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Risksissue no 81 - 23 November 2002 |
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Editor: Rory O'Neill of Hazards magazine. Comments to Owen Tudor CONTENTS
Risks is the TUC’s weekly online bulletin for safety reps and others, read each week by over 5,500 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 and Privacy statement. The TUC website lists future health and safety events in What’s On - new events are covered below. FEATURESafety fines up - but not far enough, says safety bossFines for workplace health and safety offences have jumped by almost 40 per cent in the last year, the HSE has reported. Offences and penalties report for 2001/02 identifies almost 900 companies, organisations and individuals convicted of health and safety offences during 2001/2002.The average fine for health and safety cases was £12,194 in the year to March 2002, up 39 per cent from the previous year's average of £8,790. HSE brought 1,064 prosecutions with an 84 per conviction rate. Total fines topped £10.9m, a rise of more than £2m. 'Health and safety offences are serious crimes,' said HSC chair Bill Callaghan welcoming the increase in safety fines. He added: 'This sends out a strong message to the small minority of employers who do not take their health and safety responsibilities seriously.' The construction industry, with a death rate six times the national average, saw the steepest rise, 62 per cent. However average fines in the two most deadly sectors, construction (£7,594) and agriculture (£2,072) remained the lowest for any sector. And the fines pale next to boardroom salaries. This year the average income of FTSE 100 company chief executive officers topped £1.5m for the first time. HSE says the average fine for work-related deaths is £20,000 to £30,000.
Local authority safety inspections and penalties plummetLatest official figures show inspections, enforcement action and fines in the local authority enforced sectors of the economy continue to drop. The 2002 report from HSE’s local authorities group shows that in 2000/01, the average fine per conviction plummeted to just £3,903, 15 per cent lower than the previous year (£4,595). Local authorities took court action on 401 occasions, with 88 per cent of cases resulting in a conviction. The number of full-time equivalent local authority enforcement officers fell by 4 per cent in 2000/01 to 1,070, continuing the recent downward trend. The number of visits to premises dropped from 313,000 to 300,000 and 5 per cent fewer formal enforcement notices were issued. Overall, the rate of visits has fallen by almost a quarter in the last five years. The report covers the work of 410 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales, responsible for enforcing health and safety law in 1.2 million premises, such as offices, retail and wholesale distribution outlets, hotel and catering establishments, residential care homes, consumer services and the leisure industry. Provisional figures for 2001/02 show a reduction in the number of fatalities to workers, from 19 in 2000/01 to 12 in 2001/02, whilst fatalities to members of the public increased from 21 to 27, continuing a rising trend from 1996/97.
Firms hit with small fines over deathTwo London firms have received small fines after the death of teenager Stephen Sparks. The 18-year-old was killed in July 2000 when desks he was unloading from a truck toppled over and crushed him. He died in hospital four days later. At Wood Green Crown Court his employer, Peter Makewell Ltd (PMI), of Edmonton, and contract firm Rossway Transport Ltd, of Chertsey, were each fined £5,000 and made to pay costs of £5,000 each. The managing directors of both firms pleaded guilty to charges brought by the HSE. Nicholas Wood, prosecuting, said no-one knew exactly what happened that day, but the lack of supervision was "a recipe for danger sooner or later". Judge Mervyn Roberts said if proper risk assessments had been carried out by both firms, then Stephen would not have been killed. He added that the fines would have been much greater, but both companies were trading at a loss and had overdrafts. Firms fined £320k for Cardiff scaffolding collapseConstruction giant Taylor Woodrow and a scaffolding sub-contractor have been fined a total of £320,000 after 30 tonnes of scaffolding fell from a 12-storey tower block onto a busy street. The court in the prosecution brought by the HSE watched a police CCTV video of the drama unfolding. The scaffolding gave way just after midnight on 