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Risksissue no 95 - 1 March 2003now with over 6,500 subscribers! |
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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 6,500 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. The TUC website lists future health and safety events in What’s On - new events are covered below. ACTIONA matter of life and death - get your MP to actIt’s time for some mad March activity to ensure employers face real justice for their safety crimes. TUC wants MPs to sign an all-party Early Day Motion on corporate manslaughter from Labour MP for Hendon Andrew Dismore, backed by Conservative Tony Baldry MP and Liberal Democrat Vince Cable MP. The motion, EDM 793, 'calls on the Government to put before Parliament measures to enact a new offence of corporate manslaughter as soon as possible.' On Friday 7 March, Scarborough Labour MP Lawrie Quinn’s delayed Health and Safety at Work (Offences) Bill gets another airing in the Commons - and a 'yes' vote from MPs would mean the possibility of higher fines and jail sentences for dangerous employers by the autumn (Risks 92). And just to make sure the Prime Minister, Home Secretary, health and safety minister and MPs know we are serious, Hazards, the Hazards Campaign, the Centre for Corporate Accountability and unions Amicus-AEEU and GMB have prepared postcards calling for new laws to bring the workplace safety criminals to justice - you can click and send one online, or order copies to post direct to No.10.
FEATURE: Inspectors under fireFarmer charged with threatening to kill inspectorA farmer has appeared in court charged with threatening to kill an animal health inspector who visited his farm. Roger Baker, 60 is alleged to have made the threats to Jonathan McCulloch at Ventongimps, Cornwall, on 25 February. Baker was also charged with affray and obstructing a police officer in the execution of his duty. The incidents were alleged to have happened when Mr McCulloch, who works for Cornwall County Council, visited the farm with a vet from the State Veterinary Service. Police officers had accompanied the pair as they went on to the farm. Later the health inspector and vet were seen covered in mud and slurry. The camera equipment they had been carrying was broken. Mary Watkins of safety inspectors and specialists union Prospect said: 'This demonstrates the dangers of working in the frontline in the public sector and the importance of not going into situations like this alone.' Hugh Robertson, head of safety for their union, UNISON, said: 'UNISON is calling for a new offence of assaulting a public servant in the execution of their duty' (Risks 94). Barry Jones of the union Amicus, which represents RSPCA animal inspectors, said: 'This case would appear to provide a graphic example of the dangers waiting when cruel people who are willing to resort to violence to defend their 'civil rights'.' Language turns blue as paint boss sees redAn Australian paint manufacturer has been fined $4,500 (£1,725) after being found guilty of abusing and barring access to a workplace safety inspector attempting to measure solvent fumes. Adelaide company Protec Pty Ltd had pleaded not guilty to two charges of preventing the official safety inspections. The court heard that in October 2000, the safety inspector visited the site after a Protec worker complained of exposure to chemicals. The inspector was allowed on site and reported a high concentration of solvent vapours he said should be officially monitored. More uneventful visits followed until 5 December 2000, when an employee refused the inspector access to the site. When the inspector and a colleague returned to the site in February 2001 Protec managing director Viesturs Seja refused to allow the tests, called the inspector a 'f...ing parasite,' told him to 'get a real job' and threatened to 'get the cops to kick us out,' the court was told. The inspectors returned a week later with a police escort but were again abused and refused permission to conduct tests. Industrial magistrate Richard Hardy dismissed criticism of unannounced safety inspections, saying the visits were more effective when the workplace operated as normal 'even when it might be inconvenient or a nuisance to an employer.' Our lawyer says we are too dangerous to be inspectedOfficials from Tennessee’s safety watchdog OSHA have been forced to obtain a warrant to enter a hazardous workplace after the company barred entry to inspectors 'on the advice of our attorney.' Greg Staples, a worker at the distribution center run by Fred’s Inc., said: 'All we want is safer working conditions, but Fred’s doesn’t care about the law or our safety. They care only about making money.' He added: 'When OSHA inspects the plant, the truth will come out.' Eric Frumin, director of occupational safety and health for the union UNITE, said: 'The company’s deliberate effort to block OSHA’s inspection shows that Fred’s is only afraid of one thing - workers united for a real voice on the job.' In May last year workers voted 2 to 1 in favour of the union. The company responded with a victimisation campaign. Serious health and safety concerns include inadequate forklift training and safety precautions, a dangerous lack of equipment maintenance, blocked doors and aisles, unsafe passageways in the facility 'and other critical problems that continue to endanger workers,' says the union. UNITE’s Frumin concluded: 'The only real way to ensure a safe workplace is to give workers a voice at work so that they can speak up to improve unsafe conditions.'
