Safety Matters - august 2005

Welcome to the August 2005 edition of the Mesh Consultants Safety Matters email newsletter.

This newsletter is available on free subscription only and is our way of keeping you informed about developments in Health and Safety. To review or amend your subscription details, please see the notes at the end.

In this issue:

HSE fatal injury statistics identify a 7% decrease in the number of workplace deaths

Long hours or overtime increase workers risk of suffering job-related illnesses and injuries

One in four British employees works more than 50 hours per week

Union respond to HSE consultation on RIDDOR

HSE warns that firms must undertake regular reviews of their risk assessments

Majority of MPs would support a ban on smoking

Firms victimise workers for raising health and safety concerns

One in 4 workers know someone suffering with stress

Man dies working at Heathrow's terminal 5

Firm prosecuted for two offences after a worker fell down a 20 metre-deep ventilation shaft

NEXT employee died during training exercise

220 people were killed at work in the past year according the Health and Safety Executive's fatal injury statistics.

Overall the figure represents a 7 per cent decrease in the number of workplace deaths.

Deaths were highest in the construction and agriculture industries - 52 per cent in total - however the total fatality rate in these sectors fell compared with the previous year.

In the manufacturing sector, however, fatal injuries rose from 30 in 2003/04 to 41 in 2004/2005.

Chairman of the Health and Safety Executive, Bill Callaghan, commented: "Although we are making progress, I remain concerned that so many people continue to lose their lives at work. Behind these figures are enormous personal tragedies involving the unexpected loss of family and friends."

Workers doing long hours or overtime are at increased risk of suffering job-related illnesses and injuries, according to a study in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine journal.

Those who work overtime are 61 per cent more likely to suffer occupational injuries than those who work only their contracted hours.

Working a 12-hour day increases the risk of injury by 38 per cent, whilst a 60-hour week increases the risk by 23 per cent.
Unsurprisingly, injuries were most likely to occur towards the end of long shifts, with workers becoming more tired and stressed.

Campaigners pointed to the study as further evidence of the need to fully implement the Working Time Directive, which limits workers to a 48-hour week.

The study looked at 90,000 people in a variety of industries between 1987 and 2000 and focused on job-related injury and illness rates, including musculo-skeletal problems such as back pain, cuts and bruises, fractures, and also skin complaints or respiratory problems.

One in four British employees works more than 50 hours per week, according to new research from office supply firm, Esselte UK.

The research suggests that Britain's long hours culture shows no signs of letting up, with some office employees saying that they work more than 70 hours a week. More than a third admitted to taking work home in the evening and at weekends.

The survey of employees in the UK, Australia, Germany and France, showed that UK employees were working the longest hours in Europe. Almost 20 per cent of British employees worked between 50 and 59 hours a week, compared with 15 per cent in Germany and France.

Mike Patterson, Esselte UK marketing director, said: "Our research reveals the UK to be an extremely industrious nation. Staying late to get things done is a fact of life in the modern workplace. By also taking work home though, we run the risk of upsetting a healthy work life balance. We're already working hard and now need to focus on working 'smarter' by improving levels of organisation which can help cut corners and save time."

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) has identified important changes to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR).

Dave Joyce, the CWU's national health and safety officer, said: "Currently, the regulations are both confusing and have some glaring omissions.

"RIDDOR is widely ignored and misunderstood by many employers and managers and as such there is much under-reporting and the law is not being enforced by the Health and Safety Executive."

The CWU has recommended that specific duties should be placed on employers to investigate accidents and notify, consult and involve safety representatives.

Firms must undertake regular reviews of their risk assessments to take account of changes in use of machinery, warns the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The warning was issued after Fenner Dunlop, of Hessle in East Yorkshire, was fined the maximum £20,000 and ordered to pay £4,772 costs after pleading guilty to a charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act, s.2(1).

The fine was handed down over an incident at the firm's compound mixing unit in which an employee injured his leg after getting trapped in a machine whilst cleaning a blockage.
Dorothy Shaw, HSE principal inspector, said: "The case was brought due to the absence of a safe system of work, guarding, and edge protection to protect persons from injury whilst working on the cooler stacker which was processing rubber sheeting for the manufacture of conveyor belting.

"The machine restarted whilst Mr McCarthy was clearing a blockage because the company did not have a safe system of work for clearing blockages. Had it completed a review of its risk assessment and implemented the control measures identified, the accident could have been prevented."

