Risksissue no 35 - 5 January 2002 |
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Editor: Rory O'Neill of Hazards magazine. Comments to Owen Tudor. Happy New Year! CONTENTS
Risks is the TUC’s weekly online bulletin for safety reps and others, read each week by over 2,500 subscribers and 1,000 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 Privacy The TUC website lists future health and safety events in What’s On - new events are covered below. ACTIONMake sure your MEP listens to the noiseThe TUC has issued a new briefing on the draft European Union (EU) Directive on noise, calling for amendments to require better health surveillance/hearing tests, to reinforce the requirement for safety rep involvement, and to clarify the effect of hearing protection. The TUC broadly welcomes the draft Directive which will reduce noise exposures and prevent workers from losing their hearing. Write to your MEP to urge them to back the TUC's amendments. The parliament's rapporteur is Danish Socialist MEP Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who used to work for LO (the Danish TUC). Vote, vote, for HazardsThe TUC-backed Hazards health and safety website is in the running for international Labour Website of the Year 2001. This annual Labourstart award recognises those labour websites using the web effectively and creatively to improve union communication and organising efforts. The Hazards site is one of just 23 nominees for the international award.
UNION NEWSLegal shame of 'irresponsible' Thames TrainsA company facing prosecution for the criminal safety law breaches that contributed to 31 deaths in the Paddington rail disaster and whose role has already been condemned by an independent enquiry, says it intends to sue the government’s safety watchdog for failing to stop its safety abuses! Responding to the Thames Trains' announcement that they would be suing the HSE, the TUC branded the company's legal action "wasteful and irresponsible." TUC general secretary John Monks said: "By suing the HSE for not stopping them breaking the law, Thames Trains are abdicating their responsibility for safety on the railways. Thames Trains ought to put their efforts into making sure the travelling public and railway workers are safe, not spend their time and money trying to find others to blame for their own lamentable record.' The TUC has written to the Chief Executive of the Go-Ahead Group, which owns Thames Trains, Martin Ballinger, asking him to drop the legal action against the HSE. Working out what works for workersIf HSE eggheads want to know about problems at work, they should talk to the workers doing the job. Responding to HSC’s 'draft strategic research outlook for 2002', TUC says it wants 'to see a greater focus on asking workers for their experiences, for example by using techniques such as body mapping. When it comes to health and safety at work, no one is as expert as the workers.' And HSC should further investigate why union safety reps, partnerships and other measures to fully involve workers are so effective at reducing workplace injuries and ill-health. TUC adds that there should be more work on rehabilitation and on health and safety and women workers, and backs HSC’s proposal to focus on research that supports the priorities of the Commission, and that looks at what works, rather than on abstract research.
Real risks need real resourcesThe TUC has told the HSC that 'real risks need real resources.' TUC’s response to an HSC Discussion Document on how to set its priorities emphasises that real risks need to be addressed, rather than populist scares, and that real resources need to be devoted to combating those risks. The tripartite nature of the Commission, with workers and employers having the main say in the measures that will affect them, is defended. Union to sue train driver’s attackerA train driver attacked by a passenger is being backed in a civil claim for compensation by his union. Train drivers' union Aslef says the unusual move is part of a campaign to crackdown on attacks on Scottish rail staff. Aslef will bring a civil case on behalf of driver George Jarvis. The legal action will be against a man convicted of assaulting Mr Jarvis. Aslef general secretary Mick Rix said: "Attacks on rail staff are unacceptable under any circumstances. They are public servants doing a difficult job under stressful conditions and it is time the violence was stamped out." Crouching vicar, hidden villainThe trade union MSF is to launch a programme of self defence classes for the its clergy members. The initiative is in response to a survey of Anglican clergy that revealed church workers to be more vulnerable to physical attacks than doctors and probation officers. The MSF Clergy and Church Workers conference in February will focus on the level of violence faced by men and women of the cloth. The survey showed one in eight priests had been assaulted, with many attacks occurring on church grounds. MSF national health and safety