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Risks Newsletter
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Editor: Rory O'Neill of Hazards magazine. Comments to the TUC at healthandsafety@tuc.org.uk
Risks is the TUC's weekly online bulletin for safety reps and others, read each week by over 12,000 subscribers and 1,500 on the TUC website. To receive this bulletin every week, click here . Past issues are available . This edition contains Useful links TUC courses for safety reps Disclaimer and Privacy statement .
- Tax office turmoil after 'robots' walk out
- Haringey refuse collectors won't take employer's rubbish
- Body map finds missing toilets
- Stressed out nurse awarded £140,000 payout
- Safety on the TUC agenda
- Scots staff 'back festive opening ban'
- Worker gets £5,500 for lost hearing
- UCATT warning after crane deaths 'accident'
- Five figure fine after near fatal fall
- Roofer pays £5,750 for risky roofing
- Firm fined after worker suffers broken back
- Temperatures hit workers inside and out
- Dockyard laundry may have saved women's lives
- Bullied bank worker awarded £800,000
- Australia: Smoking ban boost for work in pubs
- Iraq: Killings spark new media targeting fears
- USA: Call for emergency action on work popcorn peril
- Venezuela: Charlie Chaplin recruited for safety campaign
UNION NEWS
Tax office turmoil after 'robots' walk out
Civil service union PCS has said the 'magnificent' support for a 24 hour strike should prove to management that workers will not accept a work reorganisation that would reduce them to 'robots' at risk of repetitive strain injuries (RSI). The union says the work of tax offices was severely disrupted as nearly 8,000 members of PCS working across ten large processing offices in Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) took part in a 31 July strike over the introduction of new 'LEAN' working practices. Over 90 per cent of members stayed away from work to protest against the introduction of working practices the union believes are leading to deskilling, excessive individual monitoring and an RSI risk. The union had postponed an earlier one-day strike scheduled for 14 July after an interim agreement was reached with management (Risks 263). However, senior management backtracked over key elements of the interim agreement leading to the union to accuse HMRC of deliberately seeking a confrontation. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: 'The magnificent show of support... illustrates the depth of anger that senior management have provoked amongst staff by railroading through outmoded working practices that reduce people to little more than robots. Senior management's deliberate attempt to seek confrontation by backtracking on an interim agreement has only served to fuel this anger. Management need to wake up to the fact that staff are not prepared to sit back and allow their jobs to be deskilled and start negotiating constructively with the union.'
Haringey refuse collectors won't take employer's rubbish
Refuse collectors in the London borough of Haringey have taken strike action in a safety dispute. The 48 TGWU members employed by Haringey Accord walked out on 31 July in a protest over cutbacks after a unanimous vote in favour of industrial action. They rejected large cash payouts to accept taking two refuse collection vehicles off the road. 'Haringey Accord wants to cut two vehicles but still expects our people to complete their rounds in the same amount of time,' said TGWU regional industrial organiser Paul Fawcett. 'We say it can't be done. It's like trying to fit a quart into a pint bottle.' He stressed that the issue was safety and not money. Haringey Accord had offered individual payments of £1,450 to each of the refuse collectors but they had all rejected the offer, indicating to the union they were more interested in working in a safe and healthy service. 'Our members are strongly of the view that taking these vehicles off the road but insisting the same service targets are met is an unacceptable pressure on health and safety regulations,' he said.
Body map finds missing toilets
A bodymapping exercise has identified unreported bladder problems in a group of firefighters with inadequate access to toilets at work. Jannettja Longyear, a tutor at Exeter Centre for Trade Union Studies, said FBU members discovered while bodymapping that they suffered from urinary problems they had been reluctant to admit it to each other. After a session with Janettja, their secret came out and they set about solving the problem. 'We discovered the cause was these guys had to go down a flight of stairs, outside, through a courtyard, out of doors in the middle of the night to get to the only toilet,' said Janettja. 'It had to be changed.' She admits that people can be cynical about bodymapping at first, but are soon won over when they see it in operation. Bodymapping involves marking on a picture wherever you feel pain. It comes into its own when people from the same workplace doing similar jobs fill in forms and discover they suffer from similar symptoms. It also means they can work together to sort out the causes and propose solutions.
- Learning Works, News from unionlearn South West, Summer 2006.
- Hazards' online guide to bodymapping, riskmapping and other workers' research tools.
