News from around the World

News Archive

August 2022

Training Course: Human Factors in Accident and Incident Investigations

31 August 2022 – 1 September 2022

Contact: Health and Safety Executive, Buxton, UK | https://solutions.hse.gov.uk/health-and-safety-training-courses/human-factors-in-accident-and-incident-investigations

BP Profits – 2 August 2022

Commenting on 2 August 2022 report of quarterly profits of $8.45 bn (£6.9 bn) by energy firm BP, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“Every family should get a fair price for the energy they need. But with energy bills rising much faster than wages, these profits are an insult to families struggling to get by.

“For a fair approach to the cost of living crisis, price hikes and profits should be held back. Ministers must do more to get wages rising across the economy. And we should bring energy retail firms into public ownership so we can reduce bills for basic energy needs.”

More information: https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/bp-profits-are-insult-families-struggling-get-says-tuc

PPE profiteers undermined Covid Safety

Unite has said ‘PPE profiteers’ must be held to account following a damning report from the Commons’ Public Accounts Committee (PAC). PAC identified ‘significant failings’ in the management of 176 PPE contracts worth £2.7 billion that led to a stockpile of almost 4 billion items that were not needed. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The guilty profiteers must be held to account and so must the government ministers who abused their position to fast track firms they had links with.”

Unite news release. PAC news release and report.

Firefighters fight heatwave and ‘wrecked’ fire service

Firefighters have been on the frontline of the heatwave, but have ‘been stretched to the limit’ in a fire service ‘wrecked’ by government policy, their union FBU has said. It said 15 fire and rescue services declared major incidents as fires raged during record temperatures last week. Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said: “Firefighters are at the forefront of the climate emergency. The demands of the job are increasing but our resources have been under attack by government cuts for over a decade. 11,500 firefighter jobs have been slashed since 2010.” He added: “We will not accept a paltry pay offer of 2 per cent when the demands of the job are increasing, and the cost of food, fuel, energy and almost everything else is soaring.”

FBU news release.

Safety warning as dispute hits offshore vessel

Unite has warned safety could be jeopardised by any attempt to move an offshore vessel while safety critical crew are on strike over redundancy terms. Members have voted overwhelmingly in favour of continuous strike action from 5 August. The Foinaven vessel, approximately 120 miles west of the Shetland Isles, is owned by Teekay but operated by Altera staff and contracted to work for BP. Vic Fraser, Unite industrial officer, warned there have “been ongoing safety concerns raised by workers that both Altera and BP are still forging ahead with plans to move the vessel when virtually the whole crew will be on an all-out indefinite strike.” He added: “The thought of having safety critical work done while in tow with no qualified competent crew working is a real concern.”

Unite news release.

Aviation workers suffering as work hours soar

Aviation workers across the entire sector are working excessive hours to keep air traffic functioning, research by Unite has found. The union says that the majority of cases workers report working 60 hours (including 20 hours of overtime) a week as standard. Unite has discovered some workers being expected to put in between 80 and 90 hours a week. Unite is becoming increasingly concerned about worker and passenger safety due to exhaustion and fatigue. In addition, workers, including cabin crew, report that they have on occasion being required to work beyond legal ‘flight time limitations’ as they haven’t received sufficient rest and are often denied the breaks and rest periods they are entitled to receive.

Unite news release.

Union safety warning over Tube staff cuts

Transport for London (TfL) plans to cut 600 frontline Tube customer service staff will have long term impacts on passenger safety, TSSA has warned. TSSA said members on London Underground “describe this as an accident waiting to happen. Our members want to be there for victims of assault and crime and deal with their reports sensitively, but soon we just won’t have the numbers.”

TSSA news release.

ASLEF drives better train cab design

A ‘Better cab design’ campaign by train drivers’ union ASLEF has seen better, safer cabs introduced on London Underground’s new Elizabeth Line. The union says poorly designed cabs can be uncomfortable, too hot in summer and too cold in winter, and hard to adjust for people of different body shapes and sizes. An ASLEF survey confirmed a good quality cab needs to be “clean, adjustable and able to be temperature controlled.”

ASLEF news release, report and Better Driving Cabs campaign.

Worrying spike in shoplifting shows need for action

Usdaw has said it is ‘deeply concerned’ by a sharp increase in shoplifting and is calling for action to protect retail staff. Latest police recorded crime statistics show that between March 2021 and March 2022 there was a 21 per cent increase in shoplifting over the previous year. It says this represents a worrying reversal of the recent downward trend. Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis commented: “Having to deal with repeated and persistent shoplifters can cause issues beyond the theft itself like anxiety, fear and in some cases physical harm to retail workers.”

Usdaw news release.

Tory leadership hopeful Truss wants a ‘bonfire of rights’

Hundreds of laws covering employment and environmental protections could disappear overnight if Liz Truss becomes prime minister, after she promised to scrap all remaining EU regulations by the end of 2023. Despite warnings about the scale and complexity of the task, Truss launched her leadership runoff campaign by promising a “sunset” for all EU-derived laws within 15 months – and these include many important safety rules. Experts and union leaders said Truss’s proposals would be hugely difficult to achieve in the context of plans to get rid of one in five civil service jobs over the next three years, with warnings it could become a “bonfire of rights”. Another complication is the fact that diverging from EU standards in areas such as employment or environmental protections could bring retaliation from Brussels, given the terms of the post-Brexit trade deal, not least in terms of extra checks.

