UK: Long COVID 'protocol' urgently needed
Civil service union PCS is calling on the Cabinet Office and the devolved administrations to put in place protocols so people affected by Long Covid are treated fairly. The union’s conference agreed to “press for the exclusion of all Long Covid absences from absence management triggers and to press for full pay to be paid for all Long Covid-related absences.” It is also calling for civil service sick pay schemes to be improved “to support long Covid and other long-term illnesses.” And PCS declared it will campaign with the TUC to get Long Covid classified an occupational disease.
PCS news releases on the protocol, & sick leave.
Source: www.tuc.org.uk
UK: 'Extreme' work stress linked to alcohol death
A 26-year-old man struggling with ‘extreme’ work-related stress 'self-medicated' with alcohol, which subsequently caused his death, an inquest has heard. The inquest heard Jamie Honey was very successful in his job at Universal Marine Medical Supply (UNIMED), a company that ships medical equipment to the maritime industry. However, he has suffered anxiety since childhood and this increased as he faced “increasing demands” at work, including being required to take home a company phone so he could be contacted at all times. Area coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp gave a narrative conclusion and said that Jamie Honey's death was drink related.
Hampshire Live.
Source: www.tuc.org.uk
US: 5 workers needlessly killed in trench collapses
'Over the past few weeks 5 workers have needlessly died in trench collapses. Others have died in falls, traffic incidents, fires, and machinery.
On average, almost 100 workers are killed every week in the United States due to traumatic injuries suffered at work. Over 20 times as many die from occupational diseases, many due to exposure to hazardous substances many years before they died, or from COVID-19 acquired at work. The few narratives gathered here from almost 100 Google News searches do not come close to capturing the full toll that work takes on the working people of this country.'