- Hazards toilet breaks guide.
Stressed out nurse awarded £140,000 payout
A member of health visitors' union Amicus has been awarded £140,000 compensation after being exposed to a 'health-endangering' workload. The High Court award was made after Melanie Garrod, 53, said she suffered two breakdowns when North Devon Primary Care Trust failed to bring in temporary staff to cover for colleagues on sickness or maternity leave. She was supposed to do a 30-hour week but often had to work many more hours unpaid to cope with the workload. She said her case should send a message to other NHS Trusts that 'they can't get away with overloading their nursing staff.' Ms Garrod added: 'Trust managers have to be aware of the extra pressure they put on staff by giving them extra work. They need to support nurses - even if it's just a phone call to say, 'Are you all right?'' Mother-of-three Ms Garrod told how it took three years for her to decide to sue the NHS. 'It was an extremely difficult thing to do," she said. "I was brought up to believe in the NHS and I supported its principles and wanted to do my best for my patients. But I was a health visitor looking after young children. My own caseload was 250 families but when a colleague was off it would rise to 500 or more cases.' She added: 'I was travelling hundreds of miles a week trying to do my best but little realising how vulnerable I had become.'
Safety on the TUC agenda
Health and safety has joined quality of work, public services reform, pensions and the rights of migrant workers and temps among the issues covered by the 82 motions in the TUC Congress 2006 preliminary agenda. Between 11-14 September, some 800 delegates will gather in Brighton for the 138th TUC Congress. Teaching union NUT and communications' union Connect both call for continuing union campaigns on bullying, with NUT singling out the work of safety reps for particular praise and calling on the TUC to 'promote the role of safety representatives and safety committees as a means of improving union organisation'. Construction union UCATT is pressing for a national occupational health scheme for the industry, with union input. The Musicians' union is calling for better HSE enforcement, particularly in the entertainment sector, adding it wants TUC to 'coordinate a campaign to bring pressure on the government in order to achieve a truly protective regime for workers and members of the public alike.' And the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists says 'properly fitted safety footwear is of vital importance to safeguard workers from occupational ill health' and wants unions 'to ensure that this matter is high on the negotiating agenda in all areas of industry.' Health and safety related draft motions are concentrated in the 'protecting people at work' part of the agenda.
Scots staff 'back festive opening ban'
The majority of shopworkers in Scotland support a new bill which aims to ban large stores from opening on Christmas and New Year's Day, retail union Usdaw has said. The Christmas Day and New Year's Day (Scotland) Bill is currently being scrutinised by the Scottish Parliament's Justice 2 Committee. If passed, stores exceeding 280 square metres would be prohibited from opening on the two holidays. Usdaw said its members were 'overwhelmingly' opposed to stores opening on Christmas and New Year's Day. 'Our members in Scotland already work extremely long hours over the holiday period,' general secretary John Hannett said. 'They have made it crystal clear to us that Christmas Day and New Year's Day are long established family days and they want to spend precious time with their families on those holidays.' He refuted claims by the Scottish CBI that there was a demand from staff to work on New Year's Day for financial reasons. 'We have found absolutely no evidence that they are desperate to sacrifice that for extra income,' he said. Mr Hannett said the bill would create a 'level playing field' for retailers as they would not feel forced to open on Christmas Day to keep up with competitors. 'Shop staff in the rest of the UK have always enjoyed two statutory days when large shops have to close on Christmas Day and Easter Day,' he said, adding there 'was no compelling evidence that stores closing on those days will have a negative impact on the Scottish economy or on tourism.'
Worker gets £5,500 for lost hearing
A worker suffering severe hearing loss caused by foundry noise has received a £5,500 payout. Amicus member David Richards, 58, worked at the former St Gobain foundry in Risca, south Wales, for 35 years until 2005. He brought his union-backed claim after realising that his hearing had become severely impaired. He said he now struggles to hear normal conversations and suffers from tinnitus, a ringing in both ears which can be caused by workplace noise exposure. Mr Richards said: 'The noise at the foundry was so high and monotonous in places that you simply couldn't hear yourself think. I got used to it, but I never realised the lasting and damaging effect that it would have on my hearing. I find it difficult to hear normal conversations, especially if there is background noise. And even though I struggle to hear, I also find certain types of noise intolerable. If any of my former colleagues are experiencing similar difficulties, they should seek compensation for this injury.' Amicus regional officer Chris Holmes commented: 'The outcome of this case demonstrates the value of trade union membership.'
