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Risksissue no 179 - 23 October 2004 |
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Editor: Rory O'Neill of Hazards magazine. Comments to the TUC at healthandsafety@tuc.org.uk. CONTENTS
Risks is the TUC’s weekly online bulletin for safety reps and others, read each week by over 10,000 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. SPECIAL FEATURE - No to passive smoking at workOverwhelming evidence for a UK workplace smoking banThe TUC says there is now an unanswerable case in favour of workplace smoking bans. Commenting on a new international review of research into the health impact of smoking bans, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'The research proves that in the towns and cities around the world where smoking has been stubbed out, the positive health effects on workers previously exposed to tobacco smoke are immediate and lasting.' He added: 'Every year 700 employees are killed by second-hand smoke in their workplaces. Banishing smoke from our pubs, bars and restaurants would prevent more workers from needlessly suffering a similar fate.' The TUC was commenting on a review of research published by Luke Clancy, director general of Ireland’s Research Institute for a Tobacco Free Society. In places where smoke free laws had been introduced, smoking bans have had an immediate and positive effect on exposure to second-hand smoke, nicotine levels, respiratory health and the incidence of heart attacks and heart disease, the report says. Research in California cited in the report showed that out of 74 per cent of bartenders with respiratory symptoms before smoking was banned, 59 per cent reported no symptoms after the ban. Leaked report highlights passive smoking threatBreathing in secondhand smoke massively increases the risk of lung cancer and heart disease, an official UK report shows. Ministers have sat on the results for months amid fears it will fuel calls for a ban on smoking in public places, claim campaigners. The Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health (SCOTH) reported to government four months ago, concluding there is an increased risk of lung cancer for non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke of about 24 per cent, and an increase in the heart disease risk of 25 per cent. Ministers are preparing to publish their long-awaited public health White Paper next month, which is expected to include measures to limit smoking in public places but stop short of a total ban extended to restaurants and pubs. SCOTH said that overall exposure to secondhand smoke has declined as fewer people are smoking. 'However, some groups, for example bar staff, are heavily exposed at their place of work and almost half of all children still live in households with at least one smoker,' the committee said. Deborah Arnott, director of anti-smoking group ASH, said the report 'shows the absurdity of exempting from any new law the very group of employees most exposed to risk. November’s White Paper must follow the Irish model and end smoking in the workplace once and for all.' TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Workplaces will be safer when they are smoke free. Half measures will not save the 700 employees who die every year due to passive smoking at work.'
MPs call for workplace smoking banMembers of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health have this week called on health secretary John Reid to include smokefree legislation in the forthcoming White Paper on public health. A cross-party delegation from the All-Party Group recently visited Ireland to see how the smokefree law there is working. During their visit to Ireland the parliamentarians met with Irish politicians, trade unions, health groups and members of the hospitality trade. Amongst the key findings were: Smokefree workplaces are popular and enforceable - after 6 months, the Irish smokefree law has achieved over 90 per cent compliance; the hospitality trade should not be excluded from smokefree legislation as employees in this trade are amongst those most exposed to tobacco smoke pollution; and there has been no major economic impact of the law. David Taylor MP, chair of the All Party Group said: 'Ireland has shown that going smokefree is achievable and popular. But more importantly it is the only way of ensuring that employees are protected from the proven hazards of secondhand smoke. Half-way measures such as partial smoking restrictions are simply not adequate to guarantee health protection. The UK should adopt similar legislation to reduce the dreadful toll of illness and premature death caused by secondhand smoke at work.' Liverpool bids to be UK’s first smoke-free cityThe decision to make Liverpool the UK's first smoke-free city has been welcomed by health campaigners. The city council this week voted to ban smoking in restaurants, pubs, shops, offices and enclosed workplaces. The council will now have to petition parliament by 27 November so that a smoke-free law for Liverpool can be considered in the next legislative session. The British Lung Foundation said it was 'delighted' by the decision. 