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Risks

issue no 72 - 21 September 2002

HSE: Construction Safety - Have your say?

Editor: Rory O'Neill of Hazards magazine. Comments to Owen Tudor. EUROPEAN WEEK OF HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK: 14-21 OCTOBER If you have information about what is happening locally or in your branch, send it to tuc@worksafe.org.uk Details of what is happening are on the TUC website.

CONTENTS

Risks is the TUC’s weekly online bulletin for safety reps and others, read each week by over 4,500 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.

ACTION

What do you want?

At the end of this year the HSC is expected to publish a consultation document on employee consultation and safety representatives - and the changes in the pipeline could make a safety reps’ job a whole lot more interesting. The TUC wants to hear from safety reps in advance of the consultation - what needs changing in the 1977 Regs? A UNISON briefing says: 'The new proposals go some way towards removing the obstacles to the development of roving safety representatives, and the new duty on employers to respond to representations made by safety representatives would help the development and use of Union Inspection Notices (UINs - Risks 28).' UNISON, is concerned that some of the more positive proposals could be dropped if employers’ representatives object. It says action at branch level could make a difference, and asks all branches to negotiate roving safety representatives [Risks 38] and UINs with their employers. The TUC is looking not just for the big changes which are TUC and unioin policy like roving safety reps and notices, but also minor changes which would make reps more effective, like a duty on employers to inform reps of RIDDOR-reportable events, so that reps can investigate them!

  • Hey, safety rep! What do you want? Tell Risks what new rights and roles you’d like

FEATURE ON CORPORATE CRIMES

Time to stop the corporate killers

The government is being urged to bring in legislation on corporate killing in a bid to improve safety in the workplace. A new report into recent work-related deaths in London said there was a clear need for laws to target company directors. The report, by the Battersea and Wandsworth TUC, studied the case of a night watchman who died of carbon monoxide poisoning and a track worker killed by a train. BWTUC spokesperson Geoff Martin said Corporate killers in Wandsworth is 'not just an academic study into two deaths, it is a campaigning document'. National Union of Journalists' general secretary Jeremy Dear said: 'Stiff penalties are only one step. It's scant consolation for a death of a loved one. We need to tackle the root causes of workplace death and injury. We have some explanation in the contract culture.' GMB's Paul Kenny announced his union was planning to fund private prosecutions for its members and their families.

  • Start planning now! Workers’ Memorial Day, 28 April 2003, will be on the theme of corporate accountability for health and safety at work (Risks 70). See the TUC briefing

Anger at work death charge immunity

The family of a man killed in an accident at the Royal Mint are angry because an archaic law means no one will be prosecuted over his death. John Wynne, 50, was killed when a furnace fell on him at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, South Wales, in June 2001. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has said there is a clear-cut case against the Royal Mint - which accepted responsibility - but they cannot seek a prosecution the Mint has Crown immunity. The rules mean that Crown properties are not covered by the UK's normal criminal liability and health and safety legislation. His widow Tina Wynne said: "I am bitter and angry and it is so frustrating that you cannot do anything and I just wanted somebody held responsible. My husband lost his life at the Mint and nobody has lost their job. I have lost everything." An HSE statement read: "The judgment of the presiding officer was that, but for Crown immunity, there would have been sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of a conviction in the courts."

Hull site deaths boss to face courts

The HSE is prosecuting a property development company and its managing director following the collapse of a building in Hull that resulted in the deaths of three workers (Risks 55). Shaughan Walsh, 43, David Jowett, 44, and Anthony Laughton, 38 were all crushed to death in the April 2000 collapse. HSE is prosecuting Murli Motiram Thadani, managing director of Marketing Exchange for Africa, under the little used section 37 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. If found guilty he could face a fine or custodial sentence. The company also faces eight charges. The victims’ families have worked closely with unions UCATT, GMB and TGWU, and have organised a series of protests and marches calling on the government to introduce the long promised corporate killing legislation. Bob Blackman, TGWU national secretary for the construction industry, said: 'The sense of outrage that these were avoidable deaths, which arose from the neglect of a proper heath and safety regime, was very clear at the time. Now the courts will have the opportunity to hear the evidence and pass their judgment. TGWU believes it is right that a prosecution is made so all the evidence can come out in public.' The first hearing of this case is due to be heard at Hull Magistrates' Court on 1 October 2002 at 2.15pm.

