Risks

issue no 18 - 8 September 2001

Risks is the TUC’s weekly online bulletin for safety reps and others, read each week by 1800 subscribers and 1000 on the TUC website. To register to receive this bulletin every week, click here. Edited by Rory O'Neill of Hazards magazine. Send views about this bulletin to Owen Tudor. Past issues are available. This edition also contains Useful links TUC courses for safety reps Disclaimer Privacy And there is a new service on the TUC website listing all future health and safety events: What’s On - in future only newly announced events, those coming up next week and very important events will be listed in Risks weekly.

CONTENTS

• Action: Responses to new EU asbestos law

• Events: Lone working seminar

• Union news: Worker safety advisers; site safety; jobcentre safety strike; stress payout; Revitalising report ; school safety

• Other news: rail rage; council cuts; pregnancy guidance; road safety; work smoking; hospital safety; mobile phones

• International news: overwork in Australia, Canada, Japan and worldwide; USA - business backs safety on cost; Australia - smoking; asbestos

UNION NEWS

Worker Safety Advisers to be fleshed out

The initial job description for Worker Safety Advisers (WSAs), the HSC version of what unions call 'roving safety reps,' has been agreed. An HSC pilot to start later this year will evaluate the effectiveness of voluntary WSAs in: raising health and safety standards; promoting greater consultation on health and safety; broadening and increasing employers’ and workers’ knowledge of health and safety matters; and in cost-benefit terms. Tasks to be undertaken by WSAs are likely to include: working alongside employers and workers to identify hazards and risks in the workplace; contributing to the control of risks in the workplace by providing information to workers and employers relating to health and safety; and facilitating employer and worker links to identify appropriate actions to address health and safety issues and workplace hazards.

• July TUC background document and September update detailing the job specification. Any potential Worker Safety Advisers or employers interested in participating in the scheme should get in touch with Owen Tudor

Union offensive at alarming increase in SE sites death toll

Trade unions will mount a safety offensive at key construction sites in London from 10 September. The week long programme of action has been organised in response to the 25 per cent increase in deaths in the construction industry last year. HSE figures for 1999-2000 showed that of the 85 people who died on construction sites nationally, 42 were in the South East including 14 in London. Key unions in the sector, the GMB, TGWU, UCATT and MSF, are organising a week of action to promote site safety. Mick Connolly, SERTUC regional secretary said: "We are calling on employers to work closely with unions to make their stated desire for 'safety first at all times' a reality on site. We are asking the government to provide more resources to the HSE to increase the number of inspectors and to adopt a much more aggressive enforcement regime. And we are adamant that a new structure of trade union roving safety reps be funded to expose bad practice."

• TUC press release, including a week of action timetable. The week of action will be launched at Canary Wharf, 7am, 10 September

PCS announces indefinite strike over safety screens

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), Britain's largest civil service union, on 4 September announced an indefinite strike in two London pilot Jobcentre Plus offices after management refused to budge from its plan to remove safety screens. As part of the new Jobcentre Plus service, management wants to build new public areas but without the security screens that staff have relied on to protect them from violent attacks. The union said that evidence showed attacks on members were increasing. PCS official Frank Bonner said: "It is crazy to remove safety screens at a time when assaults are on the increase. Last year the number of assaults on Benefits Agency staff doubled to over 5,000." The union’s members in the Streatham and Brent pilot offices voted 334 to 74 in favour of the strike action, 'which would continue indefinitely until a resolution could be reached,' said PCS. Risks 16 reported growing safety concerns among PCS members, after an August stabbing in a Job Centre.

• PCS news release

UNISON social worker gets £140,000 stress payout

Thelma Conway, a former residential social worker with Worcestershire County Council, has agreed to a settlement of £140,000 compensation for a stress related illness she developed through work. UNISON backed the legal action for Mrs Conway, 56, who had worked for the council for 20 years. It was the fourth occasion UNISON had successfully claimed stress compensation for members employed by Worcestershire Council. UNISON’s head of health and safety Hugh Robertson told Risks: 'If the employer had listened to Mrs Conway this case would have not arisen. However many workers find it difficult to raise stress problems with their employers, especially if one of the causes is management style or bullying. That is why it is so important that people are in trade unions. Then problems can be raised more generally. We want to work with employers to remove the problem of stress through negotiation rather than have to drag them through the courts after someone's life has been ruined.'

• UNISON press release and Ananova news item

What are unions doing to Revitalise health and safety?