UNION NEWSUnion wins disruptive pupil fightThe law lords have backed a teaching union that argued members should not be made to accept violent and disruptive pupils in mainstream lessons. The case concerned two expelled pupils who had been taught in isolation after members of NASUWT refused to readmit them to lessons when appeal panels returned them to school. The ruling means teachers are allowed to take industrial action rather than teach disruptive pupils. Commenting on the verdict Eamonn O’Kane, general secretary of NASUWT, said: 'This landmark decision will give heart to every teacher in the country. It constitutes a total vindication of the stand consistently taken by the NASUWT over the years in giving total support to members when faced with violent and/or disruptive pupil behaviour.' He added: 'Teachers cite pupil misbehaviour as one of the main reasons they leave the profession prematurely, so it is in the interest of everyone that this problem be vigorously confronted.' The union this week published a dossier describing the violence of 39 children that staff refuse to teach - the worst-behaved pupils in England and Wales. Seven train operators sign up for safetySeven train operators have now signed up for safety, after rail union RMT complained its crucial safety role was being sidelined (Risks 93). The companies’ move comes as RMT started to ballot more than 4,000 train crew members in defence of the safety role of guards. The union says employers have reneged on an earlier commitment to restore key elements of a guard's safety role to the operational rulebook, the railways 'safety bible'. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said the seven companies that had signed up to the union safety role would now avoid industrial action - but balloting would continue at the other 15 rail companies. He said: 'RMT believes safety must always come first. We have campaigned against the reduction of the safety role of the guard ever since it was suggested after privatisation, and we will not rest until the guard’s full role is back in the rulebook.' Companies now signed up to the agreement guaranteeing the safety role of the guard are: GNER; Island Line; Anglia Trains; Hull Trains; First Great Western; First Great Eastern; and First North Western. Call to ban latex glovesHealth union UNISON is calling on the government to ban the use of powdered latex gloves, which have been linked with potentially fatal latex allergies. The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA) stopped buying powdered latex gloves two years ago. But the Department of Health admitted that some health trusts might still be using the gloves, rather than buying through PASA. UNISON's Jon Richards said: 'The cost per annum for healthcare for a latex sensitive individual can be as high as £100,000 a year and with around 100 people a year developing occupational asthma due to latex, the cost to the NHS is rising. We need to ensure that all ambulance, acute, community and primary care trust workers receive the equipment and the training needed to avoid harm to themselves and latex-sensitive patients.' The union has won substantial compensation payouts for workers developing latex allergies. A new glove made from polysioprene, which fits like latex but which the manufacturer claims has not been shown to cause allergies, will be launched in the US this month. A TUC-hosted summit last November drew up a plan to make latex allergy in the health service 'a thing of the past' (Risks 81). OTHER NEWSBoss's 'callous indifference' led to teenager's deathA company director found guilty of workplace manslaughter has walked free after a court found his 'callous indifference' to safety led to the death of an 18 year-old employee. John Horner received a 15 month prison sentence suspended for two years following the death of Christopher Longrigg, who was crushed when a stack of wood fell on him at Teglgaard Hardwood UK's Hessle wood yard. The company was fined £25,000. Horner, and the company, had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to the manslaughter of Mr Longrigg. A manslaughter charge against Horner's son, also called John, a director of the firm, was dropped. Mr Longrigg had been working for the company less than two months when a 5.5m high stack of timber fell on him. Hull Crown Court heard that Teglgaard Hardwood UK had paid scant regard to even the most basic health and safety precautions and had not assessed the risks to employees. Judge Tom Cracknell told Horner: 'Your callous indifference was the direct cause of this young lad's death.' TUC's Owen Tudor commented: 'Despite the suspended nature of the sentence, this verdict shows owners of small firms can be convicted of manslaughter if they disregard workers’ safety - what we are still missing is a law to level the playing field and put big bad bosses in the dock too.'
