Risks

issue no 14 - 11 August 2001

Risks is the TUC’s weekly e-bulletin. Risks aims to keep safety reps and others informed about TUC, union and other health and safety news. Edited for the TUC by Rory O'Neill of Hazards magazine. Send views about this bulletin to Owen Tudor. If you know anyone who might want to receive this or future issues, copy this to them or ask them to check out www.tuc.org.uk/risks/ where all issues are archived. To register to receive this bulletin every week, click here.

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CONTENTS

Feature: drug testing doesn’t work

Action

Union news

Other news

International news

FEATURE: DRUG TESTING DOESN’T WORK

Workers not told what bosses are doing

One in three UK companies is considering introducing alcohol and drug tests for employees, according to a Personnel Today survey of 306 employers published this week. The survey, conducted jointly with charities Alcohol Concern and Drug Scope, found 75 per cent of employers believe alcohol use to be a cause of absenteeism and 31 per cent of employers think drugs to be an absence cause. Commenting on the survey, TUC’s Tom Mellish said: "This survey shows the failure of employers to manage alcohol and drugs at work and must cast serious doubts over their ability to manage staff generally. Of the 77 per cent of these firms with an alcohol or drugs policy, only 25 per cent bothered to communicate the policy to their staff. These may be the kinds of business which will be frightened, by either media hype or unscrupulous consultants, into introducing testing, whether they have a problem or not, bringing them more problems than it solves." The TUC will be publishing guidance on dealing with alcohol and drugs at the workplace later in the year.

Charities worried by 'crude' work drug and alcohol tests

The charities providing a new Drug and Alcohol Workplace Service (which they say will help employers tackle the effects of alcohol and drugs at work) have warned that widespread workplace testing would not be a positive move. The launch of the new service by Alcohol Concern and DrugScope was timed to coincide with the publication of the Personnel Today survey above. However, one finding of the survey - that almost one in three employers are thinking of introducing testing for drugs and drink over the coming year - prompted a cautionary note from the groups. Roger Howard, chief executive of DrugScope, said: 'We are very concerned that nearly a third of employers are considering drug testing their workforce. We believe that drug testing should only be used where safety is a critical issue. Drug testing is a crude measure which cannot, on its own, show whether someone has a problem with drugs. Drug testing should be brought in only after full consultation with staff and within the context of a clear and humane policy on what to do with positive results.' Alcohol Concern assistant director, Mary-Ann McKibben, added: 'We need to get to a situation where organisations feel equipped to deal with people’s problems in a sympathetic manner - rather than through knee-jerk reactions such as blanket testing or automatic sackings. The way to do this is to put in place effective, rounded alcohol policies that have the right balance of support and sanctions. People are, after all, organisations’ most valuable resource - and should be treated as such.'

Worker who just said 'no' to drugs test unfairly dismissed

The legality of workplace drugs tests has been thrown into doubt by an Employment Tribunal decision in Watford. Arthur Harriott, 39, sacked by Thameslink last year for allegedly failing to take a drugs test, has this week won his complaint of unfair dismissal. The tribunal has yet to decide how much compensation to award.

UNION NEWS

100,000 NHS staff allergic to gloves designed to protect them

At least 100,000 NHS staff at risk from a potentially life-threatening allergy to latex could be protected if hospitals and ambulances provided an alternative to the potentially deadly rubber, a TUC report reveals. Rubber banned? The case against latex, says the number of sufferers includes at least one in 10 workers in the NHS - 100,000 nurses, dental nurses and other health workers - who are likely to have developed the allergy as a result of protective measures taken at work. TUC says providing an alternative to latex in the health service would prevent these NHS workers from developing the allergy in the first place, and protect the estimated half a million people already allergic to latex. Other workers exposed to latex at work include cleaners, police staff, food workers and hairdressers. TUC’s Owen Tudor said: 'Latex gloves were once seen as part of the solution to occupational diseases, but now they’re part of the problem. For the sake of a few pence for a pack of gloves, workers’ health is being put at risk, and patient health is compromised. There are good examples where NHS Trusts have done the right thing. So if it can be done right, it must be done right.' The report includes sufferers’ personal testimonies.

