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Risks Newsletter
Number 277 - 07 October 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 .
UNION NEWS- Big win on key corporate safety crime vote
- Scots continue corporate homicide pressure
- Bad gangmasters could move on warns TUC
- Unions call for safety enforcement rethink
- Union safety fears on new nuclear plan
- Rail union launches cab conditions campaign
- Drivers will take safe route on Piccadilly line
- Only 1 in 50 firms say outright no to bullies
- More revenue staff join lean work-to-rule
- Hunt says age discrimination is a work health issue
- Scots action on asbestos payouts dilemma
- BBC alert over studio asbestos risk
- Fired smoking workers lose appeal
- Smoking ban 'reduces heart risk'
- Canada: Rise in lung cancer in non-smokers
- Global: Call for an end to Canada's asbestos poison
- Global: Spiralling news death toll breaks 100
- Global: Call centres campaign highlights stress
- Kazakhstan: Mittal bosses to blame for mine disaster
UNION NEWS
Big win on key corporate safety crime vote
Company directors should be made liable for the deaths of employees, the Labour Party's annual conference has agreed. The resolution, proposed by the union TGWU and seconded by construction union UCATT, was passed despite not having the support of Labour's national executive committee (NEC) at last week's conference in Manchester. The successful resolution calls for an amendment to the corporate homicide bill, which has its second reading on 10 October, to ensure directors and senior managers are held to account. As it stands, the bill allows companies to be prosecuted rather than individuals and proposes a penalty of an unlimited fine rather than jail for individual bosses. Moving the successful motion, TGWU general Tony Woodley said the government was 'plain wrong', adding: 'The bill completely and deliberately excludes from its scope the prosecution of negligent directors, guilty directors who will be handed a 'get out of jail free' card.' Mr Woodley continued: 'They are pandering to the pressure from the CBI and the bosses. Organisations don't kill people. Incompetent, negligent, greedy bosses do. And they are quite literally getting away with murder.' To applause from delegates, he said: 'Where individuals are shown to be culpable, they should face prosecution for manslaughter. If death by dangerous driving deserves 14 years in jail, then the loss of a worker's life through the bosses' mismanagement deserves no less.' However, Labour's NEC said in a statement that directors would still be liable for manslaughter on an individual basis if they had been grossly negligent. To date, no director or senior manager of a large or medium sized UK firm has ever been convicted of workplace manslaughter. Only a handful of directors have ever faced manslaughter charges.
- TGWU news release and the successful resolution. UCATT news webpages. The Guardian. Yorkshire Post.
- CCA briefing on corporate manslaughter [pdf]
- Families Against Corporate Killers (Fack) is co-ordinating a lobby outside the Houses of Parliament on 10 October calling for improvements to the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill. Fack lobby alert and website. Corporate killing lobby, Old Palace Yard/St Stephen's Green, House of Commons, London, 10.00am to 11.30am, 10 October 2006. Directions.
Scots continue corporate homicide pressure
The Labour conference vote in support of a beefed up corporate killing law adds weight to the Scottish campaign for stronger legislation north of the border, union body STUC has said. STUC deputy general secretary Grahame Smith said the conference decision created an 'opportunity of strengthening the Westminster Bill on corporate manslaughter, particularly in holding individual directors to account if their negligent behaviour results in the death of a member of the public or a worker.' He said legal wrangling had led to Scottish parliament MSP Karen Gillon shelving her proposals for legislation in Scotland (Risks 270). 'It is unfortunate that the legal quagmire that has surrounded this issue and pressure of time have conspired to prevent her having her proposals made law at this time,' he said. 'The STUC is determined, as is Karen, that legislation be introduced to bring justice to bereaved families by holding both negligent companies and individuals to account for their actions. We will be working with Karen in the period ahead to secure appropriate changes to the Westminster Bill and to have its impact on Scotland fully considered by the Scottish Parliament.' Mr Smith added: 'We will also be considering proposals for legislation by the Scottish Parliament in the future that will achieve our objectives should that be necessary.'
