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Risksissue no 118 - 9 August 2003 |
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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 7,500 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. FEATURE -WORKED INTO THE GROUNDDrop dead! Deadly diseases of the modern workplace
Hospital told to cure stress or elseThe HSE has warned a leading NHS hospital it must act to reduce workplace stress among its 1,100 staff. HSE ordered West Dorset general hospitals NHS trust to undertake a risk assessment of the burden being placed on employees at the three-star Dorset county hospital. The HSE improvement notice was the first served on a British employer to control workplace stress since the introduction of new workplace stress management standards (Risks 111). If local NHS management fails to respond adequately by 15 December, the trust could face substantial fines or prison terms for its senior executives, although a prison sentence would be highly unusual for a workplace safety offence. HSE investigated working conditions at the hospital after staff complained of bullying and unbearable hours. Inspectors found management did not have required procedures to assess the stress risks. Australia: Stressed employees are worked to deathAustralian union safety campaign UnionSafe is warning that work practices, the demise of job security, escalating demands, and violence and bullying in the workplace are creating tired and stressed out employees prone to heart attacks, strokes, disease and depression and more likely to take their own lives. Backing the TUC and Hazards 'worked to death' campaign to tackle overwork, the New South Wales (NSW) based safety organisation said overwork is a major problem in Australia. Figures from national union federation ACTU show the country has the second longest working hours in the OECD and, on current trends, will soon have the longest. It says 31 per cent of Australian employees now work hours that would be illegal in Europe. NSW Labor Council safety specialist Mary Yaager said: 'Australian employers are literally working their staff to death, with on the job stress, violence and fatigue edging their way up to become major causes of workplace fatalities.' She added: 'Employers in the short-term might be maximising profits but this situation is not sustainable and unfortunately it is the workers that are paying the deadly price.'
New Zealand: Unions take on the epidemic of overworkUnions in New Zealand are calling for more work-life balance to reverse an epidemic of overwork related health problems. New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (CTU) president Ross Wilson said: 'All over the world, the challenge is to balance secure work, with time for family and a healthy lifestyle.' CTU research in 2002 revealed the consequences of overwork for ordinary New Zealanders. The 'Thirty Families' project was based on a series of interviews with working families, and found that long hours were having a serious impact on workers' ability to balance work with relationships, family life, and participation in the community. It concluded incredible stress was being placed on workers and their families by long hours and heavy workloads. New Zealand finance union Finsec is also calling for better work-life balance to tackle work stresses. Finsec general secretary Andrew Casidy said the union’s on-going survey pointed to low staffing levels as the primary cause of stress. Both NZCTU and Finsec are backing the TUC and Hazards 'worked to death' campaign to tackle overwork hazards.
USA: Overtime showdown looms in SenateWhen Senate Democrats return from their August break, they face the daunting task of foiling the Bush administration’s assault on the 40 hour work week. 'Unless the White House amends its proposed changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, this critical showdown will determine if the fabric of American working life disintegrates any further under President Bush’s brand of compassionate conservatism,' warns a Labor Research Association briefing. AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard L Trumka told one of many recent trade union rallies against the proposals: 'Just because it’s the new century, just because we have high-tech jobs, just because more people are working in an office doesn’t mean we should become a nation of workers who never see their families and spend 50 or 60 hours a week at the office.' Latest official figures show US workers are now working longer hours than at any time since the great depression (Risks 117). And new technology could be making matters worse. Dr Benjamin C Amick of the University of Texas School of Public Health said: 'We’re at a strange point in the development of work,' adding that new communications technologies mean 'we can work 24-7, unimpeded.' UNION NEWSHeatwave workers at boiling point need protectionBritain’s sweltering workforce needs the legal protection of an enforceable maximum workplace temperature, according to the TUC. It says while there is a legal minimum temperature below which no-one should have to work, there is no equivalent if it gets too hot. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, said: 'Sweatshop conditions can push workers to boiling point. Extreme heat is as bad for you as extreme cold. There is no logic for having a minimum work temperature but no maximum.' Too much heat can cause fatigue, extra strain on the heart and lungs, dizziness and fainting, or heat cramps due to loss of water and salt. Hot, dry air can increase the risk of eye and throat infections, and breathing problems such as asthma and rhinitis. The TUC wants a maximum working temperature of 30 degrees celcius, or 27 degrees celcius for those doing strenuous work, with employers required to take action when the temperature hits the celcius ceiling. In the meantime, TUC is calling on employers to take commonsense measures to protect the health and welfare of their staff. TUC’s Brendan Barber said: 'The TUC urges employers to be flexible in these tough temperatures. If they cannot reduce the heat at work they could relax dress codes, allow more breaks, and more shift rotation.'