13 December 2000 - just hours before the street had been thronged with city centre Christmas shoppers. Prosecutor Bryan Thomas said there was a 'gross and fundamental' failure to ensure safety, with 70 per cent of the ties required to secure the scaffold never put in place and others coming away because they were not screwed in far enough. Mr Thomas said the workers from RMD Kwikform Limited, who had erected the scaffolding, lacked training and site operator Taylor Woodrow Construction failed to properly supervise the site. RMD were fined £240,000, £60,000 for each of four health and safety offences, and Taylor Woodrow £80,000 for one offence. They were ordered to pay £39,300 prosecution costs, one-third to be paid by Taylor Woodrow and two-thirds by RMD Kwikform. US boss gets jail time for worker's deathA contractor in San Mateo County, California, has been sentenced to a year in jail after pleading no contest to involuntary manslaughter for a forklift accident that killed an employee. Frank Conway, 38, also must pay $7,500 (£4,750) to the victim's family and a $5,000 (£3,166) fine under a plea agreement. Prosecutors said Conway hired Nicholas Viles, a 21-year-old friend and frequent employee, to help him move a 'brake', a 1 ton piece of metal-bending equipment. However, according to prosecutors, Viles was legally disabled, with attention deficit disorder and hand tremors that prevented him from getting a driver's licence. Conway had loaded the brake onto the flatbed, then instructed Viles to follow him, driving the forklift behind the flatbed on the city streets. State law requires anyone using a forklift to be certified - a certification Viles did not have, prosecutors said. The forklift tipped over on a steep hill, crushing Viles to death. UNION NEWSResearch shows vital role of union reps at workTogether Britain’s trade unions and employers are successfully resolving workplace and workers problems, TUC research has shown. And it is not just union safety reps that are making workplace safer, the survey suggests - lots of general workplace reps are getting in on the act too. The survey of 877 union workplace reps found about half had some safety rep function, with safety ranking as the third top job for all reps, trailing only 'resolving difficulties' and 'union organisation'. And safety training was the most common form of training undertaken by union reps - 48 per cent of the total sample had had some, well over half of those who’d had training at all. John Monks, TUC general secretary, said: 'It’s a tough job but, as this research shows, the productive partnership between employees and employers that it can build is a just reward for good work.' However, the safety news is not all good. The findings suggest that in almost half of workplaces with a solitary union rep, no-one is performing the life-saving union safety rep role. Latex deal could end fatal allergy in NHSA TUC-hosted summit meeting of manufacturers, employers, unions and sufferers was 'constructive and positive, with no 'them and us'.' says the TUC. Participants agreed to develop a major new guidance and education initiative to ensure that employers in the health sector will use latex gloves only where operationally required, and even then, will only use low protein, powder-free gloves. HSE will co-ordinate the development of guidance and educational tools, with funding from the Department of Health, and HSE inspectors will enforce health and safety laws using the same standard. Manufacturers, unions, sufferers and regulators all agreed to help draft the materials which will be launched next year. This should mean that latex allergies become a thing of the past in health care, and the focus can move onto other sectors. TUC general councillor Maureen Rooney said: 'NHS employers have an opportunity to show leadership in fighting against this destructive allergy, in partnership with the glove manufacturers, unions and sufferers.' She added that the initiative 'could remove the fastest growing cause of asthma amongst NHS staff and the threat of other serious reactions to cheap latex.' Meanwhile a groundbreaking decision this week in the high court in London means employers now have strict liability to ensure their employees are protected from harmful substances such as latex. The case of Welsh nurse Alison Dugmore, 35, was taken up by her union UNISON when she developed a life-threatening reaction to latex powdered gloves. The ruling means that employers will no longer be able to argue that they didn’t know a substance was harmful.
