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Number 573 - 15 September 2012

Risks
HSE Asbestos - the hidden killer
 Hazards Magazine
 Hazards at Work

Risks is the TUC's weekly online bulletin for safety reps and others, read each week by over 23,000 subscribers. 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

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

Contents

Union News

TUC warns Cable his deregulation plans will kill

A renewed government drive to abolish official safety inspections in hundreds of thousands of businesses and to force regulators to take a hands-off approach will put the health of millions of workers at risk, the TUC has warned. The union body was responding to plans outlined by Vince Cable. The business secretary said: 'Removing unnecessary red tape and putting common sense back into areas like health and safety will reduce fears and costs for businesses. We want to help give British business the confidence it needs to create more jobs and support the wider economy to grow.' In future, businesses will only be inspected if they are operating in high risk areas, such as construction, or if they have a poor record. The plan to end safety inspections in 'lower risk' workplaces repeats changes already implemented under the government's March 2011 health and safety blueprint. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has already gone further, and included some known higher risk workplaces, like agriculture and quarries, in its no-go categories for unannounced inspections. But the government now intends to introduce a legally binding statutory code in April 2013 outlawing proactive inspections of in all but 'high risk areas'. HSE will also be required to ensure local authority regulators abide by the non-inspection rules. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber condemned the government action, warning the 'UK is facing an occupational health epidemic.' He added: 'Some of the 'low risk' workplaces identified by the government, such as shops, actually experience high levels of workplace injuries. This will only get worse if employers find it easier to ignore safety risks. This epidemic will only be stopped by ensuring that employers obey the law, and when every employer knows their workplace can be visited at any time. Health and safety regulation is not a burden on business, it is a basic protection for workers. Cutting back on regulation and inspections will lead to more injuries and deaths as result of poor safety at work.' Business lobby groups the CBI, EEF, the Institute of Directors, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and the Federation of Private Businesses (FPB) all welcomed the government plan to remove safety oversight at work.

TUC news release. BIS news release. CBI news release. BCC news release. FPB news release. BBC News Online. Morning Star. Personnel Today.

Government 'will have blood on its hands'

Government plans to leave most workplaces exempt from unannounced, preventive safety inspections have been condemned by unions. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: 'It is simply absurd to describe the health and welfare of people at work as a burden. Instead of giving a green light to employers to make their workplaces more dangerous, ministers should be investing to ensure people are not put at risk when they go to work.' RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: 'This isn't about cutting red tape, it's about cutting the throat of safety regulations and the trade unions will mobilise a massive campaign of resistance.' Urging the government to rethink its plans, CWU general secretary Billy Hayes said: 'The government will have blood on its hands if these dangerous cuts go through.' He added: 'Cutting pro-active inspections could be disastrous. Moving to a reactive system would mean that people would have to be injured, become ill or die before any inspection took place, rather than preventing these incidents happening in the first place.' GMB national safety officer John McClean said the announcement was 'a regurgitation' of a government policy that 'will not promote growth and could well lead to an increase in accidents at work.' He added: 'Current laws in this area were not enforced very strongly anyway. The burdens will now fall on individuals and society in suffering and cost.' NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said: 'No case has been made for the attack the coalition government has launched on health and safety provisions.' She said it was 'another ideologically driven policy... where hard fact and evidence are, quite frankly, ignored. The drive to deregulate health and safety is a return to the dark ages when the lives of working people had no value.' UNISON said supposedly low risk workplaces could have high levels of work-related health problems. UNISON's James Randall said: 'The government does not take into consideration occupational ill-health such as musculoskeletal disorders and work-related stress, which are the most common types of ill-health in so-called low risk workplaces, and account for more than threequarters of all work-related injuries and illness currently suffered in the UK.'

PCS news release. UNISON news release. GMB news release. NASUWT news release. CWU news release. BECTU news release. UCATT news release.

