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Risks Newsletter
Number 352 - 19 April 2008|
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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 15,000 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- Union vigilance call after Corus death
- Jail terms needed to deter work killers
- Concerns at ultrasonic rail inspections
- Cleaner solution to hospital infections
- Clergy 'bullied by parishioners'
- Six figure settlement for explosion stresses
- Rail worker gets asbestos payout
- Union improves the odds of safer bookies
- Council fined over gardener's death
- Firm guilty after worker set on fire
- Six figure penalty after sub-contractor dies
- Tiny fine for massive brick maker
- More white collar asbestos victims
- Family members face asbestos peril
- Study highlights cancer in hairdressers
- Canada: Resign call over 'death' rebates
- China: Journalists raises Olympics safety concerns
- Thailand: Migrants face death or deportation
- Thailand: Migrants start compensation test case
UNION NEWS
Union vigilance call after Corus death
Construction union UCATT has said companies must strive to improve safety, after a young member was killed at a Corus plant on Teesside. Kristian Norris, 29, was a refractory bricklayer employed by sub-contractor Vesuvius UK to perform maintenance work. The father of two was killed at about 3am on 12 April at Corus' Lackenby plant. Cleveland police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are investigating the incident. John Scott, regional secretary for UCATT's Northern region, said: 'UCATT sends its deepest sympathies to Kristin Norris' family. The death of any worker is tragic but particularly so when they were so young.' He added: 'Mr Norris' death once again emphasised that you can never have too high a level of health and safety at work. No matter how good companies believe health and safety levels are there can always be improvements. We must all do more to ensure that there are not similar tragedies in the future.' An HSE spokesperson said: 'The police will be looking for whether there is anything like manslaughter and we will be looking to see if there have been any breaches of health and safety. But the police are leading the investigation at the moment.'
- UCATT news release. The Sun. BBC News Online. Evening Gazette. Building.
- More on Corus' safety record.
Jail terms needed to deter work killers
There must be a root and branch review of health and safety on construction sites to tackle the persistently high death rate, construction union UCATT has said. The union warning came after provisional Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures revealed 69 construction workers were killed at work in 2007/8. UCATT says the figure is a 10 per cent reduction on last year total of 77 dead, but is 15 per cent higher than the 60 deaths in the industry in 2005/6. UCATT general secretary Alan Ritchie said: 'Although the death toll for construction has dropped slightly, these figures remain appalling; practically six building workers are killed every month. Construction has inherent dangers but this level of fatalities cannot be tolerated.' A UCATT three-point plan to reduce deaths calls for 'a major strategic rethink of the role of HSE, a reduction of casualisation in the industry and the implementation of directors' duties.' The union is critical of an HSE trend to provide advice at the expense of enforcement. It says sites will only become safer if construction bosses are 'constantly fearful their sites will be shutdown for safety reasons.' Alan Ritchie said: 'Senior managers at the HSE should stop doing impressions of Pontius Pilate and try to wash their hands on construction deaths. Too many construction bosses do not care about the safety of their workers, no number of DVD's, posters or fancy seminars will change their thinking, the only thing which will do is if a construction inspector is constantly breathing down their necks.' He added: 'The government must introduce directors' duties if it is serious in saving construction workers' lives. We must end the state of affairs where fat cat directors are more interested in counting their obscene wealth, sipping a piña colada and planning their next holiday, rather than ensuring their workers are not killed.'
