TUC calls
day of action on health and safety - 28 April 2012 Workplace health and safety has become the government’s favourite whipping boy. Safety rights and enforcement are being dismantled. TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson says unions and safety campaigners must expose, discredit and take action to undermine these deadly developments. Hazards 116 October-December 2011
Where's the law?
Deadly employers will be the sole beneficiaries of a business-driven trend towards less health and safety regulation in workplaces worldwide, trades unions worldwide are warning. Hazards 114 April-June, 2011
Workers' Memorial Day 2011 theme announced
Global union confederation ITUC has announced the theme for International Workers' Memorial Day this year. They have advised affiliates that “On 28 April 2011 trade unions will be highlighting the crucial role played by trade unions, strong regulation and effective enforcement in securing safer workplaces.”
For more on these themes visit the Hazards webpages on the Union Effect and the We didn't vote to die at work campaign
We didn't vote to die at work campaign The We didn't vote to die at work campaign is the UK Hazards Campaign's response to the new coalition government's attacks on workplace safety and health. The campaign isfighting against deregulation, the myth of health and safety as needless red tape, debunking the lie that health and safety is a burden on business and arguing against the swingeing cuts in enforcement and regulation proposed by the new coalition government. We didn't vote to die at work campaign webpages
Job killers Pesky safety regulations and meddling inspectors are bringing the economy to its knees and stifling job creation, or so the business lobby says. But there’s a couple of large flies in their deregulatory ointment - the arguments are bogus and the statistics behind them are rigged. Hazards special report, February 2011
Hazards Workers' Memorial Day poster Every year, tens of thousands of families in the UK lose someone to a work-related injury or disease. But the UK government is diluting safety laws and hobbling the safety enforcer. That’s one more reason why on 28 April this year, campaigners will expose David Cameron’s deadly plans. A Workers' Memorial Day poster • more WMD posters and resources
USA: Cry Wolf project From the US 'Cry Wolf' project... quotes on the dangerous rubbish peddled by industry to evade entirely reasonable (and often seriously lax) workplace health and safety controls. It doesn't make any difference how unsubstantiated and patently idiotic the claims, governments - terrified of angering the business beast - generally listen and act (or agree not to act) accordingly. Cry Wolf Project
AFL-CIO US union federation AFL-CIO has produced posters, stickers, a briefing and other materials and information for International Workers' Memorial day.
AFL-CIO Safety and Health Director Peg Seminario writes "this year April 28 marks the 40th anniversary of OSHA and when the OSHAct went into effect. As we approach this important milestone, workers’ rights are under attack. At the state level, Republican governors and legislators are trying to strip workers of their collective bargaining rights. In Washington, the Republican House majority and business groups are trying to rollback worker protections and rights and slash the budgets of OSHA, the NLRB and programs that help working Americans. Workers in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and other states are rising up and mobilizing to fight back. We need to support them, join the fight and urge union members, friends and allies to do the same." More information • Contact
Hazards magazine Health and safety is negotiable – it’s just when it comes to our lives and our health, unions won’t take no for an answer. Sometimes just identifying problems and asking for improvements is enough. Other times it takes more – from hard negotiations to hard-nosed trade union action. The union effect • [pdf]
Sauvez des vies: adhérez à un syndicat ce 28 avril!plus
Salvemos vidas: ¡únase a los sindicatos este 28 de abril!más
Os Sindicatos e a Segurança e Saúde no Trabalho QUE SE COMEMORA
NO 28 DE ABRIL?[pdf]
ITUC - Unions make work safer every day The worldwide theme for Workers’ Memorial Day on 28 April this year is to be ‘Unions make work safer.” The general theme – unions at national level can adapt it to fit local campaigns and priorities – was announced by the the International Trade Union Confederation.
Circular [pdf] • Background document English- Français - Español
International Labour Office (ILO) - Emerging risks and new patterns of prevention in a changing world of work SafeWork, the Programme on Safety and Health at Work and the Environment of the International Labour Office (ILO), has prepared a booklet to serve as a background to this theme. This year, it discusses the current global challenges and the new context of occupational safety and health practice. More • Posters and postcards
Oficina Internacional del Trabajo (OIT) - Riesgos emergentes y nuevos modelos de prevención en un mundo de trabajo en transformación SafeWork, el Programa de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo y Medio Ambiente de la Oficina Internacional del Trabajo (OIT), ha preparado un folleto informativo que sirva de base al tema. Este año, se examinan los retos mundiales actuales y el nuevo contexto de la puesta en práctica de esta materia. Más •
Carteles y postales
Bureau international du Travail (BIT) - Risques émergents et nouvelles formes de prévention dans un monde du travail en mutation SafeWork, le Programme sur la sécurité et la santé au travail et sur l'environnement du Bureau international du Travail (BIT), a préparé une brochure d'information qui dresse un état de la question. Cette brochure aborde les défis mondiaux actuels ainsi que le nouveau contexte de la pratique en matière de sécurité et de santé au travail. Plus • Affiches et cartes postales
