groups worldwide support the annual event. The Canadian autoworkers' union CAW has already issued new guidance. It says: "RSI Day is about raising awareness and the need for action promoting prevention, rehabilitation and compensation. By using the principles of ergonomics, for example, we can re-design tools, work stations, workplaces and work organisation to reduce the risk of workers getting hurt. RSI Awareness Day also highlights the need for ergonomics regulations to compel employers to introduce methods to prevent RSIs from occurring."
Risks 141, 31 January 2004 • RSI Day resources • CAW RSI Day guide • RSI Association "RSI week" resources

Denmark
Guards say no to jail house monsters
A prison officers' union in Denmark is calling for prison gyms to be closed down. They say some inmates use the gyms to become stronger to attack staff and threaten people when they are released.
Risks 141, 31 January 2004

Europe
Work risks to women are neglected
Safety and health risks facing women at work tend to be underestimated and neglected, says a report from the Bilbao-based European Agency. Gender issues in safety and health - a review says its investigation found the traditional prevention approach can underestimate work-related risks to women.
Risks 141, 31 January 2004 • European Agency news release, report and new gender website

Global
Brutal conditions in microchip factories
Microelectronics industry workers in the developing world, producing computer parts for use by top multinationals, are facing exploitation and "dire" working conditions. Clean up your computer, a new report from the aid charity CAFOD, says "interviews with electronics workers in Mexico, Thailand and China reveal a story of unsafe factories, compulsory overtime, wages below the legal minimum, and degrading treatment."
Risks 141, 31 January 2004

Global
Regulations are the only way to stop abuse
Voluntary action by brand names and multinational retailers has failed to change the culture of workers' rights abuses in the textiles and clothing supply chain, a top union leader has said, leaving regulation as the only alternative to continuing worker misery.
Risks 141, 31 January 2004

USA
Woman denied strains payout gets $12m
A former nursing home worker with carpal tunnel syndrome has been awarded more than $12 million in a judgment against three insurance companies that denied her $8,000 workers' compensation claim.
Risks 141, 31 January 2004

USA
Ergonomic experts boycott conference
Eleven of the USA's leading ergonomists are boycotting the a government-convened meeting of occupational health experts. They accuse the Bush administration of distorting science for political ends, and say more than enough evidence exists linking work to a variety of injuries.
Risks 141, 31 January 2004

24 January 2004

Britain
Working when sick is infectious says TUC
As a new poll finds that three in four staff have been to work when ill, the TUC has published new advice on sickness at work.
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

USA
"Cavalier" boss gets jail term for scaffold deaths
A US judge has jailed construction boss after five immigrant workers were killed in what was a "tragic certainty" rather than an accident. Philip Minucci, 32, received a 3½ to 10½ year sentence. The judge added that the case also illustrated how "astonishingly ineffectual" the federal government's safety watchdog OHSA has been in protecting workers' lives.
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

Britain
New TUC safety officer sets first priorities
Hugh Robertson, the TUC's new head of safety, has spelled out his first priorities for the job. He said: "My main priority will be to work with our affiliated unions to support the development of health and safety in the workplace and to try to make worker involvement a key plank in any health and safety prevention strategy, whether by employers or the Health and Safety Commission."
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

Global
Report exposes corporate responsibility con
Christian Aid is calling for laws to make multinational companies meet basic social and environmental standards in poor countries. Behind the mask: the real face of corporate social responsibility, a new report from the UK-based aid agency says politicians should "take responsibility for the ethical operation of companies rather than surrendering it to those from business peddling fine words and lofty sentiments."
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

Britain
Dying asbestos victim gets six figure payout
A man with little more than a year to live has been awarded £285,000 in compensation after contracting a deadly asbestos cancer. The award to Jim Guthrie, 52, is one of the highest of its type to someone who is still alive - legal cases normally take so long that the victim is dead before payments can be made.
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

Europe
The gender workplace health gap in Europe
A new report from the European trade union safety think tank TUTB says women's issues tend to be absent from health and safety policies. It says the hazards involved are either unknown or underestimated and priorities are defined in male-dominated sectors and occupations, and recommends improvements.
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

Britain
£700k fine for rail tunnel explosion
A firm working has received a six figure fine over a tunnel blast experts say could have caused deaths and injuries. Nishimatsu Construction Company Ltd had admitted safety breaches and was fined £700,000 and ordered to pay costs of £145,766.62.
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