UNION NEWS

TUC welcomes higher Ministerial profile for health and safety

Health and safety at work will receive a major boost from the appointment of minister of state for work Nick Brown MP (who attends Cabinet meetings) as the minister for health and safety, says the TUC. And the new appointment signals the government’s commitment to 'join up' prevention, rehabilitation and compensation. TUC general secretary John Monks said: 'By giving responsibility for health and safety at work to the minister for work, the government is sending a clear signal that health and safety will get a higher profile and a higher priority. The new home for health and safety in the Department for Work and Pensions (Risks 64) has now been backed up with a minister who will bring together prevention, rehabilitation and compensation. Nick Brown’s history in working for injury victims in the North East means he has the knowledge, the experience and the commitment to deliver radical improvements to the working environment.' Nick Brown MP was a regional legal officer for the GMB trade union in the early eighties. His current responsibilities include rehabilitation (getting disabled people back to work) and Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit.

TGWU welcomes farm safety "blitz"

Farm union TGWU has said there must be 'no compromise' on farm safety, after an HSE blitz in East Sussex found widespread dangers - in 13 instances so severe prohibition notices were issued stopping the job immediately. Peter Allenson, TGWU national secretary for agriculture, said: 'Spot checks of this kind highlight the need for constant vigilance by farmers and farm workers. They are not just the custodians of the countryside; they are the guarantors of safety at work.' Maurice Regan, the TGWU regional organiser representing farm workers in East Sussex, added: 'There can be no compromise on safety and no excuses for breaches of safety regulations designed to protect farm workers.' HSE and Sussex Police stopped and examined 14 agricultural vehicles. HSE inspectors also visited 76 agricultural or forestry premises without prior notice. Of the 22 enforcement notices issued - 13 prohibition notices and nine improvement notices - 11 related to transport, including trailer brakes, missing doors and mirrors, and driver training. Most of the other notices concerned poor guarding standards on agricultural machines.

We’re coming to get you

Safety reps are ganging up around the country - and in the workplace this means they really mean business. Earlier this month 500+ packed out the Hazards Campaign's national conference, now established as the UK’s premier annual safety rep event. And reps are congregating locally too. As well as local hazards groups and trades union council health and safety sub-committees, safety reps are amassing across entire regions. Northern TUC led the way with its well-established safety reps’ forum, followed by the North West. Now Blackpool Trades Union Council is looking to attract reps from across Lancashire to its new forum. Why not get together with other local safety reps and form a forum for your region?

  • Blackpool Trades Union Council safety forum, convenor, David Shakeshaft, Trades Club, 7 Chadwick Street, Blackpool

  • Is there a group near you? Check the Hazards Campaign directory of groups, hazards centres, trades council safety sub-committees and work injury and disease support groups

OTHER NEWS

Safety duties 'cannot be passed on'

New guidance to help clients and contractors work together to meet their health and safety responsibilities has been published by the HSE. The leaflet, Use of contractors - a joint responsibility, is aimed at clients and contractors across industry and aims to clarify their general responsibilities to protect each other, their workforce and the public. Welcoming the guidance, HSC chair Bill Callaghan, said: 'This guidance will be particularly useful to clients and contractors as it clarifies their general health and safety responsibilities in a single document. Where work is contracted out, contracts are sometimes used to pass on responsibilities. However, health and safety responsibilities cannot be passed on. Both parties have duties and co-operation between them is essential if health and safety is to be properly managed'.