'By taking this step, Liverpool will be protecting the health of its workers, particularly in bars and restaurants. We hope that Liverpool will lead by example and see the ban roll out across the UK,' chief executive Dame Helena Shovelton said. Liverpool City Council says it will impose a fine of £1,000 on anyone breaching the law, which it wants passed within a year. UNION NEWSBritain’s workplaces are unsafe and unseenThe lives of workers and members of the public are being put at risk because too few employers are receiving visits from official health and safety inspectors, according a new TUC safety survey. The interim findings show almost four in ten (39 per cent) of the union safety reps questioned by the TUC said that their workplace had never been inspected by either the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or by a local authority safety inspector. According to the TUC survey of over 4,500 workplace safety reps, when an HSE or local authority inspector does finally pay a visit, many of them do not talk to the union safety reps - the people most likely to know of danger spots in the workplace. Of those that had a visit, only 36 per cent said that they or other safety reps were spoken to by the inspector; 38 per cent said that they or other safety reps were not spoken to by the inspector; and 26 per cent did not know. And that survey found that despite a legal requirement on bosses to involve safety reps in any changes designed to make the workplace safer, only four in ten (42 per cent) of employers had done so. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Regular inspections are an ideal way of keeping firms on their toes, but at the current rate, they could wait years for an inspector to call.' He added: 'If we are serious about improving the UK’s poor workplace safety record, the government must allocate extra resources to the HSE and local councils to enable them to increase the number of inspectors able to visit companies on a regular basis.' Pilots’ union investigates air quality dangersPilots’ union BALPA is investigating flight deck air quality because it says there is growing evidence of factors which may have short, medium and long-term effects on the health of pilots. The union has set up an Aircraft Environment Task Group (AETG) to investigate. BALPA chair Captain Mervyn Granshaw, said: 'We have recently launched an educational campaign, the underlying objective of which is to persuade our fellow pilot members, and others in and around the industry, to better complete reports on issues that might adversely affect the environment in which pilots work and our passengers travel.' He added: 'There is no incontrovertible evidence that BALPA has thus far seen that shows any adverse impact on flight safety when procedures are correctly carried out by the crew.' He dismissed recent reports in the Daily Mail of a 'catalogue' of fumes incidents on BA flight decks as 'scaremongering.' Last year, US flight attendants’ union AFA described cabin air quality standards as 'obscenely low,' warning that 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' (Risks 110). TGWU accuses port of exploiting migrantsThe Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) has warned that a dock company’s plans to recruit foreign agency workers on low pay rates could pose 'a threat to health and safety.' Union officials claim the Harwich Dock Company will pay the Polish dockers at Polish rates of pay, which are lower than those in Britain. TGWU spokesperson Victor Brazkiewicz said: 'We are not against the use of foreign labour, but these individuals are not treated as ordinary workers. If foreign agency dockers are paid less, then we will continue to oppose the company's course of action.' Harwich MP Ivan Henderson met union officials and shop stewards from the company to discuss the proposal. After the meeting, he said: 'There is nothing wrong with recruiting labour from the European Union if workers cannot be recruited locally but this must not be done if it is used for the purposes of exploitation, or to drive down the conditions under which existing employees are working.' The company said the plan to employ the foreign agency workers was not a cost-saving exercise. OTHER NEWSMinister urges docs to stop signing sick notesThe government is urging doctors to encourage people to stay in or get back to work when they suffer sickness or injury. Work and pensions secretary Alan Johnson this week told a Royal Society of Medicine rehabilitation conference: 'While we must provide security for those who cannot work, increasingly doctors agree that signing some people off as long-term sick is not always the best way to deal with their health problems. For people who are able to work again, a job can itself be an important step in the road to recovery and rehabilitation.' He said the forthcoming White Paper on public health 'will recognise the beneficial role some work can have in helping people recover from illnesses or disease. And it will emphasise the damaging effects of being out of work - urging the NHS to see return to work as the norm.' TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson commented: 'The TUC welcomes any attempt by the government to support workers in getting back to work after a long term illness, however the solution lies not with clamping down on sick notes, but on supporting the development of rehabilitation services, reviewing the barriers to phased returns, and on more training of GPs on occupational health issues.' He added: 'Research by the TUC shows that, far from people being off sick when they should be at work, the real problem is that over half those surveyed had gone to work when they felt they were not well enough' (Risks 178). Drivers warned about driving tiredThe stark dangers of driving tired have been highlighted in new research published this week by road safety minister David Jamieson. The research on selected motorways and trunk roads shows that: 17 per cent of road crashes resulting in injury or death were sleep related; one quarter of all road crashes that