Ms Shaw said that the company had conducted a risk on the machine after it was installed in 1997, and had revised it in 2003, but had taken into account the addition of portable steps to the machine, which posed an additional hazard as they enabled workers to access the top of the machine.

Two thirds of MPs would support a blanket ban on smoking a new survey shows.

The majority of MPs questioned by Cancer Research UK and Action on Smoking and Health did not back the Government's proposed exemptions for pubs not serving food or private membership clubs.

The proportion of MPs supporting a total ban on smoking in the workplace and enclosed public spaces has now risen from just over half in 2004 to 77 per cent.

Jean King of Cancer Research said: "Support for comprehensive smoke free legislation is strong among MPs and continues to grow. The government cannot ignore the majority voice of people and politicians.

"Introducing legislation with exemptions and loopholes would deny protection to the many thousands of workers in the hospitality industry who are currently exposed to high levels of second-hand smoke."

Forty-nine workers won employment tribunals for safety victimisation in 2004/05, Government figures indicate.

The figures show that workers are winning employment tribunals at a rate of one a week in the category covering those who "suffer a detriment, dismissal or redundancy for health and safety reasons". In 2004/05 there were a total of 896 claims in this category and 440 cases were either won at tribunal or settled following intervention by the conciliation body ACAS.

In response the figures, Rory O'Neill, editor of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Hazards magazine, has called on the Government to take action against the victimisation of workers who raise safety fears and has called for the right of reinstatement for any worker fired for raising safety concerns, the right of unions to appoint 'roving safety reps' and the use of ASBOs for guilty directors.

Mr O'Neill said: "It shouldn't be a firing offence to object to unsafe work. The money-or-your-life option is neither civilised nor sensible and should be replaced with a legal system that protects safety whistleblowers, not rewards them with their cards."

One in four workers knows a colleague who has suffered from workplace stress according to a new survey.

The survey carried out by mental health charity Together also reveals that 40 per cent of people believe that their careers would suffer if they admitted to being affected by stress. Fifty per cent believe that employers are unaware of the extent of workplace stress and 50 per cent also claim that workplace stress is a serious problem.

Chief executive of Together, Gil Hitchon, said: "These findings demonstrate that not only is stress in the workplace a serious problem, but there is still a powerful stigma attached to admitting to being stressed at work".

"Far too many workers are suffering in silence and feel they have nowhere to go for support."

An incident at Heathrow's Terminal 5 site has resulted in the death of one man. Another man has been left seriously injured.

Matthew Gilbert, 27, died after falling from height when working on the construction of a new multi-story car park. Another worker, who also fell, is in a serious condition in hospital.

Work in the area has been suspended while the Health and Safety Executive conducts an investigation.

Kier Regional Ltd, of Sandy, Bedfordshire, has been prosecuted and fined £7,000 for two offences after a worker fell down a 20 metre-deep ventilation shaft.

The 21-year-old man was working on a roof when he stepped into the shaft, which was covered with a black plastic sheet.
When investigating the accident, officers viewed the "unkempt condition" of the site. Materials were stored inappropriately, increasing the risk of slips and trips by workers and hindering emergency evacuation routes.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said that the failure to maintain the site in a safe and clean manner contravened construction regulations.

Kier Regional was fined £7,000 plus £2,640 costs after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

The HSE inspector commented: "Falls from height are still the biggest cause of injury on construction sites, and all employers, large and small, must take effective measures to prevent accidents and injuries. This incident could easily have been prevented by simple measures such as guarding the hole and clearly highlighting what it was.

"But the state of the site as a whole was poor, putting the workers at a high risk of slips and trips. Employers can avoid this by keeping sites tidy and storing goods safely."

Next Distribution (part of Next plc) has been fined £250,000.

Leeds crown court heard that an employee had been abseiling out of a raised man-riser forklift truck at the end of training in the safe operation of the machine. He suddenly dropped just over 6 metres to the floor below, sustaining head injuries, from which he died 2 days later.

The principal environmental health officer who brought the prosecution commented, "Had a safety rope been there, he would not have fallen to that degree and sustained those head injuries".

The court was told that a proper risk assessment had not been carried out for the activity, the equipment had not been properly checked and tested, and the in-house trainer was not qualified to train others in abseiling. The court fined Next £250,000 and ordered them to pay almost £40,000 in costs.