OTHER NEWS
UCATT warning after crane deaths 'accident'
Construction union UCATT has warned that without adequate workplace risk assessments workers' lives will be in jeopardy. The warning came after an inquest jury delivered verdicts of accidental death in the deaths of two men who plummeted to their deaths after an inexperienced workman loosened the bolts to a 100ft crane. Stephen Boatman, 45, and Gary Miles, 37, died after the crane being used in the £11 million construction of Highdown School, Durrington, fell apart on 11 February 2005. Both men died instantly from head and chest injuries. Co-worker David Smith, 55, loosened 16 heavy duty bolts that held the crane together. Mr Smith was left dangling halfway up the machine unconscious but later recovered in Worthing Hospital. The jury heard that neither Mr Smith, Mr Boatman nor Mr Miles possessed any formal qualifications for dismantling cranes. Jurors were told no suitable qualification existed. Commenting on the 26 July inquest verdict, Alan Ritchie, UCATT general secretary said: 'I understand that HSE [Health and Safety Executive] have not yet concluded their investigation and that it is not likely to finish until later this year. What is clear is that whether high risk work is carried out by experienced or inexperienced workers it is irrelevant if employers fail to make an adequate assessment of risk.' He added: 'Fortunately crane collapses are relatively rare but they also usually cause multiple fatalities. Construction machinery is a major cause of fatalities and only last week, workers in three separate incidents lost their lives.'
Five figure fine after near fatal fall
A Birmingham firm has been fined £10,000 after an employee was seriously injured in a fall and 'could easily have died'. John Fogarty fell over five metres onto a concrete floor while repairing a leaking warehouse roof at Drayton Manor Business Park on 18 October 2004. Gillman Group Services Ltd, who had the contract to repair the fragile roof, admitted breaching safety regulations when the case came before local magistrates. Prosecutor Tariq Khan said the company's failure to provide adequate safeguards for the roof repairers exposed them to such a high risk that it could be likened to 'picking strawberries in a field of landmines.' He said Mr Fogarty was off work for months and is still receiving physiotherapy. The company was also ordered to pay £5,000 costs. It said providing safety netting underneath the very large roof would have added up to £25,000 to the cost of the job. The court heard that the company were no longer doing this sort of repair.
Roofer pays £5,750 for risky roofing
A Widnes roofer who ignored safety and first aid laws and who was operating without the legally required insurance cover has been fined £3,750 and £2,000 costs. John Michael Rogers, trading as Rogers Roofing, carried out extensive roof work on a semi-detached property in Liverpool without provision or use of adequate edge protection. The offences were spotted on 17 November 2005 by a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector after a complaint from a member of the public. At Liverpool Magistrates' Court, Rogers pleaded guilty to three charges brought by the HSE. He was fined £3,000 for a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act, £500 for a breach of the Employers Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969, and £250 for a breach of the Health and Safety (First Aid) at Work Regulations 1981. HSE inspector Neil Jamieson said the original complaint came from a neighbour, concerned about workers 'bombing' materials from the roof of the building into a skip. 'During a subsequent interview Mr Rogers admitted he had worked in construction for over 15 years, mainly as a roofing contractor, and had erected scaffolding over the previous 10 years but had not been trained,' he said. The inspector criticised Rogers for failing to carry the legally-required employers' liability insurance. 'Failure to provide insurance cover could also have serious consequences in that any civil claim brought by an injured employee for loss of earnings or physical injury or ill health would have to be met by the employer, who may not have the funds available to meet the claimant's award. This could result in severe financial hardship to the injured employee and any dependants they may have.' He added: 'Accidents involving falls account for almost half the total number of lost time injuries, so Rogers should have obtained the necessary insurance cover to the value of at least £5m.'
Firm fined after worker suffers broken back
A construction firm has been fined £35,000 and ordered to pay £12,860 costs after mortar tubs fell on a self-employed worker, breaking his back. Colin Beamish fractured his spine in three places while on a building site near Huntingdon in March 2005. A crane was being used to lift empty mortar tubs for refilling when they fell on the 48-year-old. At Peterborough Crown Court, Gleeson Construction Services Ltd of Sutton, Surrey, admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act. Mr Beamish has been off work since the accident. Following the case, HSE inspector Roxanne Barker stressed the importance for construction companies to properly plan all lifting work. She said: 'Lifting operations involving cranes can present a significant risk to those working on construction sites and it is vital such operations are properly planned.' She added: 'Construction firms must always ensure loads are secure and not liable to fall. There are simple and inexpensive ways in which this can be achieved and this incident highlights the consequences of not taking such steps. Doing it the right way can prevent serious injuries to workers - and will save money in the long run.'
