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Risksissue no 200 - 2 April 2005 |
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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 10,500 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. SPECIAL FEATURE: Corporate criminals at workManslaughter bill raises question of guiltAfter eight years of delays, the government’s publication of a draft manslaughter bill has been welcomed by campaigners and industry bodies, although the decision to target companies but not their directors has caused some consternation. Commenting on the 23 March announcement by Home Secretary Charles Clarke, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'This proposed legislation will help make the workplace safer by providing a new sanction against those organisations who show scant regard for the health and safety of their employees.' He added: 'The TUC recognises that the draft Bill covers a number of complex areas and we are pleased that the government has agreed that the legislation should apply to Crown bodies, but are disappointed that the draft bill does not threaten individual directors with the ultimate sanction of a jail sentence.' Unions Amicus, TGWU and UCATT and campaign group the Centre for Corporate Accountability all called for new directors’ duties - no-one will face jail under the proposals, but companies could face an unlimited fine. The bill has also been criticised for setting the bar too high, restricting corporate manslaughter to circumstances where someone has been killed because a company’s senior management 'grossly fails to take reasonable care for the safety of employees or others.' A jury must also consider whether or not senior managers 'sought to cause the organisation to profit from that failure'. A TUC briefing says it will be calling on the government to include directors’ duties in the corporate manslaughter law or related measures, and says a range of innovative sentencing approaches should be considered to cut the death toll at work from its current unacceptable level of five a week. These include corporate probation and more innovative financial penalties.
What others said about the draft bill…* Amicus: Derek Simpson, general secretary of Amicus, said: 'Amicus research demonstrates that stronger laws incorporating director liabilities are the greatest determinant of improving employer health and safety standards so we will be seeking to ensure that the legislation allows for individual prosecution. We will also oppose any attempt to make allowances under Crown immunity. An average of five people are killed every week though preventable workplace accidents which is why Amicus will be pushing for introduction of the legislation as early as possible in the new parliament.' Amicus news release. * TGWU: Tony Woodley, TGWU general secretary, expressed concern 'that the draft bill does not require directors to take positive steps on health and safety. This could mean that the courts will not be able to apply the new offence of corporate manslaughter in instances where individual company directors have neglected to maintain safe workplaces. The draft Bill is a chance to ensure that health and safety is taken more seriously in the boardroom, that workers' health is protected through a culture of prevention and that justice is done when tragedies do occur. We will therefore be pressing for the bill to be amended to deliver this as it passes through Parliament.' TGWU news release and corporate killing campaign webpages. * UCATT: Alan Ritchie, general secretary of the construction union UCATT, welcomed the proposed law, but added: 'One area that my union will be making representations on is the matter of custodial sentences for company directors.' He added that the government announcement 'makes it clear that criminal liability will not be affected by the proposals. My union believes that more should be done. In the last 30 years only five directors have served a custodial sentence for manslaughter following a work-related death. It is the prospect of a jail sentence that will change the behaviour of company directors not a fine.' UCATT news. * Prospect: HSE inspectors’ union Prospect welcomed the draft manslaughter bill but said it fell short of government promises. Prospect assistant general secretary Mike Clancy added: 'Safety professionals know that the first line of defence in ensuring workplace health and safety is compliance with workplace safety legislation, policed through regular inspection and enforcement. This draft bill is a welcome addition to that armoury by making rogue employers who flout the law accountable for their actions. However, because the government has dithered for four years in bringing this bill forward, and has only produced it on the eve of a general election, it must be made a priority by any new government in the next parliament.' Prospect news release. * UNISON: Dave Prentis, general secretary of public sector union UNISON, said: 'This is a tough bill and it has a tough job to do. We want to stop employers evading justice and give the families of those who are killed or injured at work the justice they deserve. When the bill becomes law, it should reduce the number of workers killed or seriously injured at work. Senior managers will have to take their health and safety responsibilities more seriously and won't be able to shirk their responsibilities by passing blame down the line.' UNISON news release. * GMB: Debbie Coulter of general union GMB said: 'Companies that fail to protect the lives of their employees will now be rightly punished if deaths occur. This legislation will give a huge boost to health