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Risks Newsletter
Number 270 - 19 August 2006|
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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 13,000 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 .
SPECIAL FEATURE: Save enforcement and save lives UNION NEWS- Union push for Scots corporate killing law
- NUJ calls for protection of the 'right to refuse'
- Union action over Tube victimisation
- Over-stretched fire staff fight exhaustion
- AA vehicle faults show safety is in the back seat
- Refuse refusal reverses rubbish ruse
- Nuclear firms each pay £2m for leaks
- Life is still cheap at work
- Grieving dad calls for justice for his son
- Oil firms failing on North Sea safety checks
- Police promise NHS violence crackdown
- Korea: Union member beaten to death
- New Zealand: Asbestos victim takes on James Hardie
- USA: Asbestos hasn't been driven out
- USA: Community service for double homicide
SPECIAL FEATURE: Save enforcement and save lives
HSE unions condemn dangerous cutbacks
Plans to drastically cut staffing and budgets in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have been condemned by unions representing the safety watchdog's staff. Prospect and PCS say the 'crippling' cuts will leave workers at greater risk. In a 10 August notice to staff, Geoffrey Podger said the move to reduce the total number of staff by between 250 and 350 posts by March 2008 and cut programme spend was now necessary to get back within budget. In addition to savings on staff costs, £3m will be trimmed from the publicity budget, £250,000 from policy contracts, £1m from the out-sourced Workplace Health Connect programme and £1.3m from the extra-mural science and technology budget. HSE inspectors' union Prospect said the cutbacks come on the back of real terms cuts in HSE's budget since 2002, and in the face of 'likely further cuts given the five per cent reduction target identified for its parent body, the Department of Work and Pensions, in the last comprehensive spending review.' Prospect HSE branch chair Steven Kay said the cuts would result in a further drop in inspections and prosecutions, adding 'any reduction in HSE staff numbers will inevitably impact on the drive to improve safety in UK workplaces. Evidence shows it is inspection backed by enforcement that is the most effective way of ensuring employers comply with their health and safety responsibilities.' Chris Hurley, branch secretary of the PCS branch in HSE, said: 'My members are dismayed by the size of these cuts. Seven weeks ago the chief executive set alarm bells ringing when he told staff he expected 'around 100 posts' would have to go.' The union 'is calling for a full and frank explanation of the reasons for this financial mess.' PCS NEC member Paula Brown said: 'We are now concerned for the stress levels of HSE's own workforce as staffing levels fall and workloads don't. PCS will continue to press HSE for a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies, and to look at other cost cutting alternatives.'
Unions call for inspections not cuts
Unions have said the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) must be given the resources to maintain an effective workplace inspection and enforcement role. Commenting on the announcement of drastic HSE staffing and budget cuts, TUC assistant general secretary Kay Carberry said: 'These cuts will heighten concerns over the already low levels of workplace inspections. We urge the government to review the resources made available to the HSE to carry out this important work.' Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) safety officer Ian Tasker said: 'This announcement defies belief and it is unacceptable that the health and safety of workers can be compromised in this way by a government that starves the Health and Safety Executive of adequate funding and continues to promote a wide reaching and extremely concerning deregulation agenda.' He said STUC would support a union campaign to ensure there are 'the resources to guarantee that adequate and regular enforcement activity remains the cornerstone of our enforcement regime and the increasing drift away from the protection of workers is halted'. Amicus expressed 'alarm' at the planned cuts, adding: 'There is already a dangerously low level of inspectors and inspections, from years of under-investment in the HSE, and cutting inspectors further will only worsen the already precarious state of safety policing in Great Britain.' Amicus added that it already had serious concerns about the levels of enforcement in high-risk industries, including the offshore sector.