RMT news release. The Guardian.

Shift workers ‘can’t all adjust to a night shift’

A new study has challenged the widespread belief that shift workers adjust to the night shift. Using data drawn from wearable tech, scientists compared night-shift workers, working three or more nights of 10 hours each per week, and day-shifters alternating morning and afternoon shifts at a single university hospital. They found even workers who had been on night shifts for many years still showed negative effects on circadian and sleep health. The more years they had been on night work, the more severe the circadian disruption, contradicting assumptions about adaptation to night work. The authors say the findings could explain why previous research has linked disrupted circadian rhythms with long term health risks, including cancer and cardiovascular, metabolic and infectious diseases.

University of Warwick news release. Digital circadian and sleep health in individual hospital shift workers: A cross sectional telemonitoring study

Rail regulator concerned at post-crash inaction

Concerns about Network Rail’s safety response to an Aberdeenshire train crash which claimed three lives have been raised by the industry regulator. The train hit a landslide near Stonehaven in 2020 after heavy rain, killing a passenger and two train staff. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said Network Rail Scotland had failed to provide tangible supporting evidence to demonstrate steps taken so far to implement safety recommendations. ORR’s report said: “During our engagement, representatives from the region described the steps they have taken in response to their action plans but have subsequently failed to provide any tangible supporting evidence to demonstrate these. Network Rail Scotland also did not clearly articulate how each action plan will implement the relevant task force recommendations.”

BBC News Online.

B&M fined £1m after electrician’s horrific injuries

Discount retailer B&M has been ordered to pay £1m after an electrician suffered horrific injuries in an explosion at the company’s Speke headquarters and warehouse. Shahenur Rahman was put in an induced coma for a fortnight and needed skin grafts and surgery to save one of his hands after a “Catherine wheel of fire spiralled through the air”, while his body “blew up to four times its normal size.” B&M Retail Limited admitted two criminal safety breaches, while electrical contractor Daker Limited pleaded guilty to one. B&M was fined £1m and told to pay £4,978.30 in court costs. Daker would have faced a £12,000 fine, but this was reduced to a “nominal” amount of £100 due to its “dire financial straits.”

HSE news release. Liverpool Echo.

Director escapes jail for asbestos management crimes

A company director has evaded jail after failing to manage the risks of asbestos. A large quantity of asbestos-containing materials, including asbestos insulating board, were identified during an HSE inspection at factory premises in Kidderminster owned by Kespar Engineering Limited in February 2019, and was not effectively managed. Employees of both companies worked in the premises. The sole director for both companies was Peter Gerard Parkes. Kespar Engineering Ltd was fined £51,000 plus £30,000 costs. SDF Automotive Limited (in administration) was conditionally discharged for two years. Peter Gerard Parkes pleaded guilty to several criminal counts as a director of both companies and Smethwick Drop Forge Ltd and was given a 12 month suspended prison sentence, fined £9,000 and plus £14,000 costs.

HSE news release.

Australia: Unions call for employer action as Covid soars

Health and social care workers in Australia are facing unsustainable pressure from the current Covid wave, prompting unions to urge employers to do more to protect them. Michele O’Neil, president of the national union federation ACTU, said: “No worker should have to decide between putting food on the table or isolating with Covid. Employers must support workers by providing free RATs [rapid antigen tests] and providing leave at full pay when workers have to isolate.”

ACTU news release.

Europe: Climate crisis requires temperature controls

Another summer of deadly heatwaves shows why Europe badly needs a law on maximum working temperatures to protect workers from the effects of climate change, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has said. It was speaking after two workers collapsed and died from heat stroke in Spain within days. An survey of ETUC affiliates found only a few EU countries have legislation to keep workers safe during heatwaves. ETUC deputy general secretary Claes-Mikael Ståhl said: “Politicians can’t continue to ignore the danger to our most vulnerable workers from the comfort of their airconditioned offices.”

ETUC news release. ETUC report on Heatwaves as an Occupational Hazard.

Global: Work contributes to poorer health of migrants

A new report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) has found work hazards are a contributor to far poorer health outcomes for many vulnerable refugees and migrants. The report points out “migrant workers were less likely to use health services and more likely to have an occupational injury.” WHO added: “Evidence also showed that a significant number of the 169 million migrant workers globally are engaged in dirty, dangerous, and demanding jobs and are at greater risk of occupational accidents, injuries, and work-related health problems than their non-migrant counterparts, conditions exacerbated by their often limited or restricted access to and use of health services.”

