Issue 155 - SafetyNet Journal 155
Welcome to SafetyNet Journal, your source for the latest in local and international OHS news and campaigns. In this edition: An important notice about receiving SafetyNet; VIC OHS Reps win discrimination protection; Who to approach for advice on the holidays; Sign the petition on Maternity Leave; and Union and company in groundbreaking asbestos accord.
Important Notice: If you receive SafetyNet at work please ensure that we are added to your email filter’s “safe” or “white” list for spam protection. You may need to speak to your network administrator to do this. The journal is sent from the email address ohsinfo@vthc.org.au. Please ensure this address is added to your “safe senders” list. Recently we have seen an increasing number of rejections for fairly innocuous and legitimate terms. We want to bring you the best quality information and research about OHS but we need your help to do this.
Union News
Research
WorkSafe News
Worksafe Prosecutions
International News
Events
Union News
Activities and news for reps
Farewell to 2008
Everyone here at the VTHC OHS Unit and
SafetyNet wishes you all a safe and happy holiday season and a good start to 2009. We hope you get to relax at some stage over what can be a hectic period. Remember to stay safe.
SafetyNet will return in January with all the latest in OHS news.
SafetyNet will be back in January 2009 with all the news from the world of OHS.
Victoria commits to discrimination protection for OHS Reps
Victorian workers and their health and safety reps will be afforded new protections from discrimination under legislation before the State Parliament. The
Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (Employee Protection) Bill 2008 also proposes to establish an individual right of action for employees for instances of alleged OHS discrimination. This means that a worker who raises an OHS issue and faces discrimination as a result will be able to sue their employer for damages. Identified activities in the Act to which protection from discrimination is provided will be expanded to include where employees assist or raise safety issues with authorised representatives of unions. This will allow unions and workers to effectively act on OHS issues without the threat of discrimination and retaliation from employers. It is expected that debate on the Bill will continue in the next parliamentary sitting scheduled in February. The moves come as the government follows through on commitments made in response to requests from unions, both at the ALP State conference and by WorkCover Minister, Tim Holding, at this year’s OHS Reps Conference.
Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (Employee Protection) Bill 2008 [
pdf
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Ask Renata –
It seems like everyone is closing down over the holiday period. Where do I go if I need assistance or information on OHS?
I’ll be back online on January 12 – and will respond to any queries that have come in over the period then. If your enquiry is urgent, and you can’t find the information on the website, then try your own union first. Many unions will only close for the few public holidays and have someone available to take calls. Alternatively, contact the WorkSafe Advisory Service on 03 9641 1444 or 1800 136 089.
And for those of you who are working over the hottest period of the year, check out our information on Heat:
Do you have an OHS-related query? If so, Ask Renata.
Paid Maternity Leave petition online
The ACTU is coordinating an online petition calling on the Federal Government to include Paid Maternity Leave in the 2009 Budget. It is a position widely supported in the Australia community and one that has been a long-time coming. The email petition is automatically sent to all members of the expenditure review committee which includes, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Wayne Swan, Jenny Macklin and Simon Crean. Please sign up to let them know where you stand and pass it on to others as an easy way to support this important issue. The email petition will run until February 2009.
ACTU
Paid Maternity Leave - Email Petition
Asbestos News
AWU and Cement Australia in groundbreaking asbestos project
In a first of its kind in Australia, the Australian Workers' Union and Cement Australia have embarked on a groundbreaking research project into the health of current and former employees at a cement plant that once produced asbestos cement products. Some of Australia's top researchers will look at health screening, the history of the plant and research into the wellbeing of the workforce over time. Tasmania's Railton cement plant housed a factory that produced asbestos cement products from 1947 to 1986 at the then Goliath Cement Company. Since taking over the plant, Cement Australia has undertaken a significant site rehabilitation program, spending over $5 million to remove asbestos containing materials and improve awareness of where asbestos containing materials may have been located in the past. Former employees of the Railton plant will also be invited to participate in health screening.
Significantly, the company has agreed to a ‘Prioritised Removal Program' to completely remove all asbestos-containing building materials on the site. This is a far cry from the usual methods of asbestos concealment adopted by many companies. The company has also accepted a study that will examine how the asbestos came to be where it is now from a ‘cradle-to-grave’ perspective. The AWU hopes the project will become a model for a responsible approach to asbestos contamination cleanup, both in Tasmania and nationally.
