On International Workers’ Memorial Day 2018 #IWMD18 watch Michael’s story as told by his sister Louise to understand how workers are killed by negligent employers and how we must stop this.
Michael’s Story – Told by his sister Louise from Louise Taggart on Vimeo.
25 Apr 2018 10:00 – 25 Apr 2018 12:00
Vision, Kungsgatan 28A, Stockholm
Dags för en internationell konvention mot våld och trakasserier i arbetslivet
Den 28 april infaller världsarbetsmiljödagen. För att uppmärksamma detta bjuder de tre fackliga centralorgan
isationerna in till ett seminarium och politikerutfrågning onsdag 25 april. I år har facken valt att fokusera på arbetet mot våld och trakasserier i arbetslivet.
Stärkt av den uppmärksamhet som #metoo skapade, pågår arbetet för en arbetsmiljö fri från sexism, mobbning, hot och våld. I Sverige är det här en prioriterad fråga för de fackliga organisationerna, och tillsammans med internationella fackföreningsrörelsen driver nu LO, TCO och Saco kravet på en ILO-konvention mot våld och trakasserier i arbetslivet.
Frågan om en framtida konvention mot våld och trakasserier i arbetslivet kommer att diskuteras på ILO:s internationella arbetskonferens i Genève i juni 2018.
Trots att Sverige sedan 2009 har skrivningar i diskrimineringslagen om att arbetsgivare har ett ansvar för att förebygga sexuella trakasserier och andra trakasserier som har samband med någon av diskrimineringsgrunderna i lagen, och en skyldighet att skyndsamt utreda och åtgärda sexuella trakasserier om de förekommer, så är utsattheten fortfarande stor. #metoo gjorde det smärtsamt tydligt under h
östen 2017.
De svenska fackliga organisationerna driver också sedan många år kravet på att utreda möjligheten att införa en lag om mobbning i arbetslivet.
Välkommen till ett seminarium med svenska och internationella experter samt medverkande från samtliga fackliga centralorganisationer. Seminariet avslutas med en utfrågning av ansvariga politiker från arbetsmarknadsutskottet.
Medverkande
Loredana Carta, Världsfacket ITUC
Pia Schyberg, sakkunnig psykosociala arbetsmiljöfrågor, Arbetsmiljöverket
Berit Müllerström, andra vice ordförande, LO
Pelle Hilmersson, internationell chef, TCO
Heike Erkers, ordförande i Akademikerförbundet SSR och andre vice ordförande, Saco
Raimo Pärssinen, (S), ordförande arbetsmarknadsutskottet
Erik Andersson (M), ledamot arbetsmarknadsutskottet
Fler ledamöter från arbetsmarknadsutskottet tillkommer
Moderator
Lisa Pelling, chefsutredare, Arena idé.
Seminariet arrangeras av LO, TCO och Saco i samarbete med tankesmedjan Arena Idé.
Obligatorisk föranmälan.
National COSH Announces “Dirty Dozen” Employers Who Put Workers and Communities at Risk with Unsafe Practices
The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) announced today“The Dirty Dozen” employers of 2018, highlighting companies that put workers and communities at risk due to unsafe practices. The Dirty Dozen 2018 report is released in observance of Workers’ Memorial Week, honoring workers who lost their lives on the job, as well as those who have suffered workplace injuries and illnesses.
“It’s heartbreaking to see workers lose their lives when we know these tragedies could have been prevented,” said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of National COSH. “Time and again, employers are warned about unsafe conditions. When companies fail to correct safety hazards, it is workers who pay the ultimate price.”
The “Dirty Dozen” for 2018 are:
Amazon – Seattle, Washington: Seven workers killed at Amazon warehouses since 2013 – including three workers within five weeks at three separate locations in 2017.
Case Farms – Troutman, North Carolina: 74 OSHA violations per 1,000 employees – more than four times higher than any other poultry firm.
Dine Brands Global, Inc. (IHOP and Applebee’s) – Glendale, California: Demands for sex, groping, threats of violence against workers. More than 60 complaints about sexual and harassment and abuse.
JK Excavating – Mason, Ohio: 25-year-old Zachary Hess, buried alive in December 2017. The company was previously cited three times by OSHA for failure to protect workers from trench collapse.
Lowe’s Home Improvement – Mooresville, North Carolina: 56 U.S. deaths are linked to exposure to paint strippers containing methylene chloride, including 17 workers who died while refinishing bathtubs. The retail giant still sells products with this deadly substance, despite appeals from workers, consumers and families.
Lynnway Auto Auction – Billerica, Massachusetts: Five dead in preventable auto crash – including a 37-year-old mom working her first day on the job. Lynnway was cited by OSHA and warned of vehicle safety hazards in 2014.