Union condemn plans to give rail staff 'policing' powersGovernment proposals to give rail staff powers to issue fixed-penalty notices for a range of offences have been condemned by rail union RMT as 'policing on the cheap.' Under the Department for Transport proposals, British Transport Police would be able to accredit certain rail company and station staff with limited police powers to deal immediately with specific offences and public nuisances on the railways. They would be able to issue fixed penalty notices for offences of: cycling on a footway, dog fouling, dropping litter, trespassing on a railway and throwing stones or other objects at trains. RMT warns however that the latest proposals could lead to an increase in the already spiralling numbers of assaults on rail staff. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said it seemed the government had recognised the need for more policing on the railways, but had opted for the wrong solution. 'There are far too many assaults on our members already without putting them in situations where they are likely to experience even more,' he said. Official figures released in June show there was a 24 per cent increase in the number of verbal and physical assaults on rail staff last year (Risks 112). OTHER NEWSPoor training linked to fatalityEngineering company NEF Steel Fabrication Limited has been fined £10,000 following the death of a worker. The Darlington-based firm admitted failing to ensure the safety of its employees, after 22-year-old James West was crushed in September 2002. It also pleaded guilty to permitting employees to use a crane without adequate training. Teesside Crown Court heard new employee Frederick Bone had not driven a crane for 10 years, when the vehicle hit a stack of metal, part of which fell killing father-of-one Mr West and injuring another worker. The court was also told the accident investigation showed that almost everyone in the 10-worker company drove the crane and most of them had no training. After the case, HSE inspector Dr David Shallow called for tougher penalties for firms that did not provide proper training. Judge Peter Fox QC imposed a £5,000 fine for each offence, with £3,800 costs, after studying details of the company's trading accounts and the amount it spent on training. Sympathy but little justice after work deathA judge who said no penalty could make up for the death of an engineering worker, went on require payment of a small fine from the company boss responsible. Jonathan Bygate was fined £6,500 after admitting breaching health and safety regulations that led to the death of lathe operator Steven Hughes, 29. Bygate, who as works manager had been the director responsible for safety at Markyate Precision Engineering, was prosecuted by the HSE. The company is now in liquidation. Mr Hughes died when he was struck by a lathe component that detached itself from the machine and smashed through a safety screen. An investigation revealed the screen was not the type specified in the lathe manufacturer's manual and that it was too flimsy. The proper screen should have consisted of two layers, one of glass and the other of polycarbonated plastic and could have prevented the projectile from reaching Mr Hughes. Judge Michael Findlay Baker said no sentence he could pass could make up for the loss of life and the grief and sorrow Mr Hughes's family and friends were now going through. He gave Bygate three months to pay the fine or risk imprisonment. Something fishy as serial criminal gets off with tiny fineA fish company has been fined £6,500 for health and safety breaches after a worker suffering injuries so serious in a workplace fall he had to give up his job. Reading Council prosecuted the Surrey Fish Company after being approached by the worker four months after the March 2002 accident. The worker, who dislocated and fractured his ankle, was forced to leave his job weeks after the incident due to the severity of his injuries. Environmental Health Officer Matthew Moore discovered that on top of failing to report this incident, the company, which trades as Southern Seafoods, had failed to tell the council about another 24 reportable accidents, each failure a breach of the reporting regulations RIDDOR. 'Some of these were pretty serious. For example, there were cases of people being struck by forklift trucks,' said Mr Moore, who said the workplace was 'one of the most dangerous warehouses' he had seen. The employee, who is planning to make a civil claim for compensation from the Surrey Fish Company, has since had seven operations on his ankle. He has had a permanent metal plate fitted, and continues to visit hospital twice a week to have a 7.6cm open wound dressed. Major building firm pays out for site deathConstruction firm George Wimpey North West has been ordered to pay more than £200,000 following an incident in which a stores worker died. The company was found guilty at Liverpool Crown Court of criminal safety breaches relating to the September 2000 death of Harold Moran, 54. Mr Moran was killed when a forklift truck reversed into him on a building site in Kirkby. The jury found the company had failed to ensure its workers were not exposed to risks from the movement of vehicles. Graham Wood QC, representing George Wimpey North West, told the court the company had won awards for its health and safety policies. He said Mr Moran's death provoked the company into taking further action to make sure that workers were safe. Judge Nigel Gilmour QC ordered George Wimpey North West to pay a fine of £150,000, plus prosecution costs of £56,000. Rail safety reforms 'not in place'Many of the safety recommendations made in the aftermath of the Paddington and Southall rail crashes are still not being followed, according to the HSC. Seven people died in the 1997 Southall crash and 31 were killed in the Paddington crash in 1999. Both sparked public inquiries which were followed by the publication of 295 safety recommendations. But 68 have still not been implemented, according to HSC. Rail bosses dispute the figure and say 11 of those have been implemented. HSC chair Bill Callaghan said: 'I remain concerned that (Paddington inquiry chairman) Lord Cullen's core message on safety culture is not yet penetrating down through the whole industry.' HSC has urged Network Rail and train operating companies to address remaining issues, including managing contractors, train protection systems and embracing the culture of safety. But Mr Callaghan added: 'Of the recommendations yet to be delivered, I regard those dealing with safety culture and management of contractors as the most important.' Rail unions have said consistently that the use of contractors has fragmented and undermined the rail safety system, and have called for maintenance and other services to be brought back in-house.