The TUC has published its second quarterly report outlining the union contribution to the government’s Revitalising health and safety initiative. The TUC report highlights a broad spread of union safety activity, ranging from publications to partnerships and involving everyone from the grassroots to Cabinet level.

• Revitalising health and safety: The union contribution. Second quarterly update, September 2001

Safety in schools

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has updated its health and safety site to include new guides on infectious diseases in schools and on the administration of medicines to pupils. The infectious diseases briefing looks at 'how to manage cases of infectious illness, such as the principles governing children’s attendance and exclusion periods, and identifies the best sources of advice on individual cases.' The administration of medicines briefing 'sets out the legal position of teachers with regard to administration of medicines to pupils and NUT policy guidance on this area, which is designed to protect the rights of individual teachers whilst ensuring that the health and safety of pupils is safeguarded.'

• NUT guide to infectious diseases in schools

• NUT guide on the administration of medicines to pupils

OTHER NEWS

'Shocking and unacceptable' rise in rail rage attacks on staff

Incidents of 'rail rage' attacks on staff have increased dramatically, new figures show. Railway Safety Statistics Bulletin 2000/01 reveals assaults on rail staff resulting in hospital treatment - 30 workers were hospitalised - or workers being off for three days plus were up 22 per cent for the 12-month period ending 31 March 2001. HSE Chief Railway Inspector Vic Coleman said: 'The ongoing trend of increased violence to railway staff, including a rise in major injuries from 22 to 32 is both shocking and unacceptable.' Vernon Hince, acting general secretary of the biggest rail union, the RMT, said: "Insufficient staffing means that some stations have become a hooligans' playground, especially late at night. This is threatening alike to passengers and the few staff on duty. Clearly not enough resources are being put into preventative measures - and we believe that railway privatisation has been a primary cause. Staffing is often cut to the bone when profit rather than safety is the driving force." HSE’s Railway Inspectorate issued a record number of enforcement notices (51) and reports that 12 successful prosecutions had resulted in fines of more than £1m. There were 17 deaths in train-related incidents, the second highest total since 1989.

• Railway Safety Statistics Bulletin 2000/01 (pdf)

• BBC news coverage

HSC says councils should reverse cuts in safety enforcement

HSC chair Bill Callaghan has written to every council leader and chief executive in Britain urging them to take a personal interest in their authorities’ performance as health and safety regulators. Latest HSC figures show the number of full-time equivalent local authority enforcement officers fell by eight per cent in 1999/2000 to 1,110 - a reduction in inspection effort for the third year running. There was a fall in the number of visits to service sector premises from 332,000 to 313,000 and a six per cent reduction in enforcement notices issued. 'The Commission will consider conducting an inquiry into any authority, should a continued decline in their preparedness to devote resource to health and safety enforcement prejudice achievement of the ‘Revitalising’ targets,' said Mr Callaghan, chair of HSC. Provisional figures for 2000/01 reveal deaths are up from 32 to 44, reversing the trend of previous years. The average fine per conviction was £4,595, an increase of 12 per cent on the 1998/99 figure of £4,098. TUC general secretary John Monks commented: "People who work in the service sector are at risk of injury and illness too. Councils need to give health and safety the political priority and the resources that Ministers have started to give HSE, to make sure that people in the service sector - workers and customers - are protected." TUC research published last year concluded that cuts in the number of local authority safety inspectors had resulted in an upswing in workplace injuries.

• Copies of Health and safety in local authority enforced sectors: HELA Annual Report 2001 and HELA National Picture 2001; HELA Strategy; and Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 Section 18 Health and Safety Commission Guidance to Local Authorities are free and can be ordered from HSE Books. The documents will also available on the HSE website

• Thin on the ground: service sector safety enforcement down, orkplace injuries up. TUC report in Hazards, Oct-Dec 2000

Five point programme for positive pregnancies

A national charity has launched a Pregnancy Accreditation Programme for UK employers. Tommy's, the baby charity, will vet employers wanting accreditation to make sure they attain five key goals: encouraging attendance at ante-natal sessions at times convenient for the pregnant worker; providing a smoke-free workplace; providing easily accessible smoke-free rest areas; providing healthy pregnancy information; and making available to all employees details of current laws and guidance on pregnancy at work. The charity says: 'Employers who introduce the Five Point Pregnancy Plan into their employee relations programme will, subject to the decision of the Accreditation Panel, be eligible to join the Pregnancy Accreditation Programme.' TUC’s Lucy Anderson commented: 'Many employers are failing to carry out their legal duties to assess risks to working pregnant women and new mothers. The TUC welcomes this useful initiative, which should help to encourage an active health and safety culture at work.'

