PDF version available for download (PDF help)
Risksissue no 110 - 14 June 2003 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Editor: Rory O'Neill of Hazards magazine. Comments to Owen Tudor All change againAs we went to ‘press’, the TUC learned that the Minister for health and safety, Nick Brown MP, had left his post at the Department of Work and Pensions in this week’s reshuffle. The immensely popular minister was the fifth person to hold the brief in six years, and with Michael Meacher’s departure as Environment Minister, no previous occupant of the health and safety brief remains in Government. Other Ministers involved with health and safety have moved on - Lord Falconer (corporate killing) was promoted to the Cabinet to replace Lord Irvine, and Hazel Blears and David Lammy at the Department of Health have moved to other departments. Transport minister John Spellar moved as well, being replaced by Dr Kim Howells. As yet, most of the responsibilities within Departments have not been revealed, but Melanie Johnson MP is the new Minister for Public Health.
CONTENTS
Risks is the TUC’s weekly online bulletin for safety reps and others, read each week by over 7,000 subscribers and 1,500 on the TUC website. To receive this bulletin every week, click here. Past issues Useful links Disclaimer and Privacy statement. FEATUREGo direct-or to jail
Six figure fines after five year death prosecution delayA company has been fined £100,000 five years after serious safety offences led to the death of a student. The company is likely to evade justice, however, because it is in liquidation and it is not expected it will pay the fine. Mohammed Omar Akhtar, 20, died on 13 August 1997 a forklift truck, driving out of Moores Timber Merchants in Manchester, struck his car. The company and its director Michael Broadbent, who was fined £5,000, were found guilty of 'serious and avoidable' health and safety breaches. Greater Manchester Hazards Centre’s Hilda Palmer, who chairs the national Hazards Campaign, said the company’s long-term failure to undertake risk assessments or implement necessary safety controls that could have prevented the death were 'so serious we feel the court should have had the power to impose a custodial sentence.' HSE initially refused to investigate Mr Akhtar's death, saying it was a road traffic and not a workplace accident. But it backed down in 2000 when the Akhtar family, backed by safety campaigners from GMHC, took the case to judicial review. The company is now in liquidation, and is unlikely to pay the fine, said the judge. The owners shut the company, bought a boat and moved to Guernsey, the court heard. Dead man's bosses admit neglectThe sister of a man who died after falling into an unguarded vat of hot paint has said she is 'deeply upset' company bosses are not facing manslaughter charges. Two managers have admitted failing to supervise Christopher Shute, 30, who was a technical adviser at the Ford Transit van factory in Southampton. Peter Preston and Paul McKenzie, who are due to be sentenced on 16 June, were in charge of Mr Shute at the time of the 17 August 2000 tragedy. At Winchester Crown Court both pleaded guilty to neglecting their employee's welfare. After the case, Anne Gundry, Mr Shute's sister, said she was 'deeply upset' there had not been a manslaughter charge. 'I definitely think it should have gone to trial,' she said. 'I feel it would have been justice to my brother. He did not deserve to die through their negligence. Everybody should be safe at work.' Original charges of manslaughter due to gross negligence were dropped. Charges were also brought against three companies. Ford pleaded guilty to breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act at an earlier hearing, and was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £22,500 costs. The designers of the paint tank, Haden Drysys International Ltd, pleaded guilty to safety offences. Philips Services (Europe) Ltd, the contractor that the trio worked for, was also charged, but the court heard the company no longer exists. Canada: Union-backed safety accountability bill moves forwardCorporations will be held criminally responsible if they fail to provide a safe work environment, under a proposed Canadian safety law. The bill requires employers to take 'reasonable measures' to protect workers from 'physical injury or harm,' said federal justice minister Martin Cauchon. The move, said the minister, is a 'direct response to the Westray Mine disaster,' the 1992 coal mine explosion that killed 26 miners. A subsequent inquiry found the disaster was both predictable and preventable, and laid blame on Westray management and two provincial government departments. None of the people who ran the mine went to prison. The union-backed 'Westray legislation' also provides tougher penalties for company officials who direct their employees to commit crimes to benefit the corporation, and for those who become aware of criminal activity in the workplace but don't take action to stop them. Corporations could face fines of up to Can$1 million (£444,000) if they are found responsible. The Westray disaster became the focus for Canadian union campaigns on corporate safety crimes - and the unions warn more work need to be done to gain the political support required so the bill becomes law.
