Tag Archives: Britain

Cancer surge supports case against pesticides

A ‘dramatic’ increase in a range of occupational and childhood cancers has been linked to pesticide exposures. Public health researchers, writing in a new report for the Chemicals, Health and Environment Monitoring Trust (CHEM Trust), call on the UK government to step up action to ban the most harmful pesticides and to bring in a […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments closed

Toxins were recycled in recycling firm air

One of the UK’s largest recycling firms and its director have been fined a total of £145,000 for “shocking” safety breaches that exposed workers to mercury fumes. Twenty employees of Electrical Waste Recycling Group Ltd (EWR), formerly known as Matrix Direct Recycling Ltd, had levels of mercury in their system above UK guidance levels at […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , | Comments closed

What’s union, green and read all over?

There’s been a flurry of activity from the US national union confederation AFL-CIO, as it fleshes out its green jobs activities. And you can find out all about it in regular online briefings. The National Labor College (NLC) and the AFL-CIO’s Center for Green Jobs have launched a monthly online Green Labor Journal to outline […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , | Comments closed

Confused UK recycling sector is really deadly

If you work in waste and recycling in the UK, you might not be reassured to hear it has a work fatality rate nine times the national average. And you might be even more alarmed when you hear some privatisation-happy local authorities are clueless when it comes to their legal responsibility to keep you safe. […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , | Comments closed

Four digit fine for four digit loss

A UK plastics recycling company has been fined £2,500 after a worker had four of his fingers severed. Wesley Dickinson, 22, was trying to remove a guillotine jam at Centriforce Products Ltd in Liverpool when his fingers became trapped. Doctors reattached two of his fingers, but they have limited movement. The company, which admitted breaching […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , | Comments closed

Union ‘green’ reps save energy at work

The British government acknowledged on 7 October that employees have a key role to play in saving energy in their workplaces. In its response to the findings of an official consultation into the UK’s ‘Carbon Reduction Commitment’, the government has said the assessment of good practice on “disclosure of information on energy management” should include […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , | Comments closed

Britain: New programme on green energy risks

The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched a new initiative in “response to government plans to introduce alternative (non-nuclear) energy technologies to combat climate change.” It says its Emerging Energy Technologies (EET) Programme, which includes new online resources, is HSE’s attempt to address the health and safety implications of the government’s drive “to […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , | Comments closed