Building sites' safety record 'disgraceful'

Construction workers are six times more likely to be killed at work than any other employee, the HSE has warned. The safety watchdog says construction deaths accounted for 32 per cent of all workplace deaths in Great Britain in the year to 31 March 2002. Although down on the previous year, provisional figures from the HSE show there were 79 fatal injuries to construction workers in the year to 31 March 2002. The secretary of state for work and pensions, Andrew Smith, said: 'Preventing people from being harmed by construction work and enabling people to continue in work after illness or injury is a vital task.' In the last 10 years nearly 900 construction workers and over 50 members of the public were killed as a result of construction work. A new HSE discussion document is aimed at improving safety across the industry.

Safety on the waterfront

Britain’s top safety official has welcomed new proposals from the port industry to improve occupational health. Bill Callaghan, chair of the HSC, said at the launch of the Safer Ports Initiative: 'This initiative demonstrates the industry's high-level commitment to drive down accidents and ill health. The commitment is there. The challenge is to implement.' He added: 'The development and maintenance of partnerships is the key: partnership between the industry and ourselves, partnership between players in the industry, including partnership between employers and the workforce and their trade union representatives, and partnership between those who work in each individual port.' New guidance on managing health and safety in dockwork was also launched at the event.

  • HSE news release. Managing health and safety in dockwork (HSG177), ISBN 0-7176-2020-4, price £9.50, are available from HSE Books

'Simpler' regulations come into force

Amended laws covering areas such as first aid, display screens, personal protective equipment, manual handling, work equipment, lifting operations and quarries have come into effect. Introducing the new amending regulations, HSC chair Bill Callaghan said: 'These amendments will help greatly in clarifying and simplifying the requirements of the law. I hope these changes will make the regulations covered by these amendments more accessible to employees, who have important rights and obligations under these pieces of legislation.' Like most recent legislative developments, the 'simplifying and clarifying' was necessary because Britain’s interpretation of EU safety directives had been found to fall short of minimum European Union requirements. If these regulations are relevant in your workplace, make sure your employer has obtained up-to-date versions - and make sure you use your right to see them.

  • The amended laws in full: The Health and Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2002 (Statutory Instrument (S.I.) number S.I. 2002 No. 2174) amend the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1991; Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992; Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992; Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992; Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 and the Quarries Regulations 1999

Consultation on very, very dangerous stuff

The HSC has launched a public consultation on its policy on the use of permissioning regimes - special controls on highly hazards industries such as nuclear, railways, gas distribution and offshore oil and gas. 'Permissioning regimes are an addition to the general framework of health and safety law and will only be considered where the work activities involve exceptional hazard, risk or public concern,' says HSC. It adds 'it will only take the decision to propose a new permissioning regime to ministers after serious consideration... In doing so, HSC will endeavour to anticipate hazards arising from new work activities that may cause concern in future.'

  • · Draft policy statement on permissioning regimes, CD185, HSC (cover letter, online questionnaire and full consultative document). Consultation ends 6 December 2002. Comments to your union and to Tricia Lee, HSE, Safety Policy Directorate, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HS, telephone 020 7717 6706; fax 020 7717 6908

INTERNATIONAL

Australia: Construction unions protest about Royal Commission

Australian union groups have condemned the commission behind a major official safety conference as a union-bashing 'health hazard,' and have organised their own conference instead. Building union health and safety representatives in Victoria, the state’s safety minister Bob Cameron, industry representatives, academics and health professionals opted to miss a Royal Commission organised conference, and attend the 'real' occupational safety and health conference. Around 300 building union safety representatives and shop stewards from across Victoria marched and rallied outside the premises of the Cole Royal Commission, declaring it a "health hazard." The rally heard that the Royal Commission had spent 150 days on a union witch-hunt, and just two discussing occupational health and safety. Martin Kingham, state secretary of the construction union CFMEU, said the commission was a ruse to undermine the union safety role: 'The Royal Commission is a health hazard. The federal government, aided and abetted by the Royal Commission, is hell bent on removing the only people who have the ability to intervene and save lives.' The real conference called for 'full support and respect to OHS representatives' and said 'criminal charges should be able to be laid when victimisation and harassment have occurred.' Delegates also demanded industrial manslaughter legislation and round-the-clock official safety enforcement.