• Helping women get the best out of their pregnancy. Contact Corinna Furse, Tommy’s charity

• Maternity rights: A short guide for employers and employees. New DTI guide, covering health and safety and employment rights, with lots of links to other useful publications. Paper copies from DTI publications

Tiredness is a killer on the roads

Up to one in five road crashes is caused by driver tiredness, possibly killing more people than drink-driving, say road safety campaigners. Safety experts at BRAKE say most of us know it is socially unacceptable to drink and drive, yet many people don't worry about getting into their cars and driving when feeling sleepy. The campaign says six out of 10 of us admit to driving when tired - one in seven say we have fallen asleep at the wheel. BRAKE is launching a campaign alerting drivers of the dangers of driving when tired. The leaflet is aimed at all drivers and includes special information for commercial drivers. Driven to death, a TUC report released last year, said driving was Britain’s most dangerous job, adding that reducing driving hours was a top prevention priority.

• BRAKE press information. How to avoid tiredness on the road, a free leaflet, is available from Brake on 01484 559909

• Driven to death: Managing occupational road risk, TUC, 2000

Smoking at work blamed for lower productivity

New research shows smokers take three times more sick leave than non-smokers and are less productive when they are there. Commenting on the study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, anti-smoking group ASH repeated its call on the government to advance the long-delayed Approved Code of Practice on passive smoking at work and to ignore misguided fears that smoking policies at work cause additional 'red tape.' Clive Bates, director of ASH, said: 'It’s time employers recognised the fact that health and industrial competitiveness are fundamentally linked. Ignoring the health and welfare of staff is not only poor employment practice, it’s also bad for business. The government’s Small Business Service has consistently opposed any measures to deal with smoking in the workplace. It hasn’t got its head round the fact that by doing so, it is promoting illness and poor productivity and ultimately increasing costs.'

• ASH press release

• Halpern, MT and others. Impact of smoking status on workplace absenteeism and productivity. Tobacco Control, vol.10: pages 233-238, 2001

Hospital ignored warnings on blood and body waste dangers

A worker suffered trauma from being drenched in human clinical waste after Rotherham General Hospitals NHS Trust ignored official warnings about its poor waste management practices from the Environment Agency. Jon Round was advised that repairing the clinical waste bins in the inadequate light of the waste disposal docking bay was safer than working outside in the path of hospital traffic. It only became apparent he was covered in blood and other body fluids from leaky bins when he stepped out into daylight. And when Mr Round picked up his toolbox to leave, he was stabbed in the finger by a needle. In the time since the accident, Mr Round has undergone a series of tests for HIV and hepatitis, which so far have been negative. David Urpeth of Irwin Mitchell solicitors said: 'It is appalling that a key manager at Rotherham General should try to cover up the fact that sub-standard clinical waste facilities and practices had previously been brought to their attention by the Environment Agency and despite these worries, had failed to correct the poor systems of disposal.'

• Irwin Mitchell press release

• Hazards magazine needlestick hazards webpages and UNISON guide to needlestick injuries in local government [pdf file]

• Free single copies or priced packs of ten of HSE’s new guide, Blood-borne viruses in the workplace: guidance for employers and employees, INDG342, can be ordered from HSE Books - HSE press release

Research finds mobile phone brain cancer threat

Using mobile phones more than doubles the risk of developing brain tumours over 10 years, a Swedish research has claimed. The study by Lennart Hardell, Professor of Oncology at Obrero University in Sweden, compares the fate of 1,617 patients diagnosed with brain tumours since 1997 with a control group of healthy subjects. He found that those who had used mobile phones for more than five years were 26 per cent more likely, and those who used them for more than a decade were 77 per cent more likely, to develop a brain tumour than those who did not. The research was based on use of analogue phones. Dr Michael Clark, of the National Radiological Protection Board, which sets limits on radiation exposure, said: "A study like that has to be taken seriously... But analogue phones were pretty much phased out around 1997. The new digital ones emit significantly less power."

