Risks * Number 1045 * 18 May 2022

Risks is the TUC's weekly newsletter for safety reps and others, sponsored by Thompsons Solicitors.

Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of RISKS, the TUC’s weekly update on union health and safety news.
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Deadly asbestos remains in public buildings

Thousands of local authority buildings in England still contain asbestos, the TUC has warned. A survey found the majority of local councils has asbestos in its public buildings such as town halls, libraries and leisure centres; over two decades after all asbestos use was banned. Frances O’Grady commented: “The only way to protect today’s workers and future generations is through the safe removal of asbestos. We need national government to work with local authorities on a plan to remove it from every last building.”
TUC news release and asbestos report.
 

RMT in strike ballot over windfarm victimisation

Offshore union RMT is to ballot all members at a major windfarm company for industrial action over the victimisation of a member for “simply for raising questions over serious health and safety infringements.” The union said it is appalled at the actions of Orsted Walney Operations and its treatment of a member for raising legitimate health and safety concerns. The member reported Orsted to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and a full investigation was initiated. RMT said HSE forced Orsted to pay for the cost of the investigation and ordered that Orsted publish the results of the investigation and provide them to all affected employees. But RMT said Orsted still refuses to publish the findings, despite HSE’s request.
RMT news release.
 

Rail staff could boycott line over safety fears

Rail staff could refuse to work on services between Balloch and Glasgow that have been blighted by disruptive passenger behaviour. RMT regional organiser Mick Hogg issued the warning, as he outlined fears that it could only be a matter of time before a member of Scotrail staff is seriously injured or killed as a result of violent behaviour on train services. Earlier this year Scotrail confirmed it would proceed with plans to cut staffed hours at stations across the area - including Alexandria, Balloch and Dumbarton Central. The RMT official said he fears it could make issues worse. “Unstaffed stations and a lack of staff on trains is an absolute magnet for the thugs to use Scotland’s trains to cause havoc.”
Daily Record.
 

School strike warning over violence and abuse

NASUWT members could be left with no option but to consider strike action at a Glasgow school if effective steps are not taken to address violent and disruptive pupil behaviour and protect the safety and welfare of teachers, their union has said. Union members at Bannerman High School have been engaged in action short of a strike since October 2021, citing the employer’s failure to address persistent verbal and physical assaults and violence against staff from pupils.
NASUWT news release.
 

Arrested MP should be made to stay away

MPs under investigation for alleged abuse behaviour must be suspended from parliament, the union Prospect has said. The union was speaking out after an MP was bailed after his arrest on suspicion of rape and sexual assault.  As with other recent, cases the unidentified MP is still free to attend parliament should he wish. Garry Graham, deputy general secretary of Prospect, which represents many workers at parliament, said: “What will it take for parliament to finally take its responsibility to its staff and visitors seriously and suspend access to the estate for parliamentarians under investigation for sexual offences?”
BBC News Online.
 

FBU calls for building safety body to be renationalised

Firefighters’ union FBU has said it will fight for the Building Research Establishment (BRE) to be renationalised. BRE was privatised in 1997, and continues to test building materials as a private company. It was responsible for testing several of the key materials used in Grenfell Tower’s refurbishment, including cladding and insulation materials, and fire safety tests. Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said: “Building Research Establishment private ownership has been a complete disaster. Corners have been cut and building safety compromised as the BRE bowed down to the building material companies which pay its wages. There is even information that suggests that BRE failures may have had a role in Grenfell. It’s time to end this utter mess now.”
FBU news release.
 

STUC backs Covid-19 safety pledge

Scottish trade union body STUC is backing a new Covid-19 Safety Pledge, launched by a coalition of trade unions, safety groups and Independent SAGE (Risks 1042). The pledge asks employers in both the public and private sectors to sign up to three key commitments: protect workers and customers from Covid-19; risk assess their premises and practices to safeguard against infection; and ask any workers who test positive for Covid to stay at home while infectious and to provide the support necessary for them to do so. STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said: “It’s vitally important that the legacy of Covid-19 isn’t a rollback on workers’ safety or rights. The Covid-19 Safety Pledge allows employers to stand by their workers, ensuring the highest levels of protection against infection are taken, in addition to supporting staff and consumer wellbeing whilst on their premises.”
The Covid-19 Safety Pledge.
 

FBU expands work on fire contaminant risks

Firefighters’ union FBU is to expand its work on the health impact of fire contaminants – toxic substances produced by fires - on firefighters. At its annual conference, FBU agreed to fight for its DECON best practice training and prevention programme to be expanded throughout the fire service, including via national guidance, contaminants monitoring, cancer screening and fire station design principles. The union also voted to expand the research to take into account risk from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), found in firefighting foams and some protective equipment. FBU national officer Riccardo la Torre said: “We can be the DECON generation. Remember the dead, and fight for the living – that’s exactly what this fight is.”
FBU news release.
 

Union welcomes Tesco menopause action

A new guide outlining menopause support available to Tesco workers has been welcomed by Usdaw.  The new resource, published following discussions between the retail union and the supermarket chain, sets out to increase awareness and understanding of menopause in the workplace and to ensure all employees know what support is available and where they can access it.
Usdaw news release.
 