UNION NEWS
Union push for Scots corporate killing law
TGWU Scotland says it will campaign for a Scottish corporate killing law that includes duties on both companies and their directors. It says Home Office proposals are welcome, but are flawed because they do not address the issue of director culpability. The Scottish Executive had moved towards the introduction of a more far-reaching Scottish corporate homicide law, but to the dismay of safety campaigners and unions, now says it will introduce a version of the Home Office bill (Risks 267). A new TGWU Scotland briefing criticises the move, saying: 'Only by addressing this fundamental point will our courts be able to address the cloak of immunity which has time and again been thrown around directors.' It adds: 'The new law must be able to reach those managers who abuse the safety laws of this country. If not, work related deaths will not be prevented and justice will still be denied.' The union is now seeking support for a separate Corporate Homicide (Scotland) Bill, introduced as a private members' bill by Karen Gillon MSP. The union says: 'TGWU Scotland fully supports the premise of the draft Culpable Homicide (Scotland) Bill which is that it is unfair in our society that one of our most serious crimes appears to be discriminatory in the manner in which it is applied. For example, individuals in larger organisations are still less likely to be charged with culpable homicide than those in small organisations.' The union is urging people to write in support of Karen Gillon's bill, and to sign up to an online petition expressing 'concern that the proposed UK Corporate Manslaughter Bill may result in many involuntary deaths in Scotland going unpunished, with the real perpetrators continuing to be able to hide behind the corporate veil while innocent people lose their lives.' It adds: 'We believe that the Scottish Executive can and should legislate on this issue, to ensure that those who suffer the loss of loved ones receive justice.'
- TGWU Scotland corporate killing campaign briefing and online petition. TGWU Scotland corporate killing campaign webpage.
- Letters of support for the Corporate Homicide (Scotland) Bill should be sent to Karen Gillon MSP Constituency Office, 7 Wellgate, Lanark, Scotland ML11 9DS before 12 September 2006.
- Hazards deadly business webpages.
NUJ calls for protection of the 'right to refuse'
UK and international media union organisations are issuing a call to arms over a journalist's right to refuse dangerous assignments like the Iraq war. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) are asking their members and fellow unions to contribute to the legal fund of a journalist who lost his job for refusing assignments to Iraq. Former London based ABC News journalist Richard Gizbert - a veteran of conflicts in Somalia, Rwanda and Chechnya - has already won a unanimous judgment from a UK employment tribunal, which ruled he was unfairly dismissed by the American network in 2004 for refusing to go to Iraq. NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear called the December 2005 verdict 'hugely important' for journalists and their families. Mr Gizbert's lawyers say the case also has implications for the interpretation of employment law throughout the European Union. Since the judgment was based on UK health and safety law, Mr Gizbert's lawyers say it will offer protection to employees in other fields as well. 'The issue here could not be more clear,' said Aidan White, general secretary of the IFJ, 'a media worker's right to refuse a dangerous assignment and an employer failing to take responsibility.' ABC, which is owned by the Disney Company, is trying to reverse the judgment at appeal, and to eliminate the important precedent set by the tribunal. ABC has indicated that if it fails to win at this stage, it will appeal once again, to the Court of Appeal. In July, the tribunal issued a compensation ruling, saying ABC should pay Mr Gizbert £99,000 for unfairly dismissing him. However, the award does not cover Mr Gizbert's debts from fighting this case, primarily his legal fees. Moreover, as long as ABC continues to appeal this decision, Mr Gizbert will not see a penny.
- NUJ website. ABC profile of Richard Gizbert. UK Press Gazette.
- Donations to Richard Gizbert Legal Defence Fund, c/o NUJ, Headland House, 308-312 Gray's Inn Road, London, UK, WC1X 8DP.
- Hazards victimisation webpage.
Union action over Tube victimisation
Members of Tube union RMT are considering industrial action over a series of reports of safety-related victimisation. Drivers on London Underground's Jubilee Line are to be balloted over the 'blatantly unfair' sacking of driver Raj Nathvani. The train driver, who had in over eight years of service maintained a flawless safety record, was dismissed after reporting he had overrun a signal. 'When Raj over-ran a signal he reported it to his controller and proceeded at caution. Ahead of him were green signals and no points, but he was sacked without mercy because he didn't follow procedure exactly,' RMT general secretary Bob Crow said. 'Other drivers who have made similar genuine errors have learned from such mistakes and are still driving today, and some managers who have made errors have not been disciplined at all.' He added that correct procedures were ignored by the company, including refusing Raj union representation at his disciplinary hearing. His union rep, Les Bruty, is also now facing a 'gross disciplinary charge' after a minor incident, the union said. 'The blatantly unfair dismissal of Raj and the victimisation of his union rep are the latest examples of the regime of fear that is being imposed on our members and the re-emergence of the dangerous blame culture we spent years trying to eliminate,' Bob Crow said. The union is also balloting station staff at Canary Wharf Station over a 'catalogue' of issues, including claims of harassment and victimisation of union reps and discrimination against gay workers. Bob Crow said problems included a worker fired on health grounds 'despite his being passed as fit to return to work by LUL's own occupational health people' and a refusal by local management 'to release the union's health and safety rep to undertake her duties.' He added: 'Repeated attempts to resolve these issues have proved fruitless and the RMT executive has agreed that the only option left is to ballot the more than 80 members concerned for industrial action.'