WHO - Healthy workplaces: a model for action. To mark International Workers' Memorial Day WHO has launched a publication in English and Spanish. More
CDC: Statistics and background materials from official agencies in the USA. [pdf]
Hazards magazine Health and safety is negotiable – it’s just when it comes to our lives and our health, unions won’t take no for an answer. Sometimes just identifying problems and asking for improvements is enough. Other times it takes more – from hard negotiations to hard-nosed trade union action. The union effect • [pdf]
Safety is a union recruitment tool
UK public sector union UNISON says health and safety is one of the main reasons people join unions – and it is making safety a key plank of a recruitment and organising drive. UNISON notes on its safety webpages: “Your union has some of the best health and safety guidance in the UK. It also has specific recruitment materials which focus on health and safety. Use our health and safety recruitment leaflet to sign up new members.” UNISON news briefing • health and safety member sign up form [pdf], recruitment leaflet [pdf] and poster [pdf]
ITUC 14th International Commemoration Day (ICD) for Dead and Injured Workers: "Good Occupational Health for All Workers" Backgrounder • Dossier • Informe de base
Hazards Campaign The Hazards Campaign has issued a briefing and set of WMD resources including stickers, posters and ribbons.more
ILO ILO Safework report Beyond deaths and injuries:
The ILO’s role in promoting
safe and healthy jobs[pdf]
• Work-related fatalities, accidents and diseases [pdf]
• Regional breakdown of fatalities, injuries and diseases [pdf]
• ILO World Day for Safety and Health at Work: 28 April 2009 webpage
European Agency - Prevention through anticipation The vast majority of work-related accidents and health problems can be prevented.The challenge is to build and maintain a preventive safety and health culture that permeates all society. Such a culture must be based on the right to a safe and healthy work environment and on the principle of prevention. Prevention through anticipation: A key to success in occupational risk prevention[pdf] • European Agency
ITUC Workers'
Memorial Day briefing background documents in English, Spanish,
French and German
Good occupational health for all workers More • [Background
pdf] Buena salud laboral para todos los trabajadores y
trabajadoras Más •
[Informe
de base pdf] Une bonne santé au travail pour tousles travailleurs
Plus •[Dossier
pdf]
-Angemessener Arbeitsschutz
für alle Beschäftigten Mehr•[Hintergrundinformationen
pdf]
TUC This year's Workers'
Memorial Day theme is Good occupational health for all workers.
more
OHS SOS Getting the
most out of occupational health services Hazards magazine
spells out how to get the OHS you deserve more
ITUC Workers'
Memorial Day briefing background documents in English, Spanish,
French and German
Good occupational health for all workers More • [Background
pdf] Buena salud laboral para todos los trabajadores y
trabajadoras Más •
[Informe
de base pdf] Une bonne santé au travail pour tousles travailleurs
Plus •[Dossier
pdf]
-Angemessener Arbeitsschutz
für alle Beschäftigten Mehr•[Hintergrundinformationen
pdf]
World Health Organisation
GOHNET No. 14: Protecting and promoting health at the
workplace[pdf]
ITUC/CSI
28 April Focus Announced for 2007 - Cancer, OHS Enforcement &
Global Unions, Asbestos & HIV/AIDS CampaignsMore
ITUC/CSI
El 28 de abril anuncia su enfoque para el 2007 - Cáncer,
Cumplimiento de la SST Y Campañas sobre Amianto y VIH/SIDA
Español
ITUC/CSI
Journée du 28 avril Priorités pour 2007 - Lutte
contre le cancer, application des mesures de santé et de
sécurité au travail et campagnes Hiv/Sida et amiante
des FSI (Global Unions) Français
ILO International Labour Organisation's
Global estimates of occupational accidents[pdf]
• Global estimates
of fatal work related diseases and occupational accidents, world
bank regions 2005 [pdf]
• ILO plans for 28 April
2007 commemoration day more
International Metalworkers Federation
(IMF) Cancer/Zero Cancer: A union
guide to prevention [pdf]
Cáncer profesional/Cáncer cero: Guía sindical
para la prevención[pdf] Cancer Professionnel/Zéro
Cancer: Un guide syndical tourné vers la prevention[pdf] Cancer/Zero Cancer: A union guide
to prevention Russian Occupational
cancer webpages IMF
homepage
Building and Woodworkers International
(BWI)
Occupational cancer webpages (English)
Cancer professionnel (français) Factsheet Cancer in construction
and timber trades[pdf] BWI
homepage
Asbestos: A never ending story
Article by Lars Vedsmand originally published in the magazine
of the Danish Confederations of Construction workers’ Unions,
the BAT-Kartel. Asbestos:
A never ending story
Asbestos causes cancer
among construction workers Article by Lars Vedsmand originally
published in the magazine of the Danish Confederations of Construction
workers’ Unions, the BAT-Kartel. more
BWI/IBASChrysotile asbestos:
hazardous to humans, deadly to the Rotterdam Convention,
BWI/IBAS, 2006. Summary
• Full report [pdf]
IBAS
International Ban Asbestos Secretariat homepage
BWI Global union Building and Wood
Workers International asbestos
BWI want action to ban asbestos
The Building Workers International is asking all trade unions
to send a letter to their national governments, asking for a meeting
to discuss a national action plan to prevent asbestos related
diseases. BWI is also appealing for a renewed international effort
to convince the Canadian government to recognise that asbestos
is the world’s biggest industrial killer and that it should
be banned in all countries. A number of building trades unions
have already communicated their intention to hold peaceful demonstrations
outside Canadian Embassies for 28 April, International Workers
Memorial Day. More
WHO A special issue World Health
Organisation's Global Occupational Health Network newsletter:
Prevention of Occupational Cancer [pdf]
Global: More inspections equals fewer
injuries, lower costs Beefed up health and safety inspection
systems reduce costs and injuries, the International Labour Organisation
has said. more