AWU OHS expert, Dr Yossi Berger, said the study is an important step forward in asbestos management. "The results of this study will progressively trigger relevant and accurate action, which may be medically-based, environmentally-related, local or state-wide", he said.
AWU media release
Former James Hardie head denies asbestos knowledge
Former James Hardie chair Meredith Hellicar denied knowledge of controversial documents related to the company’s scandalous attempts to underfund its asbestos compensation fund. Appearing before the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday 17 December, she said she had not approved a media release from the company in February 2001 which said the compensation trust would be “fully funded”, even though company directors at the time knew this was not the case. In fact the trust was underfunded to the tune of over $1 billion.
Ten former directors of James Hardie are being sued by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission for their role in the spectacular attempt to move the company’s assets to Holland so as to avoid liabilities arising out of its manufacture of asbestos products in Australia. Hellicar told the court she was not aware of a number of media releases from the company which appeared to ensure there was enough money in the fund to cover claims by asbestos victims. The court case is continuing.
SMH report
ABC – PM
See also: item on Asbestos Exposure in today’s Research section below
Nanotechnology News
Nanotech sunscreens raise concerns
The ABC’s
7.30 Report this week featured a story on 'modern' sunscreens which contain nanoparticles. Various experts raised concerns relating to the lack of information: on whether the nanoparticles are absorbed by the skin and on the potential long-term effects. Companies are not currently required to reveal on the label whether their sunscreens contain nanoparticles. The recent NSW parliamentary enquiry recommended that it should be a requirement that any cosmetics containing nanomaterials should be labelled as such.
The 7.30 Report also revealed that a recent study has led Blue Scope steel banning operators and installers working with Colorbond roofs and materials from using nano sunscreens because it was rubbing off the hands of workers onto roofing material causing 15 years damage in 6 weeks.
Other Union News
A sad day: one dead, one badly hurt and two lucky to be alive
A spate of serious incidents including the death of a woman who was run over by a reversing truck near Werribee on Thursday 18 December are being investigated by WorkSafe. They’ve sparked a call by the VWA for workers and employers to keep their minds on the job in the lead up to Christmas. Yet the real issue here is the proper provision of safe work systems for workers during one of the busiest and most stressful times of the year in many industries. It seems that every year in the weeks leading up to the holiday period there are a spate of serious incidents. It takes more than vigilance to ensure workers lives are protected. Stronger laws and the will to regulate them are what Victorian workers need.
The Werribee incident is the second Victorian truck run-over fatality in a week. A teenager was crushed by a truck at a Ballarat gold mine last Thursday. The latest incident happened at a vegetable-growing property in O’Connors Road around 1.45p.m. The woman was aged in her sixties.
Earlier, four fingers and the top joint of a fifth were amputated from a man unloading steel from a truck at a construction site in Normanby Street, Warragul and a cherry-picker containing two men tipped over in Church Street, Richmond. The men in the cherry picker rode the machine to the ground; one was taken to the Alfred hospital with back and leg injuries. He’d been painting an eight storey building, but was about six metres up when the machine fell.
VWA media release
Ambos log reveals extent of service crisis
Long, potentially deadly, waits for ambulances and scheduled services not running are commonplace, an incident log compiled by the Victorian ambulance union released today reveals. Dangerously slow response times, paramedic overwork and inadequate ambulance coverage in Victoria feature in the log of 291 incidents between August and November this year. Actual figures are likely to be many times higher, as the log is only a sample of incidents. Some of the more serious cases are indicative:
- An unconscious 70-year-old who waited 57 minutes for an ambulance was just one of 20 critical “code one” patients who waited over 25 minutes for an ambulance;
- In another case, an 89-year-old woman with severe chest pains was taken to hospital by car after waiting 23 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. Over 100 incidents of patients waiting dangerously long periods for an ambulance and failures to provide adequate care are listed in the log.
The log details 175 cases of reduced ambulance services, with 96 scheduled shifts not running during that period. Ambulance Employees Association Secretary, Steve McGhie, said the log reveals the ongoing problems his members face.
“These figures show the ambulance service is failing the community. People’s lives are being put at risk by slow response times and cancelled ambulances. Paramedics are working massive hours to cover our over-stretched service, and when everyone else is with their friends and family at Christmas, this is their busiest time of the year,” he said.
Response Time!