Concerns at ultrasonic rail inspections
Rail union RMT is warning that prompt action to address track defects is being hampered as a result of a new ultrasonic track testing system. The union says the technology trial poses a serious safety risk to rail staff and passengers. It has asked the railways inspectorate to investigate the 12-month trial, already under way in north east England. It says under the programme, Network Rail has selectively downgraded the response to some defect types discovered by the high-speed ultrasonic testing train. RMT says the trial's 'lower standards means some rail defects that would otherwise be clamped and replaced on a strictly prescribed timescale are being left for longer periods.' It adds the inspectorate is already investigating union evidence that the ultrasonic train misses some track defects altogether and should not be relied upon to the exclusion of other inspection methods. 'This trial amounts to a lowering of safety standards that will see defective rails simply left to deteriorate even further, and RMT believes that poses unacceptable risks for our members and rail passengers,' said RMT general secretary Bob Crow. 'There is also no explanation in any of the briefing materials that explains the reasoning behind the trial, so we can only assume that it is being done to save money. It was failure to replace defective rails that caused the Hatfield crash and the deaths of four people, and our fear is that Network Rail has failed to learn those lessons.' He added: 'Ultrasonic staff are also being pressurised to comply with these lower standards, and we give Network Rail fair warning that any attempt to discipline our members for upholding safety standards will be met with a ballot for strike action.'
Cleaner solution to hospital infections
Hospital cleaners need greater resources to defeat health care-associated infections, the union UNISON has said. Delegates to the union's health conference heard the government's target of halving MRSA incidents by April 2008 looks like it hasn't been met, and called for more cleaners, better paid and with modern equipment. Hospitals should be cleaned from 8am to 9pm every day to tackle bugs such as MRSA, the conference was told. UNISON is calling on the government to recognise the link between cuts in numbers of cleaning staff and the rise in infections. It says other measures should include 'clean hospital committees' in all hospitals. UNISON adds that better training and pay for domestic staff are required to secure the necessary staffing levels. Karen Jennings, UNISON's head of health, said: 'We need to use the whole hospital team if we are going to fight off these superbugs.' She added: 'Cleaning staff are frustrated because they know which cleaning products are effective, what equipment they need, how many staff it takes to really clean a ward well, but they are rarely consulted or listened to. It should be a requirement that all NHS organisations have safe minimum staffing levels for their cleaning services that are based on quality, not cost, and with staff receiving proper, up to date training and equipment.'
Clergy 'bullied by parishioners'
Members of the clergy are being bullied by parishioners while the Church is doing little to prevent it, clergy union Unite has said. It says vicars are experiencing psychological, emotional, verbal and physical abuse and blames the 'pressures of modern society' for the increase in the number of bullying cases. Rachel Maskell of Unite's faith work section said the nature of the bullying varied. 'It could be in the forms of letters to start with and then complaints being made, often to the bishop themselves.' She said bishops were 'hiding behind the legal technicalities of the situation,' but said they had a 'moral duty to act expediently when they see one of their ministers in distress.' She added: 'Frankly we believe that the bishops shouldn't be crossing the road to the other side, as happens in the great parable of the Good Samaritan, but should be actually supporting their ministers.' Next month the committee of the Archbishops' Council that deals with clergy's conditions of service is due to publish a document entitled Dignity at Work. It says this will declare that harassment and bullying are intolerable and will also outline ways in which dioceses could help in such situations.
Six figure settlement for explosion stresses
A gas worker whose career was wrecked when he was traumatised by an explosion has received a six figure payout. GMB member Danny McLoed, 50, had been called out to investigate a gas leak in the vicinity of a Norwich pub. A massive gas explosion blew him off his feet and he landed several metres away. The case was not against his employer, Transco, but against Schememade Limited. The firm admitted liability for cutting through the gas pipe when laying cable, and agreed a £230,000 settlement. Mr McLoed said: 'The explosion virtually demolished the pub. It was horrifying. I suffered neck injuries but my main injury was post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD as it's known. I tried to return to work because I really wanted to but I broke down at work some months later.' He added: 'I'm devastated because I've not been able to return to that kind of work which I enjoyed so much. I've also developed a stutter and I now have difficulty in coping with jobs that require concentration which is very frustrating and debilitating.' GMB regional secretary Ed Blissett said: 'This gas explosion could so easily have been avoided but instead seriously injured Danny and has wrecked his career. Unfortunately people are injured and killed at work every day and it only because Danny was a GMB member that he was able to get compensation for his injuries and distress.' Representing Danny McLoed, Samantha Vallis from Thompsons Solicitors said: 'If the explosion wasn't enough, Schememade went on to serve surveillance evidence of Mr McLoed which made his PTSD even worse and led to a relapse due to the invasion of his privacy.'