Europe: One more step to a safer EU

Europe’s politicians have moved a step closer to agreeing a European Union-wide occupational safety and health strategy, with more resources, a detailed action plan to implement the strategy and new laws on workplace ergonomics (aimed especially at back strain and RSI) and workplace bullying. The Employment and Social Affairs committee, the group that oversees all health and safety legislation in the EU, has adopted the strategy report which now faces one final hurdle when the full European Parliament vote on the strategy next month. A resolution to go the parliament notes that safety resources in the European Commission have been slashed and calls for sufficient resources 'to reflect the high priority to be accorded to occupational health and safety in the context of the on-going debates on quality in work and employability, sufficient to re-establish a dynamic and proactive Directorate for occupational health and safety.'

France: Five firefighters killed battling blaze

Five firefighters have been killed in explosions at a building outside Paris as they tried to put out a blaze. The fire was in a residential building in Neuilly-sur-Seine, just north of Paris. All five were taken in a critical condition to a nearby hospital, where they died of their injuries. President Jacques Chirac paid tribute to the 'extraordinary courage' of these workers 'who died in their youth while saving other lives - men and woman threatened by flames, and those of their own colleagues,' his office said in a statement.

Nigeria: Unions demand action after dozens die in factory fire

Lax safety standards and poor enforcement led to a deadly fire that razed a Nigerian factory killing tens of workers, Nigeria’s top union official has charged. President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Adams Oshiomhole, threatened to report the federal Ministry of Employment, Labour and Productivity to President Olusegun Obasanjo for 'gross negligence' of its safety enforcement role. Over 30 bodies have so far been recovered, however as many as 120 are feared dead. Officials of the West African Rubber Products Nigeria Limited in Ikorodu say there were over 125 workers on duty on the night of the fire accident, 16 September, although other estimates have put the total number working at 250. NLC’s Adams Oshiomhole said proper safety measures could have prevented the fire, adding that the ministry of labour had failed to carry out its statutory responsibility to enforce safety laws. A letter of condolence from Guy Ryder, general secretary of the global union body ICFTU, said: 'The ICFTU is most concerned over the lack of respect of safety provisions at the factory and would support the NLC in its quest for a commission of enquiry not only to throw light on the circumstances that caused the tragic loss of life, but also to prosecute the culprits and recommend strict measures for the observance of overall safety at workplaces. The ICFTU will also support any NLC move in view to seek a just compensation for the members of the bereaved families and the injured.'

South Africa/UK: Cape plc fails to pay asbestos claimants

The lawyers of thousands of South Africans suffering from asbestos-related diseases has said they would return to the London High Court in an effort to force mining company Cape Plc to pay overdue settlement claims. The settlement reached in December last year required Cape to pay compensation of £21 million, of which £11 million was supposed to have been paid by 30 June this year. The 30 June deadline passed without payment, and the claimants' lawyers subsequently set another deadline of 14 September (Risks 60). Lawyer for the disease victims and their families, Richard Meeran of the London law firm Leigh Day, said: 'Faced with Cape's continuing failure to pay and the continuing deaths of victims, a deadline for payment had to be set.' He added: 'Cape has repeatedly stated that it is committed to the settlement, but these words are no longer of any comfort to the victims. The victims fully intend to hold Cape to account and obtain as much money from the company as possible.' He said the proceeds of the newly approved sale for £6.5 million of the company’s manufacturing division would go to the banks, not the victims.

