Issue 163 - SafetyNet Journal 163
Welcome to SafetyNet Journal 163 - Your source for the latest in OHS news from Australia and around the world.Union News
Research
WorkSafe News
Worksafe Prosecutions
International News
Union News
Activities for reps
Workers Memorial Day – Tuesday, 28 April, 2009
This coming Tuesday is Workers Memorial Day. This year the VTHC and IDSA (Industrial Deaths Support and Advocacy) will host a commemorative service at 10:20am at Argyle Place, Lygon St (two blocks north of Trades Hall). The service will be a chance to honour those who’ve died at work and fight to protect workers from the safety failings which all too regularly claim lives and cause devastating injuries.
Eleven Victorian workers have already died at work this year. More will die and many more will be injured before the year is through. Every year, globally, more people are killed at work than in wars. Most don't die of mystery ailments, or in tragic "accidents". They die because an employer decided their safety just wasn't that important a priority. Workers’ Memorial Day commemorates those workers on 28 April every year. All over the world workers and their representatives conduct events, demonstrations, vigils and a whole host of other activities to mark the day.
The global theme for the day is again “ Good Occupational Health for All Workers”. The Victorian union movement, together with unions around Australia, is focusing on the current National Review into Model OHS Laws – making sure we don’t end up with 2nd rate OHS laws.
Melbourne event:
Where: Argyle Place, Lygon St (two blocks north of Trades Hall)
When: 10:20am, with the ceremony starting at 10:30, 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). Contact: Margot Hoyte 9662 3511, 0413 482 973Gippsland event
Where: Centenary Rose Garden, Commercial Road, Morwell
When: 11.00am Tuesday April 28th. After the ceremony there will be a free BBQ lunch with the compliments of the Gippsland Trades & Labour Council. Contact: Vicki Hamilton 0407 274 173
Read more on Workers Memorial Day 2009 International Event Listing
New report shows significant benefits to paid maternity leave
A new report by the Australia Institute shows there are significant benefits for working parents and the economy from paid maternity leave and has led to renewed calls from unions for the Federal Government to include the scheme in the May Federal Budget. The report, Long Overdue: the Macroeconomic benefits of Paid Parental Maternity Leave [pdf], shows that a paid maternity leave scheme would create 9000 jobs, and cut the net cost of the scheme by $225 million. Unions have long argued that there are benefits to the entire community from a paid maternity scheme. A recent Productivity Commission report has also outlined significant social and economic returns from the proposed scheme.
The Federal Government is being urged to include funding for paid maternity leave in this year’s budget, due to be handed down next month. The VTHC is collecting postcards to deliver to Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner.
Please contact the VTHC Women's Officer Jennifer O'Donnell-Pirisi, jo'donnell-pirisi@vthc.org.au or 03 9659 3511, to show your support for the Paid Maternity Leave campaign.
VTHC media release
ACTU media release
The
Union Show on Gender Pay Equity
Knight family sues over Beaconsfield disaster
The family of Larry Knight is suing the mine’s owner over his death. Larry Knight was killed in a rockfall on Anzac Day 2006. Two of his colleagues were trapped underground for 14 days before being rescued. Lawyers for the family will prove that Mr Knight died due to a wrongful act or neglect by the company. An inquest found the mine’s owners were not directly responsible for his death, but numerous OHS issues affecting the mine and its operations were revealed during the case.
Source:
ABC
Ambos prepare for industrial action over fatigue
Paramedics are warning Victoria could be hit with the first ambulance strike in 36 years unless the State Government acts on paramedic fatigue. Year-long pay talks with the Government have broken down and paramedics are now preparing an application for an industrial action ballot. Ambulance Employees Australia State Secretary Steve McGhie said a major sticking point is Ambulance Victoria’s refusal to support minimum 10 hour rest breaks between shifts.
The warning comes as the ambulance union released a new analysis revealing only Victoria and Western Australia still have 8 hour breaks, while Queensland paramedics may soon have 12 hour breaks between shifts. Mr McGhie is talking to members about their options and will not rule out stop-work action. Mr McGhie called on Victoria’s health minister Daniel Andrews to intervene and make Victoria’s crisis-ridden ambulance service Australia’s safest and best.
Response time website
Paramedic Fatigue - The Facts (April 2009) [
pdf
]
Do you have a question about OHS in your workplace? Ask Renata...
We would like to remind our subscribers that we offer a wonderful service: anyone with a query about a particular hazard, OHS regulation or looking for advice on how to handle an issue, then send in a query to Ask Renata. You'll get a response, emailed to you usually within the day.
