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Risksissue no 227 - 8 October 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 11,000 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. UNION NEWSUnion rep faces sick sacking threatA union has slammed a 'heartless' council employer that gave a union safety rep a final written warning after he was badly injured doing his job as a traffic warden. Kevin Travers, a Tower Hamlets UNISON parking shop steward and safety representative, lost his 30 September appeal against the drastic disciplinary measure. His UNISON branch said the final warning 'was served on him due to time off for recovering from being nearly killed by a motorist trying to evade a parking ticket.' Council staff demonstrated their support for Kevin on 30 September, the day of his disciplinary appeal hearing. A new sickness absence procedure means if he takes any more sick leave at all - he was off three months recovering from his injuries - he could be dismissed. He has already been docked a day's pay for the alleged offence, missing but attempting to rearrange an appointment with the council's occupational health department. UNISON has made an employment tribunal application claiming trade union victimisation, which will be heard in January 2006. Kevin was targeted the day after serving a workplace stress union inspection notice (UIN) on Tower Hamlets council chief executive Christine Gilbert (Risks 197). UNISON's branch health and safety officer Adrian Grieves commented: 'These final written warnings for being hurt for doing your job are disgraceful.'
Safety must come first, nuclear union warnsScientists and engineers working for the British Nuclear Group (BNG) have warned the UK government to not invite catastrophe by abandoning Britain's nuclear industry to market forces. Their union, Prospect, spoke out last week after reports that the BNFL board had decided to recommend the sale of its operating arm BNG to the BNFL shareholder executive and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Prospect's Mike Graham said: 'The UK government must retain responsibility for the nuclear industry in the UK. BNG must not be sold off to the highest bidder but to the most competent. This is the most safety-critical industry in the UK. There cannot be a Hatfield at Sellafield.' Prospect wants the DTI to spell out open and transparent criteria for conducting any sale and for strict adherence to technical, safety, environmental, trading and employment standards. 'These criteria will be all the more important if there is to be a sale to a foreign consortium as is all too likely,' said Graham. Overseas buyers are already queuing up to buy Westinghouse, BNFL's US operating arm, which the board put up for sale in July. Rail lessons not learned from Ladbroke GroveSix years after 31 lives were lost in the Ladbroke Grove rail disaster, Britain's biggest rail union has said key rail safety lessons are still being ignored - and has warned that safety and profit do not mix. Commenting on the anniversary of the 5 October 1999 crash, RMT renewed its call for Automatic Train Protection, the retention of independent safety regulation and the enactment of a corporate manslaughter law. 'Automatic Train Protection was promised after the Clapham disaster in 1988, yet in 2005 we are still no nearer getting it,' RMT general secretary Bob Crow said. 'ATP would have prevented the Ladbroke Grove crash and saved 31 lives - but Thames Trains had decided not to install it on grounds of cost.' He also criticised the government for taking safety responsibilities away from independent regulation under the Health and Safety Executive and handing them instead to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), the body that since July has been responsible for monitoring both the safety and financial performance of the railways. He said the government was handing rail safety regulation 'back to an industry still dominated by private sector interests motivated by cutting costs and maximising profits rather than improving safety.' He added: 'RMT will continue to campaign for robust and independent regulation of safety - and a corporate manslaughter law that holds to account bosses whose negligence results in unnecessary deaths.' New physios face strains perilNew physiotherapists are at an increased risk of musculoskeletal disorders, according to the 'largest ever' health and safety survey by their union, CSP. The survey of 3,661 physiotherapists, physiotherapy assistants and physiotherapy students on clinical placement found younger physiotherapists and newly qualified graduates are most at risk and most in need of intervention services aimed at reducing injury rates. The survey found under-reporting of injury is 'rife'. CSP said this problem must be addressed if musculoskeletal disorders are not to remain an 'invisible' problem in the workplace. The report concludes that there should be a fresh look at training and induction programmes and supervision. CSP says the report provides the CSP, for the first time, with baseline data on the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders amongst its members.