Daily dangers on the busesWorking as a bus driver can leave you physically and mentally scarred at the end of the day, according to a report in the Edinburgh Evening News. It says every second day, a driver is attacked in and around the Lothians. The report says the phenomenon is not limited to the Edinburgh area, adding 'in particular Oxford and Hull are reporting increasing levels of violence on the buses - but with bricks through windows and the terrorising of drivers and passengers it’s no wonder many drivers dread late shifts.' Bus driver Peter Williamson, chair of the Lothian Buses branch of the Transport and General Workers’ Union, said: 'There is quite rightly an outcry when nurses and doctors and fire brigades and ambulance crews are assaulted while doing their job but there needs to be a harsher punishment for assaults on bus drivers to set an example.' Williamson added: 'The government say that anybody stealing a mobile phone should get 18 months’ imprisonment. Yet there was a case in Aberdeen where a bus driver was assaulted and off his work for months and the person was fined £25. The punishment should fit the crime. We feel that some of the cases haven’t been taken seriously when they’ve been getting reported.' He said the attacks, or the threat of attacks, was causing stress-related illness among drivers. Traffic marshals get hot and botheredSoaring temperatures and over-heated motorists led to traffic marshals being withdrawn from duty last weekend. The county council employees became targets for enraged motorists when enforcing the closure of the A6097 near Nottingham. But they pulled out after verbal abuse turned into threats of violence from drivers. Newark and Sherwood county councillor Andy Stewart, said: 'The engineer in charge felt his men were in danger of being assaulted and he withdrew them at about two o'clock.' He added: 'It is totally unacceptable that people trying to help drivers around roadworks should be treated like this. In future I think it would be worth having a police officer on duty.' INTERNATIONALArgentina: Supermarket cashiers can’t check out for loo breaksSupermarket cashiers in Argentina are being forced to wear nappies (diapers) because they can’t take toilet breaks at work, a union official said. Female cashiers in western Mendoza province must wear adult nappies in case 'cold, nerves, pressure or stress' provoke incontinence, union official Jorge Cordova told local news agency Diarios y Noticias. Cordova refused to name the supermarket, but he did say the chain is backed by foreign capital, said Sandra Varela, Mendoza's labour subsecretary. 'The truth is, it's difficult to imagine a line of 20 adult cashiers wearing diapers for eight hours,' said Varela, who is investigating the matter. 'In 17 years as a labour lawyer, I've never heard anything like this before.' TUC has highlighted widespread loo breaks abuse in the UK, and is calling for a legal right for workers to take a toilet break (Risks 94). Earlier this year GMB member Gavin Ruddick won an employment tribunal after his employer said the security guard could not take any breaks during a 12-hour shift (Risks 110).
Australia: Workers 'speak up together' for safetyWorkers are being urged to 'speak up together' for health and safety as part of a massive new union campaign in the Australian state of Victoria. Trade unionists, union safety representatives and representatives of official safety watchdog WorkSafe heard Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) secretary Leigh Hubbard say speaking up is an essential part of improving workplace occupational health and safety (OHS) standards. 'We have a lot of work to do not only to encourage workers to speak out but to give them the framework and infrastructure to do so,' he said at the campaign launch. He added that international research confirmed that unionised workplaces were safer because workers were not easily intimidated or reluctant to raise safety concerns if they had the support of a union. The campaign aims to provide extra support to union safety reps, increase the profile and number of safety reps, provide more information to workplaces on health and safety, and advocate for the provision of more training and resources for reps.