'Silent revolution' body maps out safer jobs

Body mapping, a worker-friendly workplace health assessment tool, is helping employees pinpoint hazards early - and the TUC is teaching how it's done. An Observer feature says the TUC 'is co-ordinating a silent revolution which should transform the way workplace injuries are recognised and tackled. It is incredibly simple to implement and will help workers to come together and identify how their jobs are affecting their health.' And an exciting new do-it-yourself workplace health research web resource, produced by the TUC-backed Hazards magazine, is freely available to union reps and others from this week. Body mapping is a perfect trade union tool, says the TUC’s Owen Tudor. 'It will have a huge impact on the workplace … as an early warning system, particularly for the invisible problems, the ones that don't get recorded in the accident book.'

UNISON road worker wins £150,000 for molten tar injury

A former council road worker has been awarded £150,000 in compensation for injuries he sustained after walking on molten tar. David Bradbury burned his feet on the freshly-laid tar in 1995, triggering health problems including blood poisoning and kidney failure. Mr Bradbury, 57, who suffers from diabetes, brought the personal injury claim against Birmingham City Council, claiming the council had acted negligently when it withdrew standard issue safety boots. His solicitor, Warinder Juss, of law firm Thompsons, said an interim payment of £100,000 was made last year. At the hearing for assessment of compensation the council tried to set aside the judgment but was unsuccessful, with the hearing stipulating a settlement of £150,000 should be paid to Mr Bradbury. The former highways superintendent, whose case was backed by his union, UNISON, still suffers from breathlessness and is unable to work.

Teachers can’t get no satisfaction

A 'satisfaction index' survey on the www.justforteachers.co.uk website has revealed job stress and abuse in schools is getting worse and could drive one in four teachers to leave the profession in the next five years. The survey found that over the last six months satisfaction levels have dropped considerably with 52 per cent of teachers saying they have become less happy, with violent and abuse pupils the major reason for the dissatisfaction. Reacting to the survey, Chris Keates of teaching union NASUWT said: 'Unfortunately the results come as no surprise. An NOP survey conducted for NASUWT in April 2001 produced similar results. Pupil violence and indiscipline were in the top three of teachers’ greatest concerns. Two thirds of those polled said they had considered leaving teaching in the last five years. Half of those were still considering doing so. Every survey from whatever source tells a similar tale of disillusionment, disappointment and disaffection. There is a surfeit of surveys, but an absence of any action from the Department for Education and Science (DfES).'

Postal workers bite back with pepper spray

Trials of pepper sprays have proved successful in protecting postal workers from violent animals, the Communication Workers’ Union reports. Union leaders say the 'Bite Back' scheme has been effective, although adds using sprays would be a last-ditch measure. The pepper sprays cause animals to sneeze and splutter. A spokesperson for CWU told the Sunday Express: "More funding is required before postmen are equipped nationally." There were 6,450 dog attacks on postal delivery staff last year resulting in nearly 6,000 days off work. Last year a West Yorkshire postman who was bitten in the groin by a spaniel was awarded £4,750 compensation.

OTHER NEWS

Employers fail to learn lessons of workplace accidents

New research shows that many employers do not have adequate procedures for assessing the causes of workplace accidents. Accident investigation: The drivers, methods and outcomes, commissioned by the HSE, shows 'a great deal of potential learning about the causes of accidents and their prevention is not taking place,' said Karen Clayton of HSE’s Operations Unit. She added: 'Prime responsibility for accident investigation lies with duty holders, primarily employers. Common sense suggests that if lessons are to be learned from accidents, then their underlying causes should be understood.' Commenting on the new findings, TUC’s Owen Tudor said: "This research shows precisely why we need a duty on employers to investigate. Many employers are clearly deluding themselves into thinking they are learning the lessons, when they aren't. We hope European health and safety week in October will give safety reps the chance to raise this with managers ahead of the introduction of legal duties, but the TUC is committed to ensuring that new regulations are introduced as a safety net." An HSC consultation on proposals for a new duty to investigate accidents, dangerous occurrences and diseases ends on 3 September 2001.