Nine out of 10 workplace health inspections to go

An estimated 90 per cent of the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) occupational health inspections will cease as a result of a planned change to the law, the union Prospect has warned. It says the proposals to amend RIDDOR - the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 - will mean the safety watchdog will ditch all occupational health-related inspections unless they relate to a biological agent at the workplace. A consultation due to end on 28 October proposes removing the requirement on employers to inform HSE of conditions including certain strain injuries, poisonings, vibration diseases, dermatitis and occupational cancers, dust diseases and asthma (Risks 568). Prospect says occupational health cover already been decimated in HSE, which now has only three occupational physicians and 18 occupational health inspectors, down from 60 of each in the early 1990s. Prospect head of research Sue Ferns said the changes to RIDDOR 'would remove the bulk of the intelligence guiding the work of hygiene and occupational health inspectors, and deprive lay health and safety representatives of information essential for them to monitor workplace health.' The union says HSE's Corporate Medical Unit is so depleted it can no longer provide basic cover on occupational health advice and prevention. Its research also shows HSE now has only five specialist radiation inspectors, falling to four later this year. It warns that HSE has withdrawn from proactive radiation inspection to save money, 'even though there are 280 deaths a year from occupational exposure to radon and widespread non-compliance with the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999.' Ferns added that HSE has already been subjected to a 25 per cent spending cut, and required to reduce proactive inspections for high-hazard sectors by a third. The number of HSE staff has dropped from 3,702 in April 2010 to 2,889 in June 2012.

Prospect news release and 40&40 case histories. Morning Star.

Blacklisters should be jailed, say unions

Blacklisting of workers for their union and safety activities should be made an imprisonable offence, delegates to the TUC's annual congress were told. UCATT executive council member Neil Vernon, speaking in the 9 September debate, told delegates: 'We have to ensure that the disgusting practice of blacklisting is never allowed to return. That bosses never ever even think of blacklisting workers and trade unionists.' He said his union was taking the case of one blacklisted member to the European Court of Human Rights. 'The failure of the British government to outlaw blacklisting damaged workers' human rights,' he said. 'The wheels of European justice move slowly. It will be a long fight. But it is a battle we are determined to win.' Unite assistant general secretary, Gail Cartmail, showed delegates a packet of unredacted files that had come into the union's possession from the covert blacklisting organisation, The Consultancy Association. 'The contents read like a low budget spy film script, using codes and cross references,' she said. 'We had to write to the members named to tell them they are blacklisted - this cannot be right. We want full disclosure.'

UCATT news release. Unite news release.

Carillion was a blacklister, GMB insists

GMB has dismissed complaints from construction giant Carillion that the union is 'presenting a grossly distorted and misleading portrait of Carillion insofar as blacklisting is concerned.' Carillion, which said the union's claims were 'a disgrace', was responding after the union gave evidence last week to the Scottish Affairs Committee and protested outside Swansea Crown Court, where the firm is facing a prosecution following the death of a construction worker (Risks 572). In a detailed rebuttal, GMB national officer Maria Ludkin said: 'Whilst Carillion may consider our campaign a 'disgrace', the government regulator - the Information Commissioner (ICO) - is consulting with us to move forward with identifying GMB members who have been blacklisted, to join a High Court action being prepared by our solicitors Leigh Day and Co.' She added: 'Carillion state that they have had an internal investigation that shows only limited use of the database by their subsidiaries prior to 2006. As GMB has seen invoices from The Consulting Association directly to Carillion up to the date of the ICO's raid on The Consulting Association in 2009, any investigation they have had must be fundamentally flawed as it has completely failed to take account of this documentary evidence.' She added: 'Given Carillion's continuing efforts to deny the evidence and mislead the public, GMB renews the call for an independent inquiry to investigate the extent of this shameful practice, and the role that companies like Carillion who benefit from enormous tax payer funded contracts, have played.'

GMB news release.