New York and Atlantic Railway – New York, New York: Workers suffer amputation, brain injury and impaired vision. Immigrants workers face racial slurs and other discrimination, and do not have proper safety training or equipment.
Patterson UTI Energy – Houston, Texas: Five workers dead in an explosion in Quinton, Oklahoma. 110 OSHA violations and 13 workers dead in the past decade.
Sarbanand Farms – Sumas, Washington: Farm worker dies after complaining of headaches. 70 co-workers go on strike to protest unsafe conditions and are immediately fired, then evicted from company housing.
Tesla Motors – Fremont, California: Recordable injuries are 31% higher than industry average; serious injuries are 83% higher. Company claims recent improvement in injury rates, but CAL/OSHA now investigating reports that the company failed to report serious injuries.
Verla International – New Windsor, New York: Explosion kills a worker at cosmetics plant. Company previously cited for poor handling of chemicals that led to deadly blaze; safety consultant says disaster was “easily preventable.”
Waste Management – Houston, Texas: 23-year-old worker killed at a recycling facility. Company failed to lockout/tagout machinery during repairs.
“My brother didn’t need to die, and we don’t want to see this kind of tragedy happen to other families,” said Brian Wynne. Brian’s brother Drew, who owned a coffee roasting business, died from exposure to methylene chloride that was contained in a Goof Off paint stripping product he purchased at Lowe’s.
The Wynne family has joined a campaign to convince the giant retailer to stop selling products containing methylene chloride, which is linked to more than 50 deaths and can be toxic in very small doses. “We’ve been meeting with members of Congress, senators and anyone who will listen,” said Brian Wynne. “We will leave no stone unturned.”
“Workers at Tesla have been speaking up about health and safety concerns for over a year,” said Jonathan Galescu, a worker at the company’s Fremont, California assembly plant. “We’re making clean cars – we shouldn’t have to put up with dirty jobs. Too many workers are getting hurt and management seems to be trying to sweep the problem under the rug.”
Reports in May and December 2017 from Worksafe, a National COSH affiliate based in Oakland, documented recordable and serious injury rates at Tesla much higher than average for the automotive industry. Based on recent reports from RevealNews.org, CAL/OSHA is investigating whether Tesla is failing to record serious injuries that occur inside its manufacturing plant.
Data presented in the National COSH “Dirty Dozen” report show that workplace deaths in the U.S. are on the rise. According to the latest information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 5,190 deaths from workplace trauma in 2016, an increase of seven percent from 2015 and a 12 percent increase since 2012.
The budget for the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has declined by 12 percent since 2012 and the agency has 132 fewer employees.
OSHA and other safety agencies, including the National Institutes for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), were targeted for further budget cuts in FY 2018, along with the elimination of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board and Susan Harwood Training grants. Harwood grants assist unions, COSH groups, employer associations and other non-profits in providing training to vulnerable workers.
Worker and their unions, COSH groups, worker centers and safety advocates carried out a sustained outreach effort to members of Congress and convinced a bipartisan majority to avoid dangerous cutbacks in programs that protect workers and families.
“We need more resources for research, training and enforcement, not less,” said Goldstein-Gelb. “Otherwise, employers like the Dirty Dozen get the message that it’s okay to cut corners on workplace safety. It’s not okay– ever – when a worker doesn’t come home to his or her family.”
The “Dirty Dozen 2018” report is available on the National COSH website here. Workers’ Memorial Week infographics are available in English and Spanish here.
Workers’ Memorial Week is a global event to honor workers who lost their lives on the job and their families, as well as recognize those who suffer from occupational injuries and illnesses. In the United States, dozens of activities in 35 states will remember fallen workers. A listing of events is available on the National COSH website.
Remembering the dead – fighting for the living in Gibraltar today.
Remembering the dead – fighting for the living in Gibraltar today | Sadly it is all too likely that people know someone who has died or been injured in the workplace – Find out about events marking International Workers’ Memorial Day on 28 April https://t.co/D9tiykwEgW #IWMD18 pic.twitter.com/fWZ5OcoOOB
— Unite the union (@unitetheunion) 27 April 2018
Sadly it is all too likely that people know someone who has died or been injured in the workplace – Find out about events marking International Workers’ Memorial Day on 28 April … #IWMD18
Claudio Sottile of Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori (CISL) has sent the following photographs from International Workers’ Memorial Day 2018 events in several Italian cities. including Rome, Naples, Milan, Turin).
An update from MASZSZ (Hungarian Trade Union Confederation) International Workers’ Memorial Day.
György Károly has sent photos from the 26 April 2018 commemoration in Budapest.
Commemorating those fallen at work, at the MASZSZ memorial in Csepel/ Budapest. Seventy-nine pairs of protective shoes – seventy-nine workplace deaths in 2017 – we cannot allow it!