Bad gangmasters could move on warns TUC
Unscrupulous gangmasters and employment agencies could move their focus to other sectors now that agriculture and food processing are more tightly regulated, TUC has warned. The TUC alert came as a 1 October change in the law took effect requiring all gangmasters and employment agencies supplying people for work in agriculture and food processing to have a licence. It is now illegal to supply businesses such as farms, orchards, shellfish pickers, meat and food factories with labour without a licence from the Gangmasters Licensing Authority. And from the end of the year, any company taking on workers from an unlicensed gangmaster could be prosecuted. Although welcoming the new duties on gangmasters, the TUC is concerned that licensing in the farming and food sectors could force unscrupulous labour suppliers to move into sectors such as cleaning, construction and hospitality where there are no such restrictions. Calling for the law to be extended to all employment agencies, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Until the Morecambe Bay tragedy, gangmasters were pretty much a law unto themselves, with the worst operators having a free rein to exploit some of the UK's most vulnerable workers. Licensing of all labour suppliers in farming and food processing should make a real difference and improve the treatment of workers in the sector.' But he added 'our fear is that the cowboys will simply set up shop in other parts of the economy and start supplying workers at cut price rates to the cleaning and hospitality industries. A comprehensive licensing scheme covering all employment agencies is now a must. This would improve working conditions for thousands of vulnerable workers and make it harder for rogue operators to undercut decent employment agencies.'
Unions call for safety enforcement rethink
More unions have raised concerns about the strategy of the UK's resource-strapped health and safety watchdog (Risks 275). College and university staff union UCU says the health of thousands of its members 'is being put at risk by a shift in the focus of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) from inspection and enforcement to the offering of guidance to employers.' It adds that HSE 'is failing to adapt to modern workplace hazards such as stress, bullying and RSI, and failing to recognise that too many employers in further and higher education pay only 'lip service' to health and safety.' UCU has called for a rethink of the government health and safety strategy in a 'highly critical' submission to an HSE consultation on worker involvement. UCU head of equality and employment rights Roger Kline said HSE had 'failed to adapt to the modern workplace', adding: 'A complete rethink of the HSE's direction is needed.' He said: 'HSE don't enforce occupational health issues as they should.' Mr Kline continued: 'People rarely get crushed in coalmine roof-falls now - but they do get crushed by workloads and crushed by bullying from managers given unrealistic targets. If the HSE continues to move away from enforcement, and if there is no cultural change by more college and university employers, we shall see more not less serious illness, injury and absence.' Communications union CWU has also raised concerns about the shift away from enforcement. National safety officer Dave Joyce said: 'Our view is that the best way to prevent problems reoccurring is by learning from the mistakes of the past, and more importantly ensuring safety procedures are robust and are followed. The only way to do this is effectively is with the support of regular inspections and investigations by the HSE, supporting trade unions and their safety representatives in their efforts to maintain safe and healthy workplaces.' He said CWU had urged safety minister Lord Hunt to provide HSE, which is facing swingeing staffing cuts as a result of a major budget shortfall, with additional resources.
Union safety fears on new nuclear plan
Any break up of the British Nuclear Group (BNG) could have serious implications for the industry's safety management, trade unions have warned. The unions were responding to reports that British Nuclear Fuels Limited and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority have urged the secretary of state for trade and industry, Alistair Darling, to recommend the break up and sale of British Nuclear Group. Gary Smith, GMB national officer for the nuclear industry, said unions had not been consulted and called on Mr Darling to reject the proposal. He said: 'The break-up of BNG is not in the longer term interests of the nation. It has potentially profound implications of health and safety. There is a real prospect that this will add up to 'Railtrack in the nuclear industry'.' Prospect, which represents 6,000 scientists, engineers and professional staff in BNG, also expressed serious concerns. National secretary Mike Graham said: 'These latest changes and concerns reinforce the fears of staff that the business is now rudderless. This is damaging morale and raises questions over whether the future of this safety-critical business is being determined by who is the highest bidder rather than who has an established track record in the fields of health, safety, security and environmental performance.' Prospect is calling for openness and transparency regarding site and employee safety, job security, terms and conditions of employment, pensions, and the culture and quality of incoming firms.