Criminal injury compensation cuts shelved

Unions CWU and Usdaw have welcomed a decision not to proceed with drastic cuts to scheme to compensate victims of violent crime, but are seeking assurances from the government after the Ministry of Justice indicated the idea may have been just shelved rather than dropped entirely. The government had wanted to restrict payments from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme to those suffering serious injuries, a move it said would shave £50m off the annual £449m bill. The revised Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) would have slashed or axed altogether the compensation paid to almost 90 per cent of innocent victims of violent crime, including many assaulted while working. The change was due to be approved by a parliamentary committee on 10 September and come into force from 1 October 2012, but was withdrawn by ministers at the last minute, just before a vote was due to be taken. This prompted CWU general secretary Billy Hayes to comment 'thankfully sense has prevailed.' However, later that evening, MoJ released a statement saying the government is still committed to 'reforming the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme to put it on a sustainable financial footing.' Shopworkers' union Usdaw has written to Chris Grayling, the new justice secretary, 'to seek urgent clarification on whether the government intends to proceed with imminent cuts to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.' In the letter, Usdaw general secretary John Hannett told the minister he was 'surprised to see the statement.' Urging the government not to proceed with the reforms at a later date, he said: 'If you would like further information or to meet with victims violent crime who can explain the importance of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme to themselves and their families, in helping them to get on with their lives again following an assault, we would be more than happy to arrange this for you.'

Usdaw news release. CWU news release and briefing for MPs. House of Commons Delegated Legislation Committee, 10 September 2012. BBC News Online.

Civil servant suffered permanent injuries in attack

A Newcastle civil servant who had both his arms broken in an unprovoked assault whilst he was walking home, has been awarded damages from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). Gary Miller, 47, was just a few metres from his home when he was assaulted by two men in April 2009. They knocked him to the ground and when he tried to get up they knocked him unconscious. He was out for two hours before his neighbours, returning from a night out, found him and helped him home. When he came round the next morning his father took him straight to accident and emergency where he was diagnosed with fractured humerus' in both arms. His left arm was so badly broken he had to have emergency surgery. The PCS member needed five months off work from his job in the Pensions Service. Despite intensive physiotherapy he has a frozen left shoulder and his right arm was so badly injured he cannot lift his arms above head height. He cannot drive or wear clothes which have to go over his head and is in constant pain. In a union backed claim for criminal injuries compensation, Mr Miller was initially awarded just £7,645. But union solicitors appealed the decision, claiming his injuries were so disabling he should be awarded more. The appeal panel agreed and awarded him £12,650. Wayne Christie from Thompsons Solicitors, the law firm brought in by the union to represent the PCS member, said: 'If it was not for the CICA scheme he would not receive a penny in compensation because his attackers were never caught and even if they were it is unlikely they'd have the funds available to compensate him in a civil claim.'

Thompsons Solicitors news release.

Insurer drags its feet on sore skin payout

A factory worker who developed painful dermatitis after he was exposed to harmful materials at work has received compensation in spite of an insurer's delaying tactics. Paul Eames, 47, was exposed to epoxy resin at Hepworth Building Products in Swandlicote, a part of Wavin UK Holdings. He first showed symptoms of dermatitis in May 2005 after his arm became swollen and painful. When he returned to work he was moved off the job and in August 2008 filled out an occupational health form highlighting his skin condition. But in April 2009 he was put back on a job where he was being exposed to resin. His arm again swelled up and he began to suffer from blisters and welts on both hands and arms, his face and eyes. He was removed from working with resin but continued to work in the department where the material was used. It took three years to settle a compensation claim as Wavin's insurer, Chartis, opted for stalling tactics, refusing to share the cost of an engineer to inspect the site, issuing sporadic witness statements and 'generally used costly time delaying tactics,' said Unite. Union lawyers offered to settle the case in April 2010 when the related costs bill was just £5,000. The case was finally settled for £5,000, but the defendant's costs bill had risen by then to around £25,000. Steve Fitzwalter from Thompsons Solicitors, the law firm brought in by Unite to act in the case, said: 'The insurance industry constantly bleats on about compensation culture and rising legal costs, which the government is using as justification for making it more difficult for injured people to claim, but this case shows how it is the insurance companies' bad behaviour which pushes costs up. Unfortunately it's not a unique example.'