Employment Bill delay an ‘imminent threat’

The global chartered body for health and safety professionals has warned delays to a promised Employment Bill poses an “imminent threat to the labour market”. Ruth Wilkinson, head of health and safety at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), said: “This long-awaited development is crucial both for driving up employment practices and for reducing the precariousness of workers... This, together with recent debates on the government appetite to relax health and safety rules to ease the cost of living crisis, now raises an imminent concern and threat to the UK labour market, and to the protection of our workers.”
IOSH news release.
 

England’s crumbling schools are a ‘risk to life’

Many school buildings in England are now in such disrepair they are a “risk to life”, according to internal government documents leaked to the Observer. Emails sent by senior officials working for education secretary Nadhim Zahawi to Downing Street show them raising the alarm on two occasions within the last six weeks. The officials call as a matter of urgency for the Treasury to make extra billions available to increase the number of school rebuilding projects from 50 a year to more than 300. Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the teaching union NEU, said “whether the issue to be addressed is potentially dangerous roofing, retrofitting for energy efficiency and to help meet climate obligations, or basic repairs, the challenge is made all the greater by the presence of asbestos in so many school buildings. The government needs to show much more ambition and urgently address these issues in a strategic way.”
The Observer.
 

Fishers beaten and exploited on UK boats

A third of migrant workers on UK fishing vessels work 20-hour shifts, and 35 per cent report regular physical violence, according to new research that concludes there is rampant exploitation and abuse on British ships. Researchers at the University of Nottingham Rights Lab, which focuses on modern slavery, found fishers reported working excessive hours, with few breaks, on an average salary of £3.51 an hour. More than 60 per cent of fishers - including UK nationals - said they would never report a grievance out of fear of being blacklisted and refused re-employment. Workers are recruited into the UK fishing industry on “transit visas” tying them to a single employer, a loophole that “legalises their exploitation”, according to the report.
Letting Exploitation Off the Hook, University of Nottingham Rights Lab, May 2022.
 

Pregnant ice cream shop worker sacking unfair

An ice cream shop's assistant manager who was made to feel “ashamed to be pregnant” by her employer has been awarded £38,677 by a tribunal. Abbey Gannapureddy, 29, was demoted from her role at Chester's Icestone Gelato after she became pregnant in 2019 and told to find another job when she complained. She was then made redundant while on maternity leave. Her tribunal heard that despite requests, a pregnancy risk assessment was not carried out until six weeks before her maternity leave. Because she could not perform some physical tasks, such as lifting tables, she was demoted and put on minimum wage.
BBC News Online.
 

Network Rail fined £1.4m for serious injuries

Network Rail has been fined for criminal health and safety offences after an investigation by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The regulator found failings that led to a worker being crushed between the conveyor of a 25 tonne ‘Superboss’ ballast distributor and Kubota people carrier. The worker suffered catastrophic and life-changing injuries to his legs and spine. He lost 12cm of bone to his left leg and 4cm to his right leg. The tendons and nerves of his right leg were also irreparably damaged, causing permanent disability. A second worker suffered minor injuries to his wrist and shoulder. ORR's HM Chief Inspector of Railways Ian Prosser CBE, said: “The incident was caused by totally inadequate supervision of the task at all levels.” Network Rail were also ordered to pay costs of £63,118.71 to ORR.
ORR news release.
 

India: Dozens killed in office fire

At least 27 people have died and dozens more injured in a huge fire in a commercial building in India’s capital, Delhi. The fire broke out at the four-storey building near a railway station in the western suburb of Mundka in the late afternoon on 13 May. The following day, police confirmed they had arrested two owners of the company.
BBC News Online.
 
 

Palestine: Justice call for murdered journalist

The global trade union movement has called for justice after Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead by Israeli soldiers on the West Bank.  The respected reporter, who had worked for Al Jazeera Network for over two decades, was killed while covering the Israli military’s raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on 11 May. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) said that this crime was “deliberate and planned to assassinate her.” A second journalist survived the attack, after being shot in the back. The International Federation of Journalists has now added the killing to the case it has before the International Criminal Court (ICC) that details the targeting of Palestinian journalists.
ITUC news release
 

Netherlands: Unions call for Long Covid fund

Care workers and teachers who have developed Long Covid should be entitled to compensation from the government, trade unions in the Netherlands have said. The government did not do enough to protect the health of people working in healthcare or education during the height of the pandemic and thousands of them are entitled to cash payments, according to the FNV and CNV trade union federations, and the AOB teaching union.  The unions want the government to set up a €150 million (£127m) fund for the thousands of people who are living with Long Covid.
DutchNews.
 

USA: Meat giants deliberately put workers at risk

At the height of the pandemic, as coronavirus infected tens of thousands of US meat industry workers and caused hundreds to die, executives at the nation's largest meat producers were aware of the transmission risk in their plants and successfully lobbied the Trump White House and regulators to circumvent coronavirus prevention measures and regulations, according to a congressional investigation. “The Select Subcommittee's investigation has revealed that former President Trump's political appointees at USDA [department of agriculture] collaborated with large meatpacking companies to lead an Administration-wide effort to force workers to remain on the job during the coronavirus crisis despite dangerous conditions” committee chair, US Rep. James Clyburn, said in a 12 May statement.
Washington Post
 

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