- RMT news releases on the Jubilee line and Canary Wharf incidents. BBC News Online.
Over-stretched fire staff fight exhaustion
The government is ignoring growing safety pressures placed on fire and rescue services as a result of climate change, the Fire Brigades Union has said. The union has called for an immediate end to cuts in personnel and for a cash injection of £60 million to address the increasing demands. FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: 'The dry and warm weather has created the perfect conditions for the huge increase in the number of major fires so far this summer. As soon as we've stopped tackling the fires we've been hit almost immediately with torrential rain causing flash flooding.' He added: 'Fire crews have been working up to 14 hours without a break which is well beyond accepted safe limits. The result has been heat exhaustion and dehydration, with firefighters working to the point of collapse. The strain on officers has been severe and emergency fire control operators have also handled thousands of extra calls and been placed under major pressure. In some areas the fire service has been stretched so much in dealing with these incidents there are almost no crews or fire engines to deal with other emergencies.' The union leader added: 'The government must shake off its complacency and call an immediate halt to all plans to cut the number of fire crews until the huge impact climate change is having on the service has been properly assessed.' He said the additional £60m funding 'would help with the additional pressures and substantial extra costs faced by local fire authorities as a result of dealing with the effects of climate change.'
AA vehicle faults show safety is in the back seat
Roadside assistance firm AA is putting cost cutting before safety, the GMB union has warned. The union was commenting after AA was forced to take 600 new vehicle recovery system (VRS) vehicles out of service because of serious production faults which could lead to injury of staff and road users. The company has an additional 900 VRS vehicles on order, says the union. The new fleet is fitted with VRS, a unit that folds away into the rear of a van and can be unfolded and used to recover cars. This type of vehicle is now used by patrol staff to attend breakdowns and is also used to tow away vehicles that cannot be fixed on the roadside. The new dual-function vehicles replace the 300 specialised recovery trucks onto which broken down vehicles used to be loaded, which have been sold by the AA. However the new style vehicles were taken out of action when it was revealed support legs had cracked, causing the unit to collapse as cars were winched on. Paul Maloney, GMB national organiser for AA, said: 'This latest problem is typical of the AA venture capitalists putting profit before health and safety and yet again failing its staff and members. Waiting times for recovery will undoubtedly be longer, throughout the whole of Britain.' GMB is calling for inspection of all the new vehicles by the official Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA).
Refuse refusal reverses rubbish ruse
The Transport and General Workers' Union confirmed on 14 August its striking members at Haringey Accord have returned to work, following the resolution of a dispute involving refuse collections (Risks 268). The 48 workers walked out on 31 July 2006 in protest at plans to reduce the number of refuse vehicles in use, a move the union said would increase workloads and jeopardise safety. Workers had refused large cash payments to accept the changes. TGWU says as a result of the agreement, a residential refuse collection crew, which was removed under the efficiency savings package, will now be reinstated. Speaking after the resolution of the 14-day strike, TGWU regional industrial organiser Paul Fawcett said: 'This dispute was always about safety, not money, and we are pleased with the outcome. It is an ideal compromise and a victory for common sense.'
OTHER NEWS
Nuclear firms each pay £2m for leaks
A nuclear plant in Cumbria has been fined £2m after breaching regulations, which led to a radioactive leak. Acid containing 20 tonnes of uranium and 160kg (353lb) of plutonium escaped from a pipe and was found in a sealed cell at Sellafield in April 2005. Plant operator British Nuclear Group Sellafield (BNGSL) admitted responsibility and was fined by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). No one was hurt and no radioactive material escaped into the atmosphere after the leak at the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (Thorp) part of the site. But the spillage, discovered in April 2005, may have gone unnoticed for eight months. In June, at a hearing at Whitehaven Magistrates' Court, BNGSL pleaded guilty to breaching conditions attached to the Sellafield site licence. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) brought the prosecution, arguing the firm failed to ensure safety systems were in good working order and that radioactive material was effectively contained. The operator of the Dounreay nuclear facility in Caithness, Scotland, has also incurred a £2m financial penalty after the spillage of highly active liquor at a waste processing plant in September last year. NDA has debited £2m from the annual fee the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) receives from the quango. The penalty was revealed on the same day it emerged that UKAEA could face criminal charges over rogue radioactive hot spots which have leaked into the sea from Dounreay. The magnitude of the incident led to it being registered on the International Nuclear Event Scale and resulted in enforcement notices being issued by HSE's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. Earlier this month it was revealed two workers at Dounreay were undergoing tests following concerns they had been exposed to a radioactive metal. The checks follow the results of routine biological samples taken from individuals who work in the nuclear site's fuel cycle area.
