SafetyNet JOURNAL
SafetyNet Journal 124
Issue 124 - SafetyNet Journal 124
Fri 28 Sep 2007Welcome to SafetyNet 124 – find out what's going on in OHS in Victoria, Australia and the world. Pass on the news to your fellow workers and other reps.
A printer-friendly version of this newsletter can be downloaded here.Union News
Research
WorkSafe News
Worksafe Prosecutions
International News
Events
Union News
Activities for OHS repsVTHC’s Annual Conference for OHS Representatives
Time is running out to register for the biggest and best event of Victoria’s OHS Week: the VTHC’s Annual OHS Representatives Conference: OHS in Victoria - Unfinished Business. The conference will be on Wednesday October 24 at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre. Numbers are strictly limited this year, so make sure you register as soon as possible. You can register online, or email, faxed or post the registration form either to the VTHC OHS Unit or your union.
Of course, there are many other activities being run during WorkSafe Week – such as the Awards Dinner. There are events all around Victoria on topics such as Manual Handling, Machinery and Equipment Safety, Return to Work and much more. To find out more, including a full list of events and how to get your own workplace involved, go to the WorkSafe Week ‘microsite’
WorkSafe Awards
In the last edition, we told you the names of the finalists for WorkSafe’s Health and Safety Rep of the Year – read a bit about each of them - they are all wonderful and dedicated OHS reps.
ETU alerts
The ETU has issued two alerts on RCD testing and insulated pins: Testing portable RCDs on construction sites [pdf] and Insulated pins on 3 pin plug tops [pdf http://www.etu.asn.au/pdfs/2006/alert28_insulated_pins.pdf]
This week’s FAQ:
Does an elected OHS rep have to have the permission of his/her employer before distributing to members of the DWG information on hazards, such as stress, heat, noise, etc?
There is nothing in the legislation that prevents reps from distributing OHS related information to the members of their DWGs. One of the main roles of an elected rep is to consult with members of the DWG in order to find out what issues may be of concern to them. Providing them with information on certain hazards will assist in the identification of issues at that workplace. If the rep wishes to, he or she may provide the employer with a copy of the information and advise the employer that this has been distributed to the DWG.
If you have any questions or need help with any OHS related issue, Ask Renata. You are guaranteed an answer, usually within a couple of working days.
Have you voted in our OHS Reps @ Work website Poll
How are you finding using the new consolidated OHS regulation? Vote now if you haven’t already: Go to the homepage.
ACTU: Nanotechnology Commercialisation Race Leaves Workers’ OHS at the Starting Block
Last week, the Australian Council of Trade Unions joined an international coalition of civil society, public interest, environmental and labour organizations in signing the Declaration on the Principles for the Oversight of Nanotechnologies and Nanomaterials. The declaration identifies eight fundamental principles for the effective oversight and assessment of nanotechnology, including mandatory government regulation.
Steve Mullins, ACTU Occupational Health and Safety Officer, said, ‘Governments and business are falling over themselves to make Australia a commercial hub for the potential 2.5 trillion dollar nanotechnology industry but lip service is being paid to the occupational health and safety risks.’
Studies indicate that ultrafine particles are more toxic than larger particles on a mass for mass basis and current research has identified the potential for a number of disturbing health impacts including lung and cardiovascular disease, brain damage and central nervous system disorders. There is no regulation in Australia to control the risks posed to workers or consumers or to regulate the manufacturers and importers of nano-products.
Read more Full ACTU Media Release Information on Nanotechnology
ACTU 2008 Campaign – Zero Cancer
The ACTU and its affiliates, including the VTHC, has endorsed the International Zero Occupational Cancer Campaign as its focus for 2008.
Read more: Cancer: What causes it? TUC Occupational Cancer/Zero Cancer pages
Asbestos News
Alimta campaign
Have you taken action in the Alimta campaign yet? Alimta is the only treatment drug known to be effective for mesothelioma, yet the Federal Government is refusing to list it on the PBS. The VTHC’s Asbestos Committee is supporting the campaign launched by ADSVIC to encourage the government to change its position, and urges you to participate in the campaign.