and safety in every workplace, and minimise the needless fatalities that happen all too often in British industry. If employers are taking the right precautions, they will have nothing to worry about. It's the slack bosses, the corner-cutters and the cowboys who should be sweating right now - the buck will soon stop with them.' GMB news release. * CCA: Centre for Corporate Accountability director David Bergman questioned 'the fact that a jury must consider whether or not senior managers ‘sought to cause the organisation to profit from that failure’. This evidence is extremely difficult to obtain and absence of evidence will be used by organisations to show that their conduct was not grossly negligent.' He added: 'We are concerned that organisations could delegate their responsibilities down the management chain and thereby allow the organisation to escape manslaughter prosecution' and said 'there has been a failure to consider the criminal liability of company directors… the government has not come up with any alternative mechanisms to deal with the lack of accountability for company directors - an issue that the government itself considered a concern in its original consultation document in 2000.' CCA news release and related manslaughter webpage. * IOSH: Safety officers’ professional body IOSH said the draft bill 'doesn’t go far enough.' It said: 'We welcome this draft Bill as an important starting point and will be examining it closely and carefully before giving our considered response.However, our initial response is that it should cover all employing organisations and that the test applied for establishing gross management failure should not be dependent on proving the organisation sought to profit from the failure to comply with health and safety requirements.' IOSH news release. Shell guilty over gas leak deathsOil giant Shell has admitted three safety charges over the deaths of two workers in the North Sea two years ago. Sean McCue and Keith Moncrieff died on the Brent Bravo platform after being overcome by gas while working on pipes in a leg of the installation (Risks 135 and Risks 124). This week, Stonehaven Sheriff Court heard Shell admit to three breaches of health and safety rules. Sentence, which is likely to be a substantial fine, has been deferred until later this month. The charges included failing to carry out suitable repairs to a gas leak in the platform's leg and failing to ensure the safety of the two men. Graham Tran, offshore workers’ officer with the union Amicus, said: 'Amicus welcomes the guilty pleas but we are fearful the penalties may not provide sufficient punishment and deterrent for the loss of two lives.' He added: 'It's not only vital that we have corporate manslaughter legislation, it's also vital that it is absolutely watertight and imposes the most severe penalties, including jail terms, on those senior people who have responsibility for ensuring the highest health and safety standards for their workers.' Amicus was part of a delegation to the Health and Safety Executive in Aberdeen in March 2003 when it raised concerns about a lack of maintenance and other issues on Shell platforms and in particular the Brent Field, including Brent Bravo. It said it was worrying that no strong action was taken at that time and then only five months later Mr McCue and Mr Moncrieff died. Small fry face jail, big cheeses let offSome bosses will serve jail time for serious safety offences - but it continues to be those running small firms that face a custodial sentence rather than their generally better resourced and better remunerated blue chip equivalents, none of whom have ever faced imprisonment for workplace safety offences. In March, garage manager Glen Hawkins started a nine-month prison sentence for manslaughter, after his gross negligence led to the death of trainee mechanic Lewis Murphy. Hawkins had helped the 18-year-old trainee pour a mix of petrol and diesel into a waste oil tank at the Anchor Garage, Peacehaven. Fumes were sucked into the flue of a recently installed boiler sparking a massive fireball on February 18 last year, killing Mr Murphy and injuring Hawkins. Garage owner Howard Hawkins, Greg Hawkins’ father, was fined £10,000 for failing to ensure the safety of his employees. He was told he would be jailed for six months if he failed to pay the fine and was also ordered to pay £15,000 towards prosecution costs of £54,000. Only 11 company directors have ever been convicted of manslaughter following a work-related death and of those 11 convictions just five directors were imprisoned. Of the remaining six directors convicted of manslaughter, five received suspended sentences and one was given community service. You’ve nothing to fear, HSC boss tells businessBill Callaghan, chair of the Health and Safety Commission, says he wants to eradicate what he sees as the 'unreasonable' fear of official HSE health and safety inspectors among businesses. He said there are 3.7m businesses in the UK and just 1,500 HSE inspectors. 'We cannot investigate every company. In fact, the perception that we are over-zealous with our guidelines and rules is wrong.' He said the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act requires employers to take steps to protect staff where 'reasonably practicable'. Callaghan told The Telegraph that companies will have the opportunity to avoid any suggestion of over-enthusiasm for safety by calling two dedicated helplines, the privately-run HSE Infoline and the National Mediation Helpline. However, Risks was told by the National Mediation Helpline that it could not in fact help with enquiries about the reasonableness or otherwise of safety measures.