UNION NEWSTUC refutes all clear for keyboard useThe TUC has rejected the conclusions of a Danish study into the effect of computer keyboards on workers’ health. TUC’s Owen Tudor says: 'no one ever said keyboarding itself was bad for you - what we say is that the way they get used can and does cause RSI in tens of thousands of workers.' The research into 9,000 trade union members found that working over twenty hours a week with computer keyboards carried no increased risk of carpal tunnel syndrome, and suggested that 'computer use does not pose a severe occupational hazard for developing symptoms of CTS'. It said that cases of CTS among keyboard workers were therefore caused by non-work factors, although it found a 'statistically non-significant' increase in CTS symptoms among mouse users. The TUC has rejected this assumption. Tudor says: 'the factors that cause RSI, including carpal tunnel syndrome, include the overall workload - not just hours of work, but pace of work, deadlines and so on - as well as poor ergonomics, bad lighting and stress. Using Danish trade union members means that conditions at work were likely to be some of the best in the world!'
Guard secures workplace toilet breaks
Tube driver wins victimisation caseAn RMT activist has been re-instated to his job as a London Underground Ltd (LUL) Tube train driver after winning an appeal against demotion for alleged safety offences. Glenroy Watson, a long-standing union rep and a member of the TUC's Race Relations Committee, was demoted to station assistant with a pay cut of £10,000 after the company accused him of gross misconduct for allegedly 'overcarrying' a cleaner into the siding on his train, then leading him to safety over live wires. 'It was clear that Glenroy had been singled out for his union activities,' said RMT general secretary Bob Crow, who represented Glenroy at his appeal. 'We were able to show that others found guilty of the same offence have never faced such drastic disciplinary action, yet LUL had failed to prove that Glenroy was guilty at all.' OTHER NEWSSafety chief praises 'immensely beneficial' union roleBritain’s top safety boss has praised the 'immensely beneficial' union role that leads to lower accident rates in union workplaces. Bill Callaghan, HSC chair, told the annual conference of general union GMB: 'The impact of trade unions on workplace health and safety is immensely beneficial. We know that the presence of a recognised union lowers the accident rate by a quarter compared with non-union establishments.' While unions can have a dramatic impact, however - he cited one study that found union safety reps 'had more impact than a visit from an inspector' (Risks 66) - he said there had been a drop off in the number of reps providing this safety cover. 'Almost 60 per cent of workplaces with more than 25 workers do not have safety representatives,' he said. 'To put it bluntly, many employers I talk to do not see safety reps as relevant. I want to change that.' He said HSC 'is promoting the role of safety representatives' and was looking at improving safety reps’ rights and 'more initiatives to strengthen employee participation.' Callaghan dismissed criticism of HSC’s enforcement arm, the HSE, saying Britain’s safety record 'is now one of the best in the world.' Security review after jobcentre stabbingJobcentre safety measures have again been called into question following a horrific knife attack in front of staff and customers - the second at Croydon's Jobcentre in less than two years. Staff are receiving counselling after witnessing the incident, when a man in his early 20s was stabbed in the side of his head. The incident follows one in August 2001 when two police officers were seriously injured responding to a disturbance. A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said safety risk assessments are carried out regularly 'but significantly after an incident has occurred.' Civil service union PCS has been campaigning for additional safety measures in jobcentres. A PCS survey last year found workers in jobcentres feared violence more than workers in any other job (Risks 78). The injured man is said to be in a stable condition. Guard injured in prisoner escapeTwo dangerous prisoners escaped and a guard was shot when gunmen carried out an audacious ambush on a Securicor prison escort van as it arrived at a court in London. The two prisoners were facing charges in connection with an alleged plot to steal more than £1m from a Securicor van. The back door of the vehicle transporting the prisoners, a Securicor van, was forced open after the driver was shot in the knee by a man disguised as a postman. Mark Freeman, deputy general secretary of prison officers’ union POA, called for a review of prison van security measures. Prisoners have escaped from both Securicor and Group 4 since private companies began ferrying prisoners to and from courts 10 years ago. Work experience schoolboy has leg amputatedA 15-year-old schoolboy has had his leg amputated after an horrific accident while on work experience at a stoneyard. Michael Wilkinson's right leg was crushed when he was dragged beneath the caterpillar tracks of a mechanical digger as he walked across the yard. Michael, a