SafetyNet JOURNAL
SafetyNet Journal 137
Issue 137 - SafetyNet Journal 137
Welcome to SafetyNet Journal 137, your source for all the latest news in OHS from Australia and around the world.Union News
Research
WorkSafe News
Worksafe Prosecutions
International News
Events
Union News
Activities and News for Reps
SafetyNet Survey – have you had your say?
Have you responded to our SafetyNet Survey yet? If not please take a couple of minutes to complete it online. Your feedback will help us here at SafetyNet ensure that we’re giving you the information you need to help make your workplaces safer. We’ll be publishing some of the responses soon.
SafetyNet Survey
More workplace fatalities
There have been further workplace fatalities since the last edition of SafetyNet. A 46-year-old truck driver died from head injuries after falling from the trailer of his vehicle while adjusting a load and a 70-year-old farmer was crushed by his own 4 wheel drive in Nhill in Victoria’s west. WorkSafe is investigating both incidents. WorkSafe Victoria’s Executive Director, John Merritt said the deaths highlight the dangers of working alone and at heights.
There have been four workplace fatalities in April and eight deaths since the start of the year.
OHS Reps –
Falls
Sources:
The Age
WorkSafe
Workers Memorial Day 2008
International Workers Memorial Day, held annually on 28 April, is the day the union movement internationally comes together to mourn the dead and fight for the living. This year the focus will be the Zero Occupational Cancer Campaign which will be launched on the day.
It is estimated that between 5000 and 8000 Australians die each year from work-related causes and millions globally lose their lives from occupational causes.
A commemoration ceremony, organised by the VTHC jointly with the ACTU and IDSA, will be held to commemorate those who’ve lost theirs lives at work. Speakers will include Sharan Burrows, ACTU President; Brian Boyd, VTHC Secretary; Peter Gordon, Slater & Gordon and Deanne May from IDSA.
The ceremony will be held at the The Memorial Rock on the lawn outside Trades Hall (cnr Lygon St and Victoria Pde) from 10:20am and concluding with a one minute silence and wreath laying at 11:00am.
Morning Tea will be provided afterwards by IDSA (Industrial Deaths Support and Advocacy). For more information contact Margot Hoyte 9662 3511, mhoyte@vthc.org.au.
IWMD on OHS Reps
Zero Occupational Cancer Campaign
International Workers Memorial Day site
National OHS Review Panel meets for first time
The harmonisation of Australia’s OHS laws has commenced with the first meeting of the National Review Panel tasked with recommending the way forward on this important initiative. The members of the panel, Robin Stewart-Crompton, Barry Sherriff and Stephanie Mayman met in Melbourne on 15 April and committed themselves to “ensuring a robust, wide-ranging and transparent consultation process”.
A discussion paper will be developed after the initial consultation and issued at the end of May. The formal public consultation process inviting written submissions will run from June to July 2008.
National OHS Review media release
Terms of Reference
WorkSafe Awards: Nominations to close soon
Nominate now for the WorkSafe awards while you still have the chance. The awards categories are: Health & Safety Committee of the Year, Health & Safety Representative of the Year, Best Design for Workplace Safety, Best Health & Safety Initiative for Small Business, Best Solution for Preventing Musculoskeletal Disorders, Best Solution to a Health & Safety Risk, and Best Strategy for Health & Safety Management.
The award winners will be announced during WorkSafe Week in October. Take the opportunity to celebrate achievement in OHS in your workplace.
You can nominate online or download the forms and send them in.
Ask Renata
I have a live-in job. My shift finishes at 10.30pm, and recommences at 7.00am. Given the time to unwind after work and time to get up and get ready, there are fewer than 8 hrs for sleep. Is there anything on minimum breaks between shifts under OHS legislation?
No, there is nothing specific on breaks between shifts (or any breaks) in OHS legislation. This matter was previously a clause in the relevant award, and usually the break was at least 10 hours. However, under the previous (Howard) government's changes to the award system, most conditions, including breaks and time between shifts, were removed. The stripped back awards contained only six core matters. This meant that most things had to be covered by either an Enterprise Agreement or, for many non-unionised workers, individual work contracts (the 'Australian Workplace Agreements'). While the current government is re-writing the laws, the old laws are still in place.