Unions and workers to join with families for International Workers Memorial Day
WHEN: Tomorrow, Saturday the 28th of April WHERE: Workers Memorial Garden, Elizabeth Park, Launceston 8am AND
Hobart’s Parliament Lawns at 12 noon
Family members, friends and colleagues who have lost a loved one at work or experienced a workplace injury will join with union members and the community to mark International Workers’ Memorial Day on Saturday the 28th of April.
Unions Tasmania will host a service in both Launceston and Hobart to commemorate this important day. Vigils, services and ceremonies will be held across the country and around the globe to honour the memory of those who went to work and did not return home.
“It means a lot to family members and friends that we recognise this day and remember those who died or were injured on the job,” said Jessica Munday, Secretary of Unions Tasmania.
“Preliminary data for 2017 from Safe Work Australia show there were 186 Australians killed at work last year. Six Tasmanians died at work in 2016 and over 6,500 injuries were reported to WorkSafe Tasmania last year. The union movement believes one workplace death is too many so, with these statistics at the front of our minds, today is an important day for reaffirming as a community our commitment to safe workplaces.”
“Sadly, many workplace deaths or injuries aren’t accidents in the true sense of the word. They occur because, at some point, a decision was made that safety wasn’t the most important thing to watch out for. In Tasmania, we are now being reminded of the tragic consequences and the immeasurable pain felt by families following a workplace death as the inquest into the three deaths at the Mt Lyell mine continues,” said Ms Munday.
“The Tasmanian union movement is committed to remain ever vigilant and continue the fight for safe workplaces. That means we will continue to campaign to make industrial manslaughter a crime. We will continue to advocate for presumptive Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) legislation for our first responders. And we will continue to campaign against work practices that put profit before safety,” said Ms Munday.
For further information: Jessica Munday
Le nombre de victimes d’accidents du travail reste trop élevé
la CSC demande que la victime d’un accident du travail reçoit directement une copie de la déclaration.
A l’occasion du 28 avril, la journée mondiale du travail dans des conditions de santé et de sécurité, la CSC rend hommage aux victimes des accidents du travail. En Belgique, une personne meurt tous les deux jours des suites d’un accident du travail. Plus de la moitié d’entre eux (75) décèdent sur le lieu de travail proprement dit. Chaque jour, 92 travailleurs belges restent handicapés à vie suite à un accident du travail.
Le risque que les ouvriers et les employés soient victimes d’un accident du travail grave n’a pas diminué et il est même plus élevé qu’en 1980. Dans la province de (nom province), X travailleurs sont décédés sur leur lieu de travail et Y travailleurs ont été victimes d’un accident du travail qui a provoqué une incapacité permanente[1] (cf. annexe 1, chiffres de la province).
Dans le même temps, le contrôle par l’Etat des conditions de travail peu sûres reste déficient. Notre pays n’a jamais compté aussi peu d’inspecteurs pour effectuer les contrôles dans les entreprises: 124 en 2018 (en 2004, ils étaient encore 165). Dans la province de (nom province), X inspecteurs sont chargés de contrôler Y entreprises, qui occupent Z travailleurs. Une entreprise (nom province) n’est contrôlée que tous les XX ans[2] (cf. annexe 2, les chiffres de la province). Les économies réalisées constamment sur l’inspection du bien-être au travail ont depuis longtemps dépassé les limites de l’acceptable.
D’autre part, la CSC déplore particulièrement le nombre d’accidents du travail que les assureurs “accidents du travail” refusent de reconnaître. En 2016, ils ont refusé 18.488 accidents, soit 11,5% de l’ensemble des déclarations. La législation actuelle ne permet pas à la victime de prendre connaissance des informations qui figurent dans la déclaration de l’accident du travail. Pour cette raison, la CSC demande que la loi soit modifiée de toute urgence de manière à ce que la victime reçoive directement une copie de la déclaration. Celle-ci pourra ainsi être complétée ou corrigée rapidement afin d’éviter les refus ou les rectifications.
Jean Louis Teheux
Conseiller – Service d’études
R. de Trèves 31 | 1040 Bruxelles
T 02 285 02 36 | GSM 0478 40 04 46
jteheux@acv-csc.be | www.cscbie.be
Internationale des Travailleurs du Bâtiment et du Bois
Aantal slachtoffers arbeidsongevallen blijft te hoog. Toch wordt de inspectie welzijn op het werk verder afgebouwd
ACV vraagt dat slachtoffers van een arbeidsongeval een kopie van de aangifte ontvangen
Naar aanleiding van 28 april, de werelddag voor veilig en gezond werk, herdenkt het ACV de slachtoffers van arbeidsongevallen. Eén werkdag op twee sterft in België iemand door een arbeidsongeval. Meer dan de helft daarvan, 75, op de arbeidsplaats zelf. Elke werkdag opnieuw lopen 92 werknemers in België een blijvende arbeidsongeschiktheid op ten gevolge van een arbeidsongeval. De kans op een ernstig arbeidsongeval voor arbeiders en bedienden daalde niet en is nog hoger dan in 1980. In (naam provincie) stierven X werknemers op het werk en voor Y werknemers had een arbeidsongeval een blijvende arbeidsongeschiktheid tot gevolg (zie de cijfers van de provincie in bijlage 1).
