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

COVID NEWS

School unions call for more safety measures
‘Scared’ staff deserve better school safety
Covid spike at DVLA could spur more strikes

OTHER NEWS
HSE treating work suicide less seriously than an itch
Longer lorry driver hours ‘dangerous’ warns union
Government didn’t check if driving rules move was safe
Bectu welcomes move to a 12-hour max shoots
NHS staff face tide of abuse provoked by long waits
Women teachers express safety concerns
UNISON secures over £1.7m for members in a month
School trust fined over animal disease risks

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Global: ILO code to protect textile and garment workers
Australia: Mental health and violence problems rising
Burkina Faso: Union outrage as building collapse kills 4
USA: Frontline workers more likely to get infected

 
PUBLICATION TUC COURSES FOR SAFETY REPS  

COVID NEWS

 

School unions call for more safety measures

Education unions have written to the education secretary asking him to urgently reconsider the reintroduction of additional safety measures in schools, in the light of rising rates of Covid infection and absence among school students. The five unions – GMB, NASUWT, NEU, UNISON and Unite – said they will also be writing to all local authorities and directors of public health asking them to consider measures in their local areas. The letter to education secretary Nadhim Zahawi points to measures now being readopted in several local authority areas in response to rising cases, including social distancing measures, reintroduction of bubbles, avoidance of large gatherings such as assemblies and meetings, and reintroduction of face coverings in secondary schools. The unions have warned that without such measures, students’ education and the health of students, their families and school staff will all be damaged unnecessarily. GMB national officer Avril Chambers said:  School staff have kept our schools open throughout the pandemic: they deserve to stay safe and our children deserve not to have their education interrupted any more than it already has been. The minister needs to act now.” NASUWT general secretary Patrick Roach said: “Proportionate safety measures and appropriate support for schools are essential in breaking the continuing chain of virus transmission.” Kevin Courtney, the NEU joint general secretary, added: “The most effective way of keeping children in education is to do more now to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in schools,” while UNISON assistant general secretary Jon Richards said: “To offer pupils and staff greater protection, face masks must return right away, along with school bubbles and other sensible precautions that were ditched. Air filters are also key to limiting the virus spread and ensuring pupils have a more stable academic year.” And Unite national officer for education Jim Kennedy warned: “With winter fast approaching and with Covid still rampant the whole range of measures to keep school children safe needs to be deployed – the rising level of infections in schools demand it.”
NEU news release. UNISON news release and release on school Covid surge. The Guardian. Morning Star.
 

‘Scared’ staff deserve better school safety

“Scared, over-worked and exhausted” teachers and school staff in Wales are calling for immediate action to address Covid safety concerns. The call on the Welsh government to strengthen its approach to Covid safety in schools came after hundreds of school workers joined a 7 October Keeping Schools Safe and Open event organised by Wales TUC. The education trade unions said they are in agreement with the Welsh government that continued learning in school should be a priority. However, they are pushing for greater mitigation measures to help protect staff and pupils. Wales TUC general secretary Shavanah Taj said: “The whole school workforce is in agreement that mitigations need to be stronger throughout Wales to keep schools open. Teachers, teaching assistants, headteachers and support staff are scared, over-worked and exhausted. Welsh government needs to listen to them and recognise that they’re the experts on what’s happening in schools.” Mary van den Heuvel, senior policy officer with the NEU, said: "It was really worrying to hear from such a wide range of education professionals about the situation on the ground in Wales. I hope the Welsh government has heard loud and clear that changes need to be made to the situation in schools across Wales, to ensure that staff and students are safe.” And UNISON regional organiser Rosie Lewis said: “The number of Covid-19 cases amongst school children in Wales is rising and UNISON members feel vulnerable and anxious. We are asking Welsh government to strengthen measures such as re-introducing the wearing of face coverings in all areas of school as an attempt to curb the spread any further, to improve confidence and reduce anxiety amongst staff, pupils and parents.”
Wales TUC news release.
 