Campaign exposes chemical link to breast cancerWomen are being kept in the dark about the cancer risks from industrial chemicals, campaigners have warned. Public service union UNISON and the Women's Environmental Network (WEN) say their 'Big See Challenge' will press the case for tighter controls on cancer causing chemicals. Almost 300 women in the UK die of breast cancer every week, and at least 750 women hear they have it. The Big See campaign launch this week kicked off a month of action 'to expose the failure of governments to act to protect women from exposure to suspect chemicals'. WEN campaigns co-ordinator, Helen Lynn, said pollution and common chemicals had been clearly linked to breast cancer 'but government has yet to acknowledge this connection.' UNISON national women's officer Sharon Greene added: 'We want to challenge our decision makers and those with power to take action to prevent these cancers occurring. We cannot just accept 300 women dying every week. As individuals there's a limit to what we can do to protect ourselves against breast cancer - UNISON wants our 1.3 million members to lobby MEPs to clean up our environment by voting for strong REACH legislation, and get our own government to take action.' A new report has found occupational exposure to volatile organic compounds led to a 48 per cent increase in breast cancer compared to an unexposed group of women. Last month a report linked breast cancer to endocrine disrupters, which include some common workplace chemicals (Risks 225). Another report this year linked passive smoking at work to an increased risk (Risks 215). Other recent studies have linked breast cancer to night shift work (Risks 222).
OTHER NEWSMicroelectronics workers protest at safety 'stunt'Former National Semiconductor workers and campaigners have expressed dismay at the company's paid-for high profile in a major safety event. They claim the Nat-Semi-sponsored two-day event was just a PR 'stunt'. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Scotland held its national Safety and Health at Work Congress in Glasgow last week, with the microelectronics company billed as the event's main sponsor. Jim McCourt, of the Phase Two group, which represents former workers, questioned the sponsorship role, coming as a Health and Safety Executive inquiry into cancer risks at the plant is ongoing. He said: 'We are completely cheesed off that Nat-Semi are paying for this conference, that they're sponsoring it while being investigated for cancer concerns. It highlights this whole facade that is the safety industry.' He added it was 'just a cynical PR ploy.' A spokesperson for Nat-Semi responded: 'This is a highly regulated industry and National is subject to regular and thorough inspections to make sure we meet appropriate standards.' She added that there was 'no proof' that working at the plant led to an increased cancer risk. A 2001 HSE study did find an elevated risk of four cancers, however (Risks 32). Articles in major occupational health journals said the original HSE study was flawed and under-estimated the true cancer incidence. Builders fined for serious safety offencesTwo major construction firms have been fined in separate safety cases. MJ Gleeson Group plc was fined £50,000 after a quantity surveyor died under the wheels of a forklift truck on a building site. Michael Elleker, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), told how self-employed Brian Gibson was working on a Leeds site where a block of student flats were being built when he was killed in April 2003. Principal contractor, MJ Gleeson Group plc, pleaded guilty to failing to implement a traffic management system free from risks on the site. The firm was also ordered to pay nearly £15,000 in costs. Bellway Homes was fined a total of £16,000 for safety offences and £1,372 costs after bricklayer Craig Noble, 20, was injured in a fall down an unguarded stairwell, suffering a fractured skull and neck injuries. Michael Brown, prosecuting for HSE, said Mr Noble was working with colleague Grant Wright on the master bedroom of a two-storey house when the incident happened. He said: 'If simple low cost measures had been in place to protect the stairwell, then Mr Noble would not have suffered his injuries.' He also said Bellway had received 23 HSE safety notices in the last five years, including one about falls through stairwells. The court heard that in the last financial year the firm made a profit of £213.3 million. HSE's database shows Bellway Homes has received 31 HSE prohibition or improvement notices for dangerous work practices since 2001. Watchdogs say partnerships are the 'the way forward'Britain's health and safety watchdogs have launched a new project to boost 'partnerships' on health and safety with large organisations. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACoRS) this week launched the Large Organisation Project Pilot (LOPP). Justin McCracken, HSE's stand-in chief executive, said: 'This pilot is about customer-focussed and coordinated activities, aimed at finding the most effective approaches to partnership working with the aim of securing improvements in health and safety.' LOPP will seek a more coordinated approach to inspection of multi-site organisations and provide examples of good practice by securing improvements in health and safety outcomes. The watchdogs say at a later stage they will start discussions 'exploring whether the organisations are interested in some kind of formal recognition of good health and safety performance and, if so, how this might be achieved.' They say 17 companies, both LA and HSE enforced, are being invited to join the pilot. Between them, the selected companies employ around 1 million people. Asda (Risks 226), Astrazeneca, BAE Systems (Risks 184), Greggs, and Tesco (Risks 213) are already involved. Amicus health and safety officer Bud Hudspith commented: 'I welcome this approach to improve partnership working - I believe it will produce real benefits for health and safety in the workplace. I am especially keen to see a strong element of worker involvement, and particularly the involvement of trade union safety reps.' Mineral oils up risk of rheumatoid arthritisWorkers exposed to mineral oils face a greatly increased risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, new research has shown. Swedish researchers found occupational exposure to mineral oils, in particular hydraulic or motor oil, increased by 30 per cent the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis. Writing in the journal Arthritis Research & Therapy, the researchers said that shortly after a group of 1,419 patients had been diagnosed with the condition they were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding occupational exposure to different types of mineral oils, such as cutting oil, motor oil, form oil, hydraulic oil and asphalt. The same questionnaire was sent to 1,674 controls. The study found men highly exposed to motor or hydraulic oil had a 30 per cent higher risk of developing the most severe form of rheumatoid arthritis (rheumatoid factor positive) than unexposed men. Exposure to oil was also linked to a 60 per cent increased risk of developing 'anti-citrulline positive' (anti-CP+) rheumatoid arthritis, another type of the disease.