Take a break for safety’s sakeAccident rates plummet if workers get to take regular breaks, UK research shows. After reviewing accident records at a car assembly plant, a team of UK academics found accident rates were double in the last half hour of a two hour continuous work stint, compared to the first half hour. They found that the 'risk of an accident rose significantly' for the workers as time went on. The researchers say that regular short breaks - such as 10 minutes every hour - can cut the risk of accidents. Writing in the medical journal The Lancet, they conclude that rest periods 'successfully counteracted the accumulation of risk noted over 2 hours of continuous, repetitive, and largely machine-paced work.' They add: 'Regular rest breaks seem to be an effective way to control accumulation of risk during industrial shiftwork.' Last week the TUC and Hazards magazine launched the 'Gotta Go' campaign for effective loo break rights (Risks 94).
Smoking bans do not damage pub tradeSmoking bans in restaurants and bars do not lead to a loss of revenue or jobs, and may even improve business, according to research. An analysis of 97 studies in eight countries on the impact of smoking bans on the hospitality industry showed that the most rigorous and independent studies found no negative impact on business. Researchers found that those studies that concluded smoking bans were bad for business were poor quality. They were four times as likely to use subjective rather than objective measures to estimate the impact and 20 times less likely to be peer reviewed. All the studies that concluded smoking bans had a negative impact were funded by sources that were in some way related to the tobacco industry. Of the 21 quality studies, none reported a negative impact on business, and four reported that bans had a positive effect. Amanda Sandford of the UK anti-smoking group ASH, said the government should stop listening to hospitality industry lobbyists. 'Policymakers should be left in no doubt that the evidence to support the trade just isn't there,' she said. Almost 100 MPs have signed up to an Early Day Motion calling for legislation on passive smoking risks in public places.
TUC slams 'get out of jail free' proposal for police chiefsThe TUC says changes introduced by the Police Reform Act 2002 'amount to a get out of jail free card' for police chiefs. HSC is reluctantly consulting on an amendment to the Police (Health and Safety) Regulations 1999 which would recognise the legal switch in responsibility for health and safety from top brass in the police force to elected police authorities which often meet less than monthly. In a move which has surprised Ministers who thought this a ‘done deal’, HSC’s consultation raises again the basis for the primary legislation, effectively expressing doubts that Police Authorities will be able to take on the responsibilities they have been given. TUC general secretary elect Brendan Barber said: 'Police Authorities don’t have the control over operational policing that is needed to deliver better safety standards - this is a cynical move to get Chief Police Officers off the hook.' The HSC move comes as Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens and his predecessor Lord Condon face health and safety charges relating partly to the death of PC Kulwant Sidhu and to injuries suffered by PC Mark Berwick in two separate incidents when they were chasing suspects (Risks 90). Both have pleaded not guilty. Minister calls for action now on asbestos in buildingsHealth and safety minister Nick Brown has urged owners and occupiers of commercial and public buildings in Britain to act quickly to stop people dying from asbestos-related diseases. The minister was speaking at an HSE conference to encourage people to comply with the new duty to manage asbestos regulation, which comes into force on 21 May 2004. Mr Brown said: 'The government is committed to defending the rights of employees and self-employed people to a safe and healthy working environment.' He added: 'Asbestos remains the most serious occupational health issue in the UK. The new duty to manage asbestos will save nearly 5,000 lives over the next 50 years - lives that would otherwise be needlessly wasted and come to a very painful end. My message to duty holders is to take action now to ensure that they comply with the law.'
HSE guidance aims to tame the mouse (and the laptop too)New HSE guidance, published on International RSI Awareness Day (this year on 28 February) deals for the first time with the risks of using a mouse or laptop computers, and draws attention to the way stress at work increases the risks of RSI. The guidance also makes clear that screens used for CCTV monitoring are covered by the regulations on display screen equipment. HSE says in 2001/02 around 1.1 million people in Great Britain suffered from musculo-skeletal disorders (MSDs) caused or made worse by work, 400,000 of them from RSI. Last year, inspectors made 8,000 workplace visits to look at MSDs, serving 250 improvement notices and nearly 50 prohibition notices. Health and Safety Commissioner Owen Tudor, also the TUC’s head of safety, said: 'HSE is willing and able to get tough when workers’ health is at risk. Excessive work pressures, such as high job demands, time pressures and a lack of control, can often act alongside physical risk factors like force, posture and repetition, and can influence both the onset and duration of RSI. Only an integrated management approach which addresses both the organisational and the physical aspects of a worker's job and work environment is likely to be successful in preventing RSI.'