Covid spike at DVLA could spur more strikes

Covid cases among DVLA staff have risen rapidly at the government agency’s Swansea HQ, leading the union PCS to warn of further safety strikes. The union said the rise in cases comes as DVLA presses forward with a plan to increase the number of workers on site. PCS notified the DVLA on 4 October that “we will be balloting our members for strike action over the ongoing health and safety dispute.” The ballot on strike action and action short of a strike will run until 10 November. The union said ministers have already undone two deals to date and have refused to admit there are health and safety issues left to address. “Covid cases among DVLA staff have risen rapidly since mid-August and, with DVLA planning to again increase numbers on site, our members are once again left fearing for their health and safety as we enter autumn,” a union statement said. The statement added: “The DVLA have no plans to combat a rise in cases and have even shared plans to bring a further 150 staff back onto site. Staff who have previously been able to work from home are being made to work on site. This follows 450 staff being reintroduced to the site in June and the recruitment of 120 staff over the summer. It is perhaps no wonder that cases have risen so rapidly since the summer and figures reveal over 800 cases since September last year.” PCS industrial officer Becky Gittins said: “The DVLA are walking into another disastrous autumn without a plan to keep staff safe when cases rise. It is more important than ever that members vote in the ballot to get the DVLA back around the table and find a solution to the dispute that makes DVLA staff safer.”
PCS news release and PCS demands to resolve the dispute.
 

OTHER NEWS

 

HSE treating work suicide less seriously than an itch

The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) could, by failing to prioritise work-related suicide recognition and prevention, be standing by and watching as workers die, a new report has warned. ‘Suicidal’, published in the latest issue of the workplace safety journal Hazards, notes unlike other countries, notably the US and France, in the UK “the government safety regulator has refused repeatedly to change its practices to record and investigate suicides linked to work.” The report notes for suicide, like other workplace issues, there are “straightforward workplace risk factors that should be subject to scrutiny by workplace safety regulators, and action to ensure they are addressed.” It adds: “HSE’s operational guidance to its inspectors on responding to ‘Matters of Evident Concern and Potential Major Concern’ – MECs and MPMCs – gives explicit instructions to this effect.” This “requires” HSE inspectors “to consider at site visits whether there are risks normally requiring immediate formal enforcement action (MECs) or other risks present that could lead to multiple fatalities or multiple causes of ill-health and, if so, take appropriate action. These high consequence events are designated as MPMCs.” Related guidance on inspections and dermatitis, for example, notes “inspectors should proactively consider if there are hazards which have the potential to cause multiple cases of dermatitis (Matter of Potential Major Concern or MPMC).” According to the Hazards report, HSE should “accept work factors contributing to suicide should not be treated less seriously in its reporting and investigation processes than those that cause skin rashes,” adding: “It would seem reasonable to expect saving someone’s neck to be at least as high a priority as saving someone’s skin.”
Suicidal: HSE must recognise, record and investigate work-related suicides, Hazards, number 155, 2021.
 

Longer lorry driver hours ‘dangerous’ warns union

News that the government has further extended the relaxation of lorry driver hours has been met with anger and dismay by the drivers’ union Unite. Commenting on the 30 September UK government confirmation of the one-month extension, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This is yet another knee-jerk response to a crisis which has been building for nearly 20 years - and the blame for that lies entirely at the door of the employers, and their willing partners, the government.” She added: “Years of suppressing drivers’ pay and attacking their working conditions has led us to where we are now. Far from tackling the current crisis, this latest extension on drivers’ hours will increase the pressures of the job and, as a result, further endanger public safety on the roads. This expediency will end in failure.” The ‘temporary’ extension of driving hours limits will now continue until 31 October. During this time the government will further consider whether the rules relaxation should be further extended until 23 January 2022. Under the government relaxation, drivers can drive for up to 11 hours a day (compared to the normal maximum of 10 hours) and a total of 99 hours a fortnight (previously 90) with rest periods also reduced. Unite said it is estimated that 600 drivers leave the industry every week and the further relaxation on driving hours is going to make a bad situation even worse. Unite national officer Adrian Jones said: “The government’s response to the lorry driver crisis has been to extend driving hours, reduce training requirements, water down tests and weaken the licence required to drive a tanker. This is a highly dangerous cocktail and will only lessen safety on the UK’s roads.” He added: “The government is still not addressing the reasons why the industry is haemorrhaging lorry drivers. By making the remaining drivers work longer, they may even force more drivers to walk away.”
Unite news release.
 