UNISON warning over compensation hard sellPublic sector union UNISON is warning its members and the public not to be taken in by high pressure selling from compensation claims firms, promising big money for personal injury claims. It says there has been steady increase in complaints from members conned by firms into using supposed 'no win, no fee' services instead of the union’s genuinely free service. The advice was triggered by the case of UNISON member Charlotte Blythe. Compensation Express said they would take on Charlotte’s case arising from a workplace fall and claimed it would do a better deal than UNISON. The company assured her that she would have nothing to pay, but would need to take out an insurance policy to cover liability for costs and expenses. Although no money changed hands, the insurance premium and other charges were initially billed at a cost of £1,109.07, with interest added to this on a monthly basis. The amount was to be paid in full, if the case was successful. UNISON legal officer Katy Clark said: 'The no win - no fee deals that some of these breed of compensation claims firms offer may sound like a good deal but there are often hidden costs. Instead of getting compensation for an injury, many people end up paying back large chunks of any award to these companies.' UNISON gets ambulance worker £140,000 for back injuryAn ambulance worker who lost the job he loved as a result of a serious back injury, has accepted £140,000 compensation from the Greater Manchester Ambulance Service. Norman Thurrell, 58, was supported by his union, UNISON, after he was badly injured in August 1999 as a result of faulty ambulance equipment. Mr Thurrell was transporting a 19 stone patient to the Duchess of York Hospital in Manchester, when two wheels came off the undercarriage of the stretcher causing its self support system to fail and leaving him to carry the full weight of not only the patient but the heavy stretcher for five minutes. 'We are constantly having to bring cases to court where workers have been injured by the equipment they use,' commented Jon Richards, national health officer for UNISON. 'UNISON is calling for frontline ambulance workers to be more involved in the purchase of new equipment.' He added that it was vital that checks are carried out regularly to ensure equipment is working probably and the right equipment is being used. Equity gets Disney to cough up for healthThe Walt Disney company has agreed to meet medical bills for performers and stage managers working on tour who need to see a physician, chiropractor, physiotherapist or osteopath in order to continue to work safely. The new clause in performers’ union Equity’s agreement with Walt Disney is designed to give members speedy treatment while on tour should they need it. Payment for the treatment must be approved by the manager who will have the discretion to agree payment even if the medical condition pre-dated the start of the tour. Recovered personal injury cash must help injured recoverThe TUC says it 'strongly supports' government moves to recover treatment and other costs in personal injury cases arising out of someone’s negligence (Risks 71). However it says the saving - about £120 million a year - should not be absorbed into general NHS budgets as the government proposes but should be used to benefit the injury victims. 'We believe that the amounts related to employer liability insurance claims (about £30-£40 million) should be used to start to develop the comprehensive national occupational health and rehabilitation service that was first called for in the Beveridge report,' says the TUC submission. TUC says this would create a 'virtuous circle out of the compensation system, using money raised from employers through the insurance system to extend the ability of the NHS to return people injured or made ill by their work to health and to employment, and therefore cut industry and the nation’s costs while benefiting the victims as well.' In the case of work-related ill-health, it would mean bad employers would pay through the pocket for ill-health resulting from poor workplace health and safety standards.
Wales TUC wants workplace wellbeingWales TUC is calling for measures for the early recognition of workplace health problems and better rehabilitation for workers once they have them. In its response to a National Assembly for Wales consultation document, the country's top union body, representing half a million members, said the Assembly should investigate measures to encourage employers to offer health screening and to introduce better rehabilitation services. The submission adds that 'a major factor behind our low GDP in Wales is the large number of our people who are no longer active in the economy, many of whom have been forced out of employment through work related illness and injury.' Wales TUC says: 'We need, as a society, to put at least as much effort into getting people rehabilitated back to work as has been devoted to getting unemployed people back into employment… Addressing the issue of rehabilitation and enabling people to resume their economic activity by getting back into work is an issue that should not only be central to the National Assembly’s overarching objective of making Wales a better place to live and work but also in raising the competitiveness and productivity of business in Wales.'
OTHER NEWSSafety watchdog reports 'solid progress' on strategic aimsThe HSC has published its annual report and accounts for the year 2001/02. The report concentrates on the safety watchdog’s progress on four priories outlined in its three year strategic plan: Priority programmes - falls from height, workplace transport, musculoskeletal disorders, work-related stress, construction, agriculture, health services, slips and trips; major hazard sectors - including railways, gas conveyance and onshore major hazard pipelines, chemical installations covered by the Control of Major Hazards Regulations, explosives and the mining, offshore and nuclear industries; securing compliance; and HSC's statutory duties - to modernise and simplify the law, to provide information and advice, to promote risk assessment and technical knowledge and to operate statutory schemes. HSC chair Bill Callaghan said: 'This is the first report on our challenging three-year strategy to help achieve the national health and safety targets set out in the 'Revitalising Health and Safety' Strategy Statement. The planned programme of work for the first year has largely been delivered with solid progress made in the four targeted areas, as well as many additional and unplanned issues.'