Nevertheless, the OHS Act puts a duty on the employer to ensure that systems of work are healthy and safe. Employers must also protect their workers against fatigue.
Read more: Information on
Breaks
and
Fatigue and shiftwork
Do you have an OHS question?
Ask Renata
Prominent women join forces on paid maternity leave
ACTU President Sharan Burrow has been joined by HREOC Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick and Australian Industry Group Chief Executive Heather Ridout in calling for a national, taxpayer-funded paid maternity leave scheme for all Australian women.
In an opinion piece in Fairfax newspapers and a joint media release from their respective organisations the three called on the government and employers to endorse the proposal and finally move Australia into line with other developed countries with some form of taxpayer-funded maternity leave. The organisations will all make submissions to that effect to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into the issue.
Sharan Burrow said Australia has one of the lowest workforce participation rates for women in the OECD and that part of the problem was the lack of paid maternity leave.
The Age online
ACCI submits recommendations on draft NES
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has submitted a raft of recommendations on the Federal Government's draft national employment standards.
ACCI’s proposals include the removal of references to maximum working hours and replacement with "reasonable additional hours of work".
ACCI also wants the NES to state expressly that an employer will not be in breach where an employee works additional hours of his/her own volition. Other recommendations potentially affecting OHS include flexible working arrangements and evidence required for absences such as carer’s and sickness leave and that employees should be required to take six weeks leave after giving birth.
The ACTU and AiG will both lodge submissions in coming weeks.
Source: WorkplaceExpress
UK: Unions welcome Corporate Homicide and Corporate Manslaughter laws
Britain’s TUC has cautiously welcomed the introduction of new laws covering corporate killing which came into effect on 6 April. The union body expressed disappointment that directors of dangerous company would not face the dock but noted the laws were a step in the right direction.
The UK Ministry of Justice says that under the laws companies, organisations and, for the first time, government bodies face a criminal offence and larger fines if they are found to have caused death due to their gross corporate health and safety failures.
The laws cover corporate liability and do not apply to individual directors, managers or other individuals.
TUC media release
Ministry of Justice media release
Risks 531
Asbestos News
Canadian Auto Workers campaign recognised with award
The Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW) has received the Tribute of Unity Award from the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organisation for the union’s global work to unite, educate, and empower asbestos victims and public health workers.
Canada is one of the world’s largest exporters of asbestos and the focus of local unions’ efforts to curb the export and use of the deadly substance. According to CAW many of its members died as a result of working with asbestos while producing products such as insulation and automotive brakes.
CAW was recognised for its efforts which led to bans on the use of asbestos in agreements for many of its members. The union is also one of the founding members of Ban Asbestos Canada.
Read more
Tell Canada to Stop Exporting Asbestos
IBA Secretariat warns Rotterdam Convention is fighting for life
The International Ban Asbestos Secretariat has warned the Rotterdam Convention on hazardous chemicals is being threatened by the global trade in chrysotile asbestos.
As its 10th anniversary approaches, the Rotterdam Convention is facing an uncertain future. The multilateral agreement, which took years of negotiations to bring into existence, is being at risk from efforts by asbestos producers to cast doubt on the dangers posed by the deadly substance. Canadian and Indian authorities have commissioned bogus research to “prove” there are few risks to workers from asbestos.
Read more at the
IBA Secretariat
Olympics works raise asbestos questions
The International Ban Asbestos Secretariat has learned that there is an official ban on asbestos being used in Olympics building works in the lead up to this year’s games. The Secretariat has produced compelling statistics asking the question as to why asbestos is “safe” to use throughout China given the decision to not use it in Olympics buildings.
China is the world’s largest user of asbestos using over 500,000 tons of the deadly substance annually, accounting for around 23% of total global use.