- BBC News Online on Sellafield and Dounreay and on the Dounreay worker tests. Glasgow Herald.
Life is still cheap at work
Recent seven-figure fines for serious safety breaches have captured the headlines, but the price paid for killing a worker can often be considerably lower. DA Carter Ltd from Burscough was fined £7,500 and ordered to pay £5,000 costs last week after employee Michael Alty died as a result of a six metre fall through asbestos sheeting on a warehouse roof. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that the company had not completed a risk assessment for the work. Suitable and sufficient measures, such as the use of proprietary equipment, were not used to prevent falls, no edge protection - such as scaffolding - was erected, and access to the roof lights was made by walking across the asbestos cement roof. In February, Welwyn Garden City clothing company DPT (Wear) was ordered to pay a £2,000 fine after pleading guilty to health and safety breaches, following an investigation into the death of 48-year-old employee Alan Carter in a 12 foot fall onto a concrete floor. The firm was also ordered to pay £17,985 costs. Last year, Deco Marble and Granite Limited was fined £3,000 after an investigation into the death of 37-year-old John Martin Dunleavy, who was crushed by several stone slabs from a bundle weighing approximately six tonnes (Risks 203). Only a minority of workplace fatalities result in any safety prosecution, according to the Centre for Corporate Accountability.
Grieving dad calls for justice for his son
A grieving dad from Port Talbot is backing a national campaign to have company bosses hauled into court following deaths in the workplace. Mike Hutin lost his 20-year-old son Andrew in the Corus blast furnace disaster of 2001, in which three workers died (Risks 244), and says he still feels justice has not been done. Mr Hutin said he has joined forces with other people from across Britain who have lost loved ones in industrial accidents. Families Against Corporate Killers (Fack) says directors should be prosecuted over work-related deaths, rather than just companies (Risks 265). The Crown Prosecution Service has said it will not bring manslaughter charges against any individuals in relation to the Corus deaths, although the Health and Safety Executive has brought safety charges against the company. However, Mr Hutin is adamant this action is not enough. 'I still feel justice has not been done. I still feel charges should have been brought against individuals who made decisions - but we are still in limbo.' He said: 'Company directors can be sent to jail for fraud. But they do not get jail sentences as the law stands when someone has died. That has got to be wrong.' Last week a TUC-backed report from Hazards magazine revealed workers aged 16-24 are dying at a rate of one month, with a young worker seriously injured once every 40 minutes (Risks 269). On 26 July, 21-year-old Christopher Duffy was killed when he was crushed under metal shuttering on a Bracknell building site. Trainee gamekeeper James Wellington, 16, died on 4 August in a quad bike accident while out feeding pheasants.
- South Wales Evening Post. Financial Times. Coventry Evening Telegraph. Irwin Mitchell Solicitors news release.
- Families Against Corporate Killers (Fack) website.
- Hazards young workers health and safety webpages.
Oil firms failing on North Sea safety checks
North Sea oil companies are failing to keep up with vital offshore maintenance work, the oil industry's top health and safety regulator has claimed, confirming concerns raised by offshore unions. A build-up of tens of thousands of hours of neglected maintenance work on ageing platforms is causing mounting concern at the Health and Safety Executive's Offshore Division. Ian Whewell, head of the division, said: 'I think there are installations where the company needs to think seriously whether any solution other than shutting the platform is enough.' The rise in the price of oil may have exacerbated the problem, with pressure for more production coming after a period of under-investment in maintenance while the oil price was low. Mr Whewell said that companies were seeking to extend the life of oilfields once considered uneconomic and scheduled for abandonment. 'They can be made safe, but it requires much work.' The design life is less relevant than 'intended life', which is now being exceeded, he said. Graham Tran, Amicus regional officer for the sector, commented: 'The only thing that surprises us about this news is that the HSE is finally admitting there is a big safety management backlog in the offshore industry. The fact is we have been telling them this for years, and even after tragic events like the Brent Bravo disaster, the HSE's Offshore Division has refused to do its job effectively or even acknowledge there is a problem [Risks 267]. In the past they have even denied receiving important evidence from us about safety mismanagement.' He added: 'We are not out to get the HSE, they are essential for offshore safety, but they have to do their job properly, they have to be independent and effective in the policing of offshore safety.'