Government says Green Paper is a rehabilitation blueprintThe government’s Work and Pensions Secretary Andrew Smith says 'tough but tender' proposals in a Green Paper set out new measures to help people with an illness or disability off benefits and back into work. He says individual ‘back to work’ support packages and ‘joined up’ rehabilitation schemes spearhead a fresh government agenda to break down the barriers preventing people on Incapacity Benefit from working. Andrew Smith said: 'It is tragic that nine out of 10 people who go on Incapacity Benefit (IB) expect to work again but over 40 per cent of claimants will still be on IB after a year. By this stage they will only have a one in five chance of returning to work within five years.' He added: 'Our Green Paper is designed to end a terrible waste of talent and experience. Most people who come on to Incapacity Benefit have the potential to get back to work if they are given correct and timely help.' Proposed measures include cash payments, early support from skilled personal advisers including mandatory work-focused interviews and action plans, and access to a range of specialist programmes, including new rehabilitation services provided jointly by Jobcentre Plus and the NHS.
INTERNATIONALAustralia: Unions want law to cap work hoursAustralian union federation ACTU has started a campaign for a European-style cap on working hours. The push for a cap of 48 hours a week began this week at a high-profile ACTU summit on reasonable working hours. ACTU president Sharan Burrow told the summit that Australians worked the longest hours in the developed world apart from workers in South Korea. Ms Burrow said that while unions in July won the right to refuse ‘unreasonable overtime’ (Risks 64), ACTU was considering a European approach to limiting working hours through legislation. Opposition leaders backed the union calls for statutory limits on working hours. But Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott said he was not in favour of 'one size fits all solutions' and believed that excessive working hours should be dealt with at a company level. An ACTU survey ahead of the summit found 28 per cent of Australian employees want to work fewer hours, and a further 51 per cent want no increase in their working week. Another 10 per cent were dissatisfied with their roster patterns.
South Africa: Unions welcome mines safety billUnions in South Africa have welcomed a new mines safety law. The Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Amendment Bill was passed on 13 November 2002. Mining union NUM has been involved in drafting the Bill. NUM and union confederation COSATU say the new law 'introduces some progressive changes in respect of health surveillance and compensation for former mine workers.' Among the amendments is a requirement on mine owners to pay for ‘legitimate and proven’ costs for long-term medical aid for occupational diseases suffered by former mine workers, instead of the ‘reasonable costs’ of earlier provisions, which allowed mine owners to dispute payments and charge excessive fees for some services. The unions say they have a commitment from the Department of Health to introduce more laws to make mine owners responsible for the costs of accommodation, travel and meals associated with accessing medical aid, a particularly important provision for migrant workers. The Chamber of Mines had resisted the changes. Trinidad and Tobago: Firms must put safety first, says unionAll foreign companies wishing to do business in Trinidad and Tobago should be mandated to adhere to international health, safety and environmental laws before they are given work permits to operate, a union has said. This needs to be done to ensure that when companies come in here local workers 'are treated as human beings and not as pieces of rags,' said Lester Felix, labour relations officer of the Oilfields Workers Trade Union (OWTU). Felix said many foreign companies when operating in North America or Europe must follow international standards. However, he said because there are no existing laws in place in Trinidad and Tobago making it mandatory that they comply, health and safety issues are often compromised. He added that the country must introduction its own laws, and has been lobbying parliament for the new measures. 'When workers are not protected by any form of law or legislation, what you find is they are at the mercy of the employer, hence the reason why a lot of accidents take place. Also a lot of accidents go unreported because of workers’ fears of being victimised.' Devnath Roopnarine, a consultant to the Labour Ministry, said a new law was in preparation and would introduce a new health and safety authority 'comprising representatives of government, labour and non-governmental organisations.' USA: California marks eight years of smoke-free workplacesWhile other jurisdictions debate smoke-free workplace laws and listen to unsubstantiated threats of economic doom, California's health, union and business leaders are enjoying the success of the state’s eight year old law. State health director Diana Bonta, along with leaders of the California Federation of Labor, the Hotel and Lodging Association, small businesses and others celebrated the success of California's most controversial employee protection law - and the five-year anniversary of smoke-free bars. 'The California Labor Federation is proud to have sponsored one of the most sweeping worker health protection measures ever enacted in California or the United States,' said Tom Rankin, president of the union body. Michael Casey, president of the hotel and restaurant union in San Francisco, said: 'The tobacco industry tried to scare our members into thinking their employers would lose business due to the smoking ban, and that they would lose their jobs… I'm proud to say our union members and many employers saw through these tactics and stood up for the right to a safe and healthy workplace. The restaurants, bars and hotels where our members work did not suffer any adverse effects from the smoking ban. If anything, it's been good for business and customers as well as for our members.' RESOURCESRevitalising health and safety No.7The TUC has issued it latest - seventh - report on the union contribution to the government’s Revitalising health and safety strategy, launched in June 2000. The TUC briefing includes a detailed summary what unions have done to: Raise awareness of the strategy; discuss Revitalising targets with employers or their associations; developing health and safety partnerships; engage with Ministers or Commissioners, including invitations to union Executives, conferences, or fringes; or to visit workplaces with partnerships for prevention. The document deals in depth with responses received from unions on their Revitalising activities in 2002.
