health and safety
Articles about health and safety, and struggles over health and safety in the workplace.
Coal Miners Killed in Methane Explosion.
Miners Claim that Mine Knew of Dangers and Covered them up.
Twelve people died in a methane explosion at Ruda Slaska-Kochlowice mine in Poland. Dozens of others were injured, some very seriously.
The "accident" again raises the issue of poor safety in Poland's mines, where making money often takes precedence over humand life.
Workers safer in green energy sector
A recent commentary - ‘Expansion of Renewable Energy Industries and Implications for Occupational Health’ - on the human costs of various methods of energy production says ‘green energies’ are less likely to result in death at work than fossil fuels.
Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (login required), Sumner & Layde note that considerations over the implementation of various energy types rarely take into account workplace safety.
Burnsall strike 1992 - European Counter Network
Report on a 1992 strike at a metal finishing company following a worker suffering miscarriage, after management refused her light duties.
Asian women at Burnsalls, a metal finishing company in Smethwick, have been on strike since June for better health and safety, equal pay, and union rights. Conditions in the factory were so bad that one worker suffered a miscarriage after her request to be transferred to lighter duties was refused by management.
Olympic Dream or Workers' Nightmare: An Inside Report on Health and Safety Conditions London 2012 Olympic Site
This report documents and critically analyses the working conditions of construction workers on the Stratford City development site of the 2012 Olympic Games. We base our findings entirely on the accounts of anonymous IWW and non-IWW construction workers employed there.
Sicilian bin workers on strike, Palermo drowned in rubbish
Fifty piles of rubbish were set on fire last night in Palermo and rubbish seem to drown the whole city. The city bin workers refuse to do extra hours work because they do not want to get on vehicles that do not abide by the security standards.
Ten days ago the refuse workers of Palermo decided to stop working extra hours because most of the vehicles used for rubbish collection do not abide by compulsory security standards. June wages are at risk but unions decided to keep on with the protest and be on "white strike" which means the strict respect of the security procedures.
Tube workers strike over safety equipment
Tube drivers on the Victoria line are staging a 24-hour strike in a row over door safety equipment. About 180 drivers on the Victoria Line stopped working from 9pm on Tuesday.
The RMT union claims trains need safety features to prevent doors from opening on the wrong side.
The industrial action is being taken by workers from the Seven Sisters depot in north London. The workers said the correct door-side enabling equipment was installed on all other lines on the London Underground.
Health and safety at work, an anarcho-syndicalist approach
This pamphlet is based on a course organised by North & East London Solidarity Federation called "Organising for Health and Safety" back in 1997. It was originally published in 2000. Some of the information regarding the law, may not be up to date, but it is still a good basic handbook for using Health & Safety as an organising tool.
Contents
- Introduction
- A collective approach
- Tackling health, safety & welfare
- Norwich Solidarity Centre
- Anarcho-syndicalism versus trade
unionism
The butcher shop: Hamtramck Hospital
Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement's attack on the racist practices of the hospital at the Hamtramck Chrysler factory.
(from DRUM Newsletter Number 21)
Migrant workers die in illegal 'housing'
Seven Tadzhik construction workers were killed yesterday in Moscow when a fire broke out in an underground parking garage where they were being illegally housed.
At least 20 other workers were caught in the blaze but were rescued.
Construction firms most often provide migrant workers with makeshift housing (such as containers or garages) in flagrant violate of health and safety regulations.
Doctors' strikes without borders
Medical doctors in Bangladesh, Nigeria and Yemen have walked out this week in rows over pay, conditions and safety.
The New Nation of Bangladesh reported that internee doctors in Barisal launched a wildcat strike on Saturday 3 January, issuing six demands.
Demands included improved safety for workers, better health and sanitation provision and a reduction in the number of visitors to the hospital.