Read more
Other Union News
Plumbers’ Hazard Alert on electrically operated angle grinders
The Plumbers Union has issued a safety alert on the switching mechanism of electrically operated grinders. The alert relates specifically to grinders with switches that are designed to stay in the ON position unless the operator physically releases the locking mechanism that keeps the device on.
It comes after the union was made aware of a number of incidents in which were injured.
Read the full alert on the
PTEU website
The Construction Chart Book available online
Published by the union-supported CPWR - the Center for Construction Research and Training in the US - this book provides information on all facets of the US construction industry, including health and safety issues, such as expanded reporting of blood lead levels in construction workers, chronic illnesses and health risks and respiratory diseases.
The publication is a useful resource for construction unions anywhere, giving a well-structured and detailed overview of major issues facing site workers wherever you find them.
The Construction Chart Book: The US construction industry and its workers
, 4th edition, 2008.
Health and safety
chapter.
CPWR
website.
Toxic air fumes in cabins
The ITF is supporting calls from Global Cabin Air Quality Executive (GCAQE) for an inquiry into toxic air fumes leaking into aircraft cabins which may be putting airline staff and passengers at risk. The UK government says one in 2000 flights is affected; the International Transport Workers Federation says it happens daily.
Both airline staff and passengers have reported health impacts including nausea, dizziness and lethargy from the fumes which are believed to come from the aircraft’s engines which are used to circulate air through the cabin when in flight.
The GCAQE is comprised of around 20 organisations worldwide and includes a number of ITF affiliates. They say authorities have failed to act on the issue despite mounting evidence of the adverse impacts of re-circulated air.
ITF news release
Doctors want more flexibility
A survey by the Australian Medical Association reports that 81% of doctors want access to flexible working arrangements. Those surveyed also cited reducing workplace stress as a significant reason for this.
The
Work-life Flexibility Survey complements other research by the AMA of its members. Doctors often work long hours in high stress situations. The association cites barriers such as institutional factors and poor rostering practices as contributing to its members stress.
Source: OHN 776
Research
Job-related cancers toll revealed
Two New Zealand studies have confirmed the numbers of workplace cancers has been massively under-estimated. Investigators from Massey University's Centre for Public Health Research in New Zealand found that while work-related cancers affect between 700 and 1,000 people a year in New Zealand and kill 400, fewer than 40 cases each year are notified to the Labour Department.
The researchers say around 20 per cent of the workforce is or has been in a job that exposes them to increased risk of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. They have called on GPs and cancer specialists to be better informed about their patients' occupations current and past in the hope of improving diagnosis and treatment
Workplace exposure to carcinogens in New Zealand
; Andrea ‘t Mannetje, Neil Pearce, Dave McLean, Jeroen Douwes, Evan Dryson, Chris Walls, Lis Ellison-Loschmann, Sunia Foliaki, Tania Slater; Massey University Centre for Public Health Research.
Risks 350
Australian neurosurgeon links mobile use to brain cancers
A top Australian neurosurgeon has warned mobile phones could pose a major public threat in the future, linking their use to malignant brain tumours. Dr Vini Khurana conducted a 15 month critical review which found that heavy mobile use doubles the risk of developing cancer in the brain.
He warns the public health ramifications could be far broader than those posed by smoking and asbestos. He has called for more research into the long-term impacts, particularly on young people.
Mobile Phone-Brain Tumour Public Health Advisory
Study: BioInitiative Report: A Rationale for a Biologically-based Public Exposure Standard for Electromagnetic Fields (ELF and RF)
, Vini G. Khurana
Mobile phone radiation changes cells in living people
New research from Finland strengthens recent findings that mobile phones have an impact on human cells growth. The study by the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) on effects of mobile phone radiation on human skin indicates living tissue responds to mobile phone radiation.
The study is the first to investigate whether exposure of human skin to mobile phone radiation will cause changes in cells in living people. The researchers concluded that there were small changes in the proteins in the skin and that mobile phone radiation has a biological effect.