Thompsons Solicitors news release. Burton Mail.

Other news

As enforcement goes down, injuries go up

A marked decline in Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspections and enforcement activity has been accompanied by a sharp rise is fatal and major injuries at work, new research has found. An investigation by the union-backed workers' health journal Hazards found the chances of HSE investigating a major injury had dropped by 40 per cent in five years. Just 1-in-20 major injuries is now investigated, its analysis of official figures shows. As the combined fatal and major injury toll is on an upward trend, enforcement action is on the wane. Only 1-in-170 (0.56 per cent) of the 36,062 fatal and major injuries reported to HSE in 2010/11 resulted in prosecution activity, half the level of five years ago. And only 1-in-65 (1.54 per cent) resulted in any enforcement action at all, down by 30 per cent. The investigation found HSE did not know when it last inspected most workplaces as it routinely disposes of its inspection records after seven years. In July, the TUC called for a change of direction from the government after statistics on deaths at work showed the rate had remained the same for a second year, up over 17 per cent on the record low figure in 2009/10. Deaths normally dip in a recession as a result of reduced activity in the economy (Hazards 563).

Give up, Hazards magazine special report, September 2012.

Enforcement cuts raise disaster risks

Cutbacks in safety enforcement agencies and a shift towards voluntary systems and self-regulation could lead to a repeat of earlier catastrophic mistakes, a study has found. 'Safety failures the offshore oil industry: from Piper Alpha to Deepwater Horizon', a report of a study by Linköping University Professor Charles Woolfson to be published in 2013, provides a siren warning about the UK government's current anti-regulatory, business-friendly shift in safety enforcement. Woolfson found in the run-up to the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon blast - the offshore rig disaster that killed 11, smeared the Gulf of Mexico with oil and costs BP billions - the shrinking number of inspectors lacked sufficient training, and became more and more dependent on the expertise and information of the oil companies, a form of 'regulatory capture' corroborated in 2011 by a President Obama appointed independent commission (Risks 523). The commission identified a need for more unannounced safety inspections. The Linköping study warns the same weaknesses were identified after the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster that killed 167 offshore workers off Scotland's coast. According to Woolfson, industry's promises on self-regulation, voluntary enforcement and standards of conduct effectively torpedoed all demands for stricter supervision of safety arrangements. The major companies implicated in the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010, notably BP and Transocean, have global health and safety policies and approaches and operate today in UK oil fields.

Linköping University news release.

Job insecurity linked to soaring hospital admissions

Rising numbers of people are being admitted to hospital with stress caused by the recession, official figures have revealed. A total of 6,370 people were hospitalised with stress in the 12 months to May, a seven per cent rise on the previous year and 47 per cent up on 2007/8 when the economic crisis hit, according to the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIS), Those of working age were most vulnerable, with the highest rate of hospital admissions. Overall hospital admissions were up two per cent last year, indicating that admissions for stress, though low, are rising three times as fast. The HSCIS figures do not include the millions who visit GPs, A&E departments or alternative practitioners for stress which are also thought to be increasing. Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology at Lancaster University and an expert on stress, linked the rise in admissions to job insecurity. He told the Independent newspaper: 'I have never seen figures like this before... But the figures do not surprise me. There is a lot of job insecurity out there. It is not just people losing their jobs - there is also the fear of losing their jobs. Those who remain are fewer, with more work to do and more pressure, and they are managed by people who are overloaded and also fear for their jobs.' He added: 'People see other jobs going and they fear they are next.' Tim Kendall, deputy director of the Royal College of Psychiatrists research unit, said: 'I work in a unit for the homeless and I see a lot of people who two years ago were in a home with a family and now it has fallen apart.'

HSCIC news release and full report. The Independent. Morning Star.

