May

Deaths at Moroccan concert

Eleven people have been crushed to death after a fence gave way at a concert in Morocco. It is reported to have happened as thousands of people rushed to exit gates at the end of the performance in Rabat by the singer Abdeliziz Stati at the Mawazine world music festival that takes place over more than nine days. It is reported that a wire fence collapsed in a stadium where over 70,000 spectators were gathered.

Prior to the incident there were some minor crowd safety problems at this gathering but no one was injured. Around 30 people are said to have been hurt in the incident on May 24th. The Mawazine festival is one of the biggest cultural annual events in Morocco. It features artists from home and abroad and attracts tens of thousand of people every year.

Arab singers that participated in the festival included Kathem AlSaher, Najwa Karam, Wardah, Melhem Barakat and Hussein AlJasmi, just to name a few. This year, Kylie Minogue, Khaled, Alicia Keys and Steve Wonder were among the International participants.

Police call for biker festival cancellation is rejected

A police force's opposition to an annual biker festival marred by the fatal shooting of a Hells Angel two years ago has been rejected. Gerry Tobin was shot dead on the M40 as he returned home from the Bulldog Bash in Warwickshire in August 2007.

Festival organisers feared the police objection could prevent this year's event going ahead. But they said a bid by Warwickshire Police to scrap it had been rejected by Stratford-upon-Avon district council.

In November, seven members of rival biker gang The Outlaws were given life sentences for the murder of Mr Tobin, from Mottingham, south east London. Festival organisers said the police's objection did not provide enough evidence to overturn the authority's decision last year to extend the event's licence until 2018.

In a statement the organisers said: "The Bulldog organisers are justifiably pleased with the announcement and now hope to work with police to ensure the safety and success of this year's show." Warwickshire Police had called for a review of the event's license because of concerns about "rising levels of violence between criminal members of motorcycle gangs".

Research shows insight into firms' attitude to health and safety

Research from the Forum of Private Businesses (FPB) has shown that a quarter of businesses currently fear prosecution by the HSE, although more than half of respondents (56%) said they try to comply with health and safety laws in order to improve safety for their staff.

The FPB's research also shows that small business owners spend, on average, 14 hours per month filling in forms specifically relating to health and safety. In the survey, 37% of respondents said they believe complying with health and safety legislation is important in order to improve working practices and procedures, and a fifth (19%) for peace of mind that their insurance policies are valid.

According to the FPB, many businesses also fear that time and costs spent on health and safety will go up from next month following the launch of the HSE’s new workplace strategy. The HSE's new strategy is being published on 3 June 2009. It will insist that business owners and employees work together more closely on improving health and safety and risk assessment and will urge business owners struggling to remain competitive in the economic downturn not to cut corners on health and safety.

New survey shows recession effects on health and safety

Results of a new survey from the British Safety Council (BSC) have suggested that the recession is having a significant effect on health and safety in the workplace, which could put lives at risk. Results have revealed that one in ten workers is fearful of raising concerns about health and safety issues in the current economic climate and one in 12 workers feels under pressure from their boss to take risks with people’s safety in order to save money.

The survey also showed that while the majority of workers (70%) feel more inclined to be productive in an environment where their employer is attentive to their health, safety and wellbeing, just over half of bosses (59%) now think that a proactive approach to health and safety enhances the bottom line, compared to 72% in 2007.

The survey shows a noticeable improvement in workers’ perceptions of their own safety since opinion was first measured in 2007. The proportion who feel ‘very safe’ has increased, from 57% to 71%, while the proportion that do not feel safe has dropped from 7% to 4%. Overall, 96% of employees now feel safe at work, with 98% of bosses believing their workplace to be safe. Additionally, half of UK businesses making cutbacks this year say that bosses’ bonuses will be the first to go before health and safety management.

The BSC results also revealed some employer knowledge gaps. While 95% of bosses said they were confident about what they were legally required to do to make their workplace safe, a quarter of them were not aware of the three main pieces of safety legislation and advice – the Health and Safety (Offences) Act, the Corporate Manslaughter Act and the Institute of Directors’ ‘Guidance for Directors’.