Rail worker gets asbestos payout
A former British Rail worker has been awarded £180,000 in compensation after developing the incurable asbestos cancer mesothelioma. ASLEF member Kenneth Chapman, 74, worked for New Southern Railway, part of British Rail, from the 1950s until he retired in 1996. He was exposed to asbestos while working as a fireman, boiler cleaner and train driver. Asbestos was used on the boilers and pipes in the locomotives. Mr Chapman recalled asbestos dust being thrown into the air when a train he was in crashed into a buffer. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma in January 2007. Mr Chapman said: 'I have had a good life. But if someone caused this disease then they should pay for it. The employer let us work in those conditions and failed to make us aware of what it can do to our health.' ASLEF general secretary Keith Norman said: 'We will continue to fight to ensure asbestos victims, like Mr Chapman, receive full compensation for the injuries they have suffered through merely carrying out a hard day's work. It is only right that these victims are compensated by their employers' insurers for the hardship caused through being exposed to asbestos.'
Union improves the odds of safer bookies
The union Community has launched a campaign to end violence against betting office staff in Scotland. It is asking trade unionists and members of the public to sign an e-petition calling on the Scottish parliament to ask bookmakers in the country to display a purpose designed poster highlighting the legal penalties facing those abusing their staff. The initiative, spearheaded by Community, John Park MSP and Safer Scotland, has already attracted the support and backing of the Scottish TUC, Retailers Against Crime, the Scottish government Safer Scotland Campaign and the Health and Safety Executive. Speaking at the launch of the campaign, Community organiser John-Paul McHugh said: 'Physical and verbal abuse against staff in betting shops is on the increase. Abusive behaviour, shouting and swearing can be a criminal offence and we are encouraging staff to report it. We hope this campaign will improve working people's lives.'
- TUC briefing document. Community Respect at Ladbrokes campaign.
- Sign the Safer Betting Shops e-petition.
OTHER NEWS
Council fined over gardener's death
York Council has been fined £20,000 after the 'entirely avoidable' death of a gardener crushed by a mower on an embankment. The council, which had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing, was also ordered to pay £20,425 in prosecution costs, including the £9,332 cost of a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation. Frank Smith, 54, was fatally injured in May 2005, after the ride-on lawnmower he was using slid down a slope and hit a wall before flipping over on top of him. The court was told the manufacturer advised against the mower's use on slopes steeper than 19 degrees, a figure since reduced to 17 degrees. The section of embankment where Mr Smith's machine slipped was 25.4 degrees. The mower was not fitted with a roll bar, or seatbelt, which do not come as standard. Consultants hired by the council to conduct a risk assessment had not advised the authority to purchase the roll bar. Recorder Jonathan Hill QC said the risk assessment was inadequate and lacked sufficient detail to give guidance to employees, while managers and supervisors had not attended the training course junior staff were sent on. 'There was a serious and substantial inadequacy in the working systems in place,' the QC added. HSE principal inspector Keith King said the problems from using an unsuitable mower 'were compounded by the fact that the machine did not have roll over protection and a seat belt to protect the driver in the event of it rolling over. That is exactly what happened in this case and all of these factors contributed to the council worker's tragic death.'