DVD on work stress and work organisation and interventionsA new DVD from the US government’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) describes workplace factors that can create or exacerbate worker stress, and suggests practical measures for reducing job-related stress through changes in work organisation. NIOSH says the new Working with stress DVD is designed to be a working resource for employers, human resources managers, occupational health and safety professionals, workers, educators, and others. It says it combines authoritative information with an easy-to-understand, viewer-friendly presentation, and summarises current information about the causes, symptoms, and prevalence of work-related stress. It also notes NIOSH's position 'that the most effective way to reduce work-related stress is to identify and address organisational stress factors in the workplace.' It follows an earlier print publication, The changing organization of work and the safety and health of working people (Risks 53).
NASUWT guides on managing classroom behaviourSteps to deal with violent and disruptive pupils, verbal and physical assaults and malicious allegations have been outlined in guides from teaching union NASUWT. Managing pupil behaviour, produced by NASUWT in collaboration with the Zacchaeus Centre in Birmingham, which works with disruptive pupils, includes a 30-minute video and workbook. The guidance offers 11 steps, with demonstrations, on retaining the respect of students and maintaining order in the classroom. A second set of guidance focuses on advising members on what action to take when confronted by verbal and physical assaults, a guide to the law and advice for members facing malicious allegations of assaulting a pupil. The launch of the guidance came at the end of a three-day challenge by parents in the House of Lords over the rights of teachers to take industrial action when faced with violent pupils. 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! Conference on Violence at Work, 2 DecemberThe TUC is to host a 2 December conference on violence at work, a major issue for trade union safety reps. This year’s TUC survey of over 5,000 trade union safety reps showed that violent assaults and threats are the fastest growing health and safety concern in the workplace (Risks 78). The conference, organised by the Interdepartmental Committee on Violence at Work, will highlight practical examples of how employers can assess and manage the risks of violence at work. Partnership is the underlying theme of this conference and there will be contributions from trade unions and employers. There will also be an opportunity to learn about the new standards on managing workplace violence established by Employment National Training Organisation as well as hearing from one of the UK’s leading barristers on the legal requirements of managing violence at work, and the implications in failing to meet those legal obligations. Conference application form or contact Liz Wood at the TUC. Dates for 2003International RSI Awareness Day conference, 28 FebruaryThe RSI Association are holding a conference in Nottingham to celebrate international Repetitive Strain Injuries awareness day (the last day of February is the only non-repeating date of the year). Further details from the RSI Association. Risks 100 conference, 4 AprilA day-long conference celebrating the 100th issue of Risks which will be issued that day, addressing the themes that Risks addresses - union and international news, action and resources. Note the date for now - booking forms will be available in due course. UK stress conference, 12 AprilThe UK National Work Stress Network’s conference will take place on Saturday 12 April 2003 at Hillscourt Conference Centre, Rednal near Birmingham, sponsored by NASUWT. Conference details and flier. International Workers Memorial Day, 28 AprilThis year the theme will be corporate accountability for workers’ health and safety. The TUC will be co-ordinating a series of events around the country. A background briefing on the 2003 theme is available on the page of the TUC website devoted to Workers’ Memorial Day. European Week for Health and Safety at Work, 13-19 OctoberThe theme for the Week in 2003 will be 'dangerous substances'. The TUC will be stressing the hierarchy of control, and especially the need for substitutes and general toxic use reduction strategies. Key hazards dealt with will include asbestos, asthmagens and solvents. USEFUL LINKSVisit 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.TUC courses for safety repsCOURSES FOR SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER:Midlands, North, North West, Scotland, South East and East Anglia, South West, Wales, Yorkshire and HumbersideCOURSES FOR JANUARY TO MARCH 2003:North, Scotland, South East and East Anglia, South West, Wales, Yorkshire and HumbersideSubscribe 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 (5,100 words) issued 23 Nov 2002