Global
Get ready for Workers' Memorial Day, 28 April
The union-backed Hazards Campaign is urging union safety activists to start preparing now for Workers' Memorial Day 2004.
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

Britain
Select committee to investigate UK safety watchdog
The House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee says its new inquiry will "examine the work of the Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety Executive and the effectiveness of current arrangements to promote high standards of health and safety."
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

Algeria
Twenty dead as blast shatters gas plant
An explosion at a natural gas plant in Algeria has killed at least 20 people and injured 74 others. The 19 January blast occurred at a state-owned liquefied natural gas complex in Skikda, on the country's north-east Mediterranean coast.
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

Britain
Scotland's judges develop corporate homicide law
Scotland's High Court has ruled for the first time that companies can be prosecuted for the offence of "culpable homicide." It has also established a principle of law that allows companies to be prosecuted without needing to prosecute a director or senior manager.
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

Britain
Clergy job rights get closer to good
Church workers' union Amicus has welcomed a Church of England move to give clergy greater job security and employment rights for the first time, but has warned that the proposals miss out crucial safety and other rights.
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

Australia
Union criticises "failed" work deaths plan
A national target to reduce deaths in Australian workplaces by a fifth over 10 years has been criticised by construction union CFMEU as "pure rhetoric." And even the top official of the government office that set the standard described it as "too conservative" but said "it was the best we could get."
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

Finland
Sleep deficit comparable to drunkenness
Continuous sleep deficit causes a serious safety risk at the workplace, a sleep expert has warned. Neurologist Markku Partinen said the cheapest preventive occupational safety measure would be good quality sleep.
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

Indonesia
Petrochemical plant blaze claims two lives
An explosion and fire at an Indonesian petrochemical plant has killed two workers and injured 50 others, five critically. Police say the blaze engulfed chemical tanks at the PT Petro Widada complex in the town of Gresik in East Java.
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

South Africa
Minister "angry" at site deaths
South Africa's labour minister says he is saddened and angry about the continuous death and injury of workers in the construction sector.
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

Trinidad and Tobago
Too many accidents on the job
Trinidad and Tobago labour minister Lawrence Achong has warned that the country has a high level of under-reporting of work-related accidents, injuries and diseases. He was speaking in a senate debate on an Occupational Safety and Health Bill - the new law will create a Safety and Health Authority to monitor policy, safety and health standards and advise on safety and health.
Risks 140, 24 January 2004

Hazards news, 17 January 2004

Britain
New bid to control gangmasters
The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) has joined forces with Labour MP Jim Sheridan to tackle the abuse of workers by the unregulated "gangmasters" who recruit and supply labour to the farming and horticulture industries.
Risks 139, 17 January 2004

USA
Bush fires off belated safety alarm
US president George W Bush, in the wake of unprecedented press and public criticism of the government safety watchdog's policing of private industry's deadly safety violations, has called for closer scrutiny of safety standards in government workplaces and agencies. A report this week accused the US government of "a serious record of continuing labour rights violations.
Risks 139, 17 January 2004

Britain
Union condemns "appalling" site deaths rate
Construction union UCATT has condemned an "appalling" upturn in the number of sites deaths. It says eight construction workers have been killed in the last month - a time when most of the industry stops working for up to two weeks for the holidays.
Risks 139, 17 January 2004

New Zealand
Business warms to new safety laws
Safety laws introduced last year amidst strong opposition and dire warnings from New Zealand's business lobby, are proving a success. The legislation, which introduced union safety reps with legal rights, has so far seen 4,000 reps elected and over 2,500 trained.
Risks 139, 17 January 2004

Britain
DTI study shows the need for work hours protection
More than a quarter of employees believe they are spending too long at work, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Risks 139, 17 January 2004

Australia
Negligent employers on notice say unions
An Australian union body has welcomed a Aus$100,000 (£42,000) fine imposed on national retail chain Clints Crazy Bargains following a serious lifting injury to a female employee.
Risks 139, 17 January 2004

Australia
Government faces massive asbestos bill
Australia's federal government could face a Aus$1 billion (£0.42bn) liability bill for lawsuits brought by workers suffering from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma, a new official report has warned.
Risks 139, 17 January 2004

Britain
Deadly danger for Britain's hidden Chinese workers
A fatal 24-hour shift at a Hartlepool microwave plant has highlighted the plight of migrants working long hours, under false names, for low pay.
Risks 139, 17 January 2004