Mobil safety failings led to massive leak
Failure to follow up on safety reports led to a massive petrol leak in a Mobil pipeline in Newport, a court has heard. Almost half-a-million litres of unleaded petrol leaked from the pipeline before a local resident alerted authorities to the problem in December 2006. The leak took 11 days to isolate and caused the evacuation of homes and a child care centre. It was estimated the pipeline had been leaking for two years. In 2003 Mobil Refining Australia was told the pipe was at the highest risk of corrosion and should be repaired and monitored urgently. They failed to do so at the time. The company estimates it will cost over $13 million for the cleanup.
The Age
Worker avoids injury in excavator crash
A construction worker in Geelong was lucky to escape injury when his excavator rolled down a hill on 9 December. The machinery rolled on an embankment and through a fence at the Montpellier service basin near Scenic Rd in Highton.
Geelong Advertiser
Research
US: 1.3 million construction workers exposed to asbestos fibres annually
New figure from the US indicate up to 1.3 million workers in the construction industry there are exposed to asbestos fibres annually. The estimate is based on data from the National Center for Health Statistics. The data also reveals an increase in asbestosis-related deaths among younger workers. Across the entire population, the average number of years of potential life lost before age 65 because of asbestosis was 239.6 from 2001 to 2005, up 64% from the average in 1968 to 1972. The results indicate that efforts to minimise industrial exposures to asbestos in the US have not seen a commensurate reduction in the prevalence of diseases associated with the deadly substance.In addition to the 1.3 million exposures each year the study, by J.M. Mazurek, M.D., and colleagues at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, found that 2,200 metric tons of asbestos were used in 2006 in domestic manufacturing, indicating that industrial exposures would still occur.
Mazurek J, et al., " Asbestosis-related years of potential life lost before age 65 years -- United States, 1968-2005 ," Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report 2008; 57:1321-25.
WorkSafe News
WorkSafe issues warning: Secure building sites for Christmas
Victorian building sites must be well secured before the annual Christmas / New Year shutdown, WorkSafe has warned. WorkSafe’s Construction and Utility Program Director, Chris Webb said although building sites could be an adventure playground for children, they could also be extremely dangerous.
“The risk of falls from height, exposure to chemicals, electrical hazards, treading on nails or cutting themselves on scrap metal are real. No parent should have to deal with their child being hurt or even killed because a
building site was not securely fenced and locked up over the break. Even for a relatively minor injury, spending a few hours waiting in a hospital is not the sort of memory anyone wants from the school holidays.” Mr Webb said sites should also be secured because of broader risks to public safety.
VWA media release
New Comcare site online
Comcare has launched a new website. The site has been designed to facilitate easy access to information health and safety reps, OHS practitioners and all other stakeholders. Here at the OHS Reps site we are in the process of changing the links on the site – but if you come across any broken links, please tell us so that we can fix them! Send them in to ‘
Ask Renata’.
Useful materials:
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Alert: Gas cylinder ruptures at filling station [
pdf
]
This Alert follows a recent incident at a gas supplier’s facility where an ‘E’ size (24-litre water capacity) cylinder ruptured during re-filling. Damage to the cylinder had been disguised by a user, resulting in the rupture which could have caused injury or death. -
Hearing Device Guidelines for Workers
This document contains information for Hearing service providers and workers in relation to the selection and approval of a Hearing device.
Worksafe Prosecutions
Company director fined $100k in Victorian first
A company director and his firm have each been fined $100,000 over a worker’s death in 2006. This is the first time a company director has been fined under the OHS Act 2004 and is also the highest penalty ever imposed on an individual under the Act. Stanley Guthrie and his company, Manumatic Industries Pty Ltd, were labelled “utterly negligent” by Judge Liz Gaynor in handing down the sentence.
A Watsonia Nth man died after receiving head injuries while working near a machine which bent pipes for vehicle exhaust systems when it was inadvertently started by a co-worker. Judge Gaynor said Mr Guthrie and the company had a “grave dereliction” in their obligations, and that the man may not have died if the machine was properly guarded.
The court was told:
- a laser light curtain which would have prevented the machine starting while Mr Grima was near it was not correctly positioned;
- there was no system to ensure the machine could not be started if people were working near it,
- there was no system to warn employees who got near the machine that it might start.
The company and Mr Guthrie each pleaded guilty to workplace health and safety charges. Judge Gaynor said Mr Guthrie was remorseful and that safety improvements were made after the death.
VWA media release
Fatality of non-employee leads to fine
An Inverloch mechanic shop was convicted and fined $125,000 over the death of a non-employee for an incident in 2007. A member of the public took his Land Cruiser to be repaired at Inverloch Motor Body Works. The vehicle collapsed while he was inspecting it on a hoist in the workshop.