Police promise NHS violence crackdown
Unions have welcomed a promise to crackdown on violence against health service staff, after an agreement was signed this week between the NHS Security Management Service (SMS) and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). Police chiefs have promised to investigate every reported incident of violence or abuse on NHS premises, and put pressure on the courts and prosecutors 'to ensure offenders receive tougher sentences.' UNISON head of Health Karen Jennings commented: 'This agreement will help staff to feel better protected.' The new joint agreement commits police and the NHS to 'put pressure' on the courts and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure offenders receive tougher sentences. Jim Gee, managing director of NHS SMS, said: 'With the promise of more prosecutions and tougher sentences, NHS staff should be able to look forward to the day when assaults are an increasingly rare occurrence. Although we have seen a 15-fold increase in the number of prosecutions for attacks on staff, history tells us that the courts have been too lenient on these crimes.' He added: 'Violence against our staff will not be tolerated. We will do everything within our power to ensure offenders are punished.' ACPO's Terence Grange said: 'The police, working with NHS colleagues, will be vigorous and offenders investigated and prosecuted accordingly.' Figures released in June showed more than 60,000 NHS staff were assaulted by patients or relatives last year (Risks 261). Earlier this month two men were jailed for assaults on health service staff (Risks 269).
- NHS SMS news release [pdf]. UNISON news release. BBC News Online.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Korea: Union member beaten to death
Workers taking industrial action over poor safety and employment conditions at a construction firm in South Korea have been beaten and jailed. On 1 August Ha Joong Keun, a member of the Pohang Local Union, died after he was severely beaten by riot police during a demonstration in front of POSCO headquarters. A report from the international construction union federation BWI says dozens have been jailed and are facing prosecution, with many now on hunger strike. The strikers are seeking a pay increase, a five-day week - seven-day working is the current practice - and improvements in working conditions. The union adds that POSCO working conditions are 'dangerous and inhumane.' It reports that so far this year there have been at least 20 industrial accidents, but says at least 95 per cent of workplace injuries are unreported and deliberately hidden from public and government scrutiny. And asbestos is still used in POSCO plants, in contravention of an official asbestos ban in South Korea. BWI reports that POSCO construction plants have no washing or changing facilities, filthy bathrooms and no canteens. According to BWI, more than 57 national civil society groups, women's organisations, academic associations and other organisations are now backing the union campaign. The latest information from South Korea indicates that the situation is getting worse, however. On 9 August, during a demonstration in Pohang, 186 union members were injured, some seriously, with 23 hospitalised. There were also more arrests, including the general secretary of BWI affiliate KFCITU and the organising director of the Construction Transportation Workers Union. BWI says the number in jail now exceeds 100. A march in honour of Ha Joong Keun took place on 4 August.
- BWI news release and update.
New Zealand: Asbestos victim takes on James Hardie
New Zealand cancer victim Ken Hurley is taking on corporate giant James Hardie Industries. The former carpenter says he was exposed to asbestos products made by the firm in the 1970s. Last year multinational James Hardie agreed to create a multi-billion dollar fund to compensate Australian victims of asbestos related diseases. Hurley says the company's victims in New Zealand should also be eligible. He was diagnosed with an asbestos related cancer last year and says it was caused by exposure to James Hardie products imported into New Zealand. A 2004 report into asbestos use in New Zealand found that the use of asbestos peaked in the 1960s and 1970s and concluded 20 to 40 per cent of all adult men were likely to have had some exposure during their working life. In New Zealand only workers exposed to asbestos after April 2002 are eligible for lump-sum payments. Otherwise they get just NZ$67 (£22) a week from the government compensation agency, ACC. Ken Hurley's lawyer Hazel Armstrong is posting on the New Zealand Council of Trade Union's (CTU) website a list of asbestos products formerly made by James Hardie Australia, to help other people who may be ill due to asbestos. CTU launched a campaign in April seeking fair compensation for the victims of asbestos-related diseases in New Zealand. A New Zealander has already been awarded compensation for using imported James Hardie products, but his payment is in dispute while the decision is appealed.