caused death or serious injury were sleep related; and 67 per cent of sleep related crashes were caused by car drivers and 32 per cent were caused by drivers of goods vehicles. Launching a new campaign on the dangers of fatigued drivers drifting into 'microsleeps' at the wheel, David Jamieson said: 'This research demonstrates the problem and extent of driving tired. Our campaign aims to highlight how dangerous it is, so that people realise the importance of planning their journeys and taking regular breaks. We're all guilty of wanting to get to places as quickly as possible but a short break can make all the difference.' Transport unions have campaigned consistently for more breaks to prevent fatigue related road accidents. As part of this month’s global union road transport day of action, TGWU bus drivers’ branches called for shorter driving hours and regular rest breaks (Risks 178). New report highlights nanotech problemsNew HSE-backed research has shown that TUC concerns about nanoparticle safety are clearly justified. In July, TUC warned that there should be a precautionary approach to nanoparticle safety. It said the risks hadn’t been properly assessed, but there were already enough warning signs to justify action (Risks 167). Now an HSE-funded occupational hygiene review has concluded that 'there is little evidence to suggest that the exposure of workers arising from the production of nanoparticles has been adequately assessed.' The Institute of Occupational Medicine report found nanoparticle production processes have the potential for exposure by inhalation, ingestion or dermal routes and that little is known about current levels of exposure. It estimates more than 1,000,000 workers in the UK may be exposed to nanoparticles in incidental production in processes such as welding and refining.
Cleaning chemicals health risks revealedCommon cleaning products could be making cleaners sick, new research suggests. It found air fresheners and other household sprays could damage pregnant women and new-born babies. Although the research falls short of proving that fresheners cause ill-health, scientists warn that people should use such sprays with caution. The researchers, which looked at domestic use of the products - where exposures are almost certainly lower and less frequent than for working cleaners - found that almost a third more babies suffered diarrhoea in homes where air fresheners - including sticks, sprays and aerosols - were used daily compared with households where they were used no more than once a week. Other aerosols such as polish, deodorant and hairspray were linked with a 30 per cent increase in diarrhoea and, to a lesser extent, vomiting in babies. Mothers who used air fresheners and aerosols daily were 10 per cent more likely to suffer headaches than women who used them less frequently, the study found. The scientists also discovered 16 per cent of mothers who used such fresheners daily were suffering from maternal depression, compared with 12 per cent who seldom used them. That represented an increased risk of 26 per cent, they said.
'Terrible accident' firms fined just £20,000Two firms whose safety lapses led to a worker facing permanent disability have been fined. Thorne Barton Estates Ltd and Gemini Riteway Scaffolding Ltd were fined £3,300 and £17,000 respectively at Maidenhead Magistrates' Court. The case followed an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into an incident where self-employed painter Alan Miah, a subbie working for Thorne Barton Estates, fell 3.5 metres when a scaffold board he was standing on broke beneath him. The 42-year-old suffered serious head injuries as a result of the accident and is likely to be permanently disabled. HSE inspector Karen Morris said: 'This was a terrible accident, but one which was avoidable. An inspection of the scaffold after the incident showed that the scaffold board which broke had several knots in it, which contributed to its lack of strength and subsequent failure.' She added that the scaffold had not been inspected by a competent person before it was used, nor had it been inspected at the legally required seven day intervals. 'The level of fine demonstrates that the courts intended to send a strong message to employers that they face severe penalties if they fail to adequately control the risks to their employees,' she said. INTERNATIONALAustralia: Landmark award for asbestos fearsA former asbestos mine worker has won a landmark court ruling in Australia. The Supreme Court in Perth has ruled that a former worker at the Wittenoom asbestos mine in Western Australia, who has a psychiatric disability caused by fear of dying from asbestos disease, is entitled to compensation from his former employer. The ruling means 61-year-old Arthur Della Maddalena is expected to receive a payout of hundreds of thousands of dollars from CSR, which owns Mildalco, formerly known as Australian Blue Asbestos. Mr Della Maddalena was one of 42 Italian immigrants who worked at Wittenoom in the early 1960s. Only three of those men are still alive. Asbestos Diseases Society president Robert Vojakovic says Mr Della Maddalena watched his brother die from mesothelioma and fears he will have the same tortuous death. 'I think this is the first case in history where psychiatric injury has been recognised because he's disabled, both physically and mentally, as a result of exposure to asbestos at Wittenoom when he worked for CSR,' he said. Lawyer Peter Gordon said Mr Della Maddalena suffers from a serious psychiatric disorder as a result of seeing dozens of his workmates die from asbestos-related diseases.