INTERNATIONALAustralia: Union calls for psych test crackdownThe 'unfettered' use of psychometric testing by employers must be regulated or unions may mount legal challenges on privacy or discrimination grounds, an Australian union has warned. Delegates at the Australian Workers Union national conference demanded a national policy to protect workers from discrimination and misuse of psychometric testing. The resolution is part of a campaign to protect workers' privacy, which the union says is also being eroded through genetic testing, drug and alcohol testing and email surveillance. The AWU national secretary, Bill Shorten, said psychometric tests were an imperfect method of assessing whether an applicant was suitable for a job. Up to 30 per cent of companies in Australia are estimated to use the tests, particularly for white-collar management positions but increasingly for factory and other blue-collar work. Mr Shorten added that the use of the tests could breach discrimination laws, and raised privacy concerns because they were often conducted by outside consultants. In 2001, a US privacy watchdog warned that psychologists were being used to 'weed out troublesome employees' (Risks 5). The AWU conference also pledged to oppose genetic screening tests at work, a position adopted by Australian union federation ACTU last year (Risks 37). Canada: Bid to recognised firefighters’ cancerThe opposition NDP party in Nova Scotia wants cancer recognised as an occupational disease for firefighters in the province. The left-of-centre party will try to make that law during the spring session of the legislature by introducing a private member’s bill. If passed, the law would require the Workers’ Compensation Board, the organisation responsible for payment of all workplace injury and disease compensation in the province, to assume automatically that firefighters with brain, bladder, kidney and other types of cancer contracted the condition on the job. The board would then be required to pay them benefits. The NDP government in the province of Manitoba has introduced similar legislation, as have 21 US states. NDP is urging Nova Scotia’s Tory government to also 'do the right thing' and support the bill. Europe: Work gets more violentAbout 10 per cent of the working population in the European Union has experienced physical or psychological harassment at work, according to a new study. The report from the Dublin-based European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions reveals the problem is on the increase in all European Union member states. 'Both men and women experience violence at work, but women remain more vulnerable than men, with women often concentrated in ‘high risk’ jobs such as nursing, social work and teaching,' said Raymond-Pierre Bodin, the Foundation's director. He added: 'Women are also most often victims of intimidation and psychological abuse while men are more frequently exposed to physical violence and assault.' The report adds sexual harassment at work, particularly against women, is commonplace in all European countries, but often goes unreported due to fear of being ostracised, job loss and other factors. Results 'also highlight the significant negative financial and productivity implications of violence and harassment at work,' says the report. It says that worker productivity can be reduced by at least 2 per cent as a result of psychological violence alone.
Southern Africa: Miners’ union hits out at Zimbabwe’s asbestosSouth Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has hit at out at Zimbabwe for frustrating a move to phase out all asbestos mining in Southern Africa. Zimbabwean delegates to a Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting opposed a resolution to phase out asbestos mining in the region. Zimbabwe, the only SADC country where the mineral is still being mined, earns more than US$50 million (£32m) a year from asbestos exports. Freda Gona, the national chair of the NUM, told the SADC meeting that Zimbabwe's position was unacceptable. The two-day meeting hoped to come up with an SADC declaration on asbestos that could be taken to the International Conference on Chrysotile Asbestos Cement Products, to be held in India in March. Moferefere Lekorotsoana, the head of information at the NUM, said Zimbabwe's stubbornness would cost more than jobs. 'All we know is asbestos kills,' said Lekorotsoana. Zimbabwe’s asbestos exports to Asia are still transported via South Africa using South African rail and ports. NUM has represented thousands of ex-miners seeking compensation for asbestos disease, most ex-employees of UK asbestos multinationals.
