• New government, old hazards
• Hazards Campaign Charter
• 9th National Hazards Conference
• Out now! RSI hazards handbook
• Southwark tenants get asbestos survey
• Fumes force Hammersmith council office closure
• New TUC handbook published
• European work hazards conference 1997
• Advice line... cancer
• Advice line... homeworking

New government, old hazards

Friday 2nd May 1997 and Tony Blair's New Labour Party has decisively ended 18 years of Tory Government with a massive Parliamentary majority of 179. Moreover, the new Labour Government has given the health and safety brief to two Mps familiar to Hazards Campaigners. Both Michael Meacher MP, Minister of State, and Angela Eagle MP, who will have responsibility for health and safety, have addressed National Hazards Conferences in the past. So, can we heave a sigh of relief and look forward to big changes on the health and safety front?

Labour spokespeople in opposition were certainly forthcoming about action to be taken on health and safety and wider environmental issues:
Graham Allen MP, then shadow minister for Health and Safety, stated in October 1996 that "Labour...considers a worker's right to health and safety protection as fundamental and condemns any employer who takes risks with workers' lives."
Ian McCartney MP, then Labour's chief Employment spokesperson, writing in Hazards Magazine at the end of last year, promised sanctions against "cowboy employers", including the introduction of the offence of corporate manslaughter;
Michael Meacher MP speaking at the Socialist Environment and Resources Association (SERA) conference in January 1997 promised a freedom of information act which could be used by safety reps to break through the silence of commercial confidentiality which can be used to conceal hazards information about commercial products.

After some hesitation, plans for a freedom of information bill are going ahead but there has so far been no evidence of early action to address other health and safety issues. Although it will take a significant amount of resources to begin to recoup the ground lost under the previous government, some important measures and policy changes could be taken without massive expenditure (see box for Hazards Campaign demands).

The Government has indicated its intention to ratify the European Social Chapter at an early stage. But, what about the Working Time Directive? Will the government introduce legislation speedily and make proper arrangements for enforcement (the previous government's consultative document proposed that individual workers should take grievances up through the industrial tribunals system). And what about the HSE's proposal to issue a consultative document by mid-1998 on banning the import of asbestos? Why the wait, when even some sectors of industry are also calling for the ban of this extremely hazardous substance.

Certainly, the 4 million workers destined to suffer injury or ill-health in the next year as a result of work cannot afford to wait long. Moreover, on purely economic grounds, it makes sense for the new government to show some urgency: the HSE itself estimates the prevention of absence through sickness and ill- health will save the country up to 16 billion every year.

Hazards Campaign Charter

Key demands of the Charter produced by the national Hazards Campaign network as a Manifesto to candidates in the General Election include:

ENFORCEMENT
* Increase resources for all enforcement authorities and agencies
* Review HSE philosophy and introduce a stricter enforcement policy
* End the "minded to" system which allows employers to avoid prosecution for health and safety failures

SAFETY REPS RIGHTS
* Give the right to recognition, irrespective of workplace trade union recognition agreement
* Establish the right to appoint roving or regional safety reps

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
* Establish corporate responsibility in criminal law for manslaughter and bodily harm

LEGISLATION
* End deregulation and the privatisation of public services
* Ratify the European Social Chapter
* Implement fully and speedily the Working Hours Directive

ASBESTOS
* Impose a total ban on asbestos
* Introduce a public register of all buildings containing asbestos

HAZARDS MOVEMENT
* support independent occupational health projects and research
* encourage funding for local hazards centres and groups
* provide funding for victim support groups

Copies of "Hazards Campaign Charter: health and safety demands on a new Government" (2nd edition) can be obtained for £1 from Hazards Campaign, c/o Hazards '97 office, 47 Godwin Street, Bradford BD1 2SH.

9th National Hazards Conference

The 9th National Hazards Conference will be held between 5 and 7 September 1997 at the University of Bradford. This is the main event of the national Hazards Campaign calendar and a good opportunity to discuss today's key issues and organise campaigns for the coming year. There will be workshops on RSI, stress, asbestos, asthma, manual handling, violence, chemicals, homeworking, construction etc. For further information and a registration form, phone the Conference office on 01274 770 160.