Dismay at delay to Scots corporate killing lawCampaigners have expressed concern at the shock announcement that the Scottish Executive consultation on corporate killing has been delayed. Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, came under fire from unions and safety campaigners after this week dropping the commitment to publish a consultation paper on introducing into Scottish law an offence of corporate culpable homicide. Ms Jamieson told Karen Gillon, the Clydesdale Labour MSP who has been campaigning for the new offence, that she was instead setting up an 'expert working group' to consider the matter further. Ian Tasker, STUC safety specialist, said: 'The STUC are extremely disappointed that, despite having a written assurance from the Scottish Executive that the delay, at that time, in introducing the draft bill in England and Wales would not have an adverse impact in their proposals to consult on this issue there has now been a significant about turn. We have to question the motives for this course of action'. He added: 'While we agree that this may be a complex issue there has ample opportunity to form a panel of experts in the past as the STUC and a number of our affiliates have raised this matter with the minister on a number of occasions'. Unions have been demanding legislation for years, in the wake of accidents including the 1988 Piper Alpha oil rig fire which killed 167 workers. No-one was convicted of safety offences related to the disaster, despite the highly critical findings of an official enquiry. UNION NEWSTUC gets assurance on tsunami 'asbestos aid'The government has committed itself to help ensure that asbestos is not used in materials used in reconstruction work in South East Asia following the Boxing Day tsunami (Risks 195). The assurance came in response to a plea from the TUC. Replying to a letter from TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, the secretary of state for international development, Hilary Benn, stressed that 'post-tsunami reconstruction should be carried out with due consideration for health risks.' He added: 'The use of materials such as asbestos should be clearly avoided. Shelter materials used by humanitarian organisations are sourced locally where possible.' The minister wrote: 'We would be very concerned if UN agencies or non-governmental organisations that we work with were using asbestos. The Department for International Development expects its partner agencies to follow the sphere guidelines in the ‘Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response’. This refers to the need for appropriately experienced personnel to identify the presence and risks associated with hazardous materials, though this refers specifically to the depositing or exposure of such materials following a natural disaster, rather than their use to provide assistance. Also technical and managerial staff must have appropriate training to carry out the task. DFID will work to ensure that these standards are met, both in post-tsunami reconstruction and responses to future disasters.'
TGWU membership pays offThe Transport and General Workers’ Union secured over £72 million in accident and injury compensation last year for individual members. It says this takes the total compensation settlements won since the union was founded to over £1.65 billion. Tony Woodley, TGWU general secretary, said figures showed how effective the union had been in standing up for its members and proved, once again, that being in a trade union provided clear benefits for working people regardless of the size of the workplace. 'Every penny of those awards has gone to the members involved and quite rightly so,' said Mr. Woodley. He said 'nobody goes to work to be injured,' but added: 'People need to know that if they have an accident at work or suffer an injustice that there is someone to fight back for them, win and not charge them. There's a sharp contrast here with some of the so-called 'no-win, no-fee' firms who sometimes make substantial deductions from settlements.' In 2004 the TGWU was involved in 12,289 cases which led to total settlements of £72,368,764. The total won by the union since it was formed in 1922 now stands at £1,650,352,119.50. Union project body maps the route to gloryA trade union college has won a prestigious national health and safety award. The Association of Colleges (AoC) 'College Champion' health and safety award for 2005 went to the Trade Union Studies Centre at Lewisham College. It took top honours for its collaborative 'body mapping' project with construction union UCATT and Sheffield Occupational Health Advisory Service. An AoC briefing says: 'This highly innovative and effective project aims to assist the construction industry to identify occupational ill-health through the unusual and interesting method of body mapping.' Accepting the award, Rossina Harris of the Trade Union Studies centre said: 'It is recognition of how important health and safety teaching and learning is for workers who are in jobs with long hours and a very high incidence of death and ill-health. This is another opportunity to help people to improve their working life through education.' Over 30 construction union reps and managers countrywide have been trained under the train-the-trainer scheme. As well as a trophy, the project received a £2,000 prize, presented by Dr Stephen Vickers, chief executive of award co-sponsor the National Examination Board in Occupational Health and Safety (NEBOSH). Body mapping and other participatory, union-friendly health and safety research techniques were introduced to the UK by the TUC-backed health and safety magazine Hazards.