• Reports in The Herald and The Independent

INTERNATIONAL

Australia: Overwork is killing family life

Suicide attempts, family breakdown and physical illness are some of the effects of extreme working hours documented in a university study released by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). The Fifty Families report, by researchers from the Universities of Sydney and Adelaide, was commissioned by the ACTU as part of its submission to an Australian Industrial Relations Commission test case on working hours. ACTU President Sharan Burrow said Australians now worked the second longest hours in the OECD, with a third of full-time employees working hours that would be unlawful in Europe. "Family life is breaking down because of the increasing pressure to work longer and unpredictable hours. The ACTU's Reasonable Hours test case provides a solution for employers and employees to negotiate appropriate hours for their industries." Report author Dr Barbara Pocock, from Adelaide University's Centre for Labour Research, said the study showed 'the lack of control employees have over their hours of work and the low level of negotiating rights reported by many workers. Even though our communities are being eroded by excessive working hours, many employees report that they are not even paid for their extra work." The Industrial Relations Commission is scheduled to hear ACTU's case in November.

• ACTU news release

• Fifty Families report and the ACTU working hours submission

Canada: Fatigue makes truckers ticking timebombs

Canadian truckers - already pushed to the limits of fatigue - will become ticking bombs if proposed lax trucking hours regulations are adopted. A feature in independent online magazine Straight Goods says government plans could force Canadian truck drivers to work the longest driving shifts and longest work week in the regulated world - up to 84 hours per week. Alison Smiley, an ergonomist and engineering professor at the University of Toronto and a consultant with Human Factors North, is concerned about the implications for public safety. She says one US survey of drivers at truck stops found one in five admitted to falling asleep at the wheel in the preceding month. She told Straight Goods: 'The companies need to be held accountable legally for accidents involving fatigue. Now it's the trucker that's at the sharp end of the stick, under a lot of pressure to drive those hours. The government needs to play its part by knowing violations of and enforcing regulations.'

• Straight Goods interview

• CRASH - Canadians for Responsible and Safe Highways

Japan: Landmark ruling links female suicide to overwork

The gruelling working conditions forced on a young woman drove her to suicide in 1998, labour standards officials in Japan have said. This was the first time Japanese authorities had officially recognised that overwork had caused a woman to kill herself. The breakthrough came when the Sendai Labour Standards Inspection Office sided with a compensation application lodged by the unnamed 23-year-old's bereaved parents. Accepting the claim for 'karojisatsu' compensation - payable when overwork leads to depression and suicide - the inspection office said that support was lacking for the victim after she started work at a television production company in Sendai in 1997. Just before her death, she was reportedly putting in 360 hours a month at the office and often took work home with her, staying up late to complete it. In an effort to stem escalating numbers of stress-related suicides, the Japanese Ministry of Health says a study will interview bereaved families, colleagues and police to compile data and encourage employers to hire more health workers and counsellors to support their workers. "As a government, we want to come up with measures to prevent suicides and need support from experts in this field," said a ministry official.

• Suicide report, Mainichi Shimbun and study report, BBC news

International: Hard Labor Day in the USA, says ILO

US workers are putting in the longest hours in the industrialised world, spending nearly a week more on the job each year than they did a decade ago, according to a study released by the International Labor Organisation (ILO) to coincide with Labor Day, the US annual workers’ holiday. Key Indicators of the Labor Market 2001-2002 (KILM), reports that Americans are working more hours than Canadians, the French, Germans, Japanese and workers in the United Kingdom. The average American worked 1,978 hours in 2000, up from 1,942 hours in 1990, an increase of nearly one week over the decade. Australian, Canadian, Japanese and Mexican workers put in about 100 fewer hours than the average American. The ILO report shows that British and Brazilians worked about 250 fewer hours a year while Germans worked nearly 500 fewer hours than Americans. Only workers in the Republic of Korea and the Czech Republic topped the United States figure, clocking in almost 500 hours and 100 hours more respectively than their American counterparts.

• ILO’s KILM press release

• Press coverage in the The Guardian

USA: Business says safety yields a large return on investment

Ninety-five per cent of US business executives say investing in workplace safety has a positive impact on a company's financial performance, according to an insurance industry survey. Liberty Mutual Group’s Executive survey of workplace safety also found that of these executives, 61 per cent believe their companies receive a return on investment of $3 or more for each $1 they invest in improving workplace safety. Liberty Mutual, the leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance in the US, calculates US businesses are paying a 'staggering' $155 billion to $232 billion on workers’ compensation losses annually.

