10 March 2021 – 6.00-7.00pm on Zoom

An important meeting to discuss what actions we should be taking in our trade unions to end the occupational causes of breast cancer.  This is a joint meeting with TUC Health and Safety to formulate an action plan to take joint action to protect women at work.

Sign up here

How do we make sure our employers are controlling all the risks of Covid-19 infection in our workplaces?

Join Zero Covid and the Hazards Campaign to hear from speakers from across the labour movement on the fight for safe workplaces.
We will discuss what workers can do to pressure their employers over safety measures and the key demands we need to be making on the UK Government on issues like sick pay and PPE. After we have heard from the speakers there will be time for open discussion.

Chair

Sarah Woolley,  Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), General Secretary

Speakers

• Tracy Edwards, Public & Commercial Services Union (PCS) National Health and Safety Officer
• Ameen Hadi, Salford Unison
• Janet Newsham, Hazards Campaign
• Dr Emma Runswick, Zero Covid

Register on Action Network: rebrand.ly/unsafe-work
1 March 2021- 8pm-9.30pm
Contact  info@zerocovid.uk

Accessibility guide

We want the event to be as accessible as possible. The meeting will be conducted using Zoom. You will find help and support for Zoom here: https://support.zoom.us. If you are unfamiliar with Zoom we recommend you try it out in advance of the meeting.

If you find multiple images of different people a problem, ensure you have Zoom in “speaker view” which will only show the person speaking.

Within the Zoom app, under settings, there is an “accessibility” section which you can configure in advance of the meeting. This is particularly important if you are using a screen reader, as it enables you to configure what the reader will pick up and what it will ignore.

Automated Closed Captions and Live Transcript will be enabled in the plenary sessions of the meeting but we are unable to provide them in breakout groups. Zoom’s built-in subtitles are visible by default. You can hide them or access them as a full transcript by clicking on the “CC Live Transcript” button within the zoom meeting.

On some devices this button may only be visible after you click on “… More”. On an iPad look under “Meeting Settings”. Alternatively a better quality automated transcript will be available by clicking on the “Live” button within the Zoom meeting and opening the custom livestream.

Zoom Chat can be distracting and a barrier to accessibility for some disabled people. Zoom currently has no option for users to choose to fully hide it, so chat for participants will be disabled and it will be used only for announcements from the hosts. However, the chat is useful to increase participation for many attendees, so a separate ‘debate page’ will be provided where people can post comments, questions, announcements etc.

If you have any other accessibility needs please contact info@zerocovid.uk as soon as possible so that we can discuss how to facilitate your participation.

Sarah Newton Chair of HSE Board and Sarah Albon CEO
Health and Safety Executive
Redgrave Court
Merton Road
Bootle
Merseyside
L20 7HS

15 February 2021

Dear Sarah Newton, Sarah Albon,

The Hazards Campaign is extremely concerned about the HSE’s response to the COVID pandemic in the workplace generally, and more specifically about recent published revelations that the HSE designated Covid-19 not as a ‘serious’ workplace risk but rather as a ‘significant’ risk.

Employment Minister Mims Davies said last week that Covid had been classified as a “significant” rather than “serious” risk as this best supports inspectors making “sensible, proportionate” decisions.  The Minister also described Covid-19 as having effects on workers generally that were “non-permanent” and “temporary”. ¹

The Hazards Campaign find it odd how a disease that is ‘highly contagious’, the consequences of becoming infected are, in the words of the Prime Minister, ‘deadly’, which can leave infected workers with long-term life-changing and life-shortening ill health, leads to thousands of deaths, thousands of sick days and disabilities, can be classified as ‘not serious’ just a ‘significant workplace risk’. We do not recognise Covid-19 as described by Employment Minister Mims Davies, as having  effects on workers generally that were “non-permanent” and “temporary”.

A disease that is prevalent in our communities cannot be described as anything but a significant risk, and given the role of workplaces in spreading the infection, we believe it must be regarded as a ‘Serious workplace risk’. The thousands of known workplace outbreaks which have led to the deaths and infection of workers, their families and consequently spread to people in their communities, supports such a demand for extra action at work.

