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Risks

issue no 62 - 13 June 2002

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

CONTENTS

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

1,200 reasons for gloves off on latex

Twelve hundred workers develop allergies to rubber every year - one every seven hours - a new report reveals. Latex allergy - a meeting of minds, published by the TUC, the Latex Allergy Support Group (LASG) and the National Association of Theatre Nurses (NATN), says the problem is costing employers, mostly the NHS, over £120 million a year. TUC’s Owen Tudor, who chaired a May 'latex summit', to be followed up in the autumn, said: "Leadership from ministers, from the rubber industry and from NHS Trust managers is needed to give this issue the priority and profile it needs. But we will need a partnership of all the stakeholders to deliver a safer working environment for health staff and the patients they all too often become." Latex Allergy Support Group chair Aleks Kinay, who is allergic to latex, said: "Our summit brought together all the key experts on latex allergies. We need to prevent the fastest growing cause of asthma in the NHS, and we need to treat those who have already developed an allergy in ways that make them better, not worse."

Campaigners want bosses to be more accountable

Bosses found responsible for work-related deaths, disasters and injuries should be more accountable, a TUC conference has heard. The conference, called in conjunction with the Centre for Corporate Accountability, heard calls for tougher enforcement of health and safety laws, a new law on corporate killing, and the imposition of safety duties on company directors. TUC general secretary John Monks, said: 'The government is committed to reforming the law on corporate manslaughter and we believe they need to seize the opportunity. Corporate accountability is on the agenda all over the world, especially in the US - but accountability isn’t just about what the managers do with the money, it’s about what happens to people’s lives and people’s health. People who run the railways, construction sites, in fact any kind of workplace, must be accountable for what happens to the workers and the public.' CCA executive director, David Bergman, said: "Company directors must have a vested interest in the safety of their company and there must be proper sanctions to deter them from placing the lives of workers and the public at risk."

Tube workers vote to strike for safety

London Underground workers have voted to strike over safety concerns. Leaders of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) said an "overwhelming majority" of its 9,000 members on the Tube backed industrial action. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said they were concerned that the proposed part-privatisation of the Underground was unsafe. "Our members have every right to protect their own and the public's safety," he said. "When lives are at stake there can be no room for compromise, and the experience of the national railway proves that splitting up the Tube network in the same way is potentially disastrous." The walkout is set for 18 July. The HSE has accepted the company’s safety case, but now faces a union challenge. RMT has said the HSE action is 'a disgrace' because the company failed to consult properly with unions on Tube safety when devising the plan, as required by law ( Risks 61 ). The union and Tube management are to meet on Tuesday in a last ditch attempt to resolve the dispute.

Pilots condemn heavy-handed airlines

British pilots have joined pilots around the world in condemning the treatment of colleagues raising safety and security concerns in six of the 10 airlines that make up the Oneworld Alliance. In a 9 July newspaper advertisement in Britain the Oneworld Cockpit Crew Coalition ask 'how long will Oneworld Alliance airlines keep beating up on employees.' The adverts say pilots 'are concerned about the trend we see developing among the member carriers of intimidating employees who raise safety and security concerns.' Graham Fowler of the British Air Line Pilots' Association (BALPA) commented: 'We are all concerned about the heavy handed tactics of some Oneworld airlines towards pilots who raise safety and security concerns. We are therefore asking every Oneworld carrier to recommit to safety, protecting passengers and crew and treating employees with respect.'

'Asylum struggles a threat to workers' says union

Transport workers are being endangered by a failure to tackle the desperate measures used by asylum seekers to board Channel Tunnel trains, unions have warned. The International Transport Workers' Federation ITF has told UK home secretary David Blunkett and his French equivalent Nicolas Sarkozy the problem is not restricted to the tunnel - government failure is leading to staff being harassed, threatened and attacked in other areas and types of transport. Mac Urata, secretary of the ITF's Inland Transport Sections, commented: "Internationally, transport workers are daily confronted with the human consequences of their respective governments' immigration policies.' He added: "The inability of governments to recognise the historic migration of peoples and to develop international policies that will assist economic and social stability in all countries is neither the fault of transport workers nor their direct responsibility."

Unions and chemical industry agree policy

The UK Chemical Industries Association (CIA) has agreed a joint statement with the major industry trades unions on the EU White Paper, A strategy for future chemicals policy. CIA, the chemical industry’s voicepiece, says it is delighted that the trades unions - GMB, TGWU, AMICUS AEEU, AMICUS MSF, and USDAW - share the industry’s deep concerns about the detail of the White Paper, while supporting its overall objectives. A particular ‘disappointment' identified in the joint statement is 'that workers and trade unions appear not to have any role within the proposed regime.' The statement also calls for adequate safety training to be available to all employees within the chemical sector, 'including those working for downstream users. The emergency services should be able to access chemical safety information and be kept aware of developments.'