• Liberty Mutual survey findings and press release

Australia: Smokers retreat as public ban closes in

They have been banned from cinemas, legislated out of the workplace, pushed off public transport and condemned from cafes. Now smokers in New South Wales are to be expelled from restaurants in pubs and clubs. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the last enclosed public place smokers will be able to enjoy a cigarette and a meal will be in the front bar of the local. The regulations bring club and pub restaurant regulations in line with those imposed last year on other restaurants and cafes. Those caught out of bounds face fines of $550 (£200), while proprietors can be fined $1,100, and corporate bodies $5,500. The Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union's national deputy, Tim Ferrari, said his union would continue to "agitate and litigate" until all smoking at work was banned.

• News report

International Ban Asbestos Secretariat

The International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has redesigned and greatly improved its website. Current news items include updates from Europe, USA, Argentina, Chile and Brazil. The site also includes links to asbestos victims' organisations and other resources.

• International Ban Asbestos Secretariat

ACTION

Latest European Commission asbestos proposal

In Risks 6 we covered the European Trade Union Confederation’s (ETUC) April 2001 asbestos resolution. The resolution proposed tightening EU asbestos laws and a draft Directive for the modification of the present EU Directive on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to asbestos at work has now been published. The ETUC’s Laurent Vogel comments: 'On one point, the ETUC position has been accepted: the limit-value will be 0.1 fibres [per ml] instead of the initially proposed value of 0.2 fibres. The position of UNICE (employers' confederation) was 0.3 fibres. On other points the proposal is still quite weak (mainly about the possible exceptions). Any comment from you could be useful since the proposal has to be submitted to the European Parliament where amendments can be introduced.'

• Information: European Commission proposal and ETUC’s web page on asbestos

• Contact: Laurent Vogel, BTS-TUTB, Bd du roi Albert II, 5, B-1210, Brussels, Belgium. Fax: 00 322 224 05 61

NEW EVENTS

Only newly announced events, events next week and very important events will be listed here in future. But there is a comprehensive listing of health and safety events on the TUC website - bookmark it for easy reference!

Fringe meeting at the TUC Congress, 11 September

Speakers at this Hazards Campaign/GMB meeting include Nigel Bryson, health, safety and environment director of the GMB, and representatives of the Simon Jones Memorial Campaign and the Centre for Corporate Accountability. 6pm at the Old Ship Hotel, Kings Rd, Brighton. Details from Mick Holder, Hazards Campaign.

Workshop on lone working, Swindon, 22 September

Organised by the TUC South West Women's Committee. Speakers include UNISON national health and safety officer Hope Daley, local MP Julia Drown, South West TUC’s Margaret Petts and Nicole Vazquez from the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. Further details from South West TUC, Church House, Church Road, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7BD. Tel: 0117 947 0521. Fax: 0117 947 0523. Registration form to download, fill in and return.

European week, 15-22 October

European Health and Safety Week 2001 will have the theme 'Success is no accident'. The TUC is backing the week and will be preparing resources to help safety reps in workplace inspections, investigations and reporting. Details from the European Agency, including factsheets on accident prevention, and the HSE’s newsletter (in pdf format).

International Road Transport Action Day, 15 October

International Transport Workers’ Federation international union day of action. ITF says that as a result of deregulation in the industry, road transport unions worldwide are confronting deteriorating working conditions, including dangerously excessive working hours. On the day of action unions will again promote the message that Fatigue Kills. The aim is 'to build a mass organising campaign to unite road transport workers for the struggles ahead.' More information from Mac Urata, ITF, or from the ITF website.

Law enforcement and corporate accountability, 21 November

The TUC is teaming up with the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) for a joint conference to be held at Congress House in London, sponsored by Russell Jones & Walker. Registration costs £25 (£5 unwaged). Details and a downloadable registration form.

3rd International Railway Workers' Action Day, 26 March

International Transport Workers’ Federation international union day of action, theme rail safety. More information from Mac Urata, ITF, or on the railways section of the ITF website.

Workers' Memorial Day 2002, 28 April

TUC is planning to highlight occupational health, including access to occupational health services, and rehabilitation. Ask your union for details of Workers’ Memorial Day events or organise your own. Hazards magazine round up of Workers’ Memorial Day resources.

European Week of Health and Safety 2002, 14-21 October

Next year’s week will take place in Britain from 14 October, on the theme of stress.

USEFUL LINKS

Visit the TUC health and safety website or the main TUC website pages on health and safety. See what’s on offer from TUC Publications and What’s On in health and safety.

Find out about TUC courses for safety reps from September to December:

Wales Scotland East Midlands West Midlands

Southern and Eastern (plus COSHH Essentials courses)

South West North West Northern Yorkshire and Humberside

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.

Disclaimer

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