Asbestos News
James Hardie directors lied about asbestos fund: Court
Former directors of asbestos products manufacturer James Hardie face heavy fines and bans from serving on company boards over lies to the public on the status of the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund. NSW Supreme Court Justice, Ian Gzell, was scathing in his judgement that 10 former James Hardie directors and executives broke corporations law by deliberately misleading the public and the stock exchange over the financial viability of the asbestos victims’ trust fund. At the centre of the case was a press release approved by the board and issued in February 2001 which stated the trust was fully funded. Two years later the trust was found to be underfunded by over $1 billion.
Former chairwoman Meredith Hellicar was singled out by the judge for her testimony in the case. Justice Gzell said he found Ms Hellicar to be a “most unsatisfactory witness” and said he had grave doubts about her evidence. Asbestos victims’ groups and unions have applauded the decision, a landmark in corporate governance in Australia. Each of the defendants could face fines of up to $200,000 and bans from serving on any company boards.
Sources:
ABC online
The Age
Asbestos groups attack James Hardie over fund shortfall
James Hardie says it will not be able to make a financial contribution to the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund next year and has blamed the global recession for the shortfall. Asbestos disease support groups have attacked the company for once again failing in its commitment to asbestos victims on the same day as former directors were found guilty of lying about the viability of the compensation scheme.
Under the terms of the fund, James Hardie must put 35% of its cash flow into the AICF. The company says it won’t be able to next year due to the global financial situation and the downturn in the US housing market. It also announced that it may not be able to meet commitments to the fund until 2013. The company was expected to pay $35 million into the fund this year yet projected compensation payouts top $70 million. The ACTU is seeking an urgent meeting over the claims and says asbestos victims should not be disadvantaged because of the financial crisis.
ACTU media release
The Age – Anita Pohlner’s story
Canadian asbestos lobby once again in the spotlight
The influence of the Canadian asbestos lobby over that country’s politics has once again been dragged into the spotlight after it was revealed that Health Canada had sat on a health report tying asbestos to lung cancer. The Canadian asbestos industry, through groups such as the Chrysotile Institute, has actively sought to suppress opposition to the continued export odf the deadly substance to developing nations around the world. Now, reports in the Canadian media have highlighted the money the industry receives from government to finance pseudoscience that supports its agenda and pressure is growing on the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to stop the practise.
Ottawa Citizen
Rabble
Nanotechnology News
Australian unions want nanotech regulation
The ACTU has highlighted health and safety concerns and called for urgent regulation to cover the rapidly emerging technology. Nanotechnology is hailed as a having enormous potential in the creation of new products and devices and is now used in over 800 everyday items including some sunscreens, cosmetics, bed sheets, building materials and paints. Unions are concerned that there is mounting evidence showing some nanomaterials are potentially hazardous yet the industry is growing without adequate worker protections. Most nanomaterials are still regulated according to the effects that the chemicals have in their bulk form, even though research has shown that on the nano-scale they can behave unpredictably in humans and animals. For example, research has shown that some nanomaterials may act in similar ways to asbestos.
The nanotechnology industry is projected to grow from US$32 billion to US$2.6 trillion over the next decade. Currently there is no mandatory register in Australia of who is importing, manufacturing, supplying or selling nanomaterials and no obligation to label products or provide information. But there are moves afoot internationally to introduce regulations.
ACTU media release
ACTU Fact Sheet on Nanotechnology [
pdf
]
The Australian article
SMH article
Warning on nanotech compensation payouts
A leading occupational health and safety lawyer has warned employers they could face big compensation payments if they don't carefully consider the implications of nanotechnology. A report on the ABC’s AM radio program interviewed Michael Tooma, a partner with the law firm Deacons. In the report he drew comparisons with Australia’s experience with asbestos as a warning on the potential disaster posed by an industrial wonder product.
ABC online – AM
OECD
launches database on research into the safety of nanomaterials
The OECD has launched a database to collect research data on that address environmental, human health and safety issues of manufactured nanomaterials. The
Database on Research into Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials helps identify research gaps and assists researchers in future collaborative efforts. The database contains information relevant to research on the environmental, health, and safety of nanomaterials for projects that are planned, underway or completed.
The database also assists the projects of the OECD’s Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) as a resource of research information. It also links in with other nanotech research databases such as the ‘Environmental Health and Safety Database’ by International Council on Nanotechnology (ICON) and ‘Nanoparticle Information Library’ by US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
OECD Database on Research into Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials
Research
Workers’ comp claims data underestimates job strain exposure
Newly published Australian research into job stress has found people in lower socio-economic positions were underrepresented in workers compensation claims statistics, suggesting job stress problems for these groups are substantially underestimated. The research from Tessa Keegel, Aleck Ostry and Anthony D. LaMontagne, made a comparative analysis of patterns of exposure to job stressors and stress-related workers' compensation claims to provide an evaluation of the adequacy of claims-driven policy and practice.