China: Over 140 feared dead in mine blastA 20 October gas explosion at a coal mine in central China has killed at least 60 people. Earlier reports said 88 others were missing. It is one of the worst mine accidents in recent years, and officials said the chances of finding anyone still alive are slim. More than 400 people were working in the Daping Mine in the city of Xinmi, Henan province, when the explosion happened. More than 200 people escaped but 60 miners were confirmed dead, and rescuers were searching for survivors, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Official figures released this week reveal that 4,153 people died in mining accidents in China in the first threequarters of this year - a figure 13 per cent lower than last year's. Reports suggest however that the total may be higher since some deaths go unreported, with deaths frequently in the illegal, unregulated mines that have mushroomed as China's industrial revolution drives the country's huge demand for coal. Malaysia: Compensation for those injured on way to workAn employee involved in an accident en route to work is entitled to compensation, the Malaysian High Court has ruled, with the payout allowed even if the worker wasn’t commuting from their own home. Judge Datuk RK Nathan threw out an appeal by the social security department Socso against a decision by its board to award a factory worker compensation for an accident while travelling to work from her daughter’s house. In handing down judgment, Nathan ruled that the claimant, M Rajaparamesari, was, in fact, travelling on a route between her place of 'stay' - which for the purpose of compensation need not be her primary residence - and her place of work. New Zealand: Solvent tragedy raises cancer fearsSolvents commonly used by hundreds of painters are being blamed for a young Christchurch worker’s shock death from leukaemia. Jason Gibson, 29, experienced irrational mood swings, headaches, chronic lethargy and nosebleeds in the months before being diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APML) last November. Six days later, he suffered a massive brain haemorrhage and died. Medical researchers are now linking his rare blood cancer to years of absorbing vapours from solvent-based paints and thinners. A cancer panel of the official Occupational Safety and Health agency investigated his death after concerns were raised by his family. The panel found that after spending 13 years as a painter 'Jason's work (was) sufficiently lengthy to make an occupational cause for his leukaemia likely.' The panel informed his parents, Tony and Annette Gibson, that the occupation of painting had been flagged as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 1989. Jason Gibson's tragic unravelling was characterised in the months before his death by uncontrolled rages, nagging headaches, and fume-flavoured body odours. 'We knew there was something wrong. We just couldn't put our finger on it,' Annette Gibson, said. USA: What a difference a President makesUnions, consumer and environmental groups would have good reason to support John Kerry for President, recent media coverage suggests. While President Bush has been a good friend to the business lobby and has taken regular chunks out of worker and environmental protections, Kerry has been a long-term supporter of stricter regulation. The business lobby knows this, and is already bleating about the supposed burdens of regulation. But unions are positive. 'The Kerry administration would be a lot more receptive to promulgating standards that are going to look at worker protection,' said Mike Flynn, director of occupational safety and health for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. 'He's never voted against us on any of the safety issues we've worked on,' said Joan Claybrook, president of consumer advocate Public Citizen, which works with unions and environmentalists. Kerry 'played a very substantial role' in defeating the Republican anti-regulatory effort in the 1990s, Claybrook said. 'He's never really had a heavy industry influence in health, environmental and safety issues.' Jordan Barab of Confined Space points out that the Bush administration 'has withdrawn far more standards than it has issued. The only major standard that Bush's OSHA has made any progress on is hexavalent chromium - and the agency was under court order. Four years after this administration arrived, they still haven't issued the almost completed standard that would have required employers to pay for workers' personal protective equipment.' The chromium standard is only being progressed as a result of legal challenge by the union PACE and Public Citizen. RESOURCESNew HSE accident bookA new version of the official HSE accident book has been published by HSE. The accident book was revised to take account of comments from TUC and now allows safety reps to have access to the information they need to monitor accidents in their workplace. TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson said: 'The TUC welcomes the new accident book which will help ensure that safety representatives are given access to the information they need following an injury or near-miss.' He added: 'We urge all safety representatives to encourage their employer to order the new accident book, which was developed with extensive input from the TUC. If any workplaces use their own accident book then it is important that they also ensure that safety representatives are automatically given access to all information from the book.'