More information
ACT: New laws for asbestos management in non-residential premises
New laws were introduced in the ACT on 7 August, putting in place a new regime for managing asbestos in commercial, community/recreational and industrial buildings built before 31 December 2003.
The Dangerous Substances (General) Regulation 2004 now provide an asbestos-specific management and control regime for non-residential premises consistent with the recommendations of the ACT’s 2005 asbestos taskforce report, and create a more effective system in directing resources towards best practice asbestos management procedures.
The ACT Government Asbestos website has been updated to reflect the new changes. Persons in control of non-residential buildings can download a five-step guide to help them understand their new obligations and how to comply.
Asbestos use growing in Asia
Despite the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), and the International Social Security Association (ISSA) all calling for a global ban on asbestos use, its consumption is rising dramatically in India, China, Thailand, and other countries. The International Program on Chemical Safety has condemned the use of asbestos in construction materials as especially dangerous because of the large number of workers in construction and the extreme difficulty of protecting them. The continuing use of these materials is a danger to workers manufacturing and using the products and communities exposed to wastes and air pollution from manufacturing and construction sites.
The World Bank Group (WBG) finances huge infrastructure projects all over the world including India but has no formal restrictions on the use of asbestos-cement (A-C) sheets and pipes in these projects. Over 90 percent of all asbestos used today is in A-C sheets and pipes, and this production is concentrated in poor countries.
The above is taken from a submission to the Jury of Independent People's Tribunal on the World Bank Group on 24th September, 2007 at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi
Read more: Submission on Asbestos before Tribunal on World Bank Group
Construction workers more likely to suffer serious injuries
New ASCC research has found that the construction industry contributes the highest number of work-related injury hospitalisations, with wounds to the wrist and hand the most frequent type of injuries.
Work-Related Injury Hospitalisations 2002-03 and 2003-04 [pdf] shows nearly one-third (31.6%) of hospitalised work-related injury cases were because of injury to the wrist or hand. Over 2,300 cases involved traumatic amputation at the level of the wrist or hand. Although wrist and hand injury is unlikely to be fatal, the report notes that it may affect future ability to return to employment. Over 10 per cent of work-related hospitalisations (for all injuries) were for people who worked in the construction industry. This was followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing (9.8 per cent) and manufacturing (8.1 per cent).
CFMEU National Assistant Secretary, Martin Kingham welcomed the research but warned that death and injuries of construction workers are likely to have increased since 2004 following the creation of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC). The ABCC has draconian powers, which prevent workers taking action on unsafe building sites. 'The responsibility for any increase in death and injuries of construction workers sits squarely on the shoulders of the Howard Government. Its punishing construction laws and the ABCC - which took effect in 2005 - bar unions from taking an active role in policing safety on the job,' said Kingham.
Union records for the year to June 30, 2007 show 33 reported deaths in the industry, an increase from 27 people in 2005/06 and 19 people in 2004/05. The ABCC has, of course, ‘emphatically denied’
CFMEU media release
Killings of trade unionists up by 25%
144 trade unionists, an increase from 115 the previous year, were murdered for defending workers' rights in 2006, while more than 800 suffered beatings or torture, according to the Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights Violations, published by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). The report details nearly 5,000 arrests and more than 8,000 dismissals of workers due to their trade union activities. 484 new cases of trade unionists held in detention by governments are also documented in the report.
The increase in anti-union violence is due in part to the brutal treatment of trade unionists in the Philippines, now the second most dangerous place in the world, after Colombia. A total of 33 murders and 130 instances of trade union and human rights violations were reported in the Philippines last year. Reported anti-trade union repression represents the tip of the iceberg as the vast majority of suffering goes unreported for fear of reprisals, say the ITUC report. Colombia remains the most perilous place in the world to be in a trade union, with 78 killings reported in 2006. ITUC general secretary Guy Ryder said: 'Workers seeking to better their lives through trade union activities are facing rising levels of repression and intimidation in an increasing number of countries. Most shocking of all is the increase of some 25 per cent in the number killed compared to the previous year.'
