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Risks Newsletter

Number 312 - 30 June 2007

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'Myth of the month'

Hazards logo - warning sign Editor: Rory O'Neill of Hazards magazine. Comments to the TUC at healthandsafety@tuc.org.uk

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UNION NEWS OTHER NEWS INTERNATIONAL NEWS EVENTS AND COURSES
UNION NEWS
Migrant workers need extra help staying safe

Problems with language and a poor understanding of the culture in British workplaces means that migrant workers may need extra help from employers and unions to stay safe at work, the TUC is warning. In a new safety guide published this week, the TUC says that some rogue employers are likely to be cutting corners and risking the health of their migrant workforce. 'Safety and migrant workers' says that many migrant workers are more vulnerable than UK workers to illness, injuries or even death at work due to a combination of a lack of safety training, non-existent or inadequate safety clothing and equipment, and poor English skills. It highlights long hours and denial of sick pay as additional problems. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said 'in workforces with many migrant workers, where language difficulties pose potential problems, bosses need to make that extra effort to ensure everyone knows how to stay safe at work.' He added: 'The government must stump up more money so that unscrupulous employers who flout the law are brought into line.' Mr Barber said visits from safety inspectors were now averaging one every 12-20 years, with some smaller workplaces never inspected. 'Tragically, we are more likely to hear a report of a migrant worker being killed or injured than of an employer being prosecuted for failing to meet their safety obligations,' he said. The TUC recommends employers and unions work closely with migrant and UK workers to carry out thorough risk assessments and follow formal accident and injury reporting procedures. Fire safety plans need to be in place, and all workers need access to first aid and must have free, suitable, protective clothing and know how to use it. The guide was published 28 June, as the TUC's Commission on Vulnerable Employment met with exploited workers in Cardiff - including migrant workers, homeworkers, refugees, asylum seekers and disabled workers - to hear about their experiences of unsafe working in the UK.

Use the ban to help staff quit urges TUC

TUC is urging employers not to make life difficult for smokers by banning them from cigarette breaks, but to use the change in the law as an opportunity to help their staff get healthier and quit the habit. From Sunday 1 July all enclosed workplaces have to be smoke-free as England catches up with the rest of Britain, and the TUC is concerned that in the rush to make sure that all the no smoking signs are up and smoking rooms shut down, employers may have forgotten about the best interests of their staff. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Many smokers say they intend to use the introduction of the ban as the reason they've all been waiting for to give up. So this weekend looks like the perfect opportunity for employers to encourage staff to stop. But instead of help and support for employees, we've heard much talk of banning cigarette breaks and of demonising smoking staff more generally.' He added: 'Although some smokers will stub out their last cigarette this weekend, others will find it harder to do so. Employers may not want to see smokers on the street outside company buildings, but banning them from going outside is not the answer either.' He said a far better approach would be to help workers break the habit. 'Employers should run in-house stop smoking sessions, and offer staff who smoke patches, gum or hypnosis to encourage them to quit. The small cost of providing this would be more than offset by the individual health and business benefits of reducing the number of smokers within the workforce.'

Schools action call on high tech harassment

Teaching union NASUWT is calling on the government to take urgent action on 'cyber-bullying' of teaching and other school staff. The union pressed its case at a meeting this week of the DfES Cyber Bullying Task Group. Ahead of the meeting, NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said: 'Pupils who once had to content themselves with exhibiting poor behaviour when face to face with the teacher, now increasingly use technology from a distance to support their indiscipline. I have recently sent to ministers almost 100 cases of teachers being abused and bullied by mobile phones, emails and most frequently websites such as Bebo and Ratemyteacher.' She said the sites caused distress and had no useful purpose and should be shut down. She said that pupils' mobile phone use was feeding the problem, adding: 'The time has come for mobiles in schools to be placed in the category of a potentially offensive weapon and action taken to prevent their use by pupils while on school premises. Regrettably, our evidence shows that some schools are still not taking these issues seriously. In the vast majority of the cases we have raised with the minister no appropriate action had been taken by the school to support the victim or deal with the perpetrators.'