Government didn’t check if driving rules move was safe

Unite’s concerns about the ‘dangerous’ decision to extend the relaxation of lorry driver working hour limits have been reinforced after the UK government admitted it had failed to undertake any related safety impact assessment. According to Unite, which represents tens of thousands of UK lorry drivers, the Department for Transport (DfT) has admitted in correspondence to the union that “there is not an impact assessment” of the ongoing extension to the maximum number of hours a lorry driver can drive. The admission came as Unite continued to work with drivers’ reps and stewards from around the country on a long term plan to force up standards across the industry. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The government’s admission that it has not assessed the road safety ramifications of persistent longer hours for lorry drivers is shocking. HGV drivers and road users can be rightly angry about ministers’ failure to take their safety seriously. Small wonder that this industry struggles to attract and retain a workforce.” She added: “Unite is working with lorry drivers to address the very real problems they face, which to date neither the industry nor the government have shown any interest in addressing.” Unite national officer Adrian Jones said: “Drivers are already exhausted and as we enter late autumn and winter, when driving conditions are poorer, the danger of accidents will inevitably increase.”
Unite news release.
 

Bectu welcomes move to a 12-hour max shoots

Film and TV technicians and craft union Bectu has welcomed a new 12-hour maximum shoot day announced by the Advertising Producers Association (APA), the trade body for production companies, animation, VFX, immersive, sound design, music and editing companies making commercials. Announcing the changes, APA said from 1 November “shoots shall not be scheduled to go beyond 12 hours (11 hours plus one hour for lunch) from the main unit call time and unscheduled overtime beyond that time for the main unit shall be avoided in all but the most extreme circumstances and shall be limited as far as possible.” The trade body explained: “In a competitive market, APA members have felt they had no option except to have a very long shoot day - or lose the job to another company. Competition is good but not if it comes at the expense of the health and wellbeing of the crew and production teams who do the work.” To discourage Saturday working on commercials, APA said Saturday work would be paid “at one and a half times the crews hourly rate.” Bectu national secretary Spencer Macdonald commented: “Bectu welcomes this shift in attitude and a recognition that quality of life outside of work is important. The union will monitor this together with the APA and continue to discuss how this is working in practice.”
APA news story. BECTU news release.
 

NHS staff face tide of abuse provoked by long waits

NHS staff across the UK are facing a “growing tide of abuse” including assaults from patients, which they say is being caused by frustration at long waits for care. In a strongly worded joint statement, six key medical bodies and staff groups blame patients’ increasingly long delays in receiving treatment on years of successive governments underinvesting in the NHS and not fixing severe workforce shortages. They are urging ministers to be “honest and transparent” about the intense strain on the NHS after a spike in threats and assaults on frontline staff. It comes amid a growing belief that there is a deliberate government strategy to try to blame the NHS for its many problems. The joint statement said placing the blame on staff is fuelling verbal or physical aggression towards A&E staff, ambulance crews, midwives, nurses, receptionists, call handlers, social care workers and also those administering Covid vaccines. It added: “We understand that individuals become frustrated at long waits, delays in their care or other problems in the delivery of services they rightly expect.” The signatories include the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, Royal College of Nursing, British Medical Association, NHS Confederation and the unions the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and UNISON. The statement warned that Covid has “multiplied the pressures” on the NHS and “that challenge is going to continue for some long time to come as waiting lists and restricted access to services will get worse before they get any better.”
The Guardian.
 

Women teachers express safety concerns

Women teachers have concerns about their safety inside and outside of work, the teaching union NASUWT has said. Members discussed the increasing problem of sexual harassment and violence against women at the union’s online Women Teachers’ Consultation Conference, where a real-time poll of delegates found one in ten said they feel “not safe” at work or “concerned and anxious about my safety at work.” Half (49 per cent) said they are not aware of any policies or processes in their workplaces to address the problem of increasing sexual harassment and violence in schools. And one-fifth (20 per cent) said they feel “not safe” outside of work or “concerned and anxious about my safety outside of work.” NASUWT general secretary Dr Patrick Roach said: “We demand more than a show of sympathy and that is why we are calling on the government to ratify the ILO Convention 190 on Eliminating Violence and Harassment in the World of Work. We don’t want more warm words from the government. Teachers want action to end violence against women.”
NAWUWT news release and related news release. ILO Convention 190.
 