Rubber action plan for safety repsGeneral union GMB has published a safety reps’ guide to an official action plan for safety in the rubber industry. RUBIAC, the Rubber Industry Advisory Committee, is a Health and Safety Commission advisory committee, which consists of representatives from the trade union, employers and the HSE. The aim of the committee is to encourage the participation of all groups in the drive to improve health and safety in the industry. GMB notes that it 'is well recognised by all parties involved in RUBIAC that only if safety reps are involved can the Action Plan have a real hope of succeeding over the majority of the industry.' Alliance to assist families bereaved by workFamilies bereaved from work-related deaths can now receive even better independent advice on investigation and prosecution issues following work-related deaths as a result of joint working between two charities - the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) and the Public Law Project. Bethan Rigby, CCA's senior caseworker, said: 'The purpose of this joint working is to try and ensure that public bodies follow the law and their own procedures and make appropriate decisions. It is crucial that families can get free and speedy advice on judicial review options, and we are now in a position to offer this to families.' EVENTS AND COURSESTUC courses for safety repsCOURSES FOR SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2004Midlands, North, North West, Scotland, South East, South West, Wales, Yorkshire and Humberside Scottish women's toxic tour, 3 November 2004On November 2004 a Women’s Environmental Network 'toxic tour' by bus will make its way through part of central Scotland. En route there will be talks on issues including environmental justice from FOE Scotland, asbestos from the Clydebank Asbestos Group and microelectronics from Jim McCourt of the PHASE 2 campaign.
TUC conference on the future of HSC, 8 November 2004A major TUC conference will mark the 30th anniversary of the Health and Safety at Work Act and the establishment of the Health and Safety Commission. TUC says the event, '30 years on - the future of the Health and Safety Commission,' is intended for policy makers, trade unionists, managers, health and safety professionals, academics, and others with an interest in health and safety. Speakers include minister for work Jane Kennedy, HSC chair Bill Callaghan, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber and prominent safety academics and representatives of unions, HSE, and campaign and employers’ organisations.
Health and safety through partnership, London, 19 November 2004South-east region TUC (SERTUC) is to run a day conference for union health and safety reps in the London region. Speakers include HSC chair Bill Callaghan, HSE London regional director Charles Horsefield and TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson. SERTUC says the conference is 'an event designed for you, the workplace health and safety rep, aimed at informing you of developments in health and safety law and policy, and to provide you with an opportunity to discuss your issues with key players in the health and safety regulatory system.'
Global day of action for Bhopal, 3 December 2004
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. |
The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal is seeking support for a global day of action on the 20th anniversary of the world's worst industrial tragedy. December 3 2004 marks twenty years since the people of Bhopal awoke from their sleep, choking, near-blinded, to scenes of unimaginable horror and suffering. The campaign says: 'The ongoing efforts of both Union Carbide and its new owner Dow Chemical to evade their pending liabilities in Bhopal represent a classic case of corporate crime gone unpunished.' It adds that the issue is not just Bhopal. 'As in Bhopal, corporations around the world are today getting away with crimes against humanity and the environment, and dictating policies that affect all life on earth. Communities everywhere have learnt that the only way they will regain control of their lives and health is by fighting corporate crime directly.' It adds it is 'vital that Dow Chemical, and other corporate offenders, are not allowed to get away with their crimes. On December 3rd, 2004 the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal invites you to help make sure that they don't.'Newsletter (5,000 words) issued 22 Oct 2004