Britain
No smoke without litigation warns campaign
Anti-smoking charity ASH is warning bosses that they face legal action if they fail to protect their workers from tobacco smoke. ASH warns the "date of guilty knowledge" - the date where no employer should be unaware of the potential health damage caused by passive smoking - has long passed.
Risks 139, 17 January 2004

Hazards news, 10 January 2004

Britain
TUC appoints new head of safety
Hugh Robertson has succeeded Owen Tudor (Risks 128) as the UK union movement's top safety official.
Risks 138, 10 January 2004

Europe
TUC welcomes European working time review
The TUC's campaign against the UK's opt-out from the working hours ceiling has received a major boost from Europe. This week the European Commission announced a review of the Working Time Regulations, which will give particular attention to the opt-out which the EC believes has been misused.
Risks 138, 10 January 2004

Britain
Make the boss own up to accidents
It used to be so simple for union safety reps. Go to the accident book, read the form, get something done. But new-style workplace accident books, introduced at the start of the year, could mean there will be nothing much to read, just a stub with bare bones information.
Risks 138, 10 January 2004

Britain
Airline unions say guns and planes don't mix
Airline unions have warned that armed sky marshals and planes are a bad mix. Pilot's union BALPA commented: "BALPA believes we need to focus on the many stages before a terrorist gets near an aircraft. Sky marshals could give a false sense of security and may lull us into dropping our guard."
Risks 138, 10 January 2004

Britain
More delays for the corporate killing law
The UK government has confirmed the timetable for the promised corporate killing law has been delayed again, but says it still intends to publish a draft bill in the Spring of 2004.
Risks 138, 10 January 2004  • Hazards deadly business webpage

Britain
"Utterly reckless" boss jailed for worker's death
An "utterly reckless" boss has been jailed for a year for manslaughter after one of his workers was crushed to death. Peter Pell pleaded guilty to manslaughter after it was found he removed all the safety features on the machine that killed Shaun Cooper, 27.
Risks 138, 10 January 2004

Britain
Six figure fine after teenager dies
Conder Structures Limited, the company that designed a steel column that fell on a 16-year-old worker, killing him instantly, has been ordered to pay £160,000 in fines and costs.
Risks 138, 10 January 2004

Britain
HSE accused of "superficial" inspections
The government's safety watchdog has been accused of failing to protect thousands of workers in the microelectronics industry, where jobs have been linked to cancer and pregnancy problems. A report says Health and Safety Executive inspections are "superficial," "substandard" and "seriously flawed," and add HSE "is creating the illusion that the semiconductor industry in the UK is being rigorously inspected and regulated."
Risks 138, 10 January 2004

Britain
Nasty message in the inbox? You've got stress
Abusive emails from the boss can send your blood pressure soaring, a study has shown.
Risks 138, 10 January 2004

Britain
Stressed pilots driven to drink
Airline pilots driven to drink by soaring workplace stress need support, not the sack, say experts. Pilots' union BALPA says there should be a system where any pilot can try and persuade another to go to a neutral board where they don't lose their job but get help."
Risks 138, 10 January 2004

Australia
Bursting bus drivers told to wait and wee
Bus drivers in Australia are piddling in bottles, buckets or at the road side because of a chronic lack of toilets. Drivers in New South Wales say this is an industry wide problem and that operators and the government are failing to address a serious health issue.
Risks 138, 10 January 2004

China
Gas blast death toll rises
The number of deaths from December's gas drilling accident in south-west China has risen to 243.
Risks 138, 10 January 2004

Global
Asbestos ban hopes boosted
The global asbestos industry's desperate and dirty campaign to save its deadly product has suffered two massive blows. A national ban has taken effect in Australia and India, one of the industry's top targets, has announced it to end asbestos mining because of health concerns.
Risks 138, 10 January 2004

Sweden
Most companies failing on hazardous substances
An official survey has found the majority of Swedish employers are guilty of "unacceptable negligence" considering hazardous substances in their workplaces.
Risks 138, 10 January 2004

USA
Employers getting away with "wilful" deadly violations
The official US workplace safety watchdog is facing a storm of criticism after revelations about its lax approach to safety enforcement. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) scarcely ever seeks prosecution after the 100 plus workplace fatalities each year accepted to be caused by "wilful" safety violations by employers.
Risks 138, 10 January 2004

December 2003 stories

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