USA: Asbestos hasn't been driven out
Top US magazine Sports Illustrated last week posted an online interview with retired NASCAR racing driver and longtime broadcaster Benny Parsons, who has just been diagnosed with lung cancer. Parsons believes he knows the cause of the disease, commenting 'if I had to blame anything for this problem my guess is it would be asbestos. In the 60s I worked at a gas station on a fleet of taxi cabs. Brakes would not last very long on these cabs. We had to replace them every 5,000 miles. In the 60s friction lining on brake shoes was asbestos. So when I took those drums off that dust would be a quarter of an inch deep and I would take an air hose and blow all that stuff off. So every week I was exposed to asbestos dust.' What many people in the US don't know, points out New York-based safety campaign and information group NYCOSH, is that asbestos is not banned in the US and is still used in brake linings. Figures released this month by the US official occupational health research body NIOSH show asbestos related disease deaths are still rising in the US.
- Sports Illustrated. Update to eWoRLD (the electronic Work-Related Lung Disease Surveillance Report System), which includes 60 updated tables and figures on the pneumoconioses including asbestosis, mesothelioma, and HP.
- OSHA guide: Asbestos - Automotive brake and clutch repair work.
USA: Community service for double homicide
The former president of a US water and sewer company convicted of the double homicide of two workers has been sentenced to seven years on probation and 840 hours of community service. Superior Court Judge Andrew Gould sentenced Brent H Weidman to four years of supervised probation for one of the negligent homicide convictions and another four years for one of the aggravated assault convictions. The sentences will be served concurrently. Weidman was also sentenced to three years of supervised probation for a second count of negligent homicide and three years of supervised probation for another count of aggravated assault. Those terms will also be served concurrently, and will start after his four-year probation ends. The judge also sentenced Weidman, who used to head Far West Water and Sewer Company, to serve 840 hours of community service in which he will teach safety training classes for the Arizona Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in Yuma and ordered him to pay a $50,000 (£26,440) fine at the rate of $250 (£132) a month ? which will take Weidman about 17 years to pay off. The sentence followed a June guilty verdict on two counts of negligent homicide and two counts of endangerment in the deaths of 26-year-old James Gamble and 62-year-old Gary Lanser, who both died after being overcome by toxic gases while working on an underground sewage tank (Risks 262). Award-winning safety blogger Jordan Barab of the Confined Space blog, commented: 'I've spend a lot of time in this blog talking about the ineffectiveness of OSHA's penalty system and the need for more criminal prosecutions of employers who kill workers in clear violation of OSHA standards. But if judges are going to hand down non-sentences like this, what's the point?' He added: 'What this makes clear is that we have a lot of work to do - not just changing the laws, but also developing effective arguments to be presented to juries, as well as judges and the media.'
RESOURCES
Everything you need to know about Hazards
The brand spanking new issue of Hazards magazine has just flown off the presses and straight onto a radio, TV or newspaper page near you. It's not only the single health and safety magazine produced with union reps in mind, it is also the only one that regularly makes the news. This issue revealed exclusively that HSE is facing major staffing and budget cuts. It also highlighted the peril facing young workers. Both stories attracted national press coverage. But Hazards is not just about highlighting problems, it is about identifying solutions. Each issue includes campaign tips, checklists and pointers for safety and other union reps, and detailed resource listings. Union subscriptions are crucial if Hazards is to continue this unique job - it receives no grants, handouts or government support.
- Hazards magazine. Subscribe now - or get your branch, regional or HQ to sort out a massively discounted bulk order! For further details or to check if your national union already has a bulk order or to find out about Hazards' trade union discount agreements, email the Hazards subscription hotline or call 0114 201 4265.
EVENTS AND COURSES
Cancer and work conference, Glasgow, 14 September
Unions and workplace health campaign organisations are hosting a 14 September conference in Glasgow on cancer and work. The event, sponsored by TUC Education Scotland, GMB Scotland, Stirling University, Clydebank Asbestos Group and Stow College Trade Union Education Department will address the key questions on cancer and work: the causes of occupational cancer; the real toll; the industries and occupations where there are problems; and what support there is for people affected by occupational cancer. It will also consider how unions can organise to address the workplace and policy issues relating to occupational cancer and its prevention. Speakers include Hazards magazine and Risks editor Rory O'Neill and Professor Andrew Watterson of the University of Stirling.
- Cancer and work conference, 10.30am - 3.15pm, Thursday 14 September 2006, Glasgow Caledonian University. For further information contact Brian Corrigan , Trade Union Education, Stow College, Stow West Campus, 75 Hotspur Street, Glasgow G20 8LJ. Tel: 0141 564 7502.
- More on cancer and work .
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 (5,500 words) issued 18 Aug 2006