OUT NOW! RSI Hazards Handbook

The new London Hazards Centre handbook on repetitive strain injuries (RSI) is now available. It describes the various specific conditions that are included in the umbrella term RSI; looks at workplace organising strategies to prevent RSI; spells out safety representatives' rights; gives information on treatment and rehabilitation; provides information on legal action and compensation; and includes a resources and contacts list.

RSI Hazards Handbook. £4.50 to trade unionists, RSI sufferers and community groups, £12.00 to others. Add 50p per £5.00 order for post and packing. All purchasers of the RSI book can buy any or all of our other books at half price.

Southwark tenants get asbestos survey

After a long campaign, the London Borough of Southwark has sent tenants a leaflet setting out the council's plan to survey the asbestos in their homes. Tenants have been told not to drill, scrape, sand down or disturb anything they think may be asbestos.

This action follows promises made by Jeremy Fraser, then leader of Southwark council, at a meeting in 1996 to angry tenants of the Heygate Estate who demanded action over the asbestos in their homes (see Daily Hazard 48 and 50). The local tenants' association (TA) accused the council of being secretive about the extent of the problem and of refusing to fully inform all tenants. Southwark council were previously condemned by the local government ombudsman over the issue of informing tenants about asbestos back in 1989.

Now Southwark has said it will carry out a ten per cent survey of all its 54,000 homes to establish the location or likely location of asbestos. The Southwark Group of Tenants Organisations (SGTO) has received assurances from the council that a higher percentage survey "including complete estate surveys, will be used if necessary".

Southwark says the results of the survey will be used to produce a schedule for dealing with the asbestos as part of their planned maintenance programme. In fact, survey work and some asbestos removals are currently being done on the Heygate Estate. Margaret Ambrose, Chair of the Heygate TA is not fully satisfied with the extent of the works. "They are only doing a partial removal of asbestos bath panels etc. and encapsulating the rest" said Margaret. "We don't feel this is adequate as panels such as those under windows which could easily be damaged and then give off respirable asbestos dust are being left. With this problem, we feel prevention is better than cure".

Southwark had previously admitted it did not have enough money to do a full survey but would take steps to deal with the problem. SGTO sums up the issue well: "This is a national problem and should be dealt with on a national basis, and should not rely on cash-strapped authorities trying to resolve this on a local basis".

Southwark tenants concerned about the presence or condition of asbestos in their home should ring the Southwark asbestos information line: 0171-525 4796.

Fumes force Hammersmith council office closure

Council staff in Hammersmith were evacuated from their office when fumes from the floor coating in the nearby sports centre poisoned them. Prompt action by the UNISON safety rep tracked down the source of the fumes, and may have helped save the unborn child of one of his colleagues.

On Monday 24 February, staff in a Hammersmith social service office started to notice a funny smell - something like white spirit or nail varnish. Before long, their eyes began to itch and their throats and heads to ache. By Tuesday, people were being sick and by Wednesday, a large number of staff reported feeling unwell. "It was a deep shock to have to deal with a problem of this nature," said Mike Williams, UNISON health and safety representative, "There were people suddenly vomiting - we had no idea what was hitting us."

It was quick thinking by Mike Williams which finally made the link with the next-door Janet Adegoke Sports Centre. A visit on Wednesday, the third day of the 'outbreak', established that it was on Monday that contractors had started applying a new coat of floor sealant. Mike obtained the data sheet on the sealant and provided it to management who decided to evacuate the staff to other offices in the building. On Thursday and Friday, however, staff in other parts of the building reported sickness, and the whole building was finally evacuated.