Temperatures hit workers inside and out
Both indoor and outdoor workers have been wilting in Britain's record temperatures. UNISON reported last week that staff at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, operated as a PFI hospital by Consort Healthcare, were fainting on the wards because of the heat. It said temporary measures were not adequate. The health workers' union said the problem had existed for four years at ERI and was not just a result of this summer's high temperatures. UNISON Lothian health branch chair Tom Waterson said: 'Staff have again been fainting in the wards and feeling nauseous. Although there are temporary air-conditioning units and fans in some parts of the hospital - there are not sufficient to cover it all, and many of these have been temporary since 2003!' He added: 'The Health and Safety Executive has already given a damning report on this mess, and Consort make a lot of money from the public purse. Yet they seem unable to sort it out, despite sitting in air-conditioned offices themselves. Back in 2003 staff walked out for a 'coffee break', because they couldn't stand the temperatures any longer [Risks 119], it is now time to consider stronger action.' Insurance broker and risk management consultant Aon Construction warned building firms this week to include sun protection for outdoor workers in their safety policies or face millions of pounds worth of potential damages claims for negligence. Communications union CWU this week issued its safety reps with 'sun smart and skin safe' pocket guides. CWU national safety officer Dave Joyce said: 'These cards are aimed at reaching all our outdoor working members and are a crucial part of our union's campaign to raise the awareness of our members to the now very serious and growing risk of skin cancer caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight.' Amicus has also updated its online resources on hot work.
- UNISON Scotland news release. BBC News Online. Liverpool Echo. CWU news release.
- WorkSmart advice on handling the heat and TUC temperature factsheet. HSE hot work webpages. Amicus hot work resources.
- Know someone who's feeling the heat? Send them a 'virtual desk fan' or a workSMART eCard to tell them about the TUC hot work advice.
Dockyard laundry may have saved women's lives
Laundry facilities at Devonport Dockyard may have helped save women's lives in Plymouth. The suggestion comes in the latest annual report from the government's Chief Medical Officer, noting the 'striking difference' between the proportion of women to men in Plymouth falling victim to the asbestos cancer mesothelioma compared with other shipyard areas. It points out that while the male to female ratio of mesothelioma cases in Plymouth was 25 to one, in Portsmouth it was nine to one and Southampton eight to one. In Bristol, where shipbuilding is not a major industry, it was three to one. Most men in Plymouth with the disease worked at the dockyard, which had on-site laundry services for workers' clothing. However, in Portsmouth and Southampton, which also have a history of shipbuilding, these facilities were not provided. The report said: 'One hypothesis is that males without access to on-site laundry services brought their work clothing home, exposing their families to secondary contact.' Plymouth has among the highest death rates in the country from asbestos-related illness because of the naval dockyard, where asbestos was used widely both on ships and in buildings.
- Western Morning News. On the state of the public health: Annual report of the Chief Medical Officer 2005, July 2006.