Firm guilty after worker set on fire
A utility firm has been fined £32,000 for failing to make safe a live cable which then turned a worker into a human fireball. SP Power Systems, a Scottish Power subsidiary, should have tackled the danger five months earlier, Liverpool Crown Court heard. The firm was also ordered to pay £13,000 costs. Plasterer Peter Mason, 22, ran for 40 metres and then rolled himself in a puddle of mud to extinguish the fire at Great George Street, Liverpool. He spent three weeks in a burns unit after the accident in March 2007. Simon Parrington, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said the incident could have proved fatal for Mr Mason and his workmates. He said SP Power Systems had been told of the live cable danger, at the site in October 2006. Although it had been temporarily made safe by electricians, poor communications between SP Power Systems' staff meant the fault was thought to have been fixed. Five months later Mr Mason was in the premises with colleagues Kieran Williams, 17, and Terence Hart, 31, and grabbed the cable when he tripped. There was an explosion and Mr Mason was struck by the blast. SP Power Systems pleaded guilty to failing to take reasonable steps that persons not in their employment were not exposed to risks. HSE inspector Wayne Crumpton said: 'This was an entirely avoidable incident that caused horrific injuries. SP Power Systems Ltd should have made it clear to the site management team that the cable remained live and their own systems should have alerted them to that fact.' Burns victim Peter Mason said: 'I would have thought they would be fined at least £100,000.' He added: 'I'm still in the plastering business, but any sort of bangs freak me out and I can't work alone now.'
Six figure penalty after sub-contractor dies
Edeco Petroleum Services has been fined £200,000 after a sub-contractor was asphyxiated on a drilling job. The company was also ordered to pay costs of £47,400 at Hull Crown Court. Neil Millar, a 36-year-old sub-contractor died on 6 August 2005 when his neck became trapped by a descending arm used to lift materials on a drilling rig. Sentencing, Judge Roger Thorn QC said Neil had been doing 'his level best' and blamed the firm for having a heavy workload and also probably putting profits before people. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector John Rowe said: 'This was an horrific incident which resulted from the company's failure to guard the machine and prevent the worker from getting into a position where he was in danger. Employers have a duty to ensure that workplace machinery is safely guarded and that their employees do not have access to exposed and dangerous moving parts.' The inspector added: 'The piece of machinery involved in the incident had been imported from Canada, and it had not been checked to ensure that it was safely guarded. If this had been done, then this tragic loss of life could have been avoided. There had been a number of safety incidents of a less serious nature involving Edeco Petroleum Services which indicated, that at times, standards of health and safety management fell well below what was required.'
Tiny fine for massive brick maker
The world's largest clay brick and tile manufacturer has received a £2,000 fine after two employees developed a classic metal fume related occupational disease. Wienerberger Ltd pleaded guilty to two breaches of the chemical control regulations COSHH following an incident in May 2007 which led to one of the employees being hospitalised. Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court also ordered the firm to pay £8,516 costs. The hospitalised worker and a colleague both developed 'metal fume fever', sudden onset flu-like symptoms that include coughing, shortness of breath, fatigue and pains in muscles and joints, caused by inhaling zinc fumes. Symptoms normally subside within 24 to 48 hours. HSE inspector Fiona MacNeill, who investigated the incident, said: 'Wienerberger Ltd did not make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk posed by fumes and gases generated by cutting galvanised steel dryer trams using oxy-acetylene, nor did they adequately control that exposure.' She added: 'Fumes from hot cutting galvanised steel contain zinc and are particularly hazardous to people and can cause illness.' The men were asked to do a one-off job cutting up the galvanised dryer trams using oxy-acetylene burning equipment. A similar condition, polymer fume fever, can be caused by inhaling certain plastic fumes.
More white collar asbestos victims
A former benefits officer and a nurse are the latest workplace victims of mesothelioma, the incurable asbestos cancer. The ex-benefits officer, who does not want to be named, has received almost £170,000 in damages after being exposed to asbestos in his office. The man, from Bury, was exposed while working at Prestwich Unemployment Benefit Office during the late 70s and early 80s. He worked for the Department for Work and Pensions for 30 years before retiring in 2000. The claimant was given a letter from his department in 1984 saying asbestos had been found throughout his office. He had kept the letter and it became crucial in his securing a payout. Tony Whitston from the Greater Manchester Asbestos Victims Support Group said: 'This case demonstrates the shocking fact that office workers are vulnerable to asbestos exposure if asbestos is not properly managed in buildings.' Former nurse Margaret Forster, 68, is another mesothelioma victim and is appealing to her one-time colleagues for help in pursuing a claim against her former employers. Margaret believes she developed the condition after being exposed to asbestos dust at hospitals in Sunderland. She said: 'I feel disgruntled because I've worked all those years in the NHS helping patients to get better and now I've been the victim. I loved nursing.' She believes she came into contact with asbestos dust in basements while at the old Sunderland Royal Infirmary, Monkwearmouth Hospital and Sunderland Eye Infirmary.