WHO news release and report, World report on the health of refugees and migrants

USA: Amazon warehouses under fed investigation

Federal prosecutors in New York and the government’s safety regulator OSHA are inspecting Amazon warehouses around the US as part of a civil investigation into unsafe workplace conditions. A statement said “the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration entered Amazon warehouses outside New York City, Chicago and Orlando to conduct workplace safety inspections in response to referrals.” It added that well as safety violations, SDNY was investigating “possible fraudulent conduct designed to hide injuries from OSHA and others.”

ABC News. Bloomberg Law.

USA: Union ‘Stop Work Authority’ will protect workers

The United Steelworkers (USW) union is telling its workplace union reps how to go about ‘Bargaining for Stop Work Authority to Prevent Injuries and Save Lives.’ The purpose is to negotiate programmes that allow reps to stop unsafe or unhealthy operations and processes until hazards are resolved. “The United Steelworkers is proud to issue this path-breaking guide,” said USW international president Tom Conway. “OSHA does not require stop work authority, so it’s up to us. This booklet will be an essential part of protecting workers’ lives on the job.” Stop work authority is a mandatory subject of bargaining under the National Labor Relations Act.

USW news release and guide, Bargaining for Stop Work Authority to Prevent Injuries and Save Lives.

Teaching our history by Roger Bibbings

“If you don’t know where we’ve come from, you’ll find it hard to know where we might – or more importantly, ought – to be headed”. “Those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them”. And so on. All common sentiments – but in a “history-free”, “me-now” age, just how much do we really embrace these ideas in the way we organise and run things, especially education and training?

The full text of the article is in this month’s OSHWORLD FOCUS.

Hong Kong: UN Rights Body calls for end to repression of unions

In a wide-ranging report on violations of civil liberties in Hong Kong, the UN human rights Committee has called on the authorities to end their repression of trade unions.

It specifically called for the government to repeal the National Security Law (NSL), the NSL Implementation Rules and the sedition provision in the criminal law, and to discontinue all cases against trade unionists charged in connection with their union activities. This is the Committee’s first report on the implementation of the ICCPR in Hong Kong since the NSL was imposed by China in July 2020.

To date, 8 trade unionists have been imprisoned pending trials in relation to national security and sedition charges.

The Committee’s report calls on the authorities to:

• ‘refrain from taking any action that is likely to curb the exercise of the freedom of association and ensure a safe environment for the activities of civil society organizations, including trade unions and student unions;
• remove all the restrictive measures imposed on trade unions and discontinue all cases against trade unionists charged in connection with their union activities;
• review the Societies Ordinance and other relevant legislation with a view to removing the procedural and substantive obstacles to register and run a society and bringing them in line with article 22 of the Covenant;
• ensure that members and representatives of civil society organizations will not be charged under the National Security Law or victimized in any other form as a result of their engagement with the Committee for the current review as well as with other international human rights mechanisms, including other treaty bodies, the human Rights Council, the Special Procedures and the Universal Periodic Report as well as with international NGOs.’

More information: https://www.ituc-csi.org/Hong-Kong-UN-calls-for-end-to-repression-of-unions

Monkeypox: People who are isolating at home

Information for people who have been diagnosed with a monkeypox infection and who have been advised to self-isolate at home.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/guidance-for-people-with-monkeypox-infection-who-are-isolating-at-home

Annual Science Review 2022 from the Health and Safety Executive

HSE’s Annual Science Review 2022 focuses on ways HSE’s science and evidence is being used to protect people and places, helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.

This is the second of its Annual Science Reviews which describes work that has been completed by HSE’s scientists and engineers during a continuing global pandemic. Its focus has been on providing data on the real-world consequences of the pandemic to help deliver practical solutions which ensured that HSE’s response to the pandemic was informed by the best available evidence. In addition, it has also provided information that could help HSE build back better in those areas where evidence was needed to help it be an enabling regulator, and secure justice against those who breach the law.

HSE’s review provides case studies from the range of science and engineering work we have delivered helping to maintain Great Britain’s record as one of the safest countries to work in.

Review: https://www.hse.gov.uk/research/review.htm

HSE Reminder On Current Consultation

On 29 April 2021, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as the Agency for UK REACH received a request under Article 69(1) of UK REACH from the Defra Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, to prepare an Annex 15 restriction dossier assessing the risks to humans from substances in tattoo ink and permanent make up (PMU). As of 4 January 2022, the European Union (EU) has restricted the presence of over 4000 potentially harmful substances in these preparations. This Annex 15 dossier prepared by HSE examines whether a similar restriction should be introduced into Great Britain (GB).

In the request, Defra asked HSE to include in this dossier all substances listed in Council of Europe resolution ResAP(2008)1 and also the following substances:

• Carcinogenic or mutagenic substances
• Substances that are toxic to reproduction
• Skin sensitisers
• Skin corrosive or irritant substances
• Substances that cause serious eye damage/eye irritant substances
• Substances that are prohibited for use in cosmetic products under the Cosmetic Products Regulation (EUR 2009/1223)

Article 69(6) of UK REACH requires HSE to publish proposals for restrictions on its website and invite interested parties to submit comments on the proposed restriction within 6 months of the date of publication. This public consultation fulfils this requirement.

More information: https://consultations.hse.gov.uk/crd-reach/restriction-proposals-003