Strike vote over rail 'bonus scapegoating'

Network Rail workers being 'scapegoated' over the Grayrigg accident in Cumbria (Risks 310) will strike for 24 hours from on Friday 6 July. Delegates at the rail union RMT's annual general meeting in Edinburgh this week voted unanimously to endorse the strike move. The conference also backed a second industrial action call involving Scottish signallers being denied their £300 bonus for taking action over the company's failure to honour a 35-hour week agreement. 'The unanimous vote by delegates at our annual general meeting should send the message to Network Rail that 75,000 RMT members are united behind their brothers and sisters in Scotland and Cumbria who are being victimised and scapegoated,' general secretary Bob Crow said. 'Network Rail has told us they will not negotiate and our choice is either to accept what the bosses say or fight, and our members have chosen to fight. Network Rail should take a serious look at the double standards that have resulted in this dispute and think again about its rash refusal to negotiate.' Rail infrastructure operator Network Rail cut bonuses after the Grayrigg derailment in which one elderly woman died and several other passengers were seriously injured.

Usdaw attack on shopwork violence

Retail union Usdaw is stepping up its 'Freedom from fear' campaign, which has already won significant safety improvements for thousands of staff. The union says this year's 'Respect for Shopworkers Day', on 11 July, will raise awareness of violence and intimidation of staff with customers, employers, local councils, politicians, the police and shopworkers themselves. Usdaw says the campaign has so far delivered: Safer stores through negotiated improvements with employers; support from police, local councils and the government; and greater respect for shopworkers from the shopping public. In a letter to union members, Usdaw general secretary John Hannett says: 'These achievements were only possible because of the tremendous support the campaign has received from reps, activists and members across the country. I am writing to ask you to get involved this year and help deliver a high-profile campaign day.' The union is surveying both union reps and members to provide additional ammunition for the campaign. It is also urging reps to organise street stalls or other events to mark the respect day. Usdaw wants members to get their local MPs to back the campaign, and local councils and the police to give a commitment to deal with anti-social behaviour.

Lords urged to deliver asbestos justice

A legal bid backed by the union Unite is seeking to secure compensation for people with the asbestos related condition pleural plaques. The case being considered by the Lords started on 25 June and is scheduled to end on 2 July. It follows a Court of Appeal ruling last year, which overturned a decision by the High Court in 2005 which said pleural plaques should continue to receive compensation (Risks 311). Victims are receiving nothing at the moment. Pleural plaques seldom cause immediate symptoms but are associated with an increased risk of developing fatal conditions like mesothelioma or other asbestos related cancers, a source of stress for those diagnosed. Prior to the Court of Appeal ruling, claimants could receive compensation worth up to £15,000. If this decision is upheld by the Law Lords, it will result in a substantial windfall saving for insurance firms who have brought the test case in an attempt to end compensation for pleural plaques. Unite joint general secretary Derek Simpson, commenting ahead of the case, said: 'Unite has led this campaign and taken this case on behalf of our members. We are urging the House of Lords to restore compensation for pleural plaques sufferers. People with pleural plaques should be compensated for the genuine injury that asbestos exposure has caused. That is why Unite has taken the lead on behalf of our members and all pleural plaques sufferers to get this cruel decision reversed.'

Union legal backing helps workers

Union membership continues to offer protection in the workplace, reducing dramatically accident and ill-health risks - but also providing better access to compensation when things go wrong. London Borough of Harrow HGV driver Neil Beard, 49, has been awarded compensation following an accident in which he lost part of his finger. The UNISON member and a colleague were emptying some large bins full of trade waste from the rear of a pub. There was no dropped kerb for the bins to be manoeuvred down and no ramp had been provided by the employer. As the men were attempting to manoeuvre the bin down the kerb the wheels turned and the bin moved towards Mr Beard, trapping and breaking one of his right fingers. Keith Montgomery, a GMB member and site supervisor for the London Borough of Newham, suffered a hand injury, accelerating existing arthritis, after being hit by a window moulding which had not been fitted correctly by 1st Saxon, a property servicing company. And the family of former British Rail worker, Bill Bulled has secured compensation following his death aged 66 from the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma. The RMT member was exposed to the dust when he worked for British Rail at the Selhurst Depot, near Croydon between 1963 and 1993 as a fitter and overseer. The settlements in all three cases were undisclosed.