Rail union launches cab conditions campaign
Rail union ASLEF is calling for big improvements in a small area - the train cabs where drivers spend their entire working day. The 'Squash in my cab' campaign is pressing for train cabs that are: Safe; Quiet; User-friendly; Air-conditioned; Specially seated; and Healthy. ASLEF says it is already engaged in initiatives at national level to improve cab conditions. It says cab conditions will be included in every pay claim this year 'to ensure that it is raised in a formal and regular way with every rail company.' And ASLEF general secretary Keith Norman has asked all officers in the union to raise cab conditions as a matter of urgency with every rail firm. ASLEF has also raised cab conditions with rail safety and performance regulator HM Railway Inspectorate (HMRI). The union's safety adviser, Dave Bennett, has asked union reps to ensure they provide ASLEF with up-to-date information for inclusion in a dossier to be sent to HMRI.
Drivers will take safe route on Piccadilly line
London Underground union RMT has warned Tube managers against underestimating a threat to staff and passenger safety, following the discovery of cracks in a vital component on Piccadilly Line trains. At a meeting last week with London Underground and Tube Lines Ltd, the union called for a 30mph speed restriction on the line until the problem is resolved. Over 20 axle suspension sleeves - which help support a one-ton traction motor - have been replaced since it emerged last month that cracks have developed in the component. Following an inspection of the Piccadilly Line fleet, Tube Lines declared the trains 'safe to run.' Managers have also told RMT reps they believe that passengers can be the 'eyes and ears' to warn of impending danger. But RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the problem highlighted the dangers of the introduction of the Public-Private Partnership and fragmentation of safety management on London Underground. 'Until recently this component's production would have been in-house. Now it is outsourced to a company whose first priority is to turn a profit,' Mr Crow said. The problem emerged after a Tube driver reported hearing a loud bang coming from under his train. 'Any LUL driver has the legal right, on health and safety grounds, to refuse to drive a train which they believe to be faulty and a risk to themselves and their passengers. Any RMT member who makes such a decision can count on the full backing of their union,' he added.
Only 1 in 50 firms say outright no to bullies
Bosses are failing to do enough to tackle workplace bullying, according to new research from the union Amicus. The union said bullying at work could 'destroy' lives and urged companies to take a zero tolerance approach to the problem. The Amicus poll of 300 workers found that only 2 per cent of employers took a zero tolerance approach to bullying. It found 97 per cent of organisations have never quantified the impact of bullying, a problem it says costs industry an estimated £2bn a year in sick pay, staff turnover and loss of production. Amicus reports one in 10 workers say they had been bullied. Derek Simpson, the union's general secretary, said: 'Our project aims to tackle this problem in partnership with employers by taking a zero tolerance approach to bullying from the outset. One of the most effective ways of dealing with bullying behaviour is to nip it in the bud and this often involves dealing with situations informally before they go too far and real damage is done.' He added: 'We will be taking these findings to workplaces across the country and we hope employers will join us in spreading dignity in the workplace.' Amicus says its Dignity at Work project, funded by the union and the DTI, is the world's biggest workplace anti-bullying project. Trade and industry secretary, Alistair Darling, said: 'Bullying at work is a big problem and employers need to be aware of it. It corrodes employees' self-confidence and self-esteem and leads to a hostile working environment. It's bad for staff and it's bad for business. People who feel harassed or victimised can't do their job properly, and businesses that do not tackle bullying suffer from days lost through stress and illness, decreased productivity and damage to their reputation.' Companies that have signed up to the project include BT, British Airways, BAE Systems, Legal & General, Royal Mail and Remploy.
