Risks - Number 1054 - 4 August 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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UNION NEWS

TUC slams Tory attack on the right to strike
London Underground safety rep wins tribunal
Offshore safety fears as Altera provides no answers
Ambulance workers say delays are causing deaths
Grenfell fire took huge toll on firefighters
Firefighters respond to fire service inspection reports
TUC warning on fire and rescue service reforms
BALPA calls out Jet2 on unsafe pilot rosters
NUJ welcomes convictions for harassing BBC journalist
Flex-working sees fewer sick days on sites

OTHER NEWS
Working women need greater menopause rights - MPs
Time for action on asbestos, says top safety body
Poor conditions see teacher sick days soar
Dyson fined £1.2m after machine injures worker

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Australia: Health scientists back call for sick pay for casuals
Australia: DP World on collision course with dockworkers
Europe: Digital technologies a new challenge to management
South Africa: Union action plea after workplace ‘gang-rape’
 

TUC slams Tory attack on the right to strike

Conservative plans to restrict the ‘fundamental’ right to strike would put working conditions and safety at risk, the TUC has warned. General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “While millions are struggling to get by, ministers are falling over themselves to try to find new ways to limit workers' ability to bargain for higher pay.” Tory leadership candidate and potential prime minister Liz Truss has also said she would restrict the right to strike.
TUC news release. Financial Times.
 

London Underground safety rep wins tribunal

An employment tribunal has ruled that an RMT safety rep working for London Underground was subject to detrimental treatment after being suspended for repeatedly raising health and safety concerns. The tribunal heard Kyle Dempsey was “about to make representations over serious safety issues regarding protection” at a meeting and was suspended just before the meeting commenced. The tribunal concluded the main purpose of the suspension was “to remove the claimant from his role as the trade union representative due to his previous union activities”.
Doughty Street Chambers news release. IOSH Magazine.
 

Offshore safety fears as Altera provides no answers

Unite has raised concerns for the safety of crew aboard the Foinaven Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) as continuous strike action is set to go ahead from 5 August. Vessel operator Altera has repeatedly refused to respond to safety concerns raised by Unite over the emergency services provision for the vessel if it comes into distress or if a fire breaks out, as the workers will remain on the Fionaven while taking strike action until it reaches Hunterston Port. Calling the company’s behaviour “unacceptable and dangerous”.
Unite news release.
 

Ambulance workers say delays are causing deaths

A third of ambulance workers have been involved with cases where a patient’s death was linked to a delay, according to a trade union survey for ITV. The findings of the GMB poll also revealed 82 per cent of ambulance staff feel the current pressure puts them at an unacceptable level of stress and 72 per cent have considered leaving the service. GMB national officer Rachel Harrison commented: “Our members face unbelievable stress and even abuse, while demand is rising ten times faster than resources. We urgently need proper long-term investment - primarily in the workers themselves – before even more lives are lost.”
GMB news release.
 

Grenfell fire took huge toll on firefighters

Nineteen firefighters and three 999 control room operators have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following the inferno at the Grenfell Tower block five years ago in which 72 people died, it has been revealed, with seven firefighters and a call handler retired as a result. The figures come amid a High Court battle for compensation by scores of emergency workers for the mental scars and physical injuries they suffered responding to the blaze in June 2017. Mark Rowe, a national officer with the firefighters’ union FBU, said: “The human cost also extends to the firefighters and control staff. Their health has suffered in a number of life-changing ways.” Over 250 firefighters tackled the blaze.
The Mirror.
 

Firefighters respond to fire service inspection reports

Reports by the fire services regulator have exposed the ‘shocking’ impact of a decade of devastating cuts, the firefighters’ union FBU has said. Tam McFarlane, FBU national officer, said: “It’s particularly shocking that eight of the fifteen services inspected don’t have enough fire protection staff to carry out vital fire safety work and that services are over reliant on overtime to provide operational response, a direct impact of the cuts made to funding and firefighter jobs.”
FBU news release.
 

TUC warning on fire and rescue service reforms

The TUC has warned that government plans for the reforming fire and rescue service do not address the desperate need for investment as it struggles with spiralling demand and a decade of cuts. In its response to a government white paper, the union body said it “is concerned that the review on pay would undermine existing national collective bargaining structures. It would threaten the legal rights of firefighters to collectively bargain with their employers over pay, conditions, safety and other vital contractual matters.”
TUC news release and full TUC response.
 

BALPA calls out Jet2 on unsafe pilot rosters

The pilots’ union BALPA has said it is dismayed at the airline and holiday company Jet2’s refusal to address the fatigue and stress caused by pilot roster disruption. BALPA national officer Terry Brandon said: “BALPA recently wrote to Jet2 management on behalf of our members to offer to work collaboratively with the company on scientific, evidence-based fatigue analysis using our in-house experts. Jet2 refused, saying that although they take safety ‘extremely seriously’, they ‘do not wish, and are not obliged, to engage with BALPA on these matters’.” Expressing his ‘deep concern’ at the company’s response, he added: “We appeal to Jet2 to listen to its pilots and BALPA now, and implement basic roster protections that protect the health of our members during the busy summer season. Failing to do so risks significant pilot fatigue and health issues.”
BALPA news release.
 

NUJ welcomes convictions for harassing BBC journalist

The journalists’ union NUJ has welcomed the conviction of five men and a woman responsible for intimidating BBC Newsnight journalist Nick Watt in June last year. A statement by the Metropolitan Police revealed its Public Order unit charged individuals following their use of “threatening or abusive words or behaviour with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress.” The group responsible for abuse, which was captured on video, formed a protests opposing the extension of Covid restrictions in England. Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “The harassment of Nick was completely unacceptable and convictions against those responsible should send a clear message: that journalists must not be targets because of the work they do and that attacks will not go unpunished.” The six will be sentenced on 30 August.
NUJ news release. Press Gazette.
 