Media unions call for release of journalist

Journalists' union NUJ has renewed its call for the immediate release of kidnapped BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston after an online video this week showed him wearing an explosives belt to deter rescue attempts. NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said: 'This is a deeply troubling development and we are urging Alan's captors to let him go immediately, unharmed in any way.' NUJ members all over the country on 20 June marked the 100th day of the captivity of the BBC journalist, who was kidnapped by armed men in Gaza City on 12 March (Risks 311). The BBC, Channel 4 News, the News of the World, the Guardian, the Sun, the Sunday Times and the Times took part, along with many members in the regional and local press. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned the latest video showing Alan Johnston wearing a suicide bomber's vest. 'We are deeply angered by this,' said IFJ general secretary Aidan White. 'It is an obscene and shocking video that shows utter disregard for Alan's physical and emotional well being. His captors should release him immediately to ensure that he does not come to any harm.' He added: 'Like our Palestinian colleagues, we are concerned about Alan and all other journalists and media workers in Gaza. We are calling on Hamas and other groups to remember that journalists are non-combatants and must be allowed to work safely and independently to ensure that the true story of what is going on in the region is allowed to come out.'

OTHER NEWS
Report criticises HSE 'complacency' on cancer

Work-related cancers will claim thousands of lives each year for a further working generation as a result of the 'shocking complacency' of the government's health and safety watchdog, a new report is warning. 'Burying the evidence' says the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has neither the resources nor the strategy to tackle the workplace carcinogen exposures killing at least 12,000 people each year. The University of Stirling report, released to coincide with an HSE cancer workshop on 25-26 June, says HSE's approach omits a range of occupational cancers, grossly under-estimates the risks of others and excludes entirely some of the most high-risk groups of workers. 'HSE's recommendations for action range from complacent to non-existent,' said report co-author Professor Watterson. 'Its evaluations on cancer causing substances including benzene, cadmium, diesel exhaust and wood dust are error-ridden, inadequate and outdated, whole categories of workers known to be at high risk are ignored, and HSE cannot quantify and continues to neglect the risk to women.' Breast cancer, the major occupational and environmental cancer risk for women, 'is entirely off HSE's radar,' Professor Watterson said. 'The net result of this shocking complacency will be needless exposures and avoidable deaths.' The report puts the cost to the UK of occupational cancer deaths at between £29.5bn and £59bn a year, saying preventing just 100 of these deaths a year would more than offset the entire annual HSE budget. 'Burying the evidence', prepared for the Cancer Prevention Coalition and co-authored by Risks and Hazards magazine editor Rory O'Neill, calls for 'sun setting' to phase out where possible many common workplace carcinogens, and a 'Toxics Use Reduction' policy to help wean companies on to safer alternative substances and processes. It says these approaches have worked well elsewhere, and have been supported by both workplace and environmental health advocates and industry. The coalition, backed by unions, safety campaign groups, academics and cancer victims' organisations, says the UK government should recognise work-related cancers as a major public health priority.

Bosses 'failing on staff health'

Almost a third of employers are failing to recognise the need to create a healthy workplace, a survey has found. According to the study of 900 firms, 31 per cent of bosses wrongly think healthy working just means that their staff eat the right food during the day. The Investors in People (IIP) survey also found that 17 per cent of employers said it would be too expensive for them to improve their workers' well being. Another 24 per cent of bosses said they did not know what action they should take. From the workforce side, almost a third (30 per cent) of employees said that their employers think healthy working is either a wasted investment, a waste of time, nothing to do with them or that it doesn't mean anything. One in five employees (20 per cent) said their employer pays lip service to the health and wellbeing of employees at work or has no interest in promoting it. Underlining the negative impact of this lack of action, a 'worrying' 30 per cent of employees are either suffering from or know someone who is suffering from work related stress. 'Despite recognition of the benefits that a healthy workplace can deliver, some employers simply don't seem to understand that it is about more than just gym membership and fresh fruit,' said Investors in People acting chief executive Simon Jones. 'Our research shows that employees actually want better support and development structures to create a healthier environment - and managers should take heed. The bottom line is that an unhealthy, unhappy workforce will also be uncommitted and unproductive. If employers don't address this, they will see a negative impact both on individuals and the performance of the business.'

