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Risks

issue no 56 - 1 June 2002

Editor: Rory O'Neill of Hazards magazine. Comments to Owen Tudor.

CONTENTS

Amicus MSF section health and safety research officer

Come and work for Britain’s second largest and newest trade union and help build a new Working Environment Department to lead the trade union movement into the 21st century - details.

Changing The Way We Work: TUC Academy Organiser

Trade union membership is rising. New legislation means new rights at work. But unions need organisers to build active members in tough workplaces. TUC Organising Academy traineeships last a year and will be based in major cities around Britain, starting September 2002 - details.

Risks is the TUC’s weekly online bulletin for safety reps and others, read each week by over 4,000 subscribers and 1,000 on the TUC website. To receive this bulletin every week, click here. Past issues are available. This edition contains Useful links TUC courses for safety reps Disclaimer and Privacy statement. The TUC website lists future health and safety events in What’s On - new events are covered below.

UNION NEWS

Government told to practice what it preaches

Trade unionists have told government ministers they cannot demand more action on health and safety if the government itself lags behind. At a top level government-union-employer conference TUC highlighted the action government needs to take to implement its own two-year-old Revitalising health and safety strategy, including: introducing legislation on rehabilitation, higher penalties for safety crimes and corporate killing laws; and only giving public contracts to employers with high health and safety standards. TUC also called for more resources for health and safety enforcement. TUC general secretary, John Monks, said: 'If the government doesn't deliver, the targets that ministers have agreed for reduced injuries, illness and sickness absence will not be achieved, and the efforts being made in partnership between unions and employers will be undermined.'

TUC concern as safety gets shuffled again

Health and safety has found itself squatting yet again in an inappropriate ministry. As a result of this week’s Cabinet reshuffle health and safety is 'temporarily' under the new Department of Transport, but the TUC has expressed concerns at the conflict of interest this could bring, with the sponsor department for the rail industry also being its safety regulator. Departmental responsibility for workplace safety has changed with every recent Cabinet re-think and in recent years has graced DE, DoE, DETR and DTLR. An explanatory note on the No.10 website says: 'There will be a review of the appropriate institutional structure and departmental responsibilities for transport safety and other health and safety at work issues.' Safety minister Dr Alan Whitehead resigned in the reshuffle and David Jamieson MP will take responsibility for health and safety.

Pub union calls time on long working hours

The pub managers' union, the National Association of Licensed House Managers (NALHM), is to start legal proceedings against a pub chain. The action against the Spirit Group centres on what the union - part of the Transport and General Workers' Union - says is a failure to recognise the Working Time Regulations. Peter Love, NAHLM national officer, said with 24 hour pub opening on the cards, it is crucial all pub staff have the protection of the Working Time Regulations 48-hour a week ceiling. "We are not against these changes but there must be safeguards for those working in the industry," Mr Love said: NAHLM won an out-of-court working hours settlement against Bass Taverns in 2000.

Teachers are sick of the pressure

Teaching unions have said it is no wonder record numbers are falling sick - they are all being worked into the ground. Latest figures show an increase in the number of days of sickness absence in 2001, up to 2.8 million from 2.66 million the year before, a rise in one year of more than 5 per cent. The three teacher unions are cooperating on a national workload campaign (Risks 31).

Lords pass UK Dignity at Work Bill

The House of Lords has given an unopposed third reading to the UK Dignity at Work Bill, after bullying victims brought to the Lords by the trade union Amicus put the case for legal protection. Baroness Gibson, the Bill's sponsor, said there was still a problem with getting the government to find parliamentary time for the Bill, but added 'we will continue to press the case and hopefully eventually the government will realise that it is a measure that ought to be supported.' People from all over the UK had travelled at their own expense to take part in the pre-meeting, arranged by Amicus to give bullied workers a voice. 'If the Peers present had had any doubts as to the personal consequences of bullying, they would have surely been dispelled by this event,' commented Amicus national secretary Chris Ball. Amicus will now be working with MPs to try to get the Dignity at Work Bill properly considered by the House of Commons.

Shop union membership pay off

Members of the shopworkers’ union Usdaw shared more than £16 million last year as the union recovered its highest total yet for employees injured or unfairly treated at work. Accident and disease cases continue to make up the largest part of the compensation total. In 2001, there were more than 6,000 new cases, with personal injury damages amounting to £14,884,839. Last year, 11,761 members applied for legal assistance, or one in 26 of the total membership.