The STUK researchers are now planning a more extensive study involving 50-100 volunteers in early 2009.
Science Daily
Pesticide exposure increases Parkinson’s risk
More evidence linking pesticide exposure to Parkinson’s disease has emerged from a US study of Parkinson’s patients. The study found that sufferers of the disease were more than twice as likely to report heavy exposure to pesticides over their lifetime as family members without the disease.
The study also found a strong association between Parkinson’s disease and exposure to organochlorins and organophosphates. The research supports earlier studies linking occupational and recreational exposure to pesticides to the disease.
Dana B Hancock and others. Pesticide exposure and risk of Parkinson's disease: a family-based case-control study, BMC Neurology, volume 8:6, 2008, doi:10.1186/1471-2377-8-6,
abstract
.
WorkSafe News
Draft Compliance Codes available for comment
A reminder that the first set of the Draft Compliance Codes, which under the 2004 OHS Act replace the Codes of Practice from the 1985 Act, have been released for public comment.
These are:
Communicating Health & Safety Across Languages; Workplace Amenities and Work Environment; Lead; Confined Spaces; First Aid in the Workplace; Prevention of Falls in General ; Construction; Foundries; Management of Asbestos in Workplaces; Removal of Asbestos in Workplaces
The draft codes can be accessed from the VWA website or hard copies ordered.
The VTHC and many of our affiliates will be submitting public comment. Contact your union’s OHS officer for more information.
New ‘Licence to Perform High Risk Work’ – sign up now
WorkSafe has introduced a new licensing system for people performing high-risk work to align Victoria with national safety standards. They apply to people who operate forklifts, cranes and other high-risk equipment.
All certificates of competency expire between 31 January 2008 and 30 June 2012, depending on when they were first issued. Certificates issued before July 1978 and 30 June 1990 expire during 2008.
Information about the program, including a timetable showing specific expiry dates can be found on WorkSafe’s website, or call the advisory service on (03) 9641 1444 or 1800 136 089 (toll free).
Read more
WorkSafe visiting Bendigo and Boronia
WorkSafe inspectors will be visiting small and medium-sized businesses in Bendigo and Boronia as part of its Safer Cities and Safer Suburbs campaigns. Inspectors will be in Bendigo between 5 May and 9 May and will be visiting the Boronia area between 28 April and 2 May.
They will be specifically targeting unmaintained and unguarded machines, dangerous electrical leads, inadequately trained workers, working at height and poor fire protection during the campaign. WorkSafe warns they will be issuing Improvement Notices and Prohibition Notices during the week-long visits.
WorkSafe media release
Worksafe Prosecutions
Judge imposes largest ever single safety fine
A County Court judge has imposed Victoria’s biggest ever fine on a single workplace safety charge, but the fine is unlikely to be paid because the business has ceased trading.
On 19 April County Court Judge, Joe Gullaci, convicted and fined DMP Poultech Pty Ltd $400,000 after it pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to take care of the safety of people other than employees. Judge Gullaci also said Parliament should review laws so company directors are made more accountable.
The charges were brought after a fifty-four year old truck driver died in December 2005 when a 550kg steel module fell from his truck at a poultry farm in Moorooduc. The man had been loading chickens onto a truck when he was struck by a crate dislodged by a fork-lift operated by a 16-year-old, unlicensed driver.
Despite the company having gone out of business and the negligible chance of the fine being paid, WorkSafe Director John Merritt said the court result sent a strong message to anyone with responsibilities under Victoria’s health and safety laws.
WorkSafe website
Civil contractor convicted and fined for power cut
A major civil contracting company was convicted and fined $25,000 and ordered to pay court costs of $4716.17 for failing to properly train and supervise employees following an incident in central Melbourne in 2005.
Fulton Hogan Pty Ltd (formerly FRH Group Pty Ltd) pleaded guilty to two workplace health and safety charges laid after a sub-contractor’s excavator struck an underground power line. Neither man was hurt.