Tegelijk faalt de overheidscontrole op onveilige arbeidsomstandigheden. Het aantal inspecteurs dat controles uitvoert in ondernemingen in België staat in 2018 op het laagste peil ooit, namelijk 124 (in 2004 waren er nog 165 inspecteurs). In (naam provincie) staan X inspecteurs in voor de controle van Y ondernemingen met in totaal Z werknemers. Een (naam provincie) onderneming wordt slechts om de XX jaar gecontroleerd . (zie de cijfers van de provincie in bijlage 2). De continue besparing op de inspectie welzijn op het werk heeft de grens van het toelaatbare al lang overschreden.
Het ACV is ook bijzonder misnoegd over het jaarlijks aantal arbeidsongevallen dat geweigerd wordt door de arbeidsongevallenverzekeraars. In 2016 werden in totaal 18.488 arbeidsongevallen geweigerd, maar liefst 11,5% van alle aangiften. Volgens de huidige wetgeving ziet het slachtoffer echter niet welke informatie wordt opgenomen in de aangifte van het arbeidsongeval. Daarom vraagt het ACV dringend een wetswijziging zodanig dat het slachtoffer onmiddellijk een kopie krijgt van de aangifte. Zo ontstaat de mogelijkheid om snel de aangifte aan te vullen of te corrigeren en kunnen weigeringen vermeden of rechtgezet worden.
Jean Louis Teheux
Conseiller – Service d’études
R. de Trèves 31 | 1040 Bruxelles
T 02 285 02 36 | GSM 0478 40 04 46bwi
jteheux@acv-csc.be | www.cscbie.be
Building and Wood Worker’s International
The AFL-CIO has released the annual (2018) Death on the Job report was released . https://aflcio.org/dotj The press release is below.
A social media kit with infographics to accompany the report can be accessed here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carolyn Bobb, 202-637-5018 or cbobb@aflcio.org
“A National Crisis”: New AFL-CIO Report Reveals 150 Daily U.S. Worker Deaths in 2016
View Report here: https://aflcio.org/dotj
(Washington, D.C., April 26, 2018) – According to a report released today by the AFL-CIO, 5,190 American workers died on the job in 2016, an increase from 4,836 deaths the previous year. Another estimated 50,000 to 60,000 died from occupational diseases, meaning approximately 150 workers died on the job each day from preventable, hazardous workplace conditions. Overall, the national job fatality rate increased to 3.6 per 100,000 workers from 3.4 in 2015.
“We deserve to walk out the front door in the morning knowing we’ll return home safe and healthy after a full day’s work,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (UMWA). “It’s a travesty that working people continue to lose their lives to corporate greed. The selfish and reckless decisions being made in boardrooms and in Washington are killing the very people who built this country. This is officially a national crisis, and it’s only getting worse.”
The report, titled “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect,” marks the 27th year the AFL-CIO has produced its findings on the state of safety and health protections for workers within the United States. The report shows the highest workplace fatality rates are in Wyoming (12.3 per 100,000 workers), Alaska (10.6), Montana (7.9), South Dakota (7.5) and North Dakota (7.0).
Startlingly, workplace violence is now the second-leading cause of workplace death, accounting for 866 workplace deaths, including 500 homicides. Yet, even as deadly violence increases in the workplace, the Trump administration has sidelined a proposed OSHA workplace violence standard.
Other report highlights show that the construction, transportation and agriculture industries remain among the most dangerous. In 2016, 991 construction workers were killed—the highest total of any sector. Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting was the most dangerous industry sector, with a fatality rate of 23.2 per 100,000 workers.
Despite these alarming findings, OSHA continues to face a desperate dearth of resources. Responsible for regulating 9 million workplaces, the agency’s 764 federal inspectors would need 158 years to visit each site just once. Yet, the administration has continued to enact an aggressive deregulatory agenda, gutting safety rules and proposing deep cuts to worker safety and health training.
In one case, the administration is considering rolling back MSHA’s coal dust rule, even as NIOSH is warning of the largest cluster of black lung in coal miners seen in years. More than 400 cases of advanced progressive massive fibrosis (PMF) were reported from just three Appalachian clinics from 2013 to 2017.