- Amicus news release. The Guardian. BBC News Online.
- Tim Field Memorial Lecture, 2.15 pm, Saturday, 28 October 2006, Friends' Meeting House, 43 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3LW. Professor Charlotte Rayner's lecture, 'Bullying insights: views from the sidelines', will outline the DTI/Amicus-funded 'Dignity at Work' initiative.
More revenue staff join lean work-to-rule
A further 7,000 workers in Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have joined industrial action over the introduction of 'lean' working methods. In a workplace ballot 85 per cent of PCS members in approximately 250 Distributed Processing Offices (DPOs) voted in favour of a ban on overtime and a work-to-rule in response to the introduction of the new 'LEAN' work system, which staff say has led to a culture of corporate bullying, deskilling and in some cases a risk of repetitive strain injury (RSI). The work-to-rule follows a 31 July one-day strike by another 8,000 members employed under the LEAN system in Large Processing Offices (LPOs - Risks 268 ). These workers are also now involved in action short of strike. HMRC management has rejected moves by the union to reach a negotiated outcome, which included a union proposal for a joint evaluation of LEAN, the provision of appropriate safeguards for members and an agreed implementation programme. Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: 'The support for this action shows how angry members are at being excessively individually monitored and forced to meet unreasonable targets as their work is deskilled and they are reduced to nothing more than robots.' He added: 'The introduction of the new style working practices which breaks up individual tasks is leading to the deskilling and demotivation of a committed and skilled workforce. We are actively seeking to engage constructively with senior management to resolve this issue but they so far seem determined to plough ahead with the roll out of this demoralising work practice.'
OTHER NEWS
Hunt says age discrimination is a work health issue
Safety minister Lord Hunt has called for support for a new law barring age discrimination in the workplace. In a speech this week to The Age and Employment Network (TAEN), the minister called for support for the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, which came into effect on 1 October. He said there were proven health benefits of being in work (Risks 272) and stressed the legislation will ensure that older workers are not denied the opportunity to increase their life expectancy while minimising the risks of depression, obesity and poverty. 'We have ambitious plans to improve workplace health and we have appointed a new Director for Health and Well-Being to work with employers, employees and their representatives to ensure that the right support is available at the right time to help people remain in work,' he said: 'Research has shown that being out of work is bad for your health, but more importantly being in work is positively good for your health. That is why the new Age Discrimination laws are so important.' TAEN and other groups have complained the legislation is not as comprehensive as laws on race and gender. The Heyday organisation, which claims that compulsory retirement at 65 is illegal and that employers should be forced to give reasons if they do make staff retire, has started a High Court challenge to the law. It argues the UK law does not measure up to the European directive it is supposed to implement. ACAS has stressed the new law outlaws age discrimination against workers of all ages, and says younger employees frequently face unacceptable age related barriers and harassment too.
- DWP news release and full text of Lord Hunt's speech. TUC news release. TAEN news release and Agebusters website. Heyday news release. ACAS news release and Age in the workplace advice leaflet. Personnel Today.
- TUC workSMART ten point age regulation myth-buster. Hazards work and health webpages.
