Risks is the TUC's weekly newsletter for safety reps and others, sponsored by Thompsons Solicitors.
UNION NEWS.
Older workers bear the brunt of night working growth.
Insecure workers exhausted and lack ‘time, control and trust’
Ex-footballers at greater risk of degenerative brain diseases
Sexual harassment common across the music industry.
Flybe was warned of drinking water problems months ago.
Academy chain’s plan to axe staff could risk school safety.
CWU safety reps support safe driving action.
OTHER NEWS.
Brexit negotiators removed 'adequate' from worker rights plan.
Rig evacuation raises cost-cutting fears
Pilots welcome new counter-drone strategy.
Urgent research call on air pollution and outdoor workers
DHL fined £2.6m after tyre centre death.
RESOURCES.
Winter safe work guide.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS.
Australia: Government union-busting bills criminalise safety protests
Europe: Spain warned by unions not to sacrifice workers’ health.
USA: ‘Captive’ regulator linked to Boeing crashes
Boeing’s defective 737 Max jet design was able to get by regulators because the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was too reliant on the company to vouch for its safety, according to a multinational taskforce. John Samuelsen, president of the Transport Workers Union, which represents thousands of mechanics with American Airlines, said the international fact-finding report showed the consequences of the FAA becoming a captive of the industry it regulates. “The FAA can never rely on the aviation industry to ensure that the system is safe as possible, both in manufacturing and service delivery,” he wrote in a text message to the online publication Salon. “The industry instinctively puts profits ahead of safety and that’s the cold hard truth. The FAA must once again become the independent body which works for the American people. These incestuous relationships with air carriers and manufacturers must end.” TWU has waged a high profile campaign against the increasing pressure to cut costs by shifting US jet airliner maintenance and repair to foreign locations. The union also wants the FAA to push back on airline industry cost-cutting, which it asserts puts the public at risk (Risks 885). In a statement after the taskforce report was released, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said the “unprecedented US safety record was built on the willingness of aviation professionals to embrace hard lessons and to seek continuous improvement.” However, in separate comments he said Boeing’s failure to provide promptly to FAA staff emails from 2016 raising safety concerns about the 737 Max and whose existence was only admitted last month was “concerning.” The exchange of messages between the two lead technical pilots on the Boeing 737 Max programme reveal that the flight-control system, which two years later went haywire causing repeat nose dives leading to two airline disasters, was behaving aggressively and strangely in the pilots’ simulator sessions.
Salon. FAA updates on the Boeing 737 Max. Seattle Times. New York Times.
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