Chemicals cause breathing problems in cleanersCleaners are suffering breathing disorders caused by exposure to bleach and other irritant chemicals, a new study has found. Spanish researchers investigated a group of 160 domestic cleaning workers with asthma symptoms, chronic bronchitis or both and 286 without a history of respiratory symptoms. Writing in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, they say asthma symptoms in domestic cleaning women are associated with exposure to bleach and possibly other irritant agents. The study found workers exposed to bleach were between three and five times as likely to have respiratory symptoms. The authors say the public health impact of the use of irritant cleaning products could be widespread since the use of these products is common both in the workplace and at home. In 2003 the same research team found working as a cleaner may more than double the risk of developing asthma and other breathing problems (Risks 130). Asthma cases like this caused by irritants are generally ignored in official UK statistics, which concentrate on allergic asthmas. A study last year suggested common domestic cleaning products including air fresheners and other household sprays could be harmful to pregnant women and new-born babies (Risks 179).
High passive smoking levels in hospitalA national newspaper is backing calls for a blanket smoking ban in all workplaces after its own tests found workers in a hospital were facing dangerously high exposures. The People found nurses at North Manchester General Hospital were inhaling the equivalent of 10 cigarettes a week as they worked in a corridor outside a smoking room. The team used a smokerlyser, a device that measures a person's carbon monoxide levels, to establish exposure levels. Other tests in a bar, the non-smoking side of a hotel and in train stations also found a passive smoking risk, with a full-time hotel worker breathing the equivalent of 11 cigarettes a week. Amanda Sandford of the charity ASH said the results for the hospital were particularly shocking. She said 'even the best designed smoking areas are not effective in stopping toxins spreading.' A spokesperson for the hospital said that all smoking would be banned in the grounds from January and the internal smoking rooms were to be closed at the end of the week. He said 'we recognise it's time for hospitals to be sending out a very clear smokefree message.' A People editorial concluded that people should not have the right to force other people to risk their lives from passive smoking and that it is not acceptable for anyone who comes to work to breathe in someone else's smoke. Spain's parliament voted last week for a complete smoking ban in all workplaces, rejecting a clause in a forthcoming bill that would have allowed smoking areas in the workplace. The new law is due to take effect in January. Emergency crews call for attack lawsEmergency service workers in Wales have called for greater legal protection against attacks from members of the public while answering calls. Official figures show that abuse and violence against fire and ambulance crews in Wales is on the increase. Between August 2004 and April 2005, staff with the Wales Ambulance Service were subjected to 245 incidents of violence and abuse, 51 ending in personal injuries. The Scottish Parliament has introduced laws to protect emergency workers with offenders facing up to nine months in prison or a £5,000 fine. The Home Office, however, said the UK government had no plans to introduce a similar law for Wales and England. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is backing a private members bill introduced at Westminster by Swansea West MP Alan Williams, which would extend the measures in place in Scotland to Wales and England. FBU executive member for Wales, Mike Smith, said: 'If our members become fearful of attacks that will affect their ability to do their job and that will have a spin-off effect in how they carry out their job protecting the public.' A Home Office spokesperson said: 'The government is committed to ensuring tougher sentences for those involved in attacks on public sector workers. But we are not at present convinced that further legislation or specific offences are necessary to achieve this.' Guts needed to tackle hospital bullyingManagerial 'guts' are needed to challenge bullying in the NHS, the union Amicus has said. The union was responding to an internal NHS report which estimated that cutting the level of bullying by just 1 per cent could save the health service £9 million annually in reduced absenteeism. Amicus head of health Gail Cartmail said: 'It will take guts and influence to challenge the hierarchical structure at the root of the NHS culture that makes bullying behaviour the norm. If staff can't give 100 per cent because they are being bullied, this, unfortunately, affects care to patients and clients.' Amicus repeated its demand - first made two years ago - for the introduction of a system of anti-bullying 'ombudsmen' to co-ordinate and monitor policies at the Strategic Health Authority (SHA) and Primary Care Trust (PCT) levels - and their equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This proposal followed