pupil at Wyke Manor School, Bradford, had been on work placement at Russell's stone merchants for just over a week when the tragedy happened. It was part of a rolling programme of work experience for older pupils in Bradford schools. Michael's stepfather, Andrew Hall, said: 'He lost a lot of blood and was under the machine for five minutes screaming for help, but the man in the digger couldn't hear him because he was wearing protective ear muffs.' A spokesperson for the HSE confirmed the watchdog is investigating an accident. HSC considers tighter standards for RCFs etcThe HSC is seeking comments on proposals for new maximum exposure limits (MELs) on two highly hazardous substances. HSC says it is wants views on whether to introduce a tighter standard for refractory ceramic fibres, used in kiln and furnace linings, because the fibres have recently been classified as a possible cancer risk in humans. Before it introduces a new standard, however, HSC is seeking comments - and it particularly interested to hear if small firms think they can comply with a stricter, safer standard. HSC is also seeking views on a new tighter standards for subtilisins, asthma-causing enzymes used in the manufacture of detergents and animal feeds.
INTERNATIONALAustralia: Different hemispheres, same hazards
Australia: Asbestos deaths insurance scandal spreadsSick and dying victims of asbestos disease could face bedside court hearings or could lose their compensation entirely under a secret insurance industry plan. The backroom dealing by Australian insurance giant Allianz follow similar manoeuvres by insurance companies in the UK (Risks 106) and US (Risks 107). Australian construction and manufacturing unions, CFMEU and AMWU, exposed the 'hush-hush Allianz campaign' to wash its hands of millions of dollars owed to victims of dust-related diseases like mesothelioma and asbestosis. A report in union e-zine Workers Online says Allianz is lobbying vigorously for changes that would see compensation settlements capped, claims die with the victims, and which would allow Allianz to shift remaining liability onto the public. AMWU secretary, Paul Bastian, said victims should not pay because the insurer under-estimated the cost of asbestos disease claims: 'This company accepted premiums from asbestos and lagging manufacturers for many years,' he said. 'These funds were invested and the company reaped the profit. The company made a calculated business decision that the number of people it needed to compensate would be less than the profits.' USA: Flight attendants demand protection from toxic cabin airAir quality standards on aircraft have been criticised by the US flight attendants’ union and health experts. In testimony to a 5 June US government transport subcommittee, Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) president Pat Friend said SARS had drawn attention to the problem, but 'is not the greatest health risk associated with cabin air quality.' Describing current cabin air quality standards as 'obscenely low,' she added: 'Many more severe health risks exist in the cabin environment. Passengers and crew persistently report incidents involving exposure to carbon monoxide, to neurotoxins, and to ozone gas… each one delivered to the cabin in its air supply, largely as a result of the airlines’ shoddy maintenance practices.' A written statement from AFA to the House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee said: 'On aircraft, there is no ventilation standard, despite the fact that aircraft are the most densely occupied of any environment.' Several government researchers urged the US Congress to order air quality testing. Dr John Howard, director of the government safety research body NIOSH, said: 'Establishing a causal connection between cabin air quality and the health complaints of flight crew and passengers is extremely difficult since there is no surveillance system in place.' The AFA is the only US union with a British branch affiliated to the TUC. USA: Safety accountability should change, says DemocratDangerous US employers could face jail time under a proposed new law - or could get be given a get out of jail free card if an alternative proposal goes through. Jon S Corzine, a US Democratic senator from New Jersey, says he intends to introduce a 'Wrongful Death Accountability Act' to increase criminal penalties for employers who willfully violate safety laws. Meanwhile, a bill that would make it much harder to cite a willful violation of safety regulations is set to go before a 17June Congress subcommittee. The 'Occupational Safety and Health Fairness Act' is backed by all the Republicans on the subcommittee, so is likely to progress. Commenting on the union backed wrongful death bill, Senator Corzine said: 'Causing the death of an employee on the job through willful violation of worker safety standards should not be treated as a trivial federal offence.' He added: 'Because the penalty upon conviction is so minimal and the resources required to bring a case to trial are substantial, federal prosecutors have been reluctant to prosecute flagrant safety violations that cause death. As a result, the deterrent value of the criminal statute has eroded significantly.'