Bullied bank worker awarded £800,000
A City of London bank administrator who was subjected to what a judge described as 'a deliberate and concerted campaign of bullying' by four women colleagues has been awarded £817,000 damages over the treatment she endured, which led to two nervous breakdowns. Helen Green, 36, sued Deutsche Bank Group Services (UK) Ltd claiming harassment by colleagues and a lack of support from bosses. Mr Justice Owen, at the High Court, said Miss Green had been subjected to a 'relentless campaign of mean and spiteful behaviour designed to cause her distress'. The judge described the bank's management as 'weak and ineffectual', adding: 'The managers collectively closed their eyes to what was going on, no doubt in the hope that the problem would go away.' Miss Green was promoted twice before she received stress counselling in March 2000, paid for by the company, and assertiveness training. In September 2000, she had a nervous breakdown and was in hospital on suicide watch. Five months later, she returned to work but relapsed. Her job was kept open until September 2003 when her employment was terminated. Deutsche Bank denied breach of statutory duty or bullying, instead pointing to Miss Green's vulnerability to mental illness. The judge awarded her £35,000 for pain and suffering, £25,000 for her disadvantage in the labour market, £128,000 for lost earnings and £640,000 for future loss of earnings including a pension.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Australia: Smoking ban boost for work in pubs
Hospitality industry claims that jobs would be lost as a result of Tasmania's smoking ban in pubs and clubs have been proved to be just an industry smokescreen. New official figures show there now are more people employed by Tasmanian hotels and clubs now than before the state's smoking ban took effect at the start of the year. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show a 10 per cent rise in employment in Tasmanian hotels and clubs in the May quarter of 2006 compared with the same quarter the previous year. This figure contradicts the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) claim that bar trade has dropped and jobs have been shed in Tasmanian pubs since the smoke-free legislation. SmokeFree Tasmania convenor Kathy Barnsley said the ABS data refuted the AHA claims of a downturn in the industry. In the UK last week, the Smokefree Action Coalition, which includes many of Britain's leading health organisations, produced a new website to help private, public and other organisations to introduce smoke-free policies as soon as possible. The move follows the Royal Assent for the Health Act 2006, which will make virtually all workplaces and enclosed public places smoke-free from summer 2007.
Iraq: Killings spark new media targeting fears
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called for an immediate inquiry by Iraqi authorities into the reported killing of three journalists in just two days. The 1 August call came after it emerged two of the deaths appeared to be targeted assassinations. The circumstances of the third death, reported by the Iraqi Journalists' Syndicate (IJS), were unclear. IFJ says that these deaths bring to 134 the number of journalists and media staff killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion three years ago. The IJS also said that police working for the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior on 1 August attacked and beat Ali Al Yassi, who works for US-based Arabic-language satellite channel Al Hurra. IFJ general secretary Aidan White said: 'The Iraqi government and the military authorities must act to end these targeted attacks on journalists. We need a full investigation into what has happened, information as to who is responsible and action taken to bring the killers to justice.' On Monday night, 31 August, Iraqi journalist Abdul Wahab Abdul Razeq Ahmad Al Qaisie was found dead, 10 days after he was abducted by masked militiamen. He was the editor-in-chief of Iraqi magazine Kol Al Dounia and had worked as a freelancer for European newspapers for the past 40 years. Adel Najee Al Mansouri, a reporter for Iranian TV channel Al Alam, was found dead on 1 August, a day after armed men took him from his house in the Al Amiriyah district of Baghdad, the IJS said. The third journalist killed was Riyad Atto, the editor of a newspaper in Talafar, reported IJS.
USA: Call for emergency action on work popcorn peril
Two large US unions and dozens of leaders in public and occupational health are petitioning the US government to use emergency powers to control worker exposure to a chemical in butter flavouring that has sickened hundreds of workers. Food and commercial union UFCW and the Teamsters, both of whom represent workers in food processing, have asked the Department of Labor to immediately issue an emergency temporary standard that would set a maximum exposure to diacetyl and require employers to provide workers with air-purifying respirators. Diacetyl has been identified as the cause of 'popcorn workers' lung' or bronchiolitis obliterans, a serious and sometimes fatal lung disorder that has led to affected workers requiring lung transplants. 'Three workers have died and hundreds of others are seriously injured,' said UFCW safety director Jackie Nowell. 'It's time for action. We will not let food processing workers continue to be the canaries in the coal mine while waiting for the industry to regulate itself.' Lamont Byrd, director of safety with the Teamsters, said: 'Now it is time for the Department of Labor to employ their regulatory mandate and protect the public. Such illnesses and fatalities are avoidable and therefore, inexcusable. An Emergency Standard is necessary to prevent the suffering and death of the additional workers who will get sick during the time it would take for OSHA to set a Permanent Standard.' David Michaels of George Washington University's School of Public Health, one of 42 scientists urging Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to introduce an emergency standard, said: 'There is compelling scientific evidence that diacetyl causes terrible lung disease. OSHA has ignored the evidence and has done nothing.' Ruth McCully, who heads OSHA's Directorate for Science, Technology and Medicine, said the agency has yet to evaluate the unions' request for an 'emergency temporary standard.' She said evaluations of such requests can take up to two years.
- UFCW news release. Confined Space. Baltimore Sun. Reuters.
- DOL petition, letter from top scientists and timeline about diacetyl in the USA.