  • Copies of Proposals for a new duty to investigate accidents, dangerous occurrences and diseases (CD169) are available free from HSE Books. The full text is also available in pdf format

  • Comments on the HSC proposals to Neville Higham, HSE, by no later than 3 September 2001

North Yorkshire leads on asbestos survey of properties

North Yorkshire Council has undertaken to carry out asbestos surveys in all its properties, pre-empting government plans for mandatory surveys. The council expects to shell out at least £1 million to survey all 600 of its non-domestic buildings over a five year period and bring them under proper asbestos management in a bid to protect any contractors working for the council. An asbestos register will log locations where asbestos is located. The move follows the publication last week of an HSE guide on how to survey workplace premises for asbestos-containing materials and how to record the results. Bill Macdonald, head of HSE’s Asbestos Policy Unit, said: "Regulations due to be brought in next year will require over a million commercial buildings in the UK to be surveyed for asbestos. It is vital that surveys carried out are done to a recognised standard if we are to ensure that money is not wasted on poor quality surveys that do little to protect people from the deadly effects of asbestos fibres. This guidance is a crucial part of the strategy to make sure that doesn’t happen." HSE says in the autumn it will launch a nationwide campaign on the 'duty to manage' asbestos.

  • Copies of Surveying, sampling and assessment of asbestos-containing materials, Ref MDHS 100 ISBN 0 7176 2076 X price £18.00 can be ordered from HSE Books

Police record a rise in attacks on West Midlands rail staff

Physical and verbal assaults on railway staff in the West Midlands have risen by 10 per cent over the last year, according to figures from the British Transport Police. A survey found there have been more than 100 physical and verbal attacks on rail and metro staff this year. Detective Inspector Huw Jones said: "The only way we believe we can arrest this worrying rise in the number of
attacks is by increasing security and the number of officers on the beat. There is now a programme for more CCTV cameras to be installed in stations." Ken Usher, regional organiser of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) said rail staff were just doing their job so the public should be more tolerant, adding: "There has been a rise in assaults on staff not just this year but year on year for quite some time.' He said he would now like to see all staff trained in aggression awareness and more funding for greater surveillance in stations.

Power station deaths firm prosecuted twice before

The US company operating the Teesside power station where three people died in an explosion earlier this week has twice been prosecuted for breaching health and safety rules. In 1992, during construction of the £850 million Teesside Power Station near Redcar, a worker died after being run down on the site, the HSE said. The second prosecution was in 1998 after a worker received horrific burns and was left unable to work following an explosion in 1996. Jeff Skilling, chief executive officer of Enron Corp USA, who flew from the US to see the accident site for himself, said: "We pledge to work with the authorities to ensure it never happens again anywhere." The chief executive of Enron's Teesside operation, Tim Underdown, said: "until yesterday, throughout the eight years of operation there had been only one serious incident, in 1996 when an employee was injured in an explosion." Both the HSE and the police are investigating the recent deadly explosion. In 2001 the plant was given the RoSPA gold award for safety.

Shortage of inspectors forces HSE to abandon safety blitz

The HSE has been forced to abandon a summer safety blitz on London’s Canary Wharf construction site due to a shortage of inspectors, according to Construction News. The news comes a week after another site worker died at the Docklands site - bringing the total death toll to six. The HSE’s five-strong north-east London construction team is responsible for Canary Wharf. But it has been forced to divert its meagre resources to investigate a string of other serious incidents in the capital. Construction News reports the industry’s three main unions have pledged to join forces to target Canary Wharf, which boasts an estimated 4,000-plus workforce, in their own health and safety blitz next month.

DTI backs union safety partnerships with £1.5 million

Companies championing schemes to crackdown on bullying at work and supporting union-management occupational health partnerships have received a funding boost from the DTI’s Partnership Fund. Employment Minister Alan Johnson, announcing awards totalling £1.5 million, said: "The dark days when management was by coercion and negotiation by threat may seem like the distant past, but we must continue to improve. Today's successful company realises the full potential of its most important resource - its people - by ensuring they are equipped to perform at their best and listening to their contributions." The list of approved projects is dominated by health and safety initiatives, with unions T&G, UNISON, FBU, AEEU, APEX, GMB, Usdaw, Unifi, MSF and ASLEF all involved in successful bids. The government has now paid out a total of £3.9m since the Partnership Fund was launched in 1999. £1.1m is left for the next round, expected later in the year.