Family members face asbestos peril
Asbestos exposure is so dangerous it is killing the family members of workers who brought home the dust on their clothes. Mandy Kaminskas, who has been told she has just weeks to live, remarried first husband Ray in a ceremony at her hospice bedside. The 47-year-old mother-of-two from Ynysforgan, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in June last year and is now critically ill. Mrs Kaminskas contracted the asbestos-related cancer following childhood contact with her late father Arthur Mills, a former employee of Laing Construction who was exposed to asbestos. He died when Mrs Kaminskas was only 17-years-old. She said: 'I wanted people to know what having this cancer really means, and how dangerous secondary exposure is.' She added: 'Telling my two daughters I was dying was one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do. I wouldn't wish that experience on my worst enemy.' Olive Brown died of mesothelioma in September last year, 45 years after she used to wash her husband's asbestos-covered work overalls. An inquest this month heard that she washed her husband Eric's overalls weekly for nine months in 1962. At the time Eric, now 77, worked for a builders' merchant, where he came into direct contact with asbestos products used for insulation. David Ridley, the deputy Wiltshire coroner, said Olive died from the industrial disease mesothelioma, caused by contact with her husband's work clothing.
Study highlights cancer in hairdressers
Hairdressers probably face an increased risk of cancer because of the dyes and other chemicals they work with, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). 'Occupation as a hairdresser or barber entails exposures that are probably carcinogenic,' according to a new report compiled by a working group for the UN agency. The study reviewed large scale investigations into cancer risk. Among male hairdressers and barbers, the risk of cancer of the bladder was between 20 and 60 per cent higher compared with the general population. Dr Robert Baan and colleagues from the agency, based in Lyon, France, said many studies had been carried out on cancer in hairdressers, beauticians and barbers since the previous assessment in 1993. 'A small, but consistent, risk of bladder cancer was reported in male hairdressers and barbers,' their report in the journal The Lancet Oncology said. 'Because of the few supporting findings by duration or period of exposure, the working group considered these data as limited evidence of carcinogenicity and re-affirmed occupational exposures of hairdressers and barbers as 'probably carcinogenic to humans.''
Robert Baan, Kurt Straif, Yann Grosse, Béatrice Secretan, Fatiha El Ghissassi, Véronique Bouvard, Lamia Benbrahim-Tallaa, Vincent Cogliano, on behalf of the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer Monograph Working Group. Carcinogenicity of some aromatic amines, organic dyes, and related exposures, The Lancet Oncology, volume 9, number 4, pages 322-323, April 2008.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Canada: Resign call over 'death' rebates
A Canadian union body has called for a compensation board's executives to resign after it was discovered some companies were receiving cash rebates for 'good' safety performance when another arm of government had prosecuted them for safety offences involving workplace deaths (Risks 328). The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) and other groups say Steve Mahoney should be fired from his post as chair of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) in the province. The move follows revelations that 'safety rebates' have been paid out by one provincial programme to companies that had been prosecuted by another arm of the government as a result of workplace fatalities. In many cases the rebates were higher than the penalties imposed for the deaths. OFL president Wayne Samuelson said he was stunned to hear Mahoney say he was unaware of the problem with the rebate programme. In a letter to provincial premier Dalton McGuinty he said unions had been raising the issue for over a decade. 'Surely the chair and the entire board of directors were aware of the serious deficiencies... and the resulting injuries and deaths that have been sustained by workers while rewarding employers with lavish rebates,' the letter said. The letter was also signed by Steve Mantis of the Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups and Marion Endicott from the Injured Workers' Consultants Legal Clinic. They are calling for an end to the rebate programme and the appointment of a new WSIB board of directors.