RESOURCES

Things to do in Europe when you’re stressed

A UNISON European Health and Safety Week poster incorporates information on UNISON's National Inspection Day, Wednesday 16 October. UNISON safety unit wants to hear about UNISON local activities during the Euroweek - 14-20 October - and on the National Inspection Day, and is asking for reports back from reps. The latest issue of TUTB newsletter, produced by the health and safety research arm of Europe’s unions, gives a continent-wide perspective on stress and harassment. A new BBC 'bosses' webpage also gives plenty of advice and news on these topics.

BECTU health and safety bulletin

The September 2002 edition of the BECTU health and safety bulletin is available now. The resources are primarily targeted at BECTU’s theatre and cinema technician reps, but the newsletter is clear, concise and should be of interest to any safety rep. Topics in this issue include BECTU plans for safety rep accreditation cards.

A job to die for

A US worker is about six times as likely to die in a workplace accident as their UK counterpart. Lisa Cullen, author of A job to die for: Why so many Americans are killed, injured or made ill at work and what to do about it, says: 'Every day, 165 Americans die from occupational disease while 18 more die from work related injuries.' Cullen notes that the daily deaths are just one part of the story. 'Each day, more than 36,400 non-fatal injuries and 3,200 illnesses occur in America's workplaces. The cost of this carnage and disease tops $155.5 billion (£100 bn) annually; five times the cost of AIDS, three times the costs for Alzheimer's, and nearly as much as cancer.' The book is a harsh reminder that someone has to pay a price for the 'business first' attitudes of the powerful, the policy makers and the law makers in the US - the people who make the products pay a painful, sometimes deadly, price. And despite the post-Enron talk of a new corporate accountability, it is still the ones that pocket the profits that know they’ll get home safely at the end of the day.

  • Lisa Cullen. A job to die for: Why so many Americans are killed, injured or made ill at work and what to do about it, ISBN 1-56751-216-x, Common Courage Press, USA. More information, facts and order details [credit card payments are possible]

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!

RSI Association annual conference, 28 September

Speakers at the conference which is on a Saturday at TUC headquarters include: Dr Michael Hutson, consultant physician and president of the International Federation of Musculoskeletal Medicine; Trevor Shaw, head of the musculoskeletal, ergonomics and performance section in HSE’s Human Factors Unit; Richard Southorn, Employers’ Forum on Disability; and Owen Tudor, TUC health and safety specialist and Health and Safety Commissioner. For more details, see the RSI Association website.

Workplace bullying and harassment workshop, 28 September

The Women's Committee of the South West TUC has organised a workplace bullying and harassment workshop in Plymouth on Saturday, 28 September. It wants to attract women from all walks of life who have concerns about these issues. The event is free, informal and friendly and is being held at The Guild Hall, Royal Parade, Plymouth from 10:00am to 3:30pm. Creche facilities will be provided if required. More information. Contact: Tanya Parker, telephone 0117 947 0521, fax 0117 947 0523.

Work-death Inquests: keep them public! 9 October

A seminar organised by the TUC, Centre for Corporate Accountability and Inquest to discuss the government's consultation on inquests, and the proposal to end automatic public inquests into work-related deaths.

  • Venue: TUC, Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1, 10:00am to 1:00pm, Wednesday, 9 October 2002. Free. More information. Contact: Sugar Munthali at CCA on 020 7490 4494.

TUC/UK Work Stress Network Conference, 14 October

The TUC will be holding a joint conference called Tackle the hassle: strategies for stopping stress and beating bullying with the UK National Stress Network on Monday, 14 October at TUC headquarters in London, to launch European Week for Health and Safety. An agenda and a booking form are now available.

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. A calendar of union events and initiatives during the week is on the TUC website. 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.

Conference on Violence at Work, 2 December

Hosted by the TUC, this conference will be run by the Government Inter-Departmental Committee on Violence to Staff. For further information contact Tom Mellish.

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 SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER:

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

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 (4,600 words) issued 21 Sep 2002

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