Teachers claim heads bully staffMany headteachers are bullying staff, raising stress levels and causing some to resign, says teaching union NASUWT. The union’s annual conference last week voted for more school leaders to be disciplined. Teachers had suffered health problems and breakdowns as a result of bullying, delegates heard. Sue Percival, of the union's national executive, said it was a 'cancer' on the profession. She said: 'It is creating a climate of fear and uncertainty and causing unfair stress, which is damaging working relationships and destroying morale.' The conference heard that some heads continually undermined teachers in front of colleagues, parents and pupils. Delegates called for local authorities and school governors to 'discharge properly their duty of care to staff.' Ms Percival said: 'The only way to deal with this cancer is through collective action and legislation.' The union is calling for headteachers' and senior teachers' professional development to include 'personnel training, including staff welfare.' It also wants schools and local authorities to 'monitor the incidence of workplace bullying and take disciplinary action in proven cases.' Safety reps in actionThe Labour Research Department (LRD) is preparing the new edition of its ‘Safety reps in action’ booklet, outlining the crucial role played by safety reps in the workplace. LRD is also planning to create a database of policies negotiated by safety reps to help share good practice. To achieve this, LRD wants safety reps to send it any of the following: Health and safety policies on particular issues that the union has negotiated nationally or safety reps have negotiated in workplaces; examples of health and safety improvements won in workplaces because of the intervention of safety reps; examples of industrial action over health and safety matters; and information on the use of enforcement agencies, for example HSE, to secure improvements.
OTHER NEWSInsurers want insurance from work disease costBritain’s biggest insurers are in talks with the government over plans to establish a state-backed fund to pick up the bill for claims from the next generation of industrial diseases. A report in The Times says the insurance industry is trying to protect itself amid fears that common features of the office environment, such as mobile phones and strip lighting, could have a damaging effect on workers. They are desperate to avoid another bill similar to that from asbestos disease claims, expected to cost insurers £10 billion over the next 30 years. Royal & Sun Alliance (R&SA), Britain’s largest general insurer, has led the recent discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Other departments, such as the Treasury, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department for Constitutional Affairs, are believed to be keenly interested in the outcome of the talks, says The Times. If the insurers get their way, employers will have to pay into a government-backed 'industrial disease fund' that would compensate people with work-related diseases, some of which have not yet been discovered. Duncan Boyle, chief executive of R&SA, said: 'Employers’ liability insurers fear that in 30 years, if it was discovered that, say, using a mobile phone was bad for your health and people had been forced to use them for work they would end up paying out billions of pounds in damages.' TUC welcomes no change in small claims limitTUC has welcomed the announcement from Lord Falconer that he is not to raise the small claims limit for personal injury. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'We’re very pleased to hear that the small claims limit for personal injury is not to be increased from £1,000 to £5,000, as had originally been proposed. Any increase would have denied many thousands of workers access to justice and legal compensation or forced people into the arms of ‘no-win, no fee’ companies.' He added: 'Had the change gone ahead, it would have seriously limited the ability of trade union legal services to provide access to justice for those injured as a result of employers’ negligence. A recent TUC survey showed that over 70 per cent of claimants currently represented would be seriously hindered from getting suitable advice from a solicitor if the limit had been increased.' When the proposals suggesting an increase were first announced, the TUC wrote to the Lord Chancellor asking him to keep the limit at £1,000. Ahead of Lord Falconer’s announcement unions UNISON and ASLEF warned that any change would have disastrous consequences.