Launching the survey, Brian Nimick, Chief Executive of the British Safety Council, said: “No one should have to work in a situation where they fear for their safety because of unsafe practices. There needs to be a clearly defined ‘safe to work’ covenant between workers and bosses if we are to make the workplace in the UK and elsewhere as safe as possible.

“Even in the current challenging financial climate facing industry, now is not the time to make health and safety costs a casualty of cutbacks.”

IOSH calls on Government to make Britain safer

At the launch of its new manifesto – ‘Creating a healthier UK plc’ – at the House of Lords, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) laid down a series of challenges to government and other bodies on what it believes is needed to make the UK a healthier and safer place to work.

The manifesto highlights what IOSH sees as the ‘Big Four’ challenges facing the workplace. These are:

• Getting better health through better work;
• Creating a ‘risk intelligent’ society;
• Help for small firms in managing risk; and
• Help for people to get the best health and safety advice.

IOSH Chief Executive, Rob Strange OBE, commented: “Our manifesto is both a clear statement of intent and a call to action. It presents what we believe needs to happen to make the UK a healthy and safe place to work. Last year we saw 229 workers killed in Britain’s workplaces, 299,000 more were injured and in excess of two million had an illness they put down to their work. To make consistent improvements on these figures, all of them personal crises, we call on the Government and others to really get behind the initiatives set out in the manifesto.”

Highlighting some of the issues presented, Strange said: “Health and safety is a true friend to business, but there’s still a long way to go to convince some employers of this. We need to press on with making the workplace healthier. The fact is it makes economic, as well as moral, sense to do so because ill health is affecting millions of people and costing this country billions of pounds each year.

“So while we need to look at tackling the causes of ill health, we also must stop writing people off just because they’re not in absolute, tip-top shape. Not being 100% fit doesn’t stop people doing important work; employers just have to be prepared to make reasonable adjustments. We know that good work is good for health and on the other hand, that long-term worklessness can bring health risks.”

Strange said that getting young people up to speed on health and safety, and ensuring all firms had access to competent health and safety advice, were also critical to improving the UK’s health and safety record, commenting, “We need more schools and colleges to start teaching health and safety awareness in the curriculum.”

IOSH is now commissioning new research into health issues and training for non-English speakers.

Minimum wage set to increase

The Government has announced that, from 1 October 2009, the adult minimum wage rate will increase from £5.73 to £5.80 an hour. At the same time the Youth Development Rate will rise from £4.77 to £4.83 an hour and the minimum wage for 16-17 year olds will increase from £3.53 to £3.57 an hour.

The Chairman of the Low Pay Commission, George Bain, said: "These are very challenging times for the UK and unprecedented economic circumstances for the minimum wage. We believe that the Low Pay Commission's recommendations are appropriate for this economic climate. They reflect the need to protect low-paid workers' jobs as well as their earnings.

"This was a difficult year for the Commission but our evidence-based approach led to another unanimous Report. I am delighted that the Government has again accepted our recommendations on the rates this year.

"The Commission made a number of other recommendations in its Report, including on apprentice pay and enforcement. We believe there is a strong case for paying apprentices an apprentice minimum wage under the National Minimum Wage framework. We look forward to hearing the Government's position on apprentice pay in our remit for the 2010 Report.

"Finally, we are pleased that the Government has now accepted our recommendation that 21 year olds should be entitled to the adult rate of the minimum wage. We have long believed that 21 was the appropriate age from which the adult rate should apply."

Business groups such as the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) had earlier this year argued for a freeze on minimum wage increases to protect jobs and businesses during the recession.

David Frost, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), commented on the increase: “We pressed for a freeze to the minimum wage because of the severity of the downturn and the daily loss of jobs. We are pleased that the increase is only a modest one, and it shows that the Low Pay Commission and the Government have largely understood the seriousness of the situation. However, a freeze in the NMW would have been more help to business.”

Work too hot to handle

With our summers predicted to get gradually hotter and drier over the coming years, UK factories and offices will become increasingly uncomfortable and potentially hazardous places to work, the TUC has warned today as it calls for the introduction of a new upper limit on workplace temperature.

In a report out today, the TUC says that although employees are not expected to work when the temperature drops below 16°C (or 13°C if they are doing physically demanding work), there are no similar restrictions for when the workplace becomes too hot.