Australia: Unions just say no… to drugs testsAustralian employers are finding they are testing workers’ patience as they attempt to railroad mandatory drug testing a work. Thousands of Qantas workers at mass meetings this week resolved not to participate in the airline’s drug testing proposals (Risks 116). They have asked the Australian Industrial Relations Commission to recommend that Qantas postpone implementation of the testing, due to start in two weeks, and say they will support any worker disciplined by Qantas under the testing policy. They want Qantas management to change the drug testing policy to one where workers would be tested only when they exhibited signs of impairment from alcohol or drugs. At Pioneer Concrete, where random testing is expected to begin on 11 August, members of the Australian Workers Union have said they will walk off the job at the first instance of a worker being asked to submit to a drug test. Employers wanting to implement compulsory random drug testing should be obliged to show a connection between the use of a substance and impairment, according to Kathryn Heiler, a senior researcher with the Australian Centre for Industrial Relations, Research and Training and a CFMEU policy adviser.
Australia: High stakes in coal safety strikeQueensland’s multi-billion dollar coal industry ground to a halt after unions called a snap strike over safety issues. Thousands of miners walked off the job at 6pm on 4 August on a 24 hour stoppage. Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) state secretary Andrew Vickers said the strike was 'a protest stoppage, a bit of a punishment stoppage.' Mr Vickers said the Queensland Mines Rescue Service (QMRS) had reneged on a commitment to staff the rescue station at Blackwater mine adequately. Mr Vickers said the rescue service had promised to have four properly-trained staff working across the safety network at any one time, including one at Blackwater. 'If stations aren't properly manned to provide an adequate level of emergency response we won't work,' Mr Vickers said. Mines minister Stephen Robertson confirmed the safety network had been under-staffed. He said the mines rescue service had 'assured the government and the unions it would have appropriate staffing,' adding: 'The solution to this problem lies in the hands of the mining industry which fully funds and operates the QMRS.' The strike was partly prompted by Labor MP Jim Pearce who threatened to quit the party in the Labor-run state over the safety issue.
Global: Hazards where the sun shinesSummer sun is being recognised as a major short- and long-term hazards to workers. In Europe, currently sweltering in record temperatures, workers have been telling employers to cool it. In Britain, the TUC has called for a maximum legal temperature. One firm offered its staff a 'sun' day off on the hottest day of the year. In Sweden, bus driver Mats Lundgren is wearing a dress to work, after his boss said a rigid dress code meant he couldn’t wear shorts to work. 'It's even better than shorts. It's unbearable driving a bus in long trousers when the sun is blazing through the windscreen, but with the skirt it feels just great,' he said. In Australia, where it is winter at the moment, the serious long-term consequences of occupational exposure to sunlight have been highlighted by a retired truck driver’s plight. Every few weeks a dermatologist burns off up to 30 cancerous lesions from Eric Reeder's upper body. The 71-year-old retired truck driver has launched legal action in Melbourne's County Court against his former employer, claiming years of exposure to the sun while delivering bricks for Boral Resources caused his skin cancers. It is believed to be the first time a court will test the liability of employers for protecting workers from exposure to harmful ultra-violet radiation, with previous claims for damages settled before they reached a judge.
South Africa: 100 workers die every monthSouth Africa’s Department of Labour has launched a probe into the circumstances surrounding the death of a municipal worker crushed to death between two trucks late last month. The department says an average of 100 workers who are killed in workplace accidents in South Africa every month. Departmental spokesperson Snuki Zikalala said minister of labour Membathisi Mdladlana condemned the death of the worker 'in the strongest possible terms,' adding: 'Should it be found that anybody was negligent, the law will take its course.' Zikalala said: 'Statistics indicate that on average over 100 workers per month are killed in workplace accidents. One death is a death too many, because workers do not go to work to die. Together with our social partners we are committed to ensuring that South African workplaces are safe.' RESOURCESAll union reps need…. Hazards
Amicus updatesAmicus-MSF has added excellent new resources to its Working Environment Unit website. Its concise briefing on the changes to the Working Time Regulations that came into effect on 1 August 2003 includes links to DTI and TUC briefings. A new health and safety publications section includes copies of Amicus health and safety newsletters and other resources.