Scots action on asbestos payouts dilemma
The Scottish Executive is seeking to reform legislation which has left some asbestos cancer victims facing a compensation dilemma. Victims of mesothelioma have to choose between claiming for damages or allowing their relatives to lodge a bigger claim after their death. The executive said most choose to wait for the sake of their families. In a move welcomed by campaigners and unions, the executive has published draft legislation to rectify the situation. The Rights of Relatives to Damages (Mesothelioma) (Scotland) Bill amends the 1976 Damages (Scotland) Act so that immediate family claims for non-financial loss are not blocked if a victim settles their own claim while still alive. Deputy justice minister Hugh Henry said the executive recognised that current compensation arrangements were causing worry for families at an extremely difficult time. 'This legislation will free sufferers from the distressing choice between receiving compensation and allowing their relatives to benefit from greater awards,' he said. Scottish TUC health and safety officer Ian Tasker said: 'The current situation which compelled victims to choose to take compensation in life and deny their family financial security following their deaths was absurd. This view is shared by the Scottish Executive and the STUC welcomes the publication of the bill and the efforts of the deputy justice minister, Hugh Henry, in progressing this legislation as quickly as possible.' He added: 'This is significant milestone in the campaign by Clydeside Action on Asbestos, Clydebank Asbestos Group, and Asbestos Action Tayside support by Des McNulty MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Thompsons Solicitors and the trade union movement in Scotland'.
BBC alert over studio asbestos risk
The BBC has issued a public notice to warn current and former staff and freelances of the possibility they may have been exposed to deteriorating sprayed asbestos insulation while working at three Television Centre studios. The alert, which also announced the launch of a BBC asbestos exposure register, says exposure could have taken place over a 15-year period, from 1990 to 2005. BBC says: 'Although the level of risk is negligible, the BBC is asking anyone who currently, or has previously worked in these studios between the period of 1990 and 2005 to register themselves with the BBC and obtain further advice.' The problem is with sprayed asbestos insulation in the TC2, TC3 and TC5, studios, which BBC says 'has been subject to some deterioration'. Groups potentially exposed included journalists, studio staff, maintenance and other trades workers and cleaning staff. BBC unions NUJ and BECTU are both encouraging staff and freelances who worked in the three studios to sign up to the BBC exposure register. BECTU already operates its own asbestos exposure register (Risks 262).
Fired smoking workers lose appeal
Workers at an Aberdeenshire supermarket sacked for breaching company rules on smoking during breaks have lost their appeal against dismissal. Seven employees of the Morrisons branch in Inverurie were caught by CCTV cameras having a cigarette break during the nightshift. Three lodged appeals but these have been unsuccessful, according to the company. All three have now instructed their lawyers to take the matter to an industrial tribunal. Nightshift workers at the store are unable to go outside the building for security reasons and have argued the company should provide alternative arrangements for smokers. Morrisons said the staff were sacked on safety and security grounds, adding the company had earlier offered all staff help to quit when the ban on smoking in Scotland came into force earlier this year. Day staff are allowed to leave the store during their breaks to smoke.
Smoking ban 'reduces heart risk'
A public smoking ban in Italy has led to a fall in hospital admissions for heart attacks, research suggests. The findings mirror those of earlier studies in the US (Risks 214). In the new study, an analysis in Italy's Piedmont region revealed admissions fell by 11 per cent in the first five months of the ban compared with the same period the previous year. Writing in the European Heart Journal, the team said this was probably due to a drop in passive smoking exposure. The Italian government banned smoking in all indoor public places, including cafes, bars and restaurants, in 2005. Scientists from the University of Turin analysed hospital admissions for heart attacks and heart attack deaths for people under the age of 60 throughout the region. They looked at the statistics for the period immediately after the ban came into force - from February to June 2005 - and compared this with the same period the previous year. The team discovered that after the smoking ban there were 832 cases compared with 922 the previous year - a difference of 11 per cent. Dr Francesco Barone-Adesi, the lead researcher from the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Turin, said: 'The rates of acute myocardial infarction (AMI or heart attack) had, if anything, been increasing between 2001 and 2004, so the reduction we saw in the first half of 2005 was not attributable to long-term trends. In fact, as there was evidence that AMI was increasing over time, it's possible that our estimate of an 11 per cent decrease after the introduction of the ban is even an underestimate.'
- BBC News Online. Francesco Barone-Adesi and others. Short-term effects of Italian smoking regulation on rates of hospital admission for acute myocardial infarction, European Heart Journal, volume 27, number 20, pages 2468-2472, 2006 [abstract]. Related editorial: Peter W Radke and Heribert Schunkert. Public smoking ban: Europe on the move, EHJ, volume 27, number 20, pages 2385-2386, 2006 [extract].