7 up for big partnership bucks

Seven health and safety projects involving unions are among those that have received a funding boost from the DTI Partnership Fund. The Fund, which will pay out £1.75 million to this round of winners, 'provides support for companies to develop partnerships between employees and employers, improve communications and solve cultural and business problems in the workplace.' Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and the GMB have won support for a project to increase asbestos awareness. TUC North West (UNISON, Usdaw, Amicus, PCS and CWU) with Liverpool Occupational Health Partnership, employers and Liverpool City Council are looking at call centre safety. A Barnsley District General Hospital and UNISON project is seeking to tackle bullying and harassment. And a Boston Borough Council, GMB and UNISON project aims to identify causes of stress and reduce its impact. Other funded partnership projects covering issues including health and safety include: 'Working smarter - not harder,' an initiative from KFAT and the British Footwear Association (BFA); an AMEY Rail and RMT project to seek a 'culture change' at work; and an Amicus and Leeds University Business School project, 'Sustaining partnership in an environment of uncertainty.'

OTHER NEWS

Killer employers warned of jail risk

The jailing last week of employer Brian Deane for the manslaughter of two workers (Risks 55) has led to other dangerous bosses being warned that more jail sentences could follow. Bob Blackman, TGWU national secretary for construction, told a conference of TGWU officers in Eastbourne that the Deane case should act as a "wake up" call to the industry, adding: "Fines haven't worked. It is the case that the only way to make directors accountable is by prison sentences for failures to adopt a safety regime." Dave Boulton, the HSE inspector who investigated the case, said: "It is important to understand that if you are in charge of work activities and someone is killed, you could be on trial for manslaughter." Chief Inspector Roger Dutton, a senior Staffordshire police officer, said: "I hope this sends a message out to employers that they have certain obligations which they can't ignore."

Site safety goes West up North

A week long construction safety blitz across Scotland and the North of England resulted in enforcement action being taken at more than half of the 444 sites visited, with inspectors stopping the job where risks to people's health and safety were identified. Fifty-four HSE inspectors served 206 prohibition notices to stop unsafe working practices. A further 53 improvement notices were issued. The blitz was the second of a rolling programme of blitzes to be held across Great Britain over the next 12 months. The inspectors arrived unannounced at both small and large sites across Scotland and Northern England. In the first blitz, site conditions in the London region were found to be equally dire (Risks 54).

Protect your workers and investors

The HSC says it will support investors who are looking at health and safety performance as an indicator of responsible business management. Commenting on the findings of new HSC-backed research, Health and safety for institutional investors, HSC chair Bill Callaghan said: "HSC/E are keen to engage with those many organisations from all sectors active in the sphere of corporate social responsibility (CSR). We are determined to raise the profile of health and safety as part of the CSR agenda and to encourage investment organisations to focus more clearly on health and safety performance of companies in which they are considering investing in.' TUC’s Owen Tudor commented: "Investors should be pushing for better safety standards for moral as well as financial reasons. It's unethical to invest in a company that profits from injury and illness, but this research suggests that in fact nobody does profit, least of all shareholders.' He added: 'One of the best indicators of a good health and safety record is the presence of union safety reps, and pension fund managers should insist that companies either get a union safety rep or get a new set of shareholders. Union pension fund members will certainly get the message that safety reps are vital to a healthy investment."

Tobacco industry smokescreen on ban costs

Thought that the bar and restaurant owners who opposed smoking bans because they feared for their profits had a legitimate case? Well, new research shows that the 'evidence' that profits would be hit was a tobacco industry smokescreen and the industry had in fact conned the hospitality trade into doing its dirty work. The June issue of Tobacco Control reports that tobacco manufacturers gave donations to hospitality groups as part of an "aggressive and effective worldwide campaign to recruit hospitality associations' in the USA and Europe - including groups dedicated to lobbying the European Commission - and where these associations didn’t exist it created its own front organisations. The paper concludes: 'Through the myth of lost profits, the tobacco industry has fooled the hospitality industry into embracing expensive ventilation equipment, while in reality 100 per cent smoke-free laws have been shown to have no effect on business revenues, or even to improve them." A second study in the journal provides conclusive evidence of 'second hand smoking' among workers in entertainment venues.

