Neale's OHS Review

Neale Towart reviews the latest occupational health and safety news stories.

To comment on any of these articles, please visit out discussion forum Shoptalk.

Workplace Bullying: counting the costs

A Queensland government inquiry and much research have highlighted the incidence of workplace bullying and how it is underestimated. Personal and economic costs for employees, and the economic cost for employers through lost productivity and absenteeism, will continue to mount unless workplace bullying addressed, it says.

The Qld govt last year released the report of the Workplace Bullying Taskforce. Many workplaces seem to have a policy of dealing with harassment, but few appear to have a satisfactory method of recognising and dealing with bullying.

Research from Northern Europe has been influential in advancing the argument that bullying includes a string of behaviours, and not just single violent incidents.

Unions and employers can't agree on definitions with John Robertson of the Labor Council of NSW arguing, for example, that bullying can be physical, it can be language and it can be attitudes expressed in the workplace. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry disputes this "broad brush" approach.

The Qld report took in community views as well. It proposed two guiding principles:
1) the need to identify a pattern of behaviour (repetition)
2) whether the behaviour is of sufficient intensity to warrant being called bullying

The ACTU argues that more than 350,000 workers are subject to long term bullying. Its campaign information is at http://actu.labor.net.au/public/resources/bullying.html

(CPD Workplace Intelligence. February 2003)

Sacked for Absence With Morning Sickness

A severe dose of morning sickness can land you in hospital. To then lose your job for "abandonment of employment" is not a "fair go all round", according to the AIRC.

An employee became ill and subsequently found she was pregnant and suffering from a severe form of morning sickness called hyperemesis gravidarum. She was hospitalised for 10 days. Her employer dismissed her for being absent from work.

The AIRC also found that the employer had even connived to disadvantage her before giving her the sack. Her husband had informed the employer of the situation and of the fact of her having a medical certificate and she also seems to have informed her supervisor that she would be absent for some time.

The company still said that they had concluded she had abandoned her job and gave her a certain period in which to turn up or be sacked. Although the husband had left two messages the company still maintained she had abandoned he job. The AIRC said the company's actions flew in the face of procedural fairness.
Sunita Kore v Ipex ITG Pty Ltd AIRC (Tolley C) (PR926555) 10 January 2003

(CCH Work Alert; issue 2, February 2003)

Smoking Bans the Only Protection

The report "Promoting a Tobacco Free Society" is the result of a five month investigation to determine the degree of international consensus about the risks of workplace passive smoking. The report considered academic papers from around the world on the issue. Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke cannot be adequately controlled with current ventilation technologies.

(Occupational Health and Safety Bulletin. Vol. 12, no. 257, 13 February 2003)

Losing the War on Cancer

A report from the Cancer Prevention Coalition (CPC) says Americans face increasing cancer risks from occupational and environmental exposure to industrial carcinogens, but established government and non-profit cancer organisations are fixated on treatment rather than prevention.

"This report makes it clear that we are losing the war against cancer," said Dr Samuel Epstein, CPC chair and author of the 'Stop Cancer Before It Starts campaign: How to win the losing war against cancer.' He said the usual approach tended to "blame the victim" for contracting cancer, rather than explore the environmental causation that could be responsible for their illness.

The Cancer Prevention Coalition report calls on states to enact toxics use reduction laws similar to that passed in 1989 by Massachusetts. The Massachusetts law requires statewide industries to disclose the chemicals they use, and since its passage the state's environmental emissions decreased by 73 per cent. "This could set the stage for phasing out harmful carcinogens," Epstein said.

ENS news
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2003/2003-02-20-11.asp

Cancer Prevention Coalition - campaign details and full report.
http://www.preventcancer.com/

Reporters' Handbook for Safe Journalism

A survival guide for journalists is published online and gives detailed information on first aid techniques, risk awareness strategies and the quality of equipment journalists need to keep safe while in the field.

"Today there's talk of war and concern about the dangers facing correspondents in the frontline, but journalists and media staff are often at risk from the moment they leave the office," said Christopher Warren, president of IFJ, the global journalists' union.

The guide provides information to help media staff covering conflict or in hostile environments at home. "Safety in journalism is not just about keeping our heads down when bullets start flying," said Warren. "We have to change the culture of news gathering to put safety first. In so doing we will improve immeasurably the quality of media workers' lives and the quality of journalism itself."

The guide also highlights the International News Safety Institute, a global coalition of media organisations, journalists, media staff and press freedom groups, to be launched on 3 May this year - World Press Freedom Day.

http://www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/tuc-6314-f0.cfm#i5

IFJ news release and survival guide http://www.ifj.org/hrights/safecontents.html

New Finnish Occupational Safety Law in Force

A new occupational safety law which took effect in Finland on 1 January 2003 clarifies the responsibilities of employers. Under the new law, employers are obliged to apply safety management methods in all of their operations, including planning and organising work.

Besides construction sites, the definition of a common workplace has been extended to include such places as industrial halls and shopping centres. The new law also obliges employers to arrange relevant monitoring of workloads and the endurance of employees. Employers are responsible for matching human resources with the volume of work.

The Finnish government has also created a programme seeking a steady fall in the number and seriousness of occupational accidents (Prioritising occupational safety - occupational accident prevention programme 2001-2005). This programme consists of tightly focused research and training at both national and enterprise level.

http://www.sak.fi/englanti/new_news.shtml?3022

http://www.artto.kaapeli.fi/unions/T2003/g04

Drugs and Alcohol Management and Testing Standards in Australian Workplaces: avoiding that "morning-after" feeling

Drug and alcohol testing is on the rise in Australia and the interest in it is increasing. However, the use of various technologies appears to have outstripped legal protections for employees and employers alike. There is a need to ensure that the testing that is undertaken - whether on site or in the laboratory - conforms and can be proven to conform to the highest possible standard of accuracy and reliability; there needs to be a more transparent system for knowing that laboratories are properly accredited.

Moreover, drug and alcohol policies need to ensure that employee rights are protected, that processes and procedures are fair and transparent and are developed in a way that is both representative and consultative. The consequences of not doing could well leave us with a massive morning after feeling.

ACIRRT Working Paper no. 81.
http://www.acirrt.com
Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training, University of Sydney

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Last modified: Tuesday, 15-Nov-2005 20:37:38 EST