UNISON secures over £1.7m for members in a month

Almost 200 settlements in a single month show the value of the UNISON’s personal injury legal assistance scheme, the union has said. UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea hailed “an incredible achievement for our members”, as almost 200 personal injury cases, worth over £1.7m in settlements, were won in August. UNISON said much of the work the union does around settlements goes unnoticed but, working with legal partners Thompson’s, this represents an incredible service to members. The union said its “completely free” personal injury legal assistance scheme “enables the union to secure justice for members who are injured at work and, in calling employers to account, this also means we make our workplaces safer for others too.” Helen Buczynsky, the UNISON legal officer who coordinates the personal injury service, said: “Our members deserve a strong safety net when they have suffered a personal injury at work, and that is where we come in. We are very proud of what we have achieved for our members – we have won over 190 settlement cases, worth over £1.7m in August alone.”
UNISON news release.
 

School trust fined over animal disease risks

A Nottingham-based school trust has been fined after pupils and staff were put at risk from infectious diseases carried by animals. Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court heard how the Spencer Academies Trust, which operates 12 schools, failed to properly control the risk from zoonotic diseases - diseases than can be transmitted from animals to humans - to employees, pupils and visitors at one of its academies. The academy school was home to several animals including goats, pigs and rabbits. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the trust had failed to provide adequate washing facilities to control the risks of disease to employees, pupils and visitors to the academy. The academy had also failed to provide suitable housing for the animals to minimise the risk to children and had not provided adequate training for staff. The Spencer Academies Trust was fined £20,000 plus £7,304.10 costs after pleading guilty to two criminal breaches of safety law. HSE inspector Leigh Stanley commented: “HSE recognise the wider learning benefits from keeping animals in the school environment, however, schools must ensure that the risks of zoonotic diseases are adequately assessed and effectively controlled. This includes adequate supervision and washing facilities. In this case, the Trust failed to implement suitable arrangements which meant that there was a significant risk to the health of people including the children.”
HSE news release.
Resources: Hazards guide to biohazards.
 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

 

Global: ILO code to protect textile and garment workers

Experts from governments, employers’ and workers’ organisations have agreed a new code of practice on safety and health in the textiles, garment, leather and footwear sector – the first for these industries. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says its new code “provides comprehensive and practical advice on how to eliminate, reduce and control all major hazards and risks. This includes chemical substances, ergonomic and physical hazards, tools, machines and equipment, as well as building and fire safety.” It adds more than 60 million workers around the globe are set to benefit. Other issues covered include biological hazards, violence and harassment and the links between environmental hazards and workplace safety. “We want to ensure that Rana Plaza will never happen again,” said Kamrul Anam, worker vice-chair, referring to the 2013 Bangladesh garment factory building collapse, in which more than 1,100 people died. “If everyone commits to translating the provisions in this code into action, we can ensure that no worker – in Bangladesh or any other country – will ever have to risk their life in a garment factory again.” Director of the ILO sectoral policies department, Alette van Leur, added: “The Covid-19 pandemic has reminded all of us of how important safety and health, and a human-centred approach are, if we want to build forward better. I am hopeful that as these industries rebound, the new code of practice will serve as a basis for developing national or company OSH [occupational safety and health] management systems and contribute to the overall improvements of working conditions in this sector and beyond.” The finalised code will be published in 2022.
ILO news release.
 

Australia: Mental health and violence problems rising

Threats to mental health and workplace violence are high on the list of occupational health and safety risks faced by Australia’s workers, a survey by the national union federation ACTU has found. The union body’s research found that mental health continues to be the fastest growing challenge to the safety of working people in their workplaces, as well as ‘appalling’ rates of workplace violence experienced by the pandemic’s frontline workers. About one in six (17 per cent) workers reported they have experienced mental health injuries as a result of their work, with 10 per cent saying they were regularly bullied. Over half (56 per cent) of healthcare workers said understaffing in their workplace was causing overwork, leading to stress. Nearly one in three (30 per cent) say they skip entitled meal or rest breaks, the highest in any industry. And almost half (47 per cent) of healthcare workers say they or their colleagues have been exposed to violence or threats of violence in the workplace. Over threequarters (76 per cent) of healthcare workers say they or their colleagues experience traumatic events, distressing situations or aggressive clients at least some of the time, the most of any industry. ACTU assistant secretary Liam O’Brien commented: “The pandemic has brought into sharp focus how important it is that all working people are safe in their workplace. But Australian workers face a multitude of risks beyond the threat of Covid-19.” He said the national government “can and must do more to ensure that Australian workers do not suffer injuries or experience trauma as a result of their work. Everyone deserves to come home safe.”
ACTU news release.
 