  • Stanton A Glantz and others. Tobacco industry manipulation of the hospitality industry to maintain smoking in public places, Tobacco Control, vol.11. pages 94-104, 2002 [pdf format]

  • Michael Bates and others. Exposure of hospitality workers to environmental tobacco smoke, Tobacco Control, vol.11, pages 125-9, 2002 [pdf format]

UK hospitality trade 'blocking' passive smoking law

Campaign group Action on Smoking and Health has accused the hospitality trade in Britain of blocking the workplace smoking Approved Code of Practice (ACoP). Marsha Williams of ASH, said: 'We have found that for the past three years very sensible and moderate measures to protect Britain’s workers from passive smoking have stalled in the face of hospitality trade objections. They have pressurised for a voluntary approach to regulate smoking in pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants yet this has delivered very little in the way of change. It has all the hallmarks of tobacco industry manipulation.' Latest figures from the Public Places Charter group show only 9 per cent of venues have changed their policy to cater for non-smokers, with separate no smoking/smoking areas. Brian Revell, TGWU national organiser, commented: "The TGWU wants to ensure that the health of our many thousands of members who work in bars is protected. Bar staff have a right to work in a smoke-free environment.'

INTERNATIONAL

Australia: Mesothelioma deaths report issued

New figures show the rates of the deadly asbestos cancer mesothelioma continue to rise in Australia. The 2002 report of the Australian Mesothelioma Register provides an analysis of mesothelioma cases between 1997 and 1999. The most recent data indicate a total of 464 cases of mesothelioma in 1997, 456 cases in 1998 and 430 cases in 1999. Overall, the incidence of mesothelioma has increased significantly since the 1970s. Since the Register started in 1986 through to December 2001, 5,546 cases of mesothelioma have been reported. Experts say there are between one and three cases of asbestos related lung cancer for every mesothelioma. Australia is working towards a total asbestos ban no later than December 2003.

Australia: Ministers endorse new work safety strategy

The Australian government has endorsed a new National Occupational Health and Safety Strategy for the next decade. Under the strategy Australia’s state governments, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Australian Council of Trade Unions have declared a commitment to work cooperatively on national priorities for improving occupational health and safety and to achieve minimum national targets for reducing workplace deaths and injuries. Targets include sustaining a significant, continual reduction in the incidence of work-related fatalities, with a reduction of at least 20 per cent by 2012 and to reduce the incidence of workplace injury by at least 40 per cent by 2012. Other priorities include to prevent occupational disease more effectively and to eliminate hazards at the design stage. Australia suffered 206 work-related traumatic fatalities in 1999-2000, exceptionally high for an industrialised nation of that size.

China: Global project to improve multinational safety

A two-year international project to assist footwear factory workers and managers in China to identify and resolve workplace health and safety problems has been completed. The project brought together US safety experts and Hong Kong-based labour rights and union organisations to work in three factories producing footwear for multinationals Adidas-Salomon, Nike and Reebok.

  • China capacity building project—Occupational health and safety: Final report

Europe: Long working hours in the candidate countries

Workers in the 'candidate countries' for membership of the European Union (EU) report longer and less gender differentiated working hours, according to a study by the European Foundation, the Dublin-based EU social research agency. Workers in these countries also report more health hazards and threats at work and their equivalents in the EU, with more work related health problems, in particular overall fatigue and musculoskeletal problems. The First survey on working conditions in the candidate countries 'provides a first comprehensive overview of working conditions in the candidate countries,' says the Foundation's director Raymond-Pierre Bodin.

India: Global union demands clean up in killer shoe industry

ITGLWF, the global union federation representing footwear workers worldwide, has called on the Indian government to take immediate measures to prevent deaths in the sector. The call comes in the wake of a May 24 shoe factory fire in Agra that left 44 workers dead and 15 injured (Risks 55). In a letter to the prime minister and senior government officials Neil Kearney, ITGLWF general secretary, said: "An urgent review of labour laws and health and safety regulation should be conducted, and measures should to be taken to ensure that all legislation is properly implemented in every workplace.' He said 'exemplary compensation' should be paid to the victims and their families, adding those responsible for the fire should be 'severely dealt with in order to send a message to the whole of the footwear industry that it needs to clean up its act and provide a safe working environment.' ITGLWF has offered technical assistance.