USA: Casinos get exemption to New Jersey’s smoking banA New Jersey senate committee has approved a clean air bill that doesn't make the air in the state’s casinos any cleaner. Revisions to the original draft mean casino gambling areas and bars will be exempt from the 'Clean Indoor Air Act,' which had sought to ban smoking in common areas of places like casinos, restaurants, bars, banks and hotels. The move followed high stakes lobbying by the casino industry - Atlantic City in New Jersey is the east coast’s Los Vegas. Democratic state senator Ronald Rice said: 'Casinos are not that big that they run the state now. You need to tell some of these people to go to hell.' Republican state senator Diane Allen also opposed the casino exemption because it creates a 'two-tier system of justice.' She said: 'It says: if you work in a casino, your health is not important. If you work anywhere else, it is important.' The Clean Indoor Air Act, which has to be approved by the whole state Senate, will ban smoking in common areas of indoor public places and at workplaces, and anywhere on the grounds of elementary and secondary schools. Exemptions include casinos, cigar bars, cigar lounges, tobacco establishments, owner-operated bars, and buildings owned and operated by social clubs. Many casino employees and their union leaders testified during an earlier hearing that a comprehensive bill was needed to protect workers from second hand smoke. USA: Stressed at work have fat chance of survivalStress at work greatly increases the risks of a fatal heart attack or stroke, a major study has found. An American Journal of Epidemiology report of the ten year Work Site Blood Pressure Study, where researchers obtained detailed occupational histories from 213 employed men, concludes those exposed to stress for at least half their working lives are 25 per cent more likely to die from a heart attack, while the odds of a fatal stroke increase by almost half. Lead author Dr Paul Landsbergis, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, said: 'This effect of cumulative exposure to job strain is larger than the estimated impact of ageing 30 years or gaining 40lb in weight.' He told Risks active unions are the healthy alternative. 'Unions can play an important role in reducing work stress among their members, through legislative action, bargaining, grievances, member education, and by health and safety committee activity,' he said. 'By increasing job security and skills training, increasing employees' participation and influence on the job over issues such as transfers and promotions, and by bargaining over working conditions, such as health and safety, bullying, and overtime, unions can help increase employees' job control and moderate job demands - and thus reduce the harmful health effects of ‘job strain’.'
RESOURCESTUC: smoke gets in the web
Special advice to make shopworkers safeThe UK’s shopworkers have a new aid in their campaign to improve safety in store with the publication of a comprehensive new guide from retail union Usdaw. Deputy general secretary John Hannett said the new publication is part of the union’s Freedom from Fear campaign. 'This guide is a vital part of our campaign to make shops safer,' he said. 'The support for the Freedom From Fear campaign from retail employers has been very encouraging. We now need to make sure that their commitment and policies are working effectively at store level.' He added: 'The guide provides a tool-kit for safety reps to use in their workplaces, and to work with their managers and other local stakeholders to make sure that members are protected.'