a survey by the Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association (CPHVA) - a professional section of Amicus - which revealed that half of the health visitors and community nurses surveyed had been bullied at their current place of work, mainly by senior colleagues. Amicus has invited employers to join its Dignity at Work partnership project, funded jointly by the union and the Department of Trade and Industry. INTERNATIONAL NEWSAustralia: Government says jail would confuse bossesThe Australian government's employment minister has said stringent penalties on killer bosses are wrong because they will confuse employers. Kevin Andrews, a minister with the anti-union Liberal federal government, has come out swinging against laws introduced at the state level by their Labour administrations which impose fines and jail time for bosses whose negligence leads to a worker's death. 'The offences will create uncertainties for employers,' Andrews told a meeting of building industry employers, adding that unions were exploiting tragedies. The comments came just days after construction union CFMEU launched proceedings against Australand Holdings for the death of 16-year-old roofer Joel Exner at a Sydney building site (Risks 131). Australand escaped charges earlier this year when a coroner found there was not enough evidence to warrant prosecution. The company's cost-cutting was found to have contributed to the death, however. The law in New South Wales allows unions to bring their own safety prosecutions against employers. Sue Baxter, Exner's mother, said although her son's death had shattered her family, the fact that no one was held responsible added to their distress. 'I am thankful the CFMEU take safety seriously and will be prosecuting Australand so we can finally have justice and those people responsible for Joel's death can be made to pay,' she said. A union campaign, which saw over 10,000 workers take to the streets to protest at Exner's death, led to stronger state safety laws. China: Explosion at state-owned coalmine kills 34An explosion has killed 34 miners at a state-owned coal mine in China. The No2 Coalmine run by the Hebi Coal Industry (Group) Corp in Henan Province had previously been named one of China's top 520 state-owned enterprises. When the 3 October explosion took place, 53 miners were working underground and only 19 of them managed to escape, according to official news agency Xinhua. The blast was the first officially reported serious industrial accident in China since the start of a week-long national holiday on 1 October. The Henan Safety Committee issued a circular on 2 October reminding all provincial officials to remain alert to prevent accidents during the holiday, and warned that officials who failed in their duty would be dismissed, Xinhua said. The mine was equipped with 'all necessary licences,' the report said. Last week it was reported that a newspaper in the province, Henan Business News, had been shut for a month on the orders of the central government's propaganda department after exposing a mine tragedy cover-up. Reporters were bribed by officials to hush up a 31 July mine flooding incident in which an undisclosed number of miners are thought to have died. In August, mine safety officials said coalmine deaths in China were running at over 100 a week (Risks 220). Global: ILO backs global union's 'fatigue kills' message
Global: Agency firms want a soft touch from safety watchdogsFirms supplying agency labour are seeking an easy ride from official safety enforcers, new research has concluded. Official safety bodies are having difficulties responding effectively to the increasing use of agency workers, it found. The review by Australian professors Richard Johnstone and Michael Quinlan, using evidence from Australia and citing studies from the UK, US, Canada and elsewhere, warns there is emerging evidence that the 'triangular relationship' between worker, agency and host employer 'in combination with the temporary nature of most placements, poses particular problems for laws regulating employment conditions (industrial relations, occupational health and safety (OHS), and workers' compensation/social security) and the agencies administering them.' The authors say their 'empirical evidence... suggests that as with practices like outsourcing, there was a concern amongst regulators that the growth of labour leasing was effectively leading to special pleading for lower OHS standards on the basis that these arrangements were too difficult for the parties (employer, labour hire firm or subcontractor) to control the attendant risks.' They say evidence from Europe indicates the need for measures including more vigorous enforcement and strict licensing of labour supply agencies and add 'such measures would need to be vigorously administered to have the desired effect and this might prove difficult for already 'stretched' inspectorates. Nonetheless, as with a number of other contingent work arrangements, the widespread use of agency work poses a serious threat to the maintenance of OHS standards that cannot be ignored by regulators.' A report this year from global union federation ICEM warned of dangers posed by sub-contracting (Risks 209).