And with long range weather forecasts suggesting a long, hot summer is on the way, the TUC would like to see the law changed so that employers are forced to act when the temperature inside hits 24°C, and that staff could be sent home and their employers prosecuted if it reaches 30°C (or 27°C for those engaged in physically demanding work).

When the temperature is too high at work, employees can suffer heat rashes, headaches, dizzy spells, fainting and heat cramps, says the report. Stifling hot working conditions also affect concentration, making workers feel tired and as a result are more likely to endanger their own or their colleagues' safety.

Although UK safety laws require employers to provide safe, risk-free environments for their staff to work in, the absence of a maximum temperature in which people can work, means employees frequently work in places where it is too hot to safely do so, says the TUC.

TUC General Secretary, Brendan Barber, said: “Even when the summers are bad, as last year's was, the temperature in some workplaces can be unbearable for employees and potentially dangerous in others. No one is expected to work in sub-zero temperatures but overheated employees are meant to carry on regardless of how high the office temperature soars. We need to see action now, before the impact of climate change is felt and our summers become hotter than ever.”

A recent TUC survey showed that even when the summers are not particularly great, many employees have to work in very hot conditions, particularly where they work in buildings with lots of windows. Ninety-four per cent of respondents said their workplaces had been too hot to work in last summer, and four in ten said they regularly worked in unbearably hot conditions.

Fatal accidents raise health and safety issues

Calls for a vastly increased awareness of health and safety issues in the live industry have been amplified by two fatal accidents last summer. Two riggers were killed at the Vicente Calderón stadium in Madrid on 29 June when three people dismantling the stage after a Rolling Stones concert, fell 33ft from a metal structure, landing on a fourth. Benno Goldewijk, employed by Belgian company Stageco, and local crewmember Alfredo Pecina Matias died and Jorge Jose Metias was critically injured.

Tom Bilsen of Stageco said, “Benno worked for the Company as a sub-contractor on the Rolling Stones 2007 tour. He was quite experienced as a scaffolding/stage builder in the Netherlands, where he had worked for multiple companies over the last ten years.” Bilsen was unable to add any more information regarding the cause of the accident as the police and local authority investigation is still ongoing.

It is reported that the three workers were tethered to scaffolding and came down with it. The fourth was working on another section. All were wearing protective gear, according to El País.

Just three weeks later, Neil ‘Nelly’ Bates died as a result of a fall at Bray Studios in Windsor, UK. The fatality occurred whilst working on the 21 July load-out following The Cure’s pre-tour production rehearsals.

Following the incident, The Cure issued the following official statement: "The Cure is extremely shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic incident involving Neil Bates. The band’s deepest sympathies go out to all his family and friends."

Gavin Ball of Great Britain’s Health and Safety Executive told us that they had initially been called in to investigate the causes of the rigger’s death, but have now passed it on to the Windsor and Maidenhead local authority. Bray’s general manager, Nathan Hendricks, said, “The investigation goes on, so we cannot say too much, but we are not being held responsible. It appears that he fell without a harness. It is very unfortunate, but we are continuing with business as usual.”

Whatever the outcome of these investigations, whoever, if anyone, is held responsible, the fact that they happened at all will emphasise the enforcement of health and safety regulations, and further moves to add health and safety experts to touring crews. Andy Lenthall of the UK Production Services Authority (PSA) commented, “We have the Work At Height Regulations 2005 already. It’s complying with the law that counts. What we need is the culture – which seems to be sadly lacking!”

Company fined for lighting rig accident

An events company has been fined £2000 after a "makeshift" lighting rig fell on the buggy of a baby girl and her older brother at a children's music concert. Health and safety experts yesterday said it was "sheer luck" that neither of the children was killed during the accident at Portobello Town Hall in June 2007.

The lighting rig struck the buggy, knocked it over and injured the baby girl strapped in side and her brother nearby.

The Blue Parrot Events Company, based in East Kilbride, was fined at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after pleading guilty to a charge under the Work at Height Regulations, which states that employers have a duty to prevent the fall of objects under their supervision. Police, paramedics and firefighters were called to the town hall on June 24, 2007 at about 3.40pm after the 4ft lighting rig landed on the four-month-old girl's buggy.