The researchers assessed job strain prevalence in a 2003 population-based survey of Victorian workers and compared these results with stress-related workers comp statistics for the same year. They found that in order for there to be an equitable policy and practice response to the issue of job stress, exposure or health outcome data are needed to compliment claims statistics.
Job strain exposures vs. stress-related workers’ compensation claims in Victoria, Australia: Developing a public health response to job stress [Abstract
]; Tessa Keegel, Aleck Ostry and Anthony D. LaMontagne; Journal of Public Health Policy Vol. 30, 1, 17–39
US asbestos mortality predictions
US researchers have estimated the mortality rate of asbestos diseases to double over the next few decades. Researchers found there were 25,564 deaths from asbestosis over the period 1968–2004. Their modelling predicts a total of 29,667 deaths to occur during 2005–2027 (an average of 1290 deaths per year). The study compared the rates of asbestos exposure over the last century and focussed on deaths from 1968 onwards. The study indicates that asbestosis deaths are not expected to decrease sharply in the next 10–15 years in the US.
Asbestosis mortality in the USA: facts and predictions; V C dos Santos Antao, G A Pinheiro and J T Wassel; Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2009; 66:335-338, 18 November 2008
WorkSafe News
Port Melbourne crane tip investigated
WorkSafe is investigating an incident in which a mobile crane tipped over on Monday this week leaving the machine on its side. WorkSafe believes two cranes were moving a 13 tonne pipe when one stopped suddenly causing the other to tip. The driver of the crane climbed out of the cabin and was later taken to the Alfred Hospital for a check up. WorkSafe issued a Prohibition Notice requiring the owner to have the crane checked by a competent person, and make any necessary repairs before returning to service. Work practices are being reviewed at the site in Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne. It is the second time this year a crane has tipped over after a crane went over in Brighton in February. Last year a man died when trapped between two truck-mounted cranes when one tipped.
VWA media release
ABC news
Man hospitalised after welding explosion
A man suffered burns to his upper body in an explosion while welding a fuel tank mounted on a trailer at the Department of Sustainability and Environment Depot in Alexandra on Tuesday morning. The Department of Sustainability and Environment worker was welding when the explosion happened. He suffered burns on his face, neck, chest and arms and was flown to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. The incident prompted WorkSafe to issue a warning that high safety standards must be in place at all times.
VWA media release
Useful Materials
- Quarries - Preventing drivers falling from dump trucks
- Preventing electrical shock from power tools and electrical leads
- Construction - Preventing injuries from lifting reinforcing mesh
- Wineries - Fire and explosion risks
- Preventing misuse of angle grinders
- Construction - Preventing hose connection failure on a tower crane refuelling rig
- Forestry - Preventing wood chipper disc failures
Worksafe Prosecutions
Meat processor pleads guilty after abattoir explosion
A major western district meat processor, Midfield Co-Products P/L was this week convicted and fined $32,500 after an explosion at its Warnambool plant in November 2006. Local plumbing company, Paul & Barbara Kavanagh P/L, was also convicted and fined $32,500. Midfield Co-Products is part of the Midfield Group of companies which operate an abattoir and a number of other businesses associated with the meat industry.
The company pleaded guilty to two charges laid under the OHS Act before Warrnambool Magistrate Wilson on 16 April 2009. Paul & Barbara Kavanagh P/L pleaded guilty to one charge. The incident occurred at the Swinton Street, Warrnambool rendering plant when an insulated stainless steel pipe became blocked during a process used to separate fat and water from animal products.
VWA media release
International News
US: Diacetyl danger spreads to confectionary
The risk posed by flavour enhancer, diacetyl may be more significant than previously recognised. Known as “popcorn lung”, the disease bronchitis obliterans is caused by the chemical diacetyl, used as a butter flavouring. It has been known to affect workers in popcorn manufacturing for years but there is an emerging link to workers in other confectionary manufacturing areas. The Teamsters Union are concerned that workers in lolly factories around the US may be exposed to the potentially lethal chemical and not be aware. The chemical is also registered for use in the Australian food industry
Risks 401
Flying laptop kills woman
A woman in Canada was recently killed by a flying laptop when she stopped abruptly while driving. The unsecured laptop was on the back seat of her vehicle and launched through the air, striking her in the back of the head. The incident has highlighted the potential danger played by items such as laptops in vehicles and has prompted a discussion about the proper storage and transport of notebooks for mobile workers who have to lug them back and forth for work. This in turn may impact on future designs of the devices which are becoming ubiquitous in the modern working environment.
Ergonomics Today