Waste companies fined £140,000 for fatal failuresTwo waste management companies have been fined a total of £140,000 at the Old Bailey after their failure to take basic safety measures led to the death of a worker. Thomas Akwasi Aseidu-Ampofoh was crushed to death under a telescopic reach truck. The tragedy took place at Environmental Tyre Disposals Ltd's (ETD) tyre recycling site in Edmonton, London on 1 July 2001, where MIDCO Waste Management Ltd (MIDCO) also operates a tyre shredding business. Mr Aseidu, who was employed by ETD, was instructed to support MIDCO staff in shredding tyres. The reach truck he was driving toppled over, crushing him between the side of the truck and the ground. A Health and Safety Executive investigation found that both companies failed to take adequate measures to prevent or control risks arising from the use of the truck by untrained operators. Simon Hester, HSE investigating inspector, said he believed simple steps would have prevented Mr Aseidu’s death, adding: 'A risk assessment, adequate supervision and suitable training were all absent in this case. This left the level of safety provided by both companies far below the required standard.' Both companies were fined £70,000 and were ordered to pay HSE's costs of £29,982 together with a compensation award of £3,492 to Mr Aseidu's brother for funeral expenses and a bereavement order made to his widow of £7,500. In March, HSE launched a three-year initiative with the waste and recycling industry to address the high number of fatal and serious incidents that occur during collection and processing of municipal waste and recycling activities.
Trusts should prosecute violent patients, say unionsMore than a quarter of staff were abused or harassed by patients in the last year, according to the annual report of the Healthcare Commission. A shocking 27 per cent had suffered bullying, harassment or abuse from patients or their relatives in the last year, with a further 10 per cent reporting the same kind of treatment from other staff. The poll of more than 217,000 NHS staff across England also found that 14 per cent had been victims of physical violence. More than half the respondents - 55 per cent - said they worked unpaid overtime. Commenting on the report, UNISON head of health Karen Jennings said levels of violence and harassment remained unnacceptably high. 'We fully support zero tolerance in trusts, but we would like to see violent offenders prosecuted and facing tougher penalties in the courts. We need to make it clear that violence against health workers will not be tolerated and offenders will have the book thrown at them,' she said. She added that the survey nails the lie that NHS staff take high levels of sick leave, but instead were putting in stressful levels of unpaid overtime. Brendan Barber, TUC general secretary, called for tougher penalties on anyone guilty of assault on a health care worker and added: 'It is not enough for employers and politicians to express sympathy and concern, we know that there are practical measures that can be taken to reduce violence within the health care sector and good employers have been working with local trade unions for many years to make the necessary changes to help provide a safe environment.' British public wants smokefree lawsHealth charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) says there is massive public support for a smokefree law in Britain. Its call for a ban on smoking in workplaces and other public places came on the first anniversary of Ireland’s smoking ban. The contentious Irish move has been hailed a major success with cigarette sales falling and public support for the ban increasing through the year. Research marking the first anniversary of the ban found 96 per cent of people believed the law was successful, including 89 per cent of smokers. ASH reports that the latest opinion poll carried out by BMRB shows that 78 per cent of the British public now supports a smokefree law covering all workplaces, including all pubs and all restaurants, more than supported the Irish ban prior to its introduction. ASH director Deborah Arnott commented: 'The Irish smokefree law has been a resounding triumph. It is popular. It needs little enforcement. The dire predictions of the drinks trade have proved false, but cigarette sales have fallen and public health is improving as a result. This experience shows that bold political moves can be successful and popular.' She said the British government’s plan to exempt some pubs and private clubs from a ban 'cannot stand,' adding: 'It is past time for the British government to show similar courage, follow the example of Ireland and of the Scottish Executive, and bring smokefree workplaces and public places to Britain.' INTERNATIONALAustralia: Safety inspectors given power to arrest bossesOfficial health and safety inspectors in the Australian state of Victoria have been given unprecedented powers to enter workplaces and arrest employers who breach health and safety rules. The state government has given safety watchdog WorkCover the new rights in changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The new law also gives unions greater rights to enter workplaces to check for safety breaches. Under the latest change to the law, WorkCover inspectors can apply to the courts for warrants allowing them to seize and arrest employers. WorkCover minister John Lenders told the state parliament: 'The government doesn't lightly give great powers to inspectors: on one hand because you want to protect the liberty of the individual, and you want to be fairly sure, very sure, that there are powers in place and there are the appropriate