Burkina Faso: Union outrage as building collapse kills 4

Trade unions in Burkina Faso have expressed outrage after the collapse of a building under construction at the Norbert Zongo University in Koudougou. The incident resulted in the death of four people. In a press conference on 6 September, the unions – all affiliates of the global union federation BWI - sounded the alarm on ‘the rising number’ of buildings collapsing while under construction. They said that from 2011 to 2021, one building has collapsed each year. In Ouagadougou and Ouahigouya, the unions cited five cases which together resulted in many deaths and injuries. “Such a tragedy is not the first time in Burkina Faso. The collapse of buildings under construction that caused numerous fatalities and damage to property has unfortunately become a common sight in the large cities of Burkina,” said BWI coordinator Abdoul Karim Ouédraogo, who spoke on behalf of the unions. Ouédraogo said the unions are holding the Burkina Faso government accountable for the tragedy. “The government has awarded building construction contracts to companies of dubious capacity to perform such enormous tasks,” Ouédraogo said. The unions are demanding a thorough investigation of the incident. They are also calling on the government, architects and civil engineers, real estate players, construction companies, investors and public and private infrastructure financing institutions “to bring order and discipline to the construction sector to preserve the life, health and safety of workers and people around construction sites.” BWI’s Ouédraogo concluded: “Workers must not be forced to choose between losing their jobs or lives.”
BWI news release.
 

USA: Frontline workers more likely to get infected 

The job you do is a major factor in determining if you will have tested positive for Covid-19, with all frontline workers more likely to have been infected, a US study has confirmed. Researchers from the universities of Wisconsin and Ohio State used national data from over a million US respondents to a Facebook-Carnegie Mellon University survey administered from September 2020 to March 2021 to estimate the likelihoods of frontline workers, compared to non-frontline workers, ever testing positive for Covid-19 (SARsCov-2) or having had a positive test the past two weeks. After taking account of other factors “both healthcare and non-healthcare frontline workers had higher odds of having ever tested positive for SARsCov-2 across the study time period. Similarly, non-healthcare frontline workers were more likely to test positive in the previous 14 days. Conversely, healthcare frontline workers were less likely to have recently tested positive.” The authors conclude: “Our findings suggest that occupational exposure has played an independent role in the uneven spread of the virus. In particular, non-healthcare frontline workers have experienced sustained higher risk of testing positive for SARs-Cov-2 compared to non-frontline workers.” They recommend: “Alongside more worker protections, future Covid-19 and other highly infectious disease response strategies must be augmented by a more robust recognition of the role that structural factors, such as the highly stratified US occupational landscape, have played in the uneven toll of the Covid-19 pandemic.”  
D Phuong Do, Reanne Frank. US frontline workers and COVID-19 inequities, Preventive Medicine, volume 153, 106833, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106833

 

PUBLICATION

TUC Hazards at Work 6th Edition

Stock Code: HS111
Price £22 RRP £52
Also now available as an eBook
This is the Sixth edition of the TUC's best-selling guide to health and safety at work.
Used by reps, officers, employers, professionals in the field and even enforcement officers. This incredibly popular book is now even more informative at over 400 pages, an invaluable resource, which incorporates common hazards and cause of ill health at work, and how to assess and prevent them.
The book also contains HSE and other guidance, extensive checklists, case studies and web resources.
Order your copy
There are discounts on bulk orders, over 5 copies, please contact us for details.
Those on TUC approved courses can receive discount, please call for details 0207 467 1294. Or email at; publications@tuc.org.uk
 

TUC COURSES FOR SAFETY REPS

Courses for 2021

Find the latest courses at www.tuceducation.org.uk/findacourse/
 
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