We Fix M Pty Ltd, trading as Inverloch Motor Body Works, was convicted as it failed to provide a safe system of work in that it permitted steel tubing to be used to support the front and rear of the tandem trailer which was unconventional and unsafe and failed to ensure that members of the public including the deceased were prevented from accessing the workshop area of the workplace at any time to ensure that they were not being placed in danger.
VWA media release
Company fined $25,000 over chemical burns
Industrial Galvanisers Corporation Pty Ltd was fined $25,000 without conviction following an incident where an operator sustained serious burns from a chemical explosion. The worker was performing a galvanizing dip on gas bottles when the incident occurred and sustained third degree burns to his arms and the back of his neck. Other workers in the area also received minor burns. The company pleaded guilty and the court accepted that there was uncertainty over the exact cause of the explosion.
VWA media release
Comcare prosecutes John Holland Rail again
Comcare has initiated an OHS prosecution against John Holland Rail (JHR), the third in four months. The Commonwealth OHS Act charges relate to an instance of an employee incurring serious burn injuries while performing his duties in JHR’s WA division. Comcare will allege that this incident resulted from inadequate supervision, instruction, training and a failure to provide a safe working environment.
The case follows Comcare filing two separate matters in August against the company after two employees suffered serious finger injuries in Victoria and Western Australia. John Holland was one of the firms which successfully applied to the then Howard Government to become a self-insurer under Comcare, thereby also being covered by Comcare for OHS.
Comcare media release
International News
Europe agrees to tackle stress
European unions, governments and business groups have committed to implement a framework to tackle stress-related illness. European social partners identified work-related stress as an issue of common concern at the beginning of the decade. In 2005, 22% of workers reported that they felt affected by stress. The 2004 agreement provides the framework to translate this common concern into action, defining the reciprocal responsibilities of employers and workers. This framework agreement proposes methods to devise mutually acceptable solutions to deal with stress in particular at company level. At the core of the agreement is an obligation to identify, prevent and manage problems of work-related stress.
This joint implementation report shows that the autonomous framework agreement is of real added value. It raised awareness about the importance of dealing with problems of work-related stress when they occur at the workplace. It acted as a catalyst for action by social partners across Europe.
Tackling stress at work helps to increase efficiency and improve occupational health and safety, with economic and social benefits for employers, workers and society as a whole.
Business Europe – Work-related Stress report
Ban Endosulfan campaign
Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP) is calling for the global ban and phase out of the production and use of Endosulfan, one of the most dangerous organochlorine pesticide in the world. Endosulfan belongs to the group of highly toxic chemicals called persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and has already been banned in 56 countries because of its high toxicity and environmental contamination. However, its presence in Asia and the Pacific continues to take lives and damage natural resources.
This year alone, three major incidents have highlighted its adverse effects: in May, Endosulfan was found in lettuce, strawberries and courgettes in New Zealand, posing health risks to consumers and growers; in June, the ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars sank in the Philippines and was found to contain 10 metric tonnes of Endosulfan, threatening people’s health and the marine environment; in November, five students died in Ranchi, India, after drinking milk that had Endosulfan residues.
Pesticide Action Network
Events
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. Reps should think about enrolling for courses in the new year now.
Initial 5-Day Metropolitan (for Elected OHS Reps under the Victorian OHS Act - this course is approved by the VWA under Section 67)
February 2 – 6 Education (Carlton)
February 2 – 6 Initial Werribee
February 9 – 13 Initial Carlton
Course hours: 9am - 5pm. Course fee $670.00
Initial 5-Day Country
March 2 – 6 Initial Morwell
March 16 – 20 Initial Ballarat
March 16 – 20 Initial Geelong
March 16 – 20 Initial Bendigo
Course hours: 9am - 5pm. Course fee $690.00
Comcare 5-Day OHS Reps Course (for Elected OHS Reps under the Comcare Act)
February 16 - 20 Carlton
Course hours: 9am - 5pm. Course fee $650.00
2-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.
March 26 and 27 Carlton
Course hours: 9.30am - 4.30pm. Course fee $350.00
1-Day Refresher
The Refresher course is approved by the VWA under Section 67 of the Victorian OHS Act 2004 for elected reps and deputies.
January 29 Health Services Legislative Update Carlton
February 26 Legislative Update Carlton
February 27 Psychological Hazards Carlton
Course hours: 9am - 4.30pm. Course fee $180.00
Go to the 2008 Training program page to download an application form.