Venezuela: Charlie Chaplin recruited for safety campaign
Charlie Chaplin's classic black-and-white movie Modern Times highlighted the exploitation and horrendous conditions faced by US factory workers during the Depression. Venezuela's leader Hugo Chavez believes it is as relevant today as it ever was - and the film has become a staple of safety training sessions as a result. Officials said the 1936 silent film has been shown about 1,000 times since January in 14 different states to educate workers who have little knowledge about their health and safety rights in the workplace. One scene in the movie shows Chaplin's character, the Little Tramp, being pulled through a huge machine as he attempts to tighten a bolt. In another scene, an automatic feeding machine is trialled on Chaplin, its intention to keep workers on the line and productive all day long. 'Once inside the factory, workers had no meaningful rights,' Richard Shickel, a film critic, told The Los Angeles Times. 'It was very relevant in the moment it was released, a time of social unrest and the emerging US labour movement.' In Venezuela, business owners are outraged. In a formal complaint to the government, the four main employer associations claimed that showing a film which depicted an employer as an exploiter of workers was designed 'to generate hate and resentment in the labour sector [and] satanise the employer'. However, Venezuela is not the first country to feature Modern Times in health and safety training materials. 'Fight speed up', a pocket guide from the Canadian autoworkers' union CAW, features on its cover the icon image of the Little Tramp trapped in the machine's cogs.
- The Independent. Common Dreams. Fight speed up, CAW (the online version does not include the Modern Times image).
RESOURCES
New HSE shiftwork guidance
Raising awareness of the health and safety risks of shiftwork and suggesting sensible measures employers, safety representatives and employees can use to reduce the negative impact of shiftwork is the aim of a new Health and Safety Executive publication, the safety watchdog says. More than 3.5 million people in the UK work shifts, across a variety of sectors including public services and heavy industry. It adds poorly designed shiftworking arrangements and long working hours that do not balance the demands of work with time for rest and recovery can result in fatigue, accidents, injuries and ill health. HSE says 'Managing shift work: Health and safety guidance' explains employers' legal duties and the risks associated with shiftwork and provides advice on risk assessment, design of shiftwork schedules and on the shiftwork environment. 'If shiftworkers are fatigued, their performance will be affected,' said HSE's Trevor Shaw. 'As a result they may make more errors, which can lead to accidents and injuries. This guidance offers a wealth of practical help and advice to businesses on how to manage those risks.' As well as the heightened accident risk (Risks 178), recent research has linked certain shift patterns to heart disease risk factors (Risks 266), pregnancy problems (Risks 237), breast cancer (Risks 222) and other forms of ill-health.
- Managing shift work: Health and safety guidance, £9.95 from HSE Books. Online order form.
More free HSE e-goodies
The Health and Safety Executive has expanded the list of ebulletins and newsletters you can sign up to online. As well as the general updates ebulletin, you can now receive newsletters on specific topics including stress, agriculture, official statistics and construction.
EVENTS AND COURSES
REACH and worker protection conference
The European Union's planned chemicals legislation reform, REACH, should do much to help protect the health of workers who are exposed to dangerous substances, says the European union confederation ETUC. The ETUC and its research and training institute, ETUI-REHS, are hosting a conference on 'REACH and worker protection legislation: two complementary pieces of law for improved worker protection?' in Brussels on 19 September 2006. A special focus will be on the linkages between REACH and two sets of European Union-wide worker protection rules - the chemicals and carcinogens directives. ETUC says the conference 'will give ETUC-affiliated unions and other economic, political and institutional players an opportunity to trade views ahead of November's scheduled second reading in the European Parliament. It also aims to help inform the social dialogue in European industry.'
- REACH and worker protection legislation: two complementary pieces of law for improved worker protection? Brussels, Belgium, 19 September 2006. Provisional programme and registration form. ETUI-REHS REACH webpages
TUC courses for safety reps
COURSES FOR SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2006
USEFUL LINKS
- Visit the TUC http://www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/ website pages on health and safety. See what's on offer from TUC Publications and What's On in health and safety.
- Subscribe to Hazards magazine, supported by the TUC as a key source of information for union safety reps.
- What's new in the HSC/E and the European Agency.
- HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 2WA. Tel: 01787 881165; fax: 01787 313995
Newsletter (5,200 words) issued 4 Aug 2006