Hospital reforms drove manager to suicide

The NHS has been urged to consider the impact of reforms on staff, after a despairing hospital manager threw herself to her death from a motorway bridge. Morag Wilson, 32, a manager at Manchester's Wythenshawe hospital, stabbed herself with a kitchen knife before jumping 100ft from the M60 into the Manchester ship canal. An inquest heard that Ms Wilson, head of dietetics at the hospital, had been facing huge pressure at work because of government reforms under the Agenda for Change review. The south Manchester coroner, John Pollard, urged the NHS to consider the impact of reforms on staff as he recorded a verdict of suicide following her death in December last year. 'I find it extremely sad that a young woman with such a lot going for her, very dedicated to her work, has been reduced to despair by the pressure upon her at work,' he said. 'When people introduce these rules and systems, perhaps a bit more thought as to what effect they will have on people would be helpful. That is no help to Morag, but it might be to others in the future.' A spokesperson for Wythenshawe hospital, said: 'We cannot speculate on the motivation for Morag's tragic actions but strongly believe she was appropriately supported by the trust. We would like to reiterate our sincere condolences and sympathy to her family.' There is growing evidence linking work factors to suicide, including recent reports from Australia (Risks 311), France (Risks 309) and Japan (Risks 307). A TUC-backed report in Hazards magazine in 2003 warned that in the UK, heart disease, suicide and stroke would be major workplace killers in the high paced, high stress 21st century workplace (Risks 118).

Government to act on work abuse evidence

The government wants unions, businesses and workers to pass on reports of abuse of vulnerable workers, and has said it will act on this evidence. The call came this week at the first meeting of the Vulnerable Worker Enforcement Forum, launched on 1 June to crack down on abuses of workplace rights (Risks 309). It will consider whether abuses are tackled effectively through existing enforcement and support mechanisms or whether improvements to existing mechanisms, or new approaches, are needed to raise compliance without increasing burdens for good employers. Employment relations minister Jim Fitzpatrick last week said: 'Over the last 10 years we have brought in a series of rights to improve conditions for all workers but especially the most vulnerable workers. While most workers have benefited from initiatives like the National Minimum wage, rights for part time workers, statutory holidays and better health and safety there are still some who are not getting the protection they should. Shocking abuses still go on in a minority of workplaces. They are unacceptable and must be stopped.' He added: 'I want anyone with evidence to send it to us. We will consider it alongside the evidence from unions and employers and the experiences of our front line enforcement agencies.' Unions, employers and statutory enforcement agencies are represented on the forum.

HSC urged to act on directors' safety duties

The failure of the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) to press the government to change the law and introduce safety duties on company directors is being challenged by the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA). In a letter to HSC chair Bill Callaghan, the safety charity argues that HSC must follow through its December 2005 decision to support a change in the law and introduce safety duties on company directors. CCA says any further delay is 'unacceptable.' The letter reminds HSC that Professor Phil James, in a report commissioned by HSC's enforcement arm, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), concluded there was good evidence to support legislative measures on directors' duties. CCA executive director David Bergman commented: 'We have had to wait 10 years - from the first Labour Party promise in 1997 to now - before reform of the law of corporate manslaughter. We hope very much that we do not have to wait that long to get the really necessary reform that will improve safety and health in British workplaces - the imposition of safety obligations on company directors.' CCA says Britain is in the minority of countries in the industrialised world that does not impose safety duties on directors. In a survey commissioned by HSE, it was found that seven out of nine jurisdictions surveyed had safety obligations imposed in law on either company directors or senior managers (Risks 303).

Firm fined £2,600 after teen injures spine

A joinery firm has been convicted of safety offences after a teenage employee fell through an unprotected stairwell on a building site. Cumbrian firm K and M Joinery Ltd was fined £2,600 and ordered to pay £1,395 costs by magistrates at Penrith after pleading guilty to a breach of the work at height regulations. Apprentice, Brett Lawden, 19, received spinal injuries after falling through the unprotected stairwell at a site in Langwathby near Penrith last year. He has since made a full recovery. HSE inspector David Charnock said: 'Brett Lawden's injuries were serious, but the consequences of this accident could have been far worse. Falls from height remain the most common kind of accident causing fatal injuries. Latest figures show that 46 people died from a fall from height at work in 2005/06, with 3,351 seriously injured.' He added: 'Companies involved in building, refurbishment or maintenance should ensure that the work is planned properly and sensible measures taken so that workers are not exposed to risk. This case graphically illustrates that risks should be properly assessed and the results acted upon to ensure that decisions can be taken on what is the most appropriate equipment and working practices to be used to ensure safety.'