OTHER NEWS

Long work hours may double heart attack risk

Working 60 or more hours a week, and regularly not getting much sleep, may double the risk of having a heart attack, new research shows. The study, which ran from 1996 to 1998 and is published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, looked at working hours and potential risk factors for heart attack including lifestyle, weight, and conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. The men who had had a heart attack worked significantly longer and slept less. Weekly working hours in the past year as well as in the past month were linked to progressively increased risk of having a heart attack. Men working 60+ hours a week had double the risk of men working 40 or fewer hours. Overtime and lack of sleep can increase blood pressure and heart rate while chronic stress may induce abnormalities in heart function, possibly combining to trigger heart attacks. The authors conclude that the optimal working week is a maximum of 40 hours. UK workers average in excess of 40 hours ( Risks 40 ), and the country has one of the highest rates of heart disease in Europe.

  • Y Liu, H Tanaka et al, Overtime work, insufficient sleep, and risk of non-fatal acute myocardial infarction in Japanese men, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, vol. 59, pages 447-51, 2002 [full paper in pdf format]

Air traffic overload 'increasing'

Air traffic controllers are increasingly reporting being overloaded at work, leaked papers suggest. Staff at the partly-privatised National Air Traffic Service (Nats) have filed more than double the number of 'overload' reports so far this year, compared to 2001. These reports are made when the controllers believe safety is being compromised because they have too many aircraft to deal with at once. A Nats spokesperson admitted there were staff shortages and had been a reduction in the staffing of certain of the control positions that ensure safety.

Railtrack ordered check on wrong line

A mistake by Railtrack may have led to a missed opportunity to prevent the Potters Bar train crash. The BBC reports that Railtrack staff wrongly instructed maintenance workers to inspect the line towards London, after an off-duty rail worker travelling home on the down line from London contacted Railtrack signal control at King's Cross to report poor track conditions, hours before the crash. The maintenance contractor, Jarvis, should have been told to check the line from London, on which the accident happened.

Claims Direct calls in the administrators

Ailing personal injury group Claims Direct has called in the administrators after incurring massive losses. The company’s shares fell this week to 3.25 pence from a peak of 350p in September 2000. It has attracted fewer accident compensation cases than expected. It is also struggling to recover from a wave of bad publicity earlier this year when it emerged that some successful 'no win, no fee' claimants had to hand over most of their compensation to Claims Direct in the form of fees. TUC has stepped in to assist any claimant affected by the Claims Direct collapse. TUC general secretary John Monks said: 'Union members with a personal injury claim know they will always receive a first class service from their union and specialist union lawyers. But many people who have been injured at work who are not in a union may have taken a claim through Claims Direct. They will now be very worried, as their decision to call in the administrators shows once again the problems with the new breed of claims farm companies. This is why we have teamed up with Thompsons - one of the leading union solicitors - to provide a fact sheet for Claims Direct clients. It should reassure most that their claim will proceed, but provides a set of questions they should put to the solicitor handling their case on behalf of Claims Direct.'

Tackling violence doesn’t hurt

Taking simple steps to tackle work-related violence can help small and medium-sized businesses reduce the risks and improve efficiency and profitability, says HSE. Work-related violence: managing the risk in smaller businesses contains 10 case studies which offer examples of how some businesses have reduced the risk of violence to staff easily and inexpensively. Bill Callaghan, chair of the Health and Safety Commission, said: "Violence at work is totally unacceptable and employers have a duty under health and safety law to take action to tackle the problem, which has devastating consequences on the victims, and real financial costs for their employers… The case studies in HSE's new guidance for smaller businesses show that managing the risk of violence can be simple and cost effective."

  • HSE news release. Work-related violence: managing the risk in smaller businesses, HSG 229, ISBN 0-7176-2358-0, £9.50, from HSE Books

INTERNATIONAL

Australia: Unions act on work deaths

A 17 per cent rise in workplace fatalities in the Australian State of Victoria illustrates the need for a policy reversal on the recently defeated Crimes (Workplace Deaths and Serious Injuries) Bill, unions have said. There were 34 fatalities in the 2001/2002 financial year, with an additional 18 deaths already reported this year. Union body Victorian Trades Hall Council has condemned the State’s Liberal opposition party and Victorian employer groups for rejecting the manslaughter bill. VTHC secretary Leigh Hubbard, said: "We need legislation to punish those few who operate so far outside the law that their actions cause the death and serious injury of workers." In New South Wales hundreds of manufacturing workers marched last week to demand industrial manslaughter laws with provisions for dangerously negligent employers to be imprisoned or barred from holding positions of responsibility in companies. For every 70 workers killed at work in Australia, 53 are killed in the United States and just 14 are killed in the United Kingdom.

Australia: Do you know a bad boss?