Get your Euroweek action pack now!The HSE says this year’s European Week for Safety and Health at Work, October 13-18, is trying to get everyone to think more about how to ensure these substances do not affect them and their families. The safety watchdog has produced a free Euroweek action pack containing a 12 page newsletter 'full of information and ideas'. The pack points organisations towards information sources including HSE’s free COSHH Essentials website (COSHH = Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health). The HSE bag of goodies also includes a mini CD, factsheets, leaflets, stickers and a poster, focusing on this year’s theme of dangerous substances. HSE says an estimated 6,000 people die from cancer due to occupational causes every year and an estimated 66,000 people suffer from new or existing skin diseases caused by work - around two thirds have dermatitis or eczema. It adds that every year 7,000 new cases of asthma are occupationally caused or have work as a significant contributory factor.
HSE COMAH newsA new HSE webpage provides access to information on the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (COMAH), the law covering the country’s most hazardous industrial sites. HSE says COMAH applies mainly to the chemical industry, but also to some storage activities, explosives and nuclear sites, and other industries where threshold quantities of certain dangerous substances are kept or used. The webpage includes online versions of HSE guidance, leaflets, manuals and reports. EVENTS AND COURSESOnly 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! TUC courses for safety repsCOURSES FOR SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2003Midlands, North, North West, Scotland, South East, South West, Wales, Yorkshire and Humberside Hazards Conference, 5-7 SeptemberThe Hazards Conference will be in London. Margaret Sharkey at the London Hazards Centre is the coordinator of the London end of the organisation. You can contact her via e-mail at margaret@lhc.org.uk or on 020 7794 5999. Asbestos and the law conference, Liverpool, 16 SeptemberMerseyside Asbestos of Victims Support Group is organising an 'Asbestos and the law' conference, to take place in Liverpool on 16 September 2003. Speakers include UK and international medical and legal experts.
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. The HSE’s Euroweek action pack can be ordered online at HSE’s Euroweek website or by calling 0800 085 0050, and the European Agency website has resources and background information too. Future years’ themes have also now been decided. Corporate safety crimes conference, Glasgow, 23 OctoberMinisters from the Scottish Executive and Westminster, Crown Office officials, trade unions, employer organisations, the Health and Safety Executive, lawyers, academics and bereaved families will be among the speakers at a Centre for Corporate Accountability 'Safety and corporate criminal accountability' conference in Glasgow on Thursday, 23 October 2003. CCA says it is Scotland’s first major conference on the issue.
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. |
Workers exposed to stress for at least half their working lives are 25 per cent more likely to die from a heart attack, and have 50 per cent higher odds of suffering a fatal stroke. A 'modern workers health check' featured in the latest issue of TUC-backed Hazards magazine also shows it is blue-collar workers and not executives that are bearing the brunt. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Stress at work is cutting workers’ lives short. This enormous strain on individuals and society will only end when we tackle the causes of stress such as overwork and the long-hours culture. The UK needs a workforce that works well and stays well.' The new Hazards report reveals worldwide evidence of employees being worked into the ground, including: workers with stressful jobs more than twice as likely to die from heart disease; mental health deteriorating as a result of higher demands, less control and reduced support; and unfair bosses making blood pressure soar. Top US stress expert Paul Landsbergis, writing in Hazards, said: 'If you are experiencing the effects of job stress the symptoms are not ‘all in your head,’ but are your body’s way of telling you your job is out of kilter. And this stress can, literally, break your heart.' TUC research shows that stress is Britain’s number one workplace health hazard. The TUC and Hazards campaign against overwork has won the backing of union organisations as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.
The latest edition of the TUC-backed Hazards magazine is available now. The summer 2003 issue of the award-winning quarterly includes major features on the 'drop dead' occupational diseases of the overworked 21st century workplace, include heart attacks, suicide and strokes. There’s also a photofile from global transport workers' union federation ITF that shows union action on a workplace, national and global scale is the ticket to a safer transport industry. Kevin Curran, the newly elected leader of UK union GMB, calls for a bigger role for union safety reps - and challenges the HSE to promote the lifesaving union effect. On top of that there’s pages of union, safety, corporate crime and safety rep news and views, and campaign updates and resources - and all available at special union discount prices. Union subscriptions help Hazards continue its unique campaigning work.Newsletter (5,400 words) issued 9 Aug 2003