Annual Survey of violation of trade union rights
UK and other international union news
Obstructed safety rep gets payout
A union safety rep on London's Tube system who was prevented from fulfilling his health and safety role by London Underground has won thousands of pounds in compensation at an employment tribunal. London Underground was found to have 'wilfully and deliberately' flouted health and safety law by refusing to allow Paul McCarthy, to inspect four tube lines. The tribunal said it could see 'little if any attempt' by London Underground to comply with health and safety law when it prevented Mr McCarthy from inspecting the lines. The tribunal, which awarded Mr McCarthy £11,500 (over A$26,000) plus costs, said it was surprising that senior management had not attended the employment tribunal to explain why they had decided not to comply with the law. It also found that London Underground's defence of the claim had been 'misconceived and unreasonable'. Mr McCarthy's union ASLEF said it would continue to defend all their members' health, safety and welfare industrially and, if necessary legally, regardless of where they work or what their operational grade. The union said it would also be asking the Health and Safety Executive to consider prosecutions for the people responsible for these breaches and asking LU what disciplinary action they are taking against them for compromising their employees' safety.
ASLEF news release. Thompsons Solicitors news release. Source: Risks 323
Canadian wood workers in British Columbia, members of the United Steelworkers (USW) have been on strike since 21 July in a dispute centring on work hours, safety and contracting out.
Over 65 forestry workers have been killed on the job since January 2005. Hundreds more have been seriously injured. The union and its global union federation (BWI) are asking for our help to put an end to these unnecessary and tragic deaths.
Please take a minute to learn more and sign up to the online campaign
International union Solidarity Centre honours journalists putting lives on line
In 2002, Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter and member of The Newspaper Guild-CWA (TNG-CWA), was brutally executed by Pakistani extremists on a videotape that was shown around the world on the Internet. A year ago, Russian investigate reporter Anna Politkovskaya was gunned down in her apartment building. And just this week, a New York Times journalist was released after serving a three-year jail term in China.
These are just three of the hundreds of journalists killed or imprisoned while trying to bring the truth to the world. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) reports at least 155 journalists and media workers were killed around the world in 2006, the worst year on record. Click here to read the full report.
The AFL-CIO and the Solidarity Center this week recognized the unfailing courage and selflessness of these journalists by presenting the 2006 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award to the IFJ on behalf of media workers around the world.
Read more: Media Blog
Research
Customer misbehaviour growing – workers sufferingAustralian researchers now confirm what unions have been saying for ages: customers are increasingly abusing workers with behaviour such as yelling, threatening and even spitting.
Queensland University of Technology researcher, Dominique Keeffe, is currently studying why consumers misbehave and how, has been interviewing workers in the health care and financial service industries. While verbal abuse is the most common, violence is increasing too. Service industry workers had reported having keys thrown at them, being spat on and even getting death threats.
Dominique Keeffe is inviting workers in the health care or financial services industries who want to participate in the study to email her at: d.keeffe@qut.edu.au
Effects of mobile phone use still unclear
A recent study from Britain on the effects of mobile phone use has concluded that there is no cancer use from short-term exposure, but that the effects of long-term use are not yet clear. The UK’s six-year Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) Programme carried out 23 separate studies into the health impact of mobile phones, masts and base stations.
The studies found no evidence that the ‘unpleasant symptoms’ experienced by sufferers, such as headaches, dizziness and tingling, are the result of exposure to signals from mobile phones or base stations.
While there was no association between brain cancer and mobile phone use of less than 10 years, cancer symptoms are rarely detectable until 10 to 15 years after the cancer-producing event, so it is too early to say for certain whether mobile phones could lead to cancer or other diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Additional studies also confirmed that the use of a mobile phone while driving, whether hand-held or hands-free, causes impairment to performance comparable to that from other in-car distractions.
Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme – 2007 Report [pdf] More information on the latest research in mobile phones: Microwave News. More information on Radiation
Pesticides cause asthma in farmers
Exposure to several commonly used pesticides dramatically increases the risk of asthma in farmers, new research suggests. This finding stems from a study of nearly 20,000 farmers, which was presented at the European Respiratory Society annual congress in Stockholm. Pesticide exposure is a 'potential risk factor for asthma and respiratory symptoms among farmers,' said lead author Dr Jane A Hoppin, from the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. 'A history of a high pesticide-exposure event was associated with a doubling of asthma risk,' she said. 'Because grains and animals are more common exposures in agricultural settings, pesticides may be overlooked.' Of the 19,704 farmers included in the study, 127 had self-reported (doctor diagnosed) allergic asthma and 314 had non-allergic asthma. The main finding was that a history of high pesticide exposure was associated with a doubling of asthma risk. The link remained statistically significant after adjusting for a variety of potentially confounding factors including age, smoking and body weight. 'This is the first study with sufficient power to evaluate individual pesticides and adult asthma among individuals who routinely apply pesticides,' Hoppin noted. Moreover, this is the only study to date to do this for allergic and non-allergic asthma separately, the researcher said. 'Better education and training of farmers and pesticide handlers may help to reduce asthma risk,' she said.
Pesticides associated With atopic and non-atopic asthma among farmers in the Agricultural Health Study [abstract]; ERS congress presentation, 16 September 2007 Source: Risks 324
WorkSafe News
Activities – WorkSafeWorkSafe records strong results
WorkSafe Victoria’s latest operational results, released earlier this week, have helped Victoria maintain its status as the safest place to work in Australia. Ms Elana Rubin, Chair of the WorkCover Board, announced that Victoria had achieved the lowest ever injury rate and had improved claims management, while maintaining a very strong financial performance. She said, ‘Victoria is now safer than ever for workers and employers. We have a combined package of safe workplaces, low premiums and generous benefits for injured workers that puts us in the best overall position of any Australian scheme.’
VWA Media Release
WorkSafe warning on compressed air
Using air compressors to inflate small tyres could lead to serious injuries, WorkSafe has warned, after a 27-year-old Warrnambool man lost an eye and suffered a head injury when a new wheel-barrow wheel exploded as he inflated it. The wheel-barrow wheel was made up of two rim halves which were bolted together. It is thought one of the rim-halves may have hit the man in the head as the tube exploded. In 1997 a 73-year-old man died when a wheel-barrow tyre exploded and hit him in the chest as he inflated it at a Melbourne service station.
VWA Media Release
Internal review statistics - update
The Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, and the Dangerous Goods and Equipment (Public Safety) Acts (Amendment) Act 2005, provide for review of decisions made by WorkSafe inspectors (or non-decisions). Upon application by an ‘eligible person’, WorkSafe’s internal review unit conducts a review. The latest statistics on internal review are now available online More information on reviewable decisions
National Standard and Code of Practice for Manual tasks
The Australian Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC) declared the National Standard and Code of Practice for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders from Performing Manual Tasks at Work (2007) on 22 August 2007. ASCC chair, Bill Scales, last week encouraged the states and territories to incorporate the national standard and code as soon as possible into their legislation.
ASCC Media Release [pdf] The standard, code and risk assessment checklists can be downloaded from the ASCC website.
NICNAS assessment report on Lead Compounds in Industrial Surface Coatings and Inks
NICNAS has released the final Priority Existing Chemical Report on Lead Compounds in Industrial Surface Coatings and Inks. It has also produced an Information Sheet. Both of these can be downloaded on the NICNAS website.Useful New Resources
WorkSafe WA has launched a state-wide Come home safe television and radio campaign, based on the Victorian Homecomings campaign. Unlike Worksafe Victoria, however, they are using the campaign to provide advice about actions that can be taken including electing HSRs.
To access the information, including posters, go to the WorkSafe WA website
From Queensland: New guide to safety consultation in construction: The new guide Establishing and maintaining effective safety consultation in construction [pdf] is designed to foster better consultation on safety issues between employers and workers in the construction sector, by providing practical advice on how employers could meet their obligations under the WHS Act to consult employees on safety matters. The guide explained employers' duty to consult and provided practical tips on effective consultation.
Worksafe Prosecutions
Employer fined $35,000 after death of visitorAn employer, Stephen Wallace Rodger, trading as CTM Engineering, was extending semi trailer chassis and raising the roof height of taut liners. The employer constructed a mobile platform, used to replace scissor lifts when working at height. The platform’s legs developed a bend and required repairing. An employee was instructed to straighten the leg by heating it with an oxyacetylene torch and hitting it. The platform was not supported by any external means while it was being repaired. It collapsed striking a visitor at the site, who was fatally injured. The deceased was employed on the premises next door and was visiting CTM Engineering’s premises in a social capacity at the time.