- Hazards smoking news and resources.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Canada: Rise in lung cancer in non-smokers
Doctors who treat lung cancer in Canada are seeing an average of 65 new cases each week in patients who have never smoked. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, an estimated 22,700 Canadians will be diagnosed with lung cancer in 2006 and 19,300 will die of it. About 437 Canadians will be diagnosed with lung cancer every week and an average of 371 lung cancer patients die every week. Doctors at Princess Margaret Hospital and the Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre in Toronto now say 10 to 15 per cent of new lung cancer cases diagnosed are in people who have never smoked. Many have never been exposed to second-hand smoke. In Canada, that adds up to 3,500 non-smokers diagnosed with the disease each year. 'Many of these people are young," said Dr. Natasha Leighl of the Princess Margaret Hospital. 'In California, they believe the number of people with lung cancer who have never smoked may now be 30 per cent.' An updated report from Canada's Labour Environmental Alliance Society (LEAS) last month pointed the finger of suspicion at factors including occupational and environmental exposures to carcinogens such as asbestos and environmental radon (Risks 248).
- CTV News and video report. Labour Environmental Alliance Society 'CancerSmart Consumer Guide'.
- Hazards occupational cancer webpages.
Global: Call for an end to Canada's asbestos poison
The Canadian government must stop touting asbestos worldwide or be responsible for an escalation of the global asbestos cancer epidemic, international groups have warned. Efforts over the last two years to introduce stringent right-to-know controls on the worldwide trade in chrysotile (white) asbestos have since 2004 been blocked by a Canadian-government sponsored campaign (Risks 175). Together with other asbestos exporting nations, the Canadian-led lobby has effectively vetoed a widely supported proposal to place chrysotile, an acknowledged and potent carcinogen (cancer causing substance), on the Rotterdam Convention's 'Prior Informed Consent' (PIC) list. The proposal to add chrysotile to the UN-backed PIC list will be re-tabled at a 9-13 October 2006 Rotterdam Convention meeting in Geneva. Ahead of this meeting of government representatives, the global building union federation BWI has teamed up with the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) to publish a dossier warning of the deadly consequences of a further veto and urging government's to back PIC listing of chrysotile asbestos. Chrysotile asbestos: Hazardous to humans, deadly to the Rotterdam Convention says the failure to list chrysotile is undermining - and could eventually discredit - the Rotterdam Convention, sending a message to those peddling the most dangerous industrial substances that PIC controls can be sidestepped with a minimum of effort. BWI general secretary Anita Normark said: 'Failure to include chrysotile on the PIC list will ensure that the asbestos epidemic which has taken so many lives in the developed world will became a major public health disaster in developing countries, with generations more dying premature and painful deaths.'
- BWI/IBAS news release. UNEP/FAO news release.
- Chrysotile asbestos: Hazardous to humans, deadly to the Rotterdam Convention [pdf].
Global: Spiralling news death toll breaks 100
The news media death toll for 2006 reached 102 last month, in what the International News Safety Institute (INSI) described as 'another blood-stained milestone for those covering the news around the world.' The helicopter crash deaths of two journalists in on assignment in Nepal, correspondent Hem Bhandari and cameraman Sunil Singh of NTV, were the latest in a 'spiralling' death toll between January and the end of September. INSI says this time last year the total casualty count stood at 77. INSI recorded 147 media workers killed covering the news in 2005, making it the worst year ever. This included 48 killed when a military aircraft packed with journalists crashed in Iran. 'The rising death toll suffered by people covering the news is a stain on free societies everywhere,' commented INSI director Rodney Pinder. 'Free societies cannot exist without a free flow of information and whenever a member of the news media is slain a window to the truth is slammed shut. We need fast and effective action by democratic governments and international institutions to halt this deadly spiral. If we do not act, our freedom will slowly wither and then it will be too late.' INSI has joined with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Broadcasting Union in proposing a UN resolution on the protection of journalists around the world. It says so far this initiative has met with little success but the effort will continue.