USA: Losing the war on cancerA coalition of public health experts and campaigners is saying the long-running US 'war on cancer' is being lost because too little priority is given to prevention. A report from the Cancer Prevention Coalition (CPC) says Americans face increasing cancer risks from occupational and environmental exposure to industrial carcinogens, but established government and non-profit cancer organisations are fixated on treatment rather than prevention. 'This report makes it clear that we are losing the war against cancer,' said Dr Samuel Epstein, CPC chair and author of 'The stop cancer before it starts campaign: How to win the losing war against cancer.' He said the usual approach tended to 'blame the victim' for contracting cancer, rather than explore the environmental causation that could be responsible for their illness. The Cancer Prevention Coalition report calls on states to enact toxics use reduction laws similar to that passed in 1989 by Massachusetts. The Massachusetts law requires statewide industries to disclose the chemicals they use, and since its passage the state's environmental emissions decreased by 73 per cent. 'This could set the stage for phasing out harmful carcinogens,' Epstein said.
RESOURCESGet Hazards!Where do you find out how to stitch up a dangerous employer, get those loo breaks you’ve always wanted, find out about unions behaving well and businesses behaving badly, and all with added union resources and bundles of news? Hazards magazine, the TUC-backed health and safety quarterly, is out now and includes comprehensive, worker-friendly news, lots of guidance for union reps on Workers’ Memorial Day, a factsheet on your rights to breaks at work and even a tear-off-and-send postcard to remind the government of its promise to get tough with safety criminals. Unions qualify for major discounts too, which mean Hazards is by far the best value health and safety magazine in print.
Reporters' handbook for safe journalismThe International Federation of Journalists has published a 135-page survival guide for journalists 'providing one of the most comprehensive manuals for working journalists and media staff facing risky assignments.' A survival guide for journalists is published online and gives detailed information on first aid techniques, risk awareness strategies and the quality of equipment journalists need to keep safe while in the field. 'Today there's talk of war and concern about the dangers facing correspondents in the frontline, but journalists and media staff are often at risk from the moment they leave the office,' said Christopher Warren, president of IFJ, the global journalists’ union. The guide provides information to help media staff covering conflict or in hostile environments at home. 'Safety in journalism is not just about keeping our heads down when bullets start flying,' said Warren. 'We have to change the culture of news gathering to put safety first. In so doing we will improve immeasurably the quality of media workers' lives and the quality of journalism itself.' The guide also highlights the International News Safety Institute (Risks 84), a global coalition of media organisations, journalists, media staff and press freedom groups, to be launched on 3 May this year - World Press Freedom Day. 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! Women’s health and safety, 6 MarchNorthern TUC Safety Forum is to run a women’s health and safety course in Gateshead on 6 March 2003. It says the course will 'focus on the practical aspects raising awareness on work related stress, women's health and the law, RSI and work-related upper limb disorders, violence and bullying in the workplace.' The Forum adds that delegates will be able to discuss and make practical recommendations on health, safety and gender issues. There is no charge to attend the training day, which is open to Forum members, members of the Northern TUC and union safety representatives. 'And we actively encourage safety reps to bring a manager as a guest,' say the organisers. Find out more or register. ‘Don’t choke on the smoke’ conference, 9 AprilThe TUC, anti-smoking campaigners Action on Smoking and Health and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health are holding a national conference at Congress House to call for the implementation of the long overdue Approved Code of Practice on passive smoking. Registration costs £30 for trade unionists. TUC deputy general secretary Frances O’Grady, National Asthma Campaign chief Donna Covey, former BMA chair Sir Alexander Macara will join MP Barry Sheerman, Baroness Gibson of Market Rasen and Lord Faulkner of Worcester. There will be examples of good practice and a review of the civil, criminal and disability law. More news on union approaches to workplace smoking. 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. Order a poster from the TUC (single copies free) or bulk copies at a good price from Hazards. TUC general secretary elect Brendan Barber has issued a personal message. Hazards Conference, 5-7 SeptemberThe Hazards Conference will be in London. Margaret Sharkey at the London Hazards Centre is the co-ordinator of the London end of the organisation. You can contact her via e-mail at margaret@lhc.org.uk or on 020 7794 5999. European Work Hazards Conference, 18-20 SeptemberThe next European Work Hazards Conference, where union health and safety reps and union safety officers, specialists and advisers come together to discuss approaches and strategies, will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 18-20 September 2003. European Work Hazards Network European Week for Health and Safety at Work, 13-19 OctoberThe theme for the Week in 2003 will be ‘dangerous substances’ (EU Agency press release). 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. Future years’ themes have also now been decided. 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 repsNEW COURSES FOR APRIL TO JULY 2003:Midlands, North, South East and East Anglia, 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 (5,200 words) issued 1 Mar 2003