Labour to review of bogus self-employment

The Labour Party is to launch a review into bogus self-employment. In his speech this week to the TUC Congress in Brighton, shadow chancellor Ed Balls said: 'On the issue of bogus self-employment in the construction sector and more widely, I am determined that we look at this issue again. There is a careful balance to be struck. I do not want in any way to undermine genuine self-employment. But nor should contractual arrangements be distorted and misrepresented to avoid tax and undermine terms and conditions.' He added: 'Construction is one of the most important industries. Let's work together to make it stronger, safer and fairer for the future.' Steve Murphy, general secretary of the construction union UCATT, welcomed the initiative. 'Labour is listening to ordinary construction workers and ourselves. There is a growing understanding that bogus self-employment is not simply about a loss of revenue to the Treasury but it also strips workers of even the most basic employment rights.' He added: 'It is vital that Labour's review is the first step in a long-term solution for the construction industry. Bogus self-employment corrupts the entire industry, creating a short-termist hire and fire culture which among many other problems reduces safety and deters vitally needed apprenticeship training.'

Ed Balls' speech to TUC. UCATT news release. Daily Mirror.

Warning over surge in waste and recycling deaths

A massive surge in deaths in the already notoriously hazardous waste and recycling industry has prompted a warning from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The watchdog is calling on industry to renew efforts to improve worker safety, following a spate of deaths over the summer. Nine lives were lost in separate incidents in just 12 weeks between June 2012 and September 2012. Half of the deaths occurred in skip hire and waste transfer premises. Heather Bryant, HSE's operations director and lead for HSE's waste and recycling strategy, said: 'These fatal accidents should be a stark reminder for all employers in this sector to check their controls on use of vehicles and equipment, and to make sure that staff are properly trained and supervised.' HSE said seven of the nine fatal injury reports received are likely to be recorded under a 'waste collection, treatment and disposal activities' heading. This summer toll already exceeds the provisional figure of five fatal injuries to workers recorded for the whole of last year in the same category.

HSE news release.

Death of factory worker was 'entirely preventable'

The death of a Bradford factory worker who was crushed beneath an unsecured racking system was 'entirely preventable', a court has heard. Jim Murphy, 61, died from head injuries when the 'A' frame metal racking unit, weighing more than a quarter of a tonne, toppled over and pinned him underneath. As he fell his head hit part of another machine just feet away. The overloaded unit had not been bolted or secured in place. Mr Murphy had worked for refrigeration company George Barker & Co (Leeds) Ltd for nine years. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into the 1 December 2009 incident uncovered a 'catalogue of errors'. Bradford Crown Court was told Mr Murphy had been asked to help dismantle the stacking system so the area could be reorganised. The court heard the racking that crushed him was not bolted to the floor and other employees had started to use it to shelve components, making it increasingly unstable. HSE found there was no system at the company to safely move or inspect the racking, no indication of its maximum load and no training given to employees. George Barker & Co (Leeds) Ltd was fined £110,000 and ordered to pay £30,000 in costs for a criminal safety offence. The company had admitted the breach at an earlier hearing. HSE inspector Morag Irwin commented: 'This was a tragedy that was entirely preventable and was devastating for Mr Murphy's family and, indeed, for the company and what is a close-knit workforce. Sadly the case was based on a catalogue of errors on the part of the company.'

HSE news release.

Worker survives giant drill horror

A worker survived serious internal injuries after he became trapped in an industrial drilling machine, a court has heard. Joseph Spencer narrowly avoided being paralysed when a rotating drill passed through his overalls and jeans, and became lodged close to his spine. The 45-year-old sustained long-term injuries including a split bowel, twisted pelvis and nerve damage to his right hand. He is also being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. His employer, Leach Structural Steel Work Ltd, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident at the factory in Claughton on Brock on 29 November 2010. Preston Crown Court heard Mr Spencer had noticed that coolant was not properly feeding onto the drills on a machine which drills holes in steel beams used in frames for new buildings. As he positioned himself between the drill and one of the beams to try and fix the problem, the drill moved forward, causing him to become trapped. He was unable to reach the emergency stop button and a colleague eventually stopped the machine after hearing his screams. A HSE investigation found Mr Spencer had been able to gain access to the machine through a loosened fence panel, which was regularly used as a gate by workers at the factory. This meant they avoided passing photoelectric light guards that automatically stopped the machine when someone walked through them. The court was told there had previously been problems restarting the machine after the light guards had been activated, and so workers avoided passing them. Leach Structural Steel Work Ltd pleaded guilty to a criminal breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £12,500 costs.