China: Journalists raises Olympics safety concerns
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed concern over the safety of journalists and media staff in the run up to the Beijing Olympics. Commenting after an official four-day IFJ visit to China, IFJ general secretary Aidan White said: 'It has been a sweet and sour experience. We are impressed by a new willingness to talk through our differences over press freedom and journalism, but the problems facing reporters on the ground cannot be ignored.' IFJ met with Chinese state officials as well as leading media and the government-backed All China Journalists Association. The IFJ delegation also talked to a number of foreign correspondents, some of whom have found themselves threatened in the wake of Chinese anger over foreign media coverage of disturbances in Tibet and the Olympic torch rally, which has run into protests on its way through major world cities. 'In the last few weeks some journalists have been threatened and there has been an increase in violations of promises to let media work without interference,' said IFJ's Aidan White. 'It's time to lower the temperature and start talking about making journalism safer and take reporters out of the political crossfire.' IFJ says it is planning immediate follow-up work 'to ensure journalists' safety during the Olympics and 'to establish a framework for joint actions designed to improve communications between Chinese journalists and their colleagues overseas.'
Thailand: Migrants face death or deportation
Survivors of a human smuggling tragedy in Thailand, in which 54 migrants including two children were found suffocated in a locked container truck on 10 April, will be deported back to army-ruled Burma (Myanmar), a Thai court has ruled. Fifty survivors were fined up to 2,000 baht (£31) each for being in the country illegally, but most could not pay and faced a brief jail term before being deported, officials said. Another 14 youths were sent to an immigration centre pending return to Burma. The Migrant Working Group said in the last year it had documented more than 100 deaths in 10 other tragedies involving people being transported to Thailand. Survivors of the latest incident said they pounded on the sides of the container and screamed at the driver as the air grew thinner after the air conditioning system broke down. 'We contacted the driver using a mobile phone, but he told us in Burmese to keep quiet and make no trouble,' Tida Toy, 21, told journalists. About 2 million migrants from across the region are working in Thailand. The vast majority of migrants are unregistered and work illegally in factories, restaurants, at petrol pumps, on construction sites and as domestic helpers or crew on fishing trawlers.
Thailand: Migrants start compensation test case
Three Shan workers are seeking to overturn a policy which is denying migrant workers in Thailand compensation for their work-related ailments. The workers have petitioned the Chiangmai administrative court to revoke a Social Security Office resolution which denies migrant workers the right to compensation. Nang Noom Mae Seng, a Shan who was paralysed from the waist down after being injured when working on the construction of the Shangri-la Hotel in Chiangmai in 2006, and two other Shan construction workers say the SSO's decision is unlawful as it denies migrants access to the Workmen Compensation Fund (WCF). With support from the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF), which last year launched a migrant workers' health and safety project (Risks 336), the trio decided to bring their case to the court after the WCF committee in January denied them compensation. Nang Noom's employer paid her a lump sum in compensation last November, but she and the HRDF want to set a precedent for other migrant workers.
EVENTS AND COURSES
Countdown to Workers' Memorial Day
Workers' Memorial Day, Monday 28 April, is barely a week away - and some activities are starting as soon as the weekend of 26-27 April. Make sure you've finalised your preparations. The Hazards Campaign can provide resources from posters, to ribbons to bumper stickers. There will be thousands of activities worldwide - check out the global 28 April webpages to see what's going on from Angola to Zimbabwe. This year's global theme is 'Good occupational health for all'.
- TUC Workers' Memorial Day webpage and UK 2008 events listing.
- Global 28 April webpage.
- Order your 28 April materials: No excuses posters (free); forget-me-knot ribbons (£25 per 100); and bumper stickers (£1 each) from the Hazards Campaign, c/o GMHC, Windrush Millennium Centre, 70 Alexandra Road, Manchester M16 7WD. Tel: 0161 636 7557.
- YouTube Workers' Memorial Day resources and video clips.
- Email TUC details of your event.
TUC courses for safety reps
COURSES FOR APRIL TO JULY 2008
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 18 Apr 2008