Global: Call centres campaign highlights stress
Unions around the world are taking part in an October call centres action month. The activities, coordinated by the UNI global union, aim to highlight the issues facing customer service workers, particularly stress. Unions believe that stress contributes to the high turnover of staff in many call centres. 'Customer service professionals in call centres around the world suffer from stress,' said UNI general secretary Philip Jennings. UNI's 'Stop the BOSS' campaign - where BOSS is 'burn out stress syndrome' - includes anti-stress kits for individuals but highlights anti-stress action at a workplace level. 'Our anti-stress kit is a practical guide to relaxation but the long term solution is a negotiated programme in each call centre to reduce stress and we want union health and safety reps and companies to put stress at the top of their agenda,' the UNI leader said. 'Customer service professionals need unions just like workers in older industries and, where employers observe a level playing field, unions are increasingly successful in recruiting. Growing the membership is important so that unions can tackle the problems call centre workers face and put their issues on the bargaining agenda.'
- UNI news release and Stop the BOSS campaign.
Kazakhstan: Mittal bosses to blame for mine disaster
An explosion last month that claimed 41 lives in a Kazakh mine and promoted widespread industrial action was the result of safety violations by mine bosses, an official commission has found. Shalbai Kulmakhanov, minister of emergencies and the head of the commission into the 20 September disaster at the Lenin mine in Shakhtinsk, Karaganda region, said the mine's head of tunnelling, chief mechanic and chief engineer had all been arrested. The investigation came after a methane explosion ripped through a mineshaft deep underground in what was the Central Asian state's worst mining accident on record. The investigation found the arrested men were not only implicated in the blast and subsequent fire, but had tried to destroy evidence of their guilt. The report said other top bosses in the coal department of JSC Mittal Steel Temirtau - part of the international Arcelor Mittal group headed by Lakshmi Mittal - were also guilty. Workers say piece work and low pay contribute to dangerous working practices. They have long alleged that Mittal, which runs 61 plants across 27 countries, has done little to improve labour and safety conditions since taking over Kazakhstan's largest metal factory and the mines that fuel it 11 years ago. Lakshmi Mittal said the company had invested US$240 million (£127m) in modernising the complex. He also said victims' families would receive up to US$55,000 (£29,000) each in compensation.
RESOURCES
New 'CleanerSolutions' database
A new interactive web-based tool can help you find safer industrial cleaning alternatives that perform as well as hazardous chemicals. The free 'CleanerSolutions' database, produced by the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell in the USA, 'helps companies understand how to choose alternatives so that overall risks to workers and the environment are reduced.' Companies are able to choose the contaminant, the solvent to replace, the type of equipment and the material that's being cleaned from a drop-down menu. The search results list possible replacement products, performance test results, and safety information based on five environmental and health indicators. There's also real examples of substitution at work.
EVENTS AND COURSES
Asbestos disease treatments lobby, London, 17 October
The Forum of Asbestos Victims Support Groups is to lobby MPs on 17 October in a bid to get better treatment for patients suffering from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. It is calling 'on all those concerned about the provision of treatment for the asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma, to arrange to meet their MPs in the House of Commons between 2 and 4 pm on Tuesday 17 October.' The forum says experts will be on hand to explain why it is important the medicine approvals agency NICE approves the life-extending drug Alimta for the treatment of mesothelioma.
- Lobby of parliament to seek support for the approval of Alimta for the treatment of mesothelioma , 2.00pm to 4.00pm, 17 October 2006, House of Commons, Grimond Room, Portcullis House, London. For further information email the asbestos forum or call 0161 636 7555.
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 6 Oct 2006