officer Chris Ball said: 'We want to encourage them to be safety conscious, perform risk assessments and have strategies for defusing and avoiding conflict. But if violence is inevitable, we also want them to be capable of fending for themselves.' On 1 January this year, MSF became part of Amicus, following a merger with the union AEEU. OTHER NEWSPolice to get bonuses for 'dirty work'Police officers are set to be paid bonuses of up to £500 for patrolling city centre crime hotspots on Friday and Saturday nights as part of a proposed deal on pay and conditions. The bonuses will be paid for demanding or unpleasant tasks - which will also include hostage negotiations or dealing with decomposed bodies - and are part of an outline agreement reached between the Police Federation and Home Office. Zero tolerance of Welsh hospital violenceThe Welsh Assembly wants the NHS to adopt a zero tolerance approach to combat violence at work. A draft report by the assembly administration has been sent to all NHS trusts and health authorities in Wales recommending a zero tolerance zone approach to violent patients, relatives and the public. "Violence against NHS staff is completely unacceptable and more measures need to be adopted to stamp it out," said Welsh health minister Jane Hutt. The assembly is following in the footsteps of the UK government’s NHS zero tolerance initiative (Risks 7 and Risks 26). Unions in Scotland have called for a similar approach (Risks 19). Safety rewardedSeveral health and safety specialists have been honoured in the New Year’s honours list. Chief among the honours is Mavis Robinson, well known to trade unionists as the MacMillan nurse who pioneered services to mesothelioma sufferers, who is awarded the MBE for services to asbestos disease sufferers. TUC’s Owen Tudor said: 'Mavis has been a beacon of hope for many asbestos victims, and after a bad year for victims, this is at least good news for their guardian angel.' Others honoured for health and safety were Professor John Uff, who conducted the enquiry into the Southall rail disaster, who becomes a CBE; Wendy Bines, Head of Radiation Protection Policy at HSE, awarded an OBE; and George Dyson, also HSE, who becomes an MBE. RESOURCESCertifiably better safety repsThe TUC’s groundbreaking health and safety certificate course continues to generate high quality safety work by union safety reps. UNISON safety rep Graham Johnson, who works in a local authority print department, created his own safety website as his project for his TUC Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety. And John Kelly, an AEEU safety rep at BNFL Sellafield, investigated attitudes to Provisional Improvement Notices as his course project, showing that companies could avoid prosecution if they let safety reps serve notices on hazards at work. In December 2001, TUC announced that 160 union safety reps had secured professional health and safety status through TUC certificate training ( Risks 31 ).
INTERNATIONALAustralia: Barrister calls for asbestos manslaughter lawA barrister whose father died from asbestos exposure has called for companies who continued to use it after health risks were revealed to be held criminally liable. Ernie Harris, 84, died in December 2001 after exposure to asbestos during 43 years in the building industry. His son Peter Harris said companies which continued to expose workers to asbestos after the dangers were known were criminally liable and should face charges. "The companies responsible have been paying blood money through civil actions," Mr Harris said. "It's now time to consider criminal sanctions in order to prevent any repetition of these events by big business in the future." The Queensland Council of Unions backed calls for laws enabling the criminal prosecution of employers on charges of industrial manslaughter. Ireland: Union officer gets top safety roleUpdated rules governing the health and safety of employees are to be introduced in Ireland, Tom Kitt, the Minister for Labour, Trade and Consumer Affairs, has said. Mr Kitt made his remarks while announcing the membership of the new board of the government’s Health and Safety Authority (HSA). The minister said Sylvester Cronin, safety officer with SIPTU, Ireland’s largest trade union, would be the new vice chair of the Authority. Northern Ireland: Bus drivers strike for safetyCitybus drivers in Belfast walked out on safety strike in the last week of 2001. The dispute concerned financial support for staff who had been assaulted or threatened. Transport and General Workers Union chairman John Coffey said frustration had forced the drivers to strike. Citybus strike ended on 28 December after drivers accepted proposals put to them by management and unions. Translink said it had agreed to the setting up of a taskforce to review all aspects of assault pay procedure. In a joint statement the unions and Translink said the taskforce would have a "clearly defined timescale" in which to report on the 'assault pay' review.