Along with her five-year-old brother and a group of other children, they had been watching a concert. The buggy broke the fall of the lighting rig, but the girl suffered a cut to her right eye and was immediately taken to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children for treatment.

Brian Cope, director of the Portobello Music School, who wrote the songs for the concert, said at the time: "It was after the show when people were starting to leave. I just heard the commotion and went over to see what was happening.

"My wife went to the hospital and stayed with the family until they knew the children were all right. The little girl has a cut to her right eye – her buggy broke the fall of the lighting rig. The little boy, who is a member of the music pre-school, was not touched but went to hospital because everyone was in shock."

More than 400 people were at the town hall at the time, many of whom described hearing a scream as the rig fell from the balcony on to the children below.

Investigations revealed that the company's light stands were placed close to the balcony edge with no method of fixing them in place, leaving them liable to fall into the auditorium.

Inspector Peter Dodd, of the Health and Safety Executive, spoke yesterday after the court case.

"Thankfully the injuries to the children were minor, however, it was just sheer luck that no-one was killed," he said. "The arrangement for the lighting at the children's show in Portobello was makeshift and the problems should have been anticipated.

"If an adequate risk assessment had been conducted, this would have highlighted any potential problems and this incident could so easily have been avoided."

Working Time Directive talks break down

Talks on the EU Working Time Directive have broken down without agreement being reached. The collapse sees the end of the European Parliament's proposal to phase out the opt-out in three years. The UK and other countries have consistently held firm against this proposal.

A conciliation meeting in Brussels between the Member States, European Parliament and the European Commission was unable to resolve the long-standing differences between the European Parliament and member states over whether to retain the opt-out or not. With the deadline for reaching an agreement rapidly approaching, and the differences between the parties too great, it was agreed there was no value in continuing the negotiations any further.

Employment Relations Minister, Pat McFadden, said: "We refused to be pushed into a bad deal for Britain. We have said consistently that we will not give up the opt-out and we have delivered on that pledge.

"Everyone has the right to basic protections surrounding the hours that they work, but it is also important that they have the right to choose those hours.

"In the UK and many other Member States, choice over working hours has operated successfully for many years. The current economic climate makes it more important than ever that people continue to have the right to put more money in their pockets by working longer hours if they choose to do so."

Commenting earlier this month on the lack of agreement to end the UK's opt-out of the working time directive, TUC General Secretary, Brendan Barber, said: “We are disappointed the UK is part of a minority of EU governments that continue to block progress towards ending our damaging long hours culture.

“The health hazards and lack of productivity caused by excessive working time are well proven. And with people being made redundant or reducing their hours, the business lobby's insistence that they still need long hours looks even more out of date.

“The TUC urges the Government to change its position and put an end to dangerous long hours working.”

The dossier in its current form will formally fall when the conciliation timetable reaches its conclusion in May. It will then be for the European Commission to decide how to proceed.

Unsafe vehicle loading highlighted

More than three-quarters of vehicles stopped during safety checks in England and Wales were not loaded safely – putting motorists and loading staff at risk.  Officials from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Vehicle Operator Services Agency (VOSA) stopped 40 vehicles during three days of checks in Wrexham, Birmingham and Humberside. Further checks are now planned due to the high proportion of unsafe vehicles indentified.

 Although the majority needed remedial action to make the load safe for onward travel and unloading, in most cases drivers were able to solve the problem safely within minutes.  During the last three years, 14 people have been killed and more than 2,000 people have been injured by cargo falling from vehicles when they are being loaded or unloaded.

 Marcia Davies, Head of Injury Reduction at HSE, said:  “A significant number of manual handling injuries, falls from heights and accidents caused by falling objects result from poorly restrained loads shifting in transit. HSE will be launching a campaign offering guidance and advice on loading and unloading later this year.”

 Jo Tanner, of the Freight Transport Association (FTA), added:  “Overloaded or badly loaded lorries can present a real health risk if they are not managed properly, both during unloading and while in transit. It is of major concern that people are still being killed by something that can be prevented so easily and we fully support the work of HSE and VOSA to help reduce future tragedies occurring.”