WorkSafe media release
Warning for motor workshops after man loses leg
McRae Motors, a Wodonga company, pleaded guilty and was convicted and fined $50,000 after a car being put on a vehicle hoist crashed off the end hitting a worker who had his leg amputated following the incident in November 2005.
According to WorkSafe the incident highlights the need to separate people and vehicles within workplaces. WorkSafe has published a guide to Automotive Workshop Safety available for download on their website.
Automotive Workshop Safety
International News
ILO launches report on HIV and working people
The International Labour Organisation has launched a report, Saving lives, protecting jobs: new horizons in the fight against HIV/AIDS at work, highlighting strategic responses to HIV/AIDS in enterprises worldwide. The majority of the 33.2 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS are working and have skills and experience their families, workplace and countries can ill afford to lose. The ILO is the UN’s lead agency in HIV/AIDS workplace interventions.
Meat workers exposed to brain matter
New Scientist reports that workers at two U.S pork process plants have developed a mysterious nervous illness following the use of compressed air to blast brain tissue from severed pigs heads. The process is used to produce a pink food paste but also generates an aerosol mist that can be inhaled buy workers.
US health authorities say that since 2006 12 workers at a Minnesota slaughterhouse have developed symptoms ranging from weakness, tingling and numbness to acute paralysis. Other workers have developed similar symptoms at a slaughterhouse in Indiana.
As a result of the investigation, the blasting process has been stopped at the three US plants that use this process. Ingestion of some brain materials has been linked to degenerative brain diseases such as CJD or mad cow disease and kuru in humans.
Source: New Scientist Magazine
Events
Safety in action
Deputy PM Julia Gillard headlines the Safety In Action conference. This year's line-up includes a range of industry and safety figures and promises to be a worthwhile and important safety event.
April 29-May 1 Safety Institute of Australia, Melbourne, Ph (03) 9654 7773 or email safety@aec.net.au. Details: www.safetyinaction.net.au.
WorkSafe page on SIA conference
ACTU Training: Certificate IV in Occupational Health and Safety - Blended Course
This course is for union trainers who deliver OHS training, union officials and organisers involved in OHS issues and safety reps who wish to gain a formal qualification and increase their knowledge and involvement in OHS application and policy-making in Australian workplaces.
Melbourne: 29 April - 1 May, 11 - 12 June and 17 July 2008
Training at VTHC
The OHS Training Unit has a range of courses coming up in 2008. Check out the training page of the website for all the latest news and sign up for courses.
Contact Judith Rodda on 03 9663 5460 for more information on scheduled courses or what we can do for your workplace, and to enrol.
Initial 5-Day Metropolitan (for Elected OHS Reps under the Victorian OHS Act - this course is approved by the VWA under Section 67)
May 5 – 9 Initial Carlton
June 2 – 6 Initial Carlton
June 11, 12, 13, 26, 27 Health Services Carlton
June 16 – 20 Initial Frankston
July 14 – 18 Initial Carlton
July 21 – 25 DEECD Carlton
Course hours: 9am - 5pm. Course fee $620.00Initial 5-Day Country
May 19 – 23 Geelong
May 19 – 23 Wodonga
May 26 – 30 Bendigo
May 26 – 30 Ballarat
Course hours: 9am - 5pm. Course fee $650.00Comcare 5-Day Ohs Reps Course (for Elected OHS Reps under the Comcare Act)
June 16 – 20 Carlton
Course hours: 9am - 5pm. Course fee $650.002-Day Metropolitan
This 2-day course is an overview designed for managers, supervisors and committee members. It is NOT a replacement for the VWA approved 5-day training for elected reps.
May 15, 16 Carlton
July 24, 25 Carlton
Course hours: 9.30am - 4.30pm. Course fee $350.001-Day Refresher
The Refresher course is approved by the VWA under Section 67 of the Victorian OHS Act 2004 for elected reps and deputies.
May 13 Legislative Update Morwell
June 5 Legislative Update Carlton
Course hours: 9am - 4.30pm. Course fee $180.00
Go to the 2008 Training program page to download an application form.