Builder hit with fine for horrific accident

A carpenter was left paralysed after breaking his spine when he fell off an unsecured ladder on a building site. John Greig, 47, lost all feeling in his lower body and has been told he will never walk again following the incident in Llanishen, Cardiff, in January 2005. Mr Greig was installing roof trusses on a double extension when he fell. His employer admitted a safety breach and was fined £6,000 with £5,000 costs. Mr Greig fell while trying to access scaffolding with a circular saw. The ladder was not tied correctly and access to the scaffolding was blocked by a guard rail. His employer Dennis Wheeler, 51, pleaded guilty at Newport magistrates to a breach of safety rules. He apologised through his barrister for Mr Greig's fall. The court was told Wheeler did not have proper scaffolding or health and safety training. Anthony Vines, prosecuting on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said when Mr Greig reached the top of the ladder his path onto the scaffolding was hindered by a guard rail. During his fall Mr Greig's head hit some scaffolding and his back bore the brunt of the impact when he hit the ground. Mr Vines added: 'The circular saw is believed to have then hit him on the head.' The site was immediately closed down and Wheeler reported the incident to the HSE, which launched an investigation. Mr Vines said Wheeler's company had been served with a prohibition notice in 2002 in relation to scaffolding safety on one of his sites.

Report warns of London rail privatisation dangers

Complex and fragmented arrangements for running the privatised 'London Rail' franchise will make it more difficult to manage safely, with potentially disastrous consequences, according to a leading rail safety expert. At least eight organisations will be involved in running 'London Rail' - two responsible for signalling, two for infrastructure maintenance, two for infrastructure renewals, one for train and station operations and another for train maintenance. Many of the operational and safety problems identified in a study of the plans, by expert Peter Rayner, would not exist if the franchise was to be run directly by London Underground. The rail safety consultant and former boss of London Midland, British Rail's biggest region, said: 'There is no doubt the fragmented nature of the arrangements does make it more difficult to manage operationally and importantly more difficult to manage safely.' Proposals to remove guards on the North and West London lines also raise safety fears, said Mr Rayner's report. It cites examples of serious accidents and fatalities caused by passengers being trapped in doors and trains train moving off, and says that the considerable cost of making driver-only operation safe probably outweigh any of its claimed advantages. Commenting on the study at RMT's annual conference in Edinburgh, general secretary Bob Crow said it 'underlines the fears we have that privatisation of the East London Line will undermine safety. It seems that precious few lessons have been learned from the nightmare fragmentation of national rail privatisation or the disastrous part-privatisation of Tube infrastructure, because the same dangerous formula is being lined up for London Rail.' He added: 'It is still not too late to step back from this grave mistake and keep the East London Line's operations as a unified part of the Tube network.'

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Australia: Temporary migrant jobs prove fatal

Australia's federal government is continuing to ignore warnings over the abuse of temporary migrant workers, despite reports that three overseas workers have died at work in recent weeks say unions. Construction union CFMEU and national union federation ACTU have highlighted the deaths of three migrant workers in the last month. They say the government's temporary migrant worker visa programme - '457 work visas' - is being used by unscrupulous employers to exploit vulnerable workers in dangerous conditions. ACTU president Sharan Burrow said: 'Unions are concerned that the federal government is issuing 457 work visas without giving adequate consideration to the safety and conditions of work for the visa holders. Overseas worker visa holders are often inadequately trained, do not have good language skills to understand safety procedures and lack the support to speak out when their workplaces are unsafe. This is a recipe for accidents in dangerous industries like construction and forestry.' Commenting on the deaths, John Sutton, secretary of construction and forestry union CFMEU, said: 'They didn't speak English. They didn't have the protection of a union. These men were among the most powerless, the most vulnerable.' Unions are also concerned that the government plans to increase the number of 457 temporary work visas in the coming year. Next year there are estimates that up to 100,000 visas will be issued at the 'extraordinary rate' of around 2,000 temporary visas a week, they say. The unions point to a United States State Department statement two weeks ago where it suggested that conditions for some foreign workers in Australia under the 457 special visa scheme constituted 'slavery'. The federal government rejected the claims as 'ill informed.' Immigration minister Kevin Andrews this week said his office is looking into the work-related deaths of temporary visa holders from overseas.