Council clampdown on child employment a Barking success

Barking and Dagenham Council has judged its crackdown on under age employment a success. Under the initiative, launched in November last year, the council advised all employers who had children under 16 working for them to ensure that they had work permits. Reviewing the impact so far, Cliff Warwick-Dennis a council education social worker, said local business and traders had made hundreds of requests for permits, information and advice. He added: 'We are delighted with the response we have had so far in the campaign and hope that the employers that we visit during the rest of the summer will now be more aware of their responsibilities when they employ the borough's young people.' Local press coverage had led to the education social work team taking 15-20 calls a day from employers asking for permits to legally employ children. The council reports it has also taken calls from parents wanting advice on what type of work their child can take up during the summer holidays. TUC’s Tom Mellish commented: "The TUC very much welcomes this initiative. But the huge response the council has had clearly shows that there needs to be a nationwide approach to illegal child labour. The TUC's Class struggles, published in March this year, reported research suggesting one in 10 schoolchildren play truant in order to take part in paid employment, and that 1 in 4 under 13-year-olds undertake paid work. And this isn't simply paper rounds or babysitting. For instance, 18 per cent of 10- to 11-year-olds and 27 per cent of 12-year-olds work in cleaning.' He called on the government to ensure the local authority enforcement agencies have sufficient staffing and resources to protect schoolchildren from exploitation.

INTERNATIONAL

USA: Government backs car giant vs worker with strain injury

The Bush administration is asking the US Supreme Court to limit the legal rights of workers with RSI. The Dallas Morning News reports that the Justice Department filed a brief in June siding with Toyota Motor Corp. in its fight with an assembly-line worker with RSI who sued after the company wouldn't reassign her to a different job. The case will be argued late this year, with the Justice Department siding with businesses to limit the number of people who can invoke the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. A Cincinnati-based federal appeals court had previously concluded that the worker was disabled and therefore eligible to sue under the law. The filing comes three months after President Bush repealed rules designed to protect workers from repetitive-motion injuries.

Australia: Unions rally as bosses risk manslaughter rap

Negligent bosses in the Australian state of Victoria could face imprisonment under industrial manslaughter legislation to take full effect in September. The law allows for employers to be jailed for up to five years and fined $180,000 Australian (£66,000) if a worker dies due to their negligence. Corporations could be liable for fines of up to $5 million (£1.8 million). The law comes after years of vocal union campaigns. Victoria Trades Hall Council doesn’t want the new law to go unheralded and is urging occupational health and safety reps and union delegates to attend a launch rally in Melbourne on 23 August.

USA: Orlando occupational health clinic bias claim

Dozens of Orlando firefighters who sued the US city last week accuse doctors at the city’s medical clinic of not telling them for years about dangerous medical symptoms. But interviews with city employees and documents obtained under Florida’s public-records laws show that problems at Orlando’s Occupational Medical Clinic went well beyond a simple breakdown in communication, reports the Orlando Sentinel. Former patients tell stories of shoddy care and serious problems that were misdiagnosed by city doctors. For years, firefighters had such little faith in the clinic that many said they hid minor on-the-job injuries until the facility closed for the day so they could seek treatment at Orlando Regional Medical Center. "It was a substandard level of care," said Mark Rhame, union president of Orange County Professional Firefighters Local 2057. "When we switched out of [the city clinic], the quality of care went up 100 per cent. It’s like night and day."

France: Job stress raises blood pressure

Workers who feel they have little control over demanding jobs may be particularly vulnerable to high blood pressure during the workday, according to researchers. Dr Jean Pierre Fauvel and colleagues took blood pressure readings of more than 300 healthy full-time employees at a French chemical company. All the workers completed questionnaires to assess the general demands and stresses of their jobs. The researchers compared the blood pressure levels of the 20 per cent of the workers who said they were subject to the highest amount of job strain with their co-workers' blood pressure levels. Presenting their findings in the July edition of the journal Hypertension, the research team reported the "high-strain" group had significantly higher blood pressure during working hours. They also noted that the high-strain group did not exhibit notably higher blood pressure outside the office. The authors say their findings confirm earlier research showing that workers with a large amount of responsibility, but no authority, suffered the most work-related stress. "Individual perception of strain should be considered as a cardiovascular risk factor," the research team add.