HSE news release. Construction Enquirer.

Concrete pump sprayed the public

A concrete pumping company has been fined after members of the public and a police car were sprayed with concrete when a delivery pipe ruptured. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted London Concrete Pumping Limited over the poorly maintained equipment that caused the incident on 24 May 2011. Westminster Magistrates' Court heard the equipment was being used to pump concrete to the top of a construction site opposite Wellington Barracks, near Buckingham Palace, when the pipe, part of the concrete pump's delivery line, ruptured, spraying the liquid concrete at high-velocity over the vehicle and injuring a passer-by. The court was told that on the day of the incident the pump operator, believing there was a blockage in the pipe, released the pressure and started reverse pumping. He could not see the entire length of the equipment and was told by the foreman a pipe had burst hitting people and a vehicle with concrete. The debris caused a head injury to a woman and shattered the window of a police car 25 metres away. London Concrete Pumping Ltd pleaded guilty to a criminal safety breach and was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £31,000 in costs. After the hearing, HSE inspector Andrew Verrall-Withers said: 'It's simply not acceptable for firms to show the level of disregard to people's safety that London Concrete Pumping demonstrated here. Its failure to carry out effective maintenance on its plant and equipment meant the company put others at risk and ultimately led to a person being injured.'

HSE news release, concrete webpages and guidance on pipeline maintenance. Construction Enquirer.

Firm fined after fall from cherry picker

A Shropshire plant hire firm that specialises in equipment for working safely at height, has been fined after a worker fractured his skull when he fell from a cherry picker. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted UK Platforms Ltd following the incident at the company's depot in Halesfield, Telford. Telford Magistrates' Court heard how the 42-year-old man, who does not want to be named, was standing on the cherry picker's engine canopy to repair the mechanical arm when he fell two metres, landing on a concrete floor. He suffered a compression fracture to his skull, which caused bleeding on his brain, and fractured four vertebrae, four ribs and his collarbone. He was in hospital for nearly two weeks and has not been able to return to work since the incident on 28 March 2011. HSE's investigation into the incident found UK Platforms had failed to plan or supervise the work properly and there was no protection to stop the man from falling from the machine. UK Platforms Ltd pleaded guilty to a criminal breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £5,888 costs. HSE inspector Katharine Walker said: 'Almost a year after this entirely avoidable incident, a man is still unable to work and may not make a full recovery from these life-changing injuries.' She added: 'If UK Platforms had used another powered access platform alongside the cherry picker, the incident would never have happened. It is unacceptable to see such failings, particularly as UK Platforms hires out access equipment for working safely at height and therefore should have known how to carry out this job.'

HSE news release and falls webpages. Construction Enquirer.

International News

Australia: Insecure work is making work less safe

The rise of insecure work in Australia over the past few decades has made employees less able to speak up for their rights and workplaces less safe, Australia's top union body has warned. ACTU president Ged Kearney said a constantly changing workforce often meant safe systems of work were not fully-implemented, and casual, contract and labour hire workers were also less likely to speak up if they thought something was unsafe because they feared the sack. Speaking at the annual United Mineworkers Federation Memorial Day, Ms Kearney said one aspect of a secure job had to be a healthy and safe workplace. 'The creeping rise of insecure work is a threat to mine safety,' Ms Kearney said. 'I am talking about labour hire, casualisation and contracting out, along with fly-in/fly-out or drive-in/drive-out. A lasting safety culture cannot be created with a mobile, temporary workforce. And it is well known that a lack of job security makes it more difficult for people to speak up for their rights, particularly about occupational health and safety. Industry studies point to a link between a lack of safety in mines and the growth of contract employment in the industry.' The union leader said through the ACTU's 'secure jobs, better future' campaign, 'we intend to ensure that contract and labour hire workers have the same health and safety protections as other workers. Because one of the fundamentals of a secure job is a healthy and safe working environment.'