France: Second car firm linked to suicides

A second French car firm has had oppressive management practices linked to worker suicides. CGT trade union representatives at the Mulhouse site of Peugeot-Citroën in eastern France have denounced management's practice of sending 'guilt-inducing' letters to workers on sick leave. The union says the action is unacceptable, particularly in the light of the suicide of four workers at the Mulhouse site over the last two months. CGT has collected around 100 letters from management bullying sick workers over the past year. 'These are standard letters,' commented the CGT representatives. 'They were sent to workers from the Mulhouse site on sick leave, who submitted a medical certificate.' The French newspaper Le Monde has obtained a copy of a letter in which the head of personnel draws attention to 'the length and frequency' of the worker's absence. The letter goes on to state 'personal absenteeism is incompatible with industrial organisation and disrupts in an unacceptable way the working of the production unit.' It concludes by calling on the worker 'to make important and lasting changes to [his] behaviour.' CGT says it intends to denounce 'the hardness of the work, which encourages cases of depression' and to look into the possible impact 'of the guilt-inducing letters sent to workers on sick leave.' Three suicides in six months at Renault's Technocentre research centre have also highlighted concerns about the intolerable workplace stress facing overworked staff in the highly competitive car industry (Risks 309).

USA: Firm douses site safety protesters

At first, the images seem like documentaries from the US civil rights marches in the 1960s. But they're not: The video clips filmed in June 2007 show construction workers peacefully protesting about poor working conditions - when they are suddenly and repeatedly assaulted with high-pressure water from a water truck. The construction workers were protesting at a Pulte Homes construction site in Florence, Arizona, last month demanding that the giant homebuilder and its subcontractors pay decent wages and provide safe working conditions. Israel Hernandez, a painter who works on Pulte homes in the Phoenix area, said: 'This wasn't what we meant when we ask for drinking water on the job site. We spend 12 hours a day building homes for Pulte Homes. As soon as we want to talk about our rights, what we want, they treat us like this. We don't believe it's fair.' Between 3,000 and 5,000 workers in Arizona and Nevada are employed by Pulte, one of the nation's largest homebuilders, or by its subcontractors. It has been dubbed the 'Wal-Mart' of home developers. The workers have launched a 'Building Justice' organising campaign for union, employment and safety rights, a partnership involving the painting and sheet metal workers' unions with the support of the union federation AFL-CIO.

USA: Call for three strikes policy for safety crimes

In the wake of an unprecedented 29 construction-related deaths in New York City over the last year, contractors and union leaders joined forces in mid-May to urge passage of a tough three-strikes-and-out penalty system that would ban repeat offenders from obtaining building permits for five years. The penalty is part of a comprehensive set of construction industry reforms sought by the groups that includes strengthened safety laws in an effort to protect the public and city construction workers. Speaking on the steps of City Hall alongside department of buildings commissioner Patricia Lancaster and a coalition of union groups, immigrant advocates and clergy, Louis J Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers' Association, the largest unionised contractor association in the city, called on the New York City Council to adopt the proposed measures. 'With New York City experiencing a record boom in construction, it is imperative that we find solutions to ensure worker safety for all involved in the industry,' Coletti said. 'This legislative package will go a long way in standardising safety requirements. It is critical that the City Council support these measures soon so we can make our industry safer for workers and the public alike.' He said 'we can't escape the fact that, according to federal government statistics, 86 per cent of deaths occur on non-union sites.' Edward J Malloy, president of the 100,000-member Building and Construction Trades Council, said: 'Being proactive with strong enforcement sanctions will put contractors on the defensive and increase their risk for failing to comply with the law.'

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