Judge of the County Court found the employer guilty of failing to provide & maintain so far as was practicable for employees a safe working environment (plant & systems of work) and failing to ensure that their undertaking did not expose people (other than employees) to health & safety risks. The company was fined $35,000
Source: WorkSafe
Another employer fined after apprentice seriously injured
In August of 2006, a 17 year old first year apprentice carpenter, an employee of Pincott Trinder Builders Pty Ltd was injured while carrying out home improvement work in a domestic premises in Bairnsdale. He sustained serious injuries to two fingers and a thumb whilst operating a drop saw at the premises. The Magistrates Court found that while injured employee had received inadequate instruction as to the manner in which to support a piece of timber during the cutting process, he had not received inadequate training in hazard identification and the control of risks prior to commencing the cut.
Source: WorkSafe
International News
India: 12 killed in scaffolding collapseAt least 12 persons were feared killed and scores injured as the scaffolding of a Hyderabad fly-over under construction collapsed on holiday traffic as heavy rain lashed the area. Going by the way the scaffolding collapsed, authorities believe that the ground could have caved in due to heavy rain, leading to the collapse. The fly-over construction company Gammon India is making the segments in Miyapur on the city outskirts. The prefabricated segments are lifted with a crane and joined together. About 10 to 12 segments form the fly-over between two piers. Media reports: The Hindu and NDTVonline
Events
John Cummins Memorial Night: Friday October 5The CFMEU invite you to Collingwood Town Hall (7pm to midnight) to celebrate the life and achievements of John Cummins (“Cummo”) and to help kickstart the fund named in his honour. All proceeds to go to the Melbourne Community John Cummins Memorial Fund to support brain tumour patients and to support a young student or trade union member in seeking further eduction.
$20 (waged), $10 (unwaged) tickets at the door or from the CFMEU, 500 Swanston St, Carlton (9341 3444). Food, drink at bar prices and live bands.
VTHC Events
Women’s Rights Are Workers’ Rights. October 3
A forum presented by the Young Unionists’ Network and the Campaign for Women’s Reproductive Rights. Come and hear speakers followed by a panel discussion on our demands for free safe abortion, employer-funded paid maternity leave, free 24 hour child care and access to reproductive technologies for all.
6.30pm Trades Hall Bar, Corner Victoria and Lygon Sts, Carlton Sth. Finger food provided.
For further information contact: Danielle Archer, Young Unionists’ Network 9662 3511 or 0404051223 or email her on darcher@vthc.org.au
Chilean Music Concert: Saturday 6 October 2007, 7pm
Trades Hall - Corner of Lygon and Victoria Streets Carlton
The Latin American Solidarity Network Melbourne is presenting in concert Ismael "Bandolero" Duran (Latin American New Song Movement, singer, songwriter) and Gonzalo "Payo" Gondona (singer, songwriter, composer of the Chilean New Song Movement).
$20 waged, $15 unwaged, $30 Solidarity. Bookings: (03) 9481 2273 - 0402 754 818 (more information)
Injured at Work? What are your rights?: Geelong, Tuesday October 9
Hear about workers’ compensation, injured workers returning to work and how WorkChoices impacts on injured workers. Speakers will be from the Victorian Government, the Victorian WorkCover Authority, Unions and the labour law firms.
Tuesday, 9 October 2007, 6 – 8pm, Geelong Trades & Labour Council (127 Myers Street, Geelong). Free entry. Finger food, coffee and tea will be provided.|For further information please contact Ellen Kleimaker on 0408 339 720 or Bronwyn Halfpenny on 0431 749972 or email: ekleimaker@vthc.org.au
Training at Trades Hall
Make sure that you’ve enrolled for your training. If you haven’t done your annual refresher course, check out what we have on offer. It’s important for managers and supervisors, and committee members to also get training. Go to the training section of the website to check the courses scheduled at the VTHC OHS Training Unit.
Contact Judith Rodda on 03 9663 5460 for more information either scheduled courses or what we can do for your workplace, and to enrol.