Managing asbestosThe HSE has teamed up with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the Federation of Small Business and the Asbestos Removal Contractors Association to produce a new, short guide on managing asbestos in buildings. The guide says up to 500 000 commercial, industrial and public buildings in the UK are likely to contain asbestos materials, and adds: 'Unless this material is properly managed, building and maintenance workers may breathe in harmful asbestos fibres when carrying out everyday jobs.' The guide says under a law to take effect on 21 May 2004, 'dutyholders' will have to ensure asbestos in their buildings poses no risks to workers or occupants, and covers all non-domestic buildings. It adds that dutyholders 'need to start work now on managing the risk from asbestos to save lives later.' However, the TUC is concerned at the lack of reference to consultation with workers and safety reps, and will be pressing the HSE to produce guidance on that to update a TUC/Hazards campaign guide issued before the new laws took effect.
EVENTS AND COURSESTUC courses for safety repsCOURSES FOR APRIL TO JULY 2003:Midlands, North, North West, Scotland, South East and East Anglia, South West, Wales, Yorkshire and Humberside NEW! COURSES FOR SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2003Midlands, North, Yorkshire and Humberside Law enforcement and corporate accountability, 7 JulyGovernment ministers, MPs from all main political parties, trade unions, employer organisations, bereaved families and the Health and Safety Executive are all speaking at the TUC-Centre for Corporate Accountability 3rd joint conference on 'Law enforcement and corporate accountability.' Speakers include: Rt. Hon. Nick Brown MP, minister for work; Brendan Barber, TUC; Janet Asherson, CBI; Anne Jones, Simon Jones Memorial Campaign; Neal Stone, HSE; Lord Falconer; Home Office minister; Patricia Peters, Institute of Directors; Tony Lloyd MP, chair, TU group of Labour MPs; Ross Cranston QC MP, former Solicitor General; and many more…
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 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.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. |
Pressure is increasing for the Government to add to its corporate killing proposals with measures to make it possible to jail employers. Mick Rix, general secretary of train drivers’ union Aslef, said: 'If reckless corporate behaviour is really to be challenged, directors must be held personally responsible, not just the company as a whole,' with prison sentences and disqualifications for dangerous directors. The June issue of UNISON’s Health and Safety Organiser notes: 'Unless criminal sanctions are aimed at the boardroom/senior management level there will be little incentive for those in charge to take action. For a company, a conviction even in the most serious case will only lead to a fine, unlikely to be a major worry for a big employer. The threat of imprisonment would be a far more effective deterrent.' On 17 June, TGWU will launch at the House of Commons its campaign 'for robust new legislation to create the offence of corporate killing and firmly establish the duties of company directors.' Bill Morris, TGWU general secretary, will present a report, A hard day's work never killed anyone - negligent bosses did. The calls are not restricted to unions. A 7 June editorial in top medical journal The Lancet said: 'The UK government's new law may well be a step towards making companies more financially accountable for their actions, but until chief executives are made directly responsible for decisions that lead to injury, it is unlikely that the huge toll of work-related injuries will fall.' Unions GMB and UCATT called for jail sentences for dangerous directors when Blunkett announced his proposals in May (
A top UK union safety expert has been exchanging organising tips with his counterparts down under. Owen Tudor, the TUC’s safety head, met last month with union and official safety organisations in Australia. He told the OHS Rep website: 'Union occupational health and safety (OHS) reps know it's not about being a health and safety expert, but about representing all workers. It's important to know too, that as unionists, we want to find solutions - it's not just about 'yelping with outrage'.' He said unions where ever they are have to contend with employers failing into the '4C' categories - the criminals, the clueless, the compliant, and the committed. Tudor added that the presence of active, informed and trained union reps was the single factor most likely to make workplaces safer. 'It isn't just that safety reps are the best way to improve safety, he said. 'The research actually found that virtually nothing else had much effect…The evidence is clear and unequivocal - wherever you look, safety reps have a positive impact on health and safety.' UK unions are looking to capitalise on this 'union safety effect,' he said, by expanding the role of workplace safety reps. Australian unions are running their own 'reactivate health and safety' campaign (
The TUC-backed Newsletter (5,200 words) issued 13 Jun 2003