ACTU news release and Ged Kearney's speech. ABC News.

Global: Insecure work leaves workers 'trashed'

A global epidemic of insecure work is leaving a trail of sick and injured workers in its wake, a new report had concluded. 'Trashed!', published this week in the workers' health journal Hazards, says the 'most reliable product of many modern workplaces is now insecurity, with those in permanent jobs fearing the axe in the name of automation or austerity, and a growing slice of the workforce already outsourced or semi-detached from employment, on zero hours contracts, temping or skirting around for scraps in the informal economy.' The report says job insecurity-related health problems are rife across 'an increasingly disposable workforce.' It notes: 'In a recession-ravaged world, even if you've got a permanent job, you feel insecure. If you've got a temporary job, you are permanently insecure.' 'Trashed!' reviews links between this 'precarious work' and health problems. It identifies 'a large body of research evidence' linking insecure work to higher injury and sickness rates and poorer health overall, including a greater chance of suffering heart disease and strokes. Other problems linked to insecure work include a greater risk of suicide, depression and mental health problems. The report concludes: 'The reasons are simple. Insecure workers are more likely to be exposed to risk and have less scope for raising or acting on their concerns.' On 7 October 2012, the World Day for Decent Work, the IndustriALL global union is calling on trade unionists, labour rights activists and others 'to join the global fight against precarious work'.

Hazards magazine and insecure work webpages. Industriall news report, leaflet and details of the 7 October 2012 precarious work day of action.

Sign up to the 'Stop precarious work' cause.

Pakistan: Justice demand after hundreds die in factory fires

Unions are calling for justice and safety action after more than 300 people were killed in two fires that tore through factories in Pakistan. The tragedies have again raised questions about inadequate safety checks and rampant corruption in the country. The devastating fires on 11 September, at a garment factory in Karachi and a shoe factory in Lahore, have prompted the global manufacturing union IndustriALL to launch an international campaign, calling on the government of Pakistan to investigate and punish those responsible and compensate the injured and the bereaved. Reports indicate that workers could not escape the fires because the factory buildings lacked basic fire safety precautions and emergency exits. The fire at Ali Enterprises in Karachi, which was operating illegally and not registered with the authorities, killed more than 289 garment workers. As it was pay day, over 1,000 workers were estimated to be on the premises at the time. Many of the dead suffocated as they were trapped in the basement. Large numbers suffered grievous injuries as they jumped from the building to escape the blaze. The four-storey building had only one exit and no firefighting equipment. All windows had iron grilles and doorways and stairs were stuffed with finished or semi-finished merchandise. The second tragedy occurred at a shoe manufacturing unit in Lahore, where at least 25 workers were killed. Initial reports indicate chemicals used at the factory ignited when an attempt was made to start a generator during a power cut. Exits were again blocked or locked. IndustriALL and its affiliates in Pakistan have condemned 'the negligence of the government authorities and demanded immediate action against the factory owner and appropriate compensation for the families of dead and injured workers with free medical treatment.' Unions worldwide are calling for action. In addition to the IndustriALL/Labourstart online campaign, unions in Pakistan are organising protests and industrial action to demand better regulation of factories and justice for those killed, injured and bereaved.

IndustriALL news report. The Independent. BBC News Online.

Sign the Labourstart/Industriall letter to the Pakistan prime minister calling for safety improvements and justice.

Events and Courses

TUC courses for safety reps

COURSES FOR SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2012

Useful Links

  • Visit the TUC 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 (5,900 words) issued 14 Sep 2012

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