USA: Bereaved father says unions are the key to surviving work

About 6,000 US workers die at work each year, according to a new report from US union federation AFL-CIO based on official data. Ron Hayes, whose son died in a workplace accident, and who has become a vocal health and safety campaigner, says he has come to believe that workers are safest in states with active unions, because unions have the ability to track data and workplace trends and turn out voters to lobby for worker-friendly laws. He said the biggest problem is that not enough people care about the problem - until it strikes them or their families. "We don't put enough value on human life," Hayes said.

USA: Homeless face asbestos peril; employer faces jail

A doctor who hired homeless people to remove and dispose of asbestos could face a lengthy jail term and a massive fine. David Stephens Klein, 48, and Davold Real Estate Partnership have pleaded guilty to safety and environmental offences at United States Court in Harrisburg, Virginia. Klein and Davold hired homeless people and other workers to remove asbestos insulation from pipes and boilers located in both the Masonic and Towne Centre buildings in Staunton without providing information on the dangers, or any training or protective equipment. The indictment charged the defendants with conspiracy to violate asbestos safety rules. Two other co-conspirators of Klein and Davold earlier pled guilty to similar charges. Klein, a medical doctor, faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine (£170,000). Davold faces up to five years of probation and a $500,000 fine (£340,000). The investigation of the case was conducted by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

USA: Unions demand strict disaster laws

A coalition of five US unions is calling on the US Chemical Safety Board to press for stronger standards on reactive chemicals. A new Safety Board study details nearly 170 incidents over the last two decades in which 108 workers have been killed, hundreds more were injured and where nearby communities have been placed at risk. Eric Frumin of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) said: "Management incompetence and corruption are at the heart of the problem." While admitting that some companies were following best practices, others he said were failing to take effective action and were pressuring the government safety watchdog OSHA to defer regulatory action. The Safety Board advises government safety issues on chemical industry safety issues. Its report says r eactive chemical accidents pose a "significant problem" and the relevant federal accident prevention regulations have "serious gaps."

RESOURCES

European week bullying factsheet

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has produced a factsheet on bullying as part of its preparations for European Health and Safety Week in October.

GMB RSI information for safety reps

The latest edition of GMB’s Health and safety matters news service for safety reps gives information on recent GMB and HSE guides on strain injury prevention.

EVENTS

Only newly announced events, events next week and very important events will be listed here in future. But there is a comprehensive listing of health and safety events on the TUC website - bookmark it for easy reference!

TUC/CCA Conference on safety law enforcement, 8 July

In January 2002, a coalition of trade unions, safety groups and families, bereaved from work-related deaths and disasters, came together around a series of demands for reform on safety, law enforcement and corporate accountability. This conference will explore this and the Government's agenda for reform. Registration costs £25.

Hazards 2002, National Hazards Conference, 6-8 September

The National Hazards Conference will be held in Manchester for the second year running. Further details from Greater Manchester Hazards Centre. There is a financial appeal to keep registration costs down, backed by the TUC.

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

This year’s week will take place in Britain from 14 October, on the theme of stress - there is a special page on the TUC website devoted to the week. Unions and union branches planning Euroweek activities should contact the TUC’s stress week co-ordination team at Worksafe, tel. 01535 664462, with details of what they are doing and what support they would like. More background: European Agency and HSE Euroweek webpages.

World's road unions: 15 October Day of Action

The date for the global transport workers’ union federation ITF's next International Road Day of Action has been confirmed as Tuesday 15 October 2002. This will be the sixth of the worldwide days to publicise the message that 'fatigue kills.' A quarter of a million professional drivers took part in last year's event, which was held in 90 countries, making it one of the world’s biggest ever union safety campaign events.

USEFUL LINKS

Visit the TUC http://www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/ website pages on health and safety. See what’s on offer from TUC Publications and What’s On in health and safety.

TUC courses for safety reps

COURSES FOR APRIL TO JULY:

Wales, Scotland, North West, Midlands, South East and East Anglia, South West

For details of courses in the Northern, Yorkshire and Humberside regions, contact the TUC Regional Education Officer

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 (3,900 words) issued 1 Jun 2002

This page http://www.tuc.org.uk/workplace/tuc-4939-f0.cfm
printed 23 May 2012 at 09:02 hrs by 38.107.179.231