RESOURCESThe complete TUC guide to everything
HSE hand-arm vibration guideHSE has published a guide on hand-arm vibration (HAV). The new resource, 'Hand-arm vibration: Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005' gives advice on what needs to be done to reduce and control the risks of HAV under the new law, which came into force on 6 July. HSE says the guide is aimed at employers, health and safety advisers, specialists and occupational health professionals. It adds that exposure to HAV occurs in many industries, particularly where the use of power tools is extensive, like in the construction, mining and manufacturing industries. The book includes practical guidance on issues including how to do risk assessments, estimating vibration exposure and arranging health surveillance. Other chapters provide technical and medical guidance for vibration technicians and medical and nursing staff. The launch of the guide coincided with the first in a series of 15 noise and vibration roadshows, which started in Glasgow on 27 September and which will take place around the country over the next month.
HSE 'Watch your step' campaignThe Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched an online 'Watch your step' resource. The new webzone, which includes guidance for employers and employees and links to useful resources and publications, warns that slipping at work is the most common cause of major injuries. The 'top tips' for employers are useful, urging employers to get a management system in place and ' work with your employees to identify potential problem areas and set goals for improvement.' The employees section is less helpful, basically exhorting employees to do their own job and also chip in as a part-time cleaner and safety officer. Obviously taking sensible measures to deal with slip and trip risks is the right thing to do, but getting down and your hands and knees and mopping up a pool of unidentified goo might not be the best way to do it. Employers have responsibilities under law to ensure the workplace is clean and safe - but you can bet there won't be too many of them slopping around on the shopfloor sorting out spillages. The 'take responsibility' section tells employees, among other things, to 'ensure they have adequate lighting' and 'make sure the flooring is even and clean.' These are, clear and simple, employer responsibilities. Report any problems, fine, so the employer can sort them. But then there is nothing about reporting in the guide, or about using the accident book to report trips and slips or near misses. And there is not a single mention of union safety reps, the best guarantee against employer slip ups.
EVENTS AND COURSESTUC courses for safety repsCOURSES FOR SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2005Midlands, Northern, North West, Scotland, South East, South West, Wales, Yorkshire and the Humber Get ready for National Inspection Day, 26 October 2005
European Health and Safety Week is now less than three weeks away. The TUC is urging union safety reps to get active and says the Wednesday of this annual event has been designated 'National Inspection Day' each year - this year, that's Wednesday 26 October - when all safety representatives are asked to inspect their workplace. To make the business of inspection that bit easier, TUC has produced a simple guide to inspections that includes forms and a checklist. There is also a National Inspection Day poster to download and use. TUC believes, of course, that inspections are not just for safety week, they are for all year round. Don't feel you have to wait. Euroweek 2005 runs from 24-28 October.
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 Labour Organisation (ILO) has backed a global union's campaign against the deadly risks of fatigue in the road transport sector. The United Nations body is throwing its support behind the ITF's worldwide International Road Transport Action Week, to run from 10 to 16 October 2005 (
The TUC has published the epic, must-have, one-stop guide for safety reps and anyone else who knows the difference between seeing a safety problem and solving it. 'Hazards at work: Organising for safe and healthy workplaces' is an A4 sized, 334-page information-packed volume and 'is essential reading for safety representatives and anyone with an interest in organising for health and safety,' says TUC. Its 52 chapters deal not only with all the major hazards, but also show how to organise to make your workplace safe. Practical resources include regular checklists and advice on where to go for help. There's stacks of information on the law and on good practice. According to TUC: 'Safety reps will find this book invaluable. But it is also a great resource for managers and safety professionals who want to work in partnership with their workforce. Voluntary organisations and enforcement officers will also find it an essential addition to their desktop library.'
Newsletter (5,500 words) issued 7 Oct 2005
This page http://www.tuc.org.uk/workplace/tuc-10731-f0.cfm
printed 22 May 2012 at 07:06 hrs by 38.107.179.232