USA: Bush billions for safety’s contract criminalsTwo days after Christmas the White House announced the rejection of regulations that would have barred companies that repeatedly violate environmental and workplace standards from receiving government contracts. Unions have described the move as 'an outrage'. Laurence E. Gold, a counsel for the national union federation AFL-CIO, said: "If somebody is engaged in repeated pervasive violations of the law, that company should not be receiving a government contract." A statement from AFL-CIO notes: 'In one year, according to the US General Accounting Office, 261 federal contractors with 5,121 violations of health and safety laws among them received $38 billion in federal contracts. Breaking US labour laws didn’t prevent 80 other firms from getting $23 billion in taxpayer-financed projects.'
USA: Airline union rep suspended for raising safety concernsA Midwest Express flight attendant has filed a lawsuit claiming the airline improperly suspended her for protesting about a rule requiring flight attendants to check for bombs on airplanes. In the suit, Susan B. Stein, president of the Association of Flight Attendants Master Executive Council for Midwest Express flight attendants, asked a judge to rescind her 45-day suspension and award back pay and benefits. Stein and the union also want an order prohibiting the airline from disciplining employees for exercising rights granted under federal labour law. Stein had written a letter to the company two days after the 11 September New York and Pentagon attacks, asking that flight attendants not be required to conduct the searches because they were not trained to do so. USA: Union heads to court over anthraxA postal union official has said 5,500 employees at a New York post distribution centre should not have been required to return to work after new anthrax contamination was discovered last week. 'Our position is that they shouldn't go back until they get some clearer understanding from the Centers for Disease Control (and Prevention) and the Postal Service,'' said William Smith, president of the New York Metro Area Postal Union. A Postal Service spokeswoman said the 'very negligible trace of anthrax' found in the latest test at the Morgan Processing and Distribution Center might have been residue left over from earlier contamination in October. The union has taken its case for a shutdown to court (also see Risks 34). USA: Monsanto says don’t clean up, cover upThe chemical multinational Monsanto hid documents - many marked "CONFIDENTIAL: Read and Destroy" - detailing dire toxic hazards from the industrial chemicals PCBs that were causing serious ill-health in workers and a community adjacent to its Anniston, Alabama plant. Instead of dropping the chemicals and cleaning up, the company, now known as Solutia, covered-up. Robert Kaley, the environmental affairs director for Solutia, admitted in December 2001 that the company maintained production even after clear evidence emerged of adverse worker health and environmental effects: 'Look, this was a good product. Did we try to save it as long as we could? Absolutely. Was the writing on the wall when we stopped producing it? Sure.' On 7 January 2002, the two sides will have their day in court. Kaley said his company has nothing to hide. "I'm really pretty proud of what we did. Was it perfect? No. Could we be second-guessed? Sure. But I think we mostly did what any company would do, even today."