  • Technical abstract of academic article in the journal Hypertension

USA: High status work linked to longer life expectancy

Men and women in high-level jobs outlive their rank-and-file counterparts, new research has confirmed. US researchers followed more than 4,700 women and more than 14,000 men employed by the federal government as managers and professionals over 15 years and compared mortality rates with rates in the general population. Overall, men in high-level jobs were 50 per cent less likely to die than men the same age in the general population and women in these jobs were 38 per cent less likely to die compared with other women. "In summary, high-level employment is associated with substantially reduced mortality in both men and women,' Dr. Katherine M. Detre, from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, and her colleagues conclude.

ACTION

Euro-union survey on gender and health and safety

TUTB, the health and safety think tank for Europe’s unions, is investigating the 'gender dimension' of health at the workplace. 'We decided to carry out a survey in the 15 EU countries between July 2001 and January 2002,' says TUTB’s Laurent Vogel. 'The purpose of the survey is to assess the situation in two areas: The inclusion of gender issues in health and safety policies; and practical experiences involving health and safety actions at the workplace that take account of gender issues.' TUTB is urging as many interested parties as possible to complete its questionnaire. It is also seeking 'any documentation you think might be useful to our survey - articles, brochures and books, training material, electronic documents and reports, references to internet sites, and so on.' TUTB adds: 'If you have a website, you could mention our survey and create a link to our site.'

  • The TUTB gender dimension questionnaire (in word format) are available for downloading. More information on the survey is available on the TUTB website, or email Laurent Vogel. Tel: 00 32 2 224 05 60. Fax: 00 32 2 224 05 61. Completed questionnaires should be returned by 25 September 2001

  • Related topic: TUC webpage on women’s health and safety

EVENTS

Europe Work Hazards Conference, Vienna, 21-23 September

A worker-sympathetic Europe-wide conference for academics, safety professionals, union reps and shopfloor workers. Conference details. To express an interest, e-mail the delegation co-ordinators for England and Wales (Caroline Bedale) or for Scotland (Jim Swan).

ECOHSE 2001 Symposium, 26-29 September

The European Centre for Occupational Health, Safety and the Environment (ECOHSE) is holding its second conference, intended to encourage the exchange ideas between representatives of academia, NGOs, trade unions and public policy makers, in Romania. More information from Charles Woolfson at ECOHSE

European week, 15-22 October

European Health and Safety Week 2001 will have the theme 'Success is no accident'. The TUC is backing the week and will be preparing resources to help safety reps in workplace inspections, investigations and reporting. Details from the European Agency, including factsheets on accident prevention, and the HSE’s newsletter (in pdf format).

Law enforcement and corporate accountability, 21 November

The TUC is teaming up with the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) for a joint conference to be held at Congress House in London, sponsored by Russell Jones & Walker. Registration costs £25 (£5 unwaged). Details and a downloadable registration form.

Stress, 1 December

National Work Stress Network Conference, NASUWT Hillscourt Conference Centre, Birmingham. This year the theme is 'Revitalising safety and action on workplace stress.' Contact: Ian Draper.

Workers' Memorial Day 2002, 28 April

TUC is planning to highlight occupational health, including access to occupational health services, and rehabilitation. Ask your union for details of Workers’ Memorial Day events or organise your own. Hazards magazine round up of Workers’ Memorial Day resources

XVI international congress on health and safety, 26-31 May

The ICFTU has managed to secure over ten presentations on the agenda for this Congress in Vienna, and the TUC will be co-ordinating a daily trade union briefing. Full details including how to attend are on the Congress website.

Women, work and health 3rd international congress, 2-5 June

The 3rd international congress will take place in Stockholm in 2002, and registration before 1 March 2002 costs £164 including VAT (not too bad for three days) - but hotel costs for single rooms range from £78 to £184 a night. President of LO Sweden Wanja Lundby-Wedin will be making the keynote address, and we are keen to ensure a bigger trade union presence than at previous events. Details and registration forms.

Road safety week 2002, 23-29 September

Organised by BRAKE, an independent road safety charity. Details will be set out on their website.

European Week of Health and Safety 2002, 14-21 October

Next year’s week will take place in Britain from 14 October, on the theme of stress.

LINKS

Visit the TUC health and safety website or the main TUC website pages on health and safety. See what’s on offer from TUC Publications.

Find out about TUC courses for safety reps from September to December:

Wales Scotland East Midlands West Midlands

Southern and Eastern South West North West

Northern or Yorkshire and Humberside - contact the TUC REO

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.

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Newsletter (4,900 words) issued 12 Aug 2001

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