The funny smell turned out to be the chemical xylene, a common industrial solvent which made up about 15 per cent of the coating. Also present were Toluene Di-isocyanate (TDI) and some unspecified solvents, probably something like white spirit. This is a toxic mixture and certainly capable of causing the symptoms of the Hammersmith workers. Although xylene doesn't build up long-term deposits in the body it does take several days for the system to get rid of the chemical, so it is easy to explain why illness persisted after pollution levels had dwindled.

Polyurethane floor coatings are widely used in other public buildings such as schools and hospitals. It was predictable that applying this stuff would produce fumes: the solvent liquid part of it is designed to evaporate, leaving the polyurethane coat behind. Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992, the contractors should have informed all those likely to be affected to allow them to take adequate steps to protect themselves. They did not and therefore cannot claim to have been operating on the basis of a safe system of work.

By the end of the incident 70 per cent of staff in the affected areas had reported some sort of symptoms; complaints of chest pains were a further cause for concern. Four people were taken into hospital for tests and doctors were extremely concerned at the incident. Even more worrying, one of the staff was pregnant, and xylene is known to be a hazard to the unborn child. She spent several days in her local hospital in Oxford, where doctors said exposure earlier in pregnancy could have caused a miscarriage, but there was still a risk of damage. As it was, there was a worrying three months to go, and a delivery closely monitored by a consultant paediatrician, before her happily normal child was born in June.

New TUC Handbook Published

A new edition of Hazards at Work,* the Trade Union Congress (TUC) guide to health and safety, has just been published in a loose- leaf format to allow for periodic updating. Compared with the previous version published in 1988, the new edition emphasises the expanded influence of European-initiated legislation though many of the sections on specific hazards are little altered. The guide provides a huge volume of advice and information for safety representatives to tackle practical problems at work.

Regrettably, not all the material is accurate or accessible. Examples such as a table on page 7 which eliminates Ireland and Denmark from the European Union or a meaningless jumble of figures on page 60 in a discussion on high temperatures are replicated throughout the book. Apart from the shortcomings of proof-reading, more attention could have been paid to the presentation of the material. The chapter on stress has hardly changed at all since 1988 and it is hard to understand why there is no reference to the significant court cases and negotiated agreements of the last few years. There should have been a chapter on reproductive health which brings all aspects of the topic together instead of which there are scattered references to pregnancy throughout the text. Many similar examples could be quoted.

The job of revision was undertaken by a single individual when it definitely required a team of specialists working under strong editorial direction. Since the TUC expects union branches to pay 20 for this publication, and for it to be used as the main teaching resource, there should have been more care taken to produce it in a professional way. Perhaps this could be borne in mind when the updates are being prepared.

Hazards at Work: TUC guide to health and safety, TUC, Congress House, Great Russell St., London WC1B 3LS, ISBN 1 85006 368 0, £20, contact Owen Tudor on 0171 467 1325 for further information

European work hazards conference 1997

Shonagh Methven and Hugh MacGrillen were the Centre's delegates at the 1997 European Work Hazards Conference held in Egmond, Netherlands on 14-16 March. About 300 delegates attended including representatives from almost all European Union countries and further afield. The conference was well organised, informative and constructive. Our delegates attended workshops on asbestos, chemicals, occupational exposure limits, new management methods and occupational health risks in pregnancy. Dutch delegates reported that a recent study had shown that 100 babies were born deaf each year in the Netherlands because of maternal exposure to noise at work. Other discussions showed that strains were developing in the European Union's 'social partnership' as employers and governments sought to maintain profit margins and limit public spending respectively. Many delegates felt that works councils, which many here have great expectations of, are not much more than talking shops.

ADVICE LINES...... on cancer

Cancerlink is the leading national charity providing support through self-help and information for people with cancer. It has a free general information helpline (0800 132 905), a separate line for Asian people in Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and English (0800 590 415) and another for young people (0800 591 028). You can also write to Cancerlink at 11-21 Northdown Street, London N1 9BN.

..... and homeworking

The National Group on Homeworking launched a HOMEWORKERS' HELPLINE on 12 May. For free confidential advice about employment rights, benefits, tax, national insurance, health and safety for homeworkers, phone 0800 174 095.

LHC Members