China: Nestlé toys 'made by forced labour'Jennifer Zeng endured 12-months imprisonment in Beijing's Xin'an Labour Camp, where she says beatings, electric shocks and sleep deprivation were all part of the Chinese government's re-education programme for those convicted of belonging to an outlawed meditation sect. And stamped indelibly on her brain are the faces of 100,000 long-eared, buck-toothed toy rabbits, bearing the Nestlé brand. Ms Zeng, now seeking asylum in Australia, is calling for an independent investigation into the use of unpaid prison labour in China's re-education camps. Nestlé admits toy rabbits were ordered from China for a Nesquik promotion last year, but says there is no evidence linking the company with forced labour. Recent Risks have revealed exploitation in China’s toy factories (Risks 34) and Nestlé’s dangerous double standards in the UK and Brazil (Risks 33). China: Daily carnage at workA coal mine explosion in China's eastern Jiangxi province has killed 18 miners in the latest in a series of deadly accidents marking a grim end to the year. The blast occurred on 30 December 2001 as gas under high pressure burst through layers of coal and brought down the ceiling in a shaft 520 metres underground. The coal mine explosion was the second disaster to strike Jiangxi province that day, following a string of blasts at a fireworks factory in the morning that killed nine and injured 60. Two days earlier a landslide at a limestone quarry in China's coastal Zhejiang province killed 10 workers, the official Xinhua news agency said. It said in another report that eight coal miners were killed in an explosion in northern China. The two accidents highlighted the dismal work safety record in China, where mining accidents have killed more than 5,000 people so far this year (Risks 34).
EVENTSOnly 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! HSE textiles open meeting, 16 JanuaryInterested in health and safety in the modern textiles industry? Then call in to Leeds Town Hall where the HSC is to hold the second open meeting of its Textiles Industry Advisory Committee (TEXIAC) on Wednesday, 16 January. HSE says: 'It could be lively - members of the public, especially those involved in the textiles industry, are invited to attend and contribute to the discussion.' Topics to be covered include a new model safety audit package for the textiles industry, an initiative to help injured workers back into work, and the impact on the textile industry of HSC’s Revitalising Health and Safety Strategy. If you want to attend email Anne Rayner, phone 0113 283 4354 or write to Textiles Sector Group, HSE, Marshalls Mill, Marshall Street, Leeds, LS11 9YJ. About time: TUC conference on working time, 5 FebruaryA TUC conference in London for trade unionists, employers, HR and personnel professionals, academics and policy makers.Keynote speakers: Patricia Hewitt MP, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and John Monks, TUC General Secretary. The conference will be chaired by Sheena MacDonald. Application form in text and pdf versions. Union members wishing to attend this conference, please contact your head offices which are co-ordinating numbers from each union due to the limited number of places available for this conference. HSC Advisory Committee on Dangerous Substances open meeting, 14 FebruaryThe ACDS advises the HSC on issues like gas safety, major hazards (eg chemical plants), flammable substances (eg petrol) and explosives. The TUC has four representatives on this tripartite Committee (government-unions-employers). Its first open meeting will take place at HSE headquarters, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HS from 10.30am on Thursday, 14 February and will include presentations on the work of ACDS and the policy issues it deals with, plus the opportunity to ask members and officials questions. To register for a place, contact Tarla Patel at or at the above address. Workers' Memorial Day 2002, 28 AprilTUC 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. Hazards 2002, National Hazards Conference, 6-8 SeptemberThe National Hazards Conference will be held in Manchester for the second year running. Further details from Greater Manchester Hazards Centre. There is a financial appeal to keep registration costs down, backed by the TUC. European Week of Health and Safety 2002, 14-21 OctoberNext year’s week will take place in Britain from 14 October, on the theme of stress. USEFUL LINKSVisit 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.TUC courses for safety repsJanuary to March:South East Wales South West North West East Midlands West Midlands ScotlandFor details of courses in the Northern, Yorkshire and Humberside regions, contact the TUC Regional Education OfficerSubscribe 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.DisclaimerAlthough the web links were all checked at the time of posting this bulletin, we are not responsible for most of the websites you will be taken to. Sometimes they are temporarily offline (so try again!) or change so that the links no longer work. Privacy statementInformation provided by you will be used by the TUC for the effective administration of this site and to record user patterns. We will not disclose any details to any third party, except to any service provider managing or administering the site on the TUC’s behalf. We may contact you with details of TUC initiatives, services and products but will never pass your e-mail address or other details to another organisation, other than our service providers for management and administration purposes. |
Newsletter (3,600 words) issued 5 Jan 2002