checks and balances. On the contra, unless you have inspectors with actual powers to go out there and enforce and get information, then a lot of your laws become toothless.' Amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act became law late last year after extensive debate among MPs, employers - who had some reservations about the law - and unions, who supported the law but did not believe it went far enough to tackle workplace safety problems. The law gives union officers the right to enter non-union workplaces to investigate safety concerns (Risks 187). China: Occupational diseases 'rampant' admits ministerBlack lung disease has claimed 140,000 lives in the Chinese mainland since the occupational disease reporting system was founded in 1950s, a top government minister has said. Vice-health minister Jiang Zuojun said a total of 580,000 black lung cases - a crippling condition caused by inhalation of coal dust - have been reported in China so far, and there are 440,000 people suffering from black lung disease at present. Jiang added that roughly 10,000 new cases were reported each year. He added there are nearly 30,000 work-related pesticide poisoning cases in China each year and about 1,500 poisoning deaths. Occupational disease is rampant in some areas, the minister said, with entire villages afflicted, leading to significant social unrest including blockades, strikes and demonstrations. In response, the health ministry has launched an occupational disease prevention campaign and will provide free advice on prevention and treatment. USA: Union blames subcontracting as BP blast kills 15A Texas City BP refinery explosion last week killed 15 workers and injured 100 others, several critically. As federal and state investigators began interviewing witnesses, chief executive officer of London-based BP, Lord John Browne, toured the site with plant officials the morning after the 23 March blast. At a news conference at the Texas City Hall, Lord Browne called it 'the worst tragedy that I've known' in 38 years with the company. He said the blast had come as the company was bringing that part of the refinery back on line after a shutdown for 'routine maintenance.' Allan Jamail, an official with Pipefitters Union Local 211 in Houston, said the root cause of the problem was clear. He said refineries across Texas had become more dangerous as companies increasingly turned to non-union contractors to do difficult construction and maintenance work. He said non-union workers 'aren't as well-trained' and did not have the job security to raise safety concerns with managers. BP officials said that all 15 workers killed were believed to have been contract labour, not BP employees. The morning before the blast, 2,200 of the 3,300 workers at the plant were contractors, they said. Earlier this month, official safety watchdog OSHA proposed a fine of $109,500 (£58,000) against the refinery, currently being appealed by BP, for an incident last September in which two workers were killed by superheated steam. Last August, the agency proposed a fine of $63,000 (£33,300) for 14 serious violations; BP eventually settled for a payment of $13,000 (£6,880) and an agreement to make changes at the plant. Lord Browne promised that there would be 'no stone left unturned in making sure events are investigated and that remediation is done.' BP in the US have been a vocal supporter of voluntary 'self-regulation' programmes as an alternative to traditional enforcement and penalties, despite topping a chemical industry accident list (Risks 152). The self-regulatory approach is finding increasing favour with the UK Health and Safety Commission.
USA: $15 million payout for popcorn lungA US jury has awarded a $15 million (£8m) settlement to a former Jasper Popcorn Co. plant maintenance worker and his wife in their lawsuit against the makers of a butter flavouring used at the plant. It follows a $20 million payout to another worker from the plant a year ago (Risks 148). In the latest settlement, the jury awarded Richard 'Hank' Brand $12 million and his wife, Lana Brand, $3 million at the conclusion of a two-week trial in Jasper County Circuit Court. The Brands were seeking redress from International Flavors and Fragrances Inc. and Bush Boake Allen Inc. for injury to Hank Brand's health suffered during 17 years of work at the plant in Jasper. Their lawsuit claimed that Hank Brand, 50, contracted bronchiolitis obliterans, a rare lung disease which could leave him requiring a lung transplant, as a consequence of breathing fumes of a butter flavouring manufactured by the defendants. His lawyers claimed the two companies knew about the health hazards of diacetyl, an ingredient in their flavouring, and failed to warn the plant about it. EVENTS AND COURSESTUC courses for safety repsCOURSES FOR APRIL TO JULY 2005Midlands, North, North West, Scotland, South East, South West, Wales, Yorkshire and Humberside Find out what HSC is up toHealth and Safety Commission meetings are now open to the public. The move, part of an HSC bid to be more transparent in its operations, took effect at the start of April. Anyone wishing to attend an HSC meeting should complete an online registration form - only those registering in advance will be allowed entry, and only a limited number of seats are available. The next open meeting will be held at HSC’s London HQ on 5 April and will include discussions covering the wider health agenda, better regulation, the report back on the Regulation and Recognition consultation and the Control of Noise at Work Regulations.
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. |
Newsletter (6,000 words) issued 1 Apr 2005