Flex-working sees fewer sick days on sites

Four major construction contractors that took part in a ground-breaking flexible working pilot have all committed to continue flexi-working after finding work stress and sick leave plunged during the trial. The firms – BAM Construct, BAM Nuttall, Skanska UK and Willmott Dixon – all recorded a decline in the rate of sickness absence. A one-year-on review of the impact of the pilot by flexible working experts Timewise found it helped to reduce worker stress, increase well-being and raise job satisfaction.
Timewise news release. Construction Enquirer.
 

OTHER NEWS

Politics trumped science on Covid risk evidence

The government’s decision to relax the isolation guidelines while also withdrawing free lateral flow tests was driven by politics and ignored the evidence on infection risks, studies have shown. An article in Nature points to “a series of studies confirming that many people with Covid-19 remain infectious well into the second week after they first experience symptoms.” It cites a UK study led by scientists from London’s Francis Crick Institute published as a pre-print in July which suggests that significant numbers of people retain viral loads high enough to trigger onward infection at days seven to ten, irrespective of the variant type or how many vaccine doses people had received.”
How long is COVID infectious? What scientists know so far
 

Working women need greater menopause rights - MPs

Women going through menopause should be given greater rights and protection in the workplace, MPs have said. The cross-party group wants menopause to become an Equality Act protected characteristic like pregnancy, to give working women more rights.  The committee said the omission was no longer tenable given 51 per cent of the population would experience the transition. Most women go through the menopause between the ages of 45 and 55, with symptoms lasting about four years on average, although one in 10 can experience them for up to 12 years.
Women and Equalities Committee news release BBC News Online
 

Time for action on asbestos, says top safety body

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has called on the government to work with policy makers, regulators, employers and worker representatives to increase awareness about asbestos. Responding to the government’s rejection of a Work and Pensions Committee recommendation of a 40-year deadline to remove asbestos from all public and commercial buildings, Ruth Wilkinson, head of health and safety at IOSH, said “a plan must have a focus on duty holders and the competence of individuals and include the development of clear guidance around managing asbestos. It should also include enforcement.”
IOSH news release.
 

Poor conditions see teacher sick days soar

Increased workloads, ‘supersized’ classes, low pay and the Covid legacy are leading to more absences and an exodus of teaching staff, new figures suggest. Teachers have spent at least 1.5 million days off work in the last year because of stress and mental health issues, new figures have revealed. In total, over seven million teacher days have been lost in the past five years. Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the teaching union NEU, said: “The government is failing to address the issues of unacceptable workload, supersized classrooms, punitive accountability measures, stress and pay needed to ensure teaching is a profession that is both attractive to graduates and which keeps experienced teachers in post.”
FE News. The Observer.
 

Dyson fined £1.2m after machine injures worker

Technology firm Dyson has been fined £1.2m after an employee sustained head and chest injuries when he was struck by a 1.5 tonne milling machine. The worker at Dyson’s Wiltshire factory was hit while moving the machine, which fell on top of him. He only escaped being crushed under the weight of the machine because it landed on two toolboxes and the handle of another machine. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Dyson Technology Limited failed to meet basic safety measures. Dyson Technology Limited pleaded guilty to a criminal safety breach and was fined £1.2m and ordered to pay costs of £11,511.  
HSE news release.
 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

 

Australia: Health scientists back call for sick pay for casuals

The Australian government is facing growing calls from epidemiologists, unions and others for sick leave to be extended to casual employees. Michele O’Neil, president of the national union federation ACTU, said: “Most so-called casual workers are working regular hours with the same employer, day in, day out. Nearly one million ‘casual’ workers are effectively working permanent full-time hours. These workers should have the right to be permanent with paid leave including sick leave provisions.”
The Guardian
 

Australia: DP World on collision course with dockworkers

The safety credentials of one of the world’s largest stevedoring companies is being called in to question, with Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) safety officials expressing their ‘gravely held concerns’ about a push from management to implement a reckless benchmarking system. “DP World want to pit worker against worker in an attempt to foster a speed-culture on the waterfront that will inevitably place safety a distant second in some of the highest-risk working environments in Australia,” said the MUA’s assistant national secretary, Adrian Evans.
MUA news release
 

Europe: Digital technologies a new challenge to management

‘Digitalisation’ has been identified as an emerging occupational safety and health (OSH) concern by the just released 2019 European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks. “But despite the increasing use of robots, laptops, smartphones or wearable devices, less than one in four workplaces are having discussions about the potential impact of such technologies on the safety and health of workers,” said EU-OSHA. The findings are based data taken from over 45,000 respondents across workplaces in 33 European countries, including Britain.
EU-OSHA news release and the report
 

South Africa: Union action plea after workplace ‘gang-rape’

South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has called for action to address workplace violence and harassment after the arrest of a gang of armed men that raped eight members of a video production crew in Johannesburg. Over 80 suspects have appeared in court facing charges of 32 counts of rape and attempted murder. The attackers are allegedly part of criminal syndicates that are involved in artisanal and small-scale mining in abandoned mines. The women who were attacked were part of a production crew of 12 women and 10 men shooting a music video at a mine dump when they were attacked by heavily armed men on 28 July. The crew was also robbed of personal belongings.
NUM news release. IndustriALL news release.

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