The New South Wales Labor Council has launched a search for Australia's worst employer, with the creation of the prestigious 'Tony' award. Inspired by Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott's comments that a bad boss is better than no boss at all, the Council is inviting unions to put the theory to the test. Examples of bad bosses will be published in the union e-journal Workers Online, with a shortlist to be announced at the end of the year.

China: Shoe factory workers 'poisoned by glue'

Eight workers from a shoe factory in China are in hospital with serious solvent poisoning. They were taken to hospital in Guangzhou after complaining of feeling weak and dizzy. The female employees of Anjia Shoe Factory, in Guangdong province, are aged between 18 and 25. The China Daily newspaper said one worker was almost paralysed and another could not hold chopsticks because her fingers were too numb. The factory has changed the glue it uses and has agreed to compensate the sick workers and pay their medical expenses. Organic solvents in glues are know to cause serious peripheral and central nervous system problems, including 'solvent dementia' or encephalopathy.

China: Government embarrassed by unending deaths

One month. More than 200 dead. An embarrassed Chinese government that keeps promising things will get better. The Washington Post reports a string of industrial deaths - mostly in the country's notoriously perilous mines, including a gas explosion on Monday that killed at least 43 miners and another last month that killed 115 people ( Risks 60 ) - has forced China to promise even more attention to its safety campaign and prod officials at all levels into helping. No less an authority than Premier Zhu Rongji made a promise - to no less an audience than the National People's Congress - to boost industrial safety. "Some of these problems have remained unsolved for years," Zhu said in March. "We must attach great importance to these problems and take effective measures to solve them."

India: Starved of justice, Bhopal victims stop eating

Outside the Indian parliament three campaigners from Bhopal, central India - scene of the 1984 Union Carbide gas disaster which has so far claimed over 20,000 lives - are entering the third week of a hunger strike in protest at the Indian government’s plans to water down criminal charges against officials of the company. All three protesters have falling blood sugar levels and have lost at least 7kg since beginning their fast on 29 June. 'The Indian government have sold themselves to US corporations,' said Satinath Sarangi, a Bhopal activist, who has joined two female survivors of the deadly gas leak in the protest. The survivors say government agencies have applied in a Bhopal court to dilute outstanding charges against Warren Anderson, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Union Carbide, from "culpable homicide" to "negligence."

Norway: Fewer deaths on the workplace

Fewer Norwegians are dying in workplace accidents, latest figures show. So far this year, 14 people have died in reported accidents at work. At this time last year, the number of reported deaths was 21. Last year the Labour Inspectorate registered only 37 deaths from accidents in the workplace, the lowest total on record. In the 1990s there were around 60 deaths in the workplace every year.

Ukraine: Coal mine chiefs arrested

The Ukrainian authorities have arrested three top managers of a coal mine in the eastern Donetsk region where 35 miners died last week. The investigation of the case determined that mine officials had committed gross violations of safety rules. The director, chief engineer and mining engineer are being held in investigative custody for allegedly violating safety regulations. One of the few survivors blamed the managers for not taking necessary safety precautions in the mine's ageing facilities. Ukraine's coal pits have a bad safety record, and have been described by the World Bank as the world's most dangerous mines. An average of 300 miners die each year in the industry.

USA: Safety overlooked for teen workers

It's summertime, and millions of US teenagers hope to make money responding to a "Help Wanted" sign. It can be a dangerous decision - 73 teens were killed on the job in 2000, about one every five days. The US Labor Department says about 4 million 15- to 17-year-olds earn pay cheques during summer vacation. Eight in 10 teens will work at some point during high school. Judy Elliott, who runs the New Hampshire Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, said many teens are too inexperienced or poorly trained to recognise dangers in places like restaurant kitchens where doing multiple tasks is common. "It's hard to be safe when you're running in five directions," said Elliott, whose programme tries to educate high school students about job safety.

RESOURCES

Bullying and stress e-newsletter

The July 2002 BullyOnline e-newsletter on bullying, harassment, stress and related issues is now available, and includes news and resources from the UK and abroad.

NUT safety updates

Teaching union NUT has updated its online safety resources to include guidance on: the role of the safety representative; safety’s legal framework; managing health and safety in schools; and an NUT safety representatives' inspection checklist.

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!

National Simon Jones Campaign film tour, 29 June to 11 August

Groups across the country have got together to organise a unique film tour highlighting the dangers of increasing casualisation in the workplace. The film Not this time - the story of the Simon Jones Memorial Campaign chronicles the death of Simon Jones on his first day as a casual worker - and the fightback. The 20-date film tour has its first British date at the Glastonbury festival on 29 June on the same bill as Billy Bragg and Mark Thomas.

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.

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:

North West,

COURSES FOR SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER:

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

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 (3,700 words) issued 13 Jul 2002

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printed 23 May 2012 at 09:08 hrs by 38.107.179.232