John Bamford - Hazards at work: organising for safe and healthy workplaces

Copyright 2013 TUC
ISBN 978 1 85006 937 9

First published 1983
Republished September 2005
Second edition September 2007
Third edition September 2009
This edition February 2013

Trades Union Congress,
Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS
tel: 020 7636 4030 fax: 020 7636 0632 web: www.tuc.org.uk

Typesetting: The College Hill Press, London and Worthing
Printing: CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY
Cover design: TUC

ePub ISBN 9781850069430
Mobi ISBN 9781850069430

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PUBLISHERS NOTE

1. The TUC has done its best to ensure this book is accurate at the time of writing. However, health and safety law and practice are evolving all the time and you should not rely on this book as an authoritative statement or interpretation of the law. If you are in any doubt about where you stand, always seek the advice of your trade union, the Health and Safety Executive or a qualified legal professional.

2. Throughout this book there are many references to useful web pages. Although all links were checked for accuracy some may expire over the life of this edition of Hazards at Work. In such instances readers may be able to find the information they need by going to the root website and navigating from there.

3. The TUC welcomes feedback on this new edition of Hazards at Work. Please email any comments to

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

Health and safety is under attack like never before. The government has publicly said it wants to end the health and safety culture while ministers are demanding the repeal of regulations intended to protect workers and, at the same time, making it even more difficult for them to get compensation when they are injured or made ill through work.

Yet we need protection just as much now as ever before. As well as those killed or injured at work, many more suffer the consequences later. The number of people who are killed by a work-related cancer has been estimated at anything between 8,000 and 15,000. Other lung diseases kill another 4,000; 700 are killed driving while working and many thousands die as a result of heart disease caused by work. At the same time the number of people living with workplace illnesses continues to grow. Although many of the diseases of the 20th century are in decline, many more are taking their place. The changing nature of work provides us with new dangers and new challenges.

The TUC knows that Britains trade unions and their safety representatives are up to meeting these challenges, but they need the tools to help them. That is why we have produced this revised edition of Hazards at Work. The book deals first with the importance of having an organised, informed and confident union presence in the workplace, and argues that good health and safety practice is about more than just a series of regulations. Then the book gives safety representatives information on all the major workplace hazards, with practical advice on how to deal with them. There are hundreds of links, too, to useful resources from other organisations such as the Health and Safety Executive. Hazards at Work will also be invaluable to health and safety professionals, employers, voluntary organisations and enforcement officers indeed anyone with an interest in making their workplace safer.

We hope that all safety representatives will use this book and, combined with trade union training and support from their union, will find all the information they need to keep their workplace safe and healthy.

Frances OGrady
TUC General Secretary

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The TUC would like to acknowledge:

The work of Peter Kirby, who researched and developed the original edition on behalf of the TUC. In doing so, Peter drew upon a wide range of TUC health and safety material and information from other sources acknowledged below.

The work of John Bamford, Caroline Bedale, Janet Newsham and Hilda Palmer of the Greater Manchester Hazards Centre, who developed this new edition on behalf of the TUC.

The use of material and resources from various sources including many trade unions; the Health and Safety Executive; Hazards magazine and website; the Labour Research Department; the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service; the International Labour Organisation; and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.

ABBREVIATIONS Organisations, statutes and commonly abbreviated terms