Specific questions we would like answered

Please provide details as to:

1. How was the decision to downgrade Covid -19 from ‘Serious’ to ‘Significant’ workplace risk made?
2. Who made the decision – which individuals/group(s) of people?
3. What are the qualifications/experience of the people who made the decision?
4. Based on what specific scientific and occupational health data was the decision made?
5. Was government advice/guidance sought or given?
6. What specific differences does a classification of ‘Significant’ as opposed to ‘Serious workplace risk’ have on the way the HSE regulates and enforces health and safety law and COVID guidance in workplaces?
7. What role did economic/financial issues play in this decision as regards HSE’s operational work and  the effects on the businesses it regulates?
8. Employment Minister Mims Davies described Covid-19 as having effects on workers generally that were “non-permanent” and “temporary”.  If the HSE provided this information to the Employment Minister can you provide the data to support this assertion?

As a major Health and Safety organisation the Hazards Campaign requests an immediate review and resolution of this absurd situation.  Employers look to the HSE to provide a lead in the advice they provide on safe and healthy work activities and this decision provides an excuse for bad employers not put in place preventative mitigations of the risks.

As an organisation Hazards Campaign is contacted daily for advice and support  by frightened and anxious workers being exposed to infection risks because their employer is failing to control them.  We feel that this mixed messaging from the HSE is contributing to these failures.  At this time we need strong enforcement not excuses being made available to employers by the inaction and seemingly collaboration with weakened enforcement by reducing the standards of employers legal duties.

We also call on the HSE to be more transparent on workplace outbreaks, so that workers can be informed properly about where the risks are in their workplaces, including the transmission risks and how their employers are mitigating against those risks.

We will all be judged how we have responded to the pandemic.  This is a time when the HSE needs to take a lead in providing strong messages about the duties on employers to ensure the mental and physical health of workers.

Yours Sincerely,

Janet Newsham

On behalf of the UK Hazards Campaign
c/o GMHC, Windrush Millennium Centre
70 Alexandra Rd.,
Manchester
M16 7WD
janet@gmhazards.org.uk
Tel: 07734 317158
www.hazardscampaign.org.uk

1. Government’s admission Covid is not categorised as a ‘serious’ workplace risk is ‘beyond belief’ | Morning Star (morningstaronline.co.uk) https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/decision-against-classifying-covid-serious-workplace-risk-has-endangered-public

The Hazards Campaign is collecting information about what employers are doing to improve ventilation at work.

Please share the link below and encourage as many people as possible to complete it.

The survey can be found at: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/52HNK5H

There are only six questions so it should only take a couple of minutes to complete.  Thank you

Hazards Campaign Thursday Talk – 4 February 2021
Precaution, prevention and controlling the risks

Please find below  the recording of the Thursday Talk on YouTube, plus two links to the presentation notes. Thank you for your contributions and interest.

Please let the Hazards Campaign know if you have any comments or suggestions for future events.

Presentation 1, Janet Newsham:
Precaution, Prevention and Controlling the Risks

Presentation 2, Hilda Palmer:
Ventilation, vaccine and variants

Greater Manchester Hazards Centre
70 Alexandra Road,
Manchester
M16 7WD
Tel: 07734 317 158
Email janet@gmhazards.org.uk
Web: www.hazardscampaign.org.uk 

Hazards Campaign Thursday Talk – Precaution, Prevention and Controlling the Risks

Thursday 4th February 6-7pm
Register here to get your link to the event

Join our discussion and listen to presentations about the precautionary approach to occupational health and safety and what employers should be doing to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in our workplaces.

Background resources

• TUC webinar on ventilation
• Hands. Face. Space won’t cut it! Ventilation. Ventilation. Ventilation! – presentation slides on good workplace ventilation  from Hilda Palmer, Hazards Campaign
• Is two metre physical distancing enough? Aerosol transmission and other emerging issues – video and resources from the Hazards campaign.
• Covid transmission and Killer Workplaces – Reel News film with Hazards Campaign.

Employers and Government have signally failed to deal with Covid 19 transmission risks with the disease running rampant through UK workplaces. The Hazards Campaign Thursday talk on 21 January 2021 Picking up the Threads! explored and discussed measures safety reps, unions and activists can take to protect workers. Below can view a recording of the event and see a selection of the supporting resources posted to the Zoom chat.

Resources listed in the Talk’s Zoom Chat

90% of retail workers suffered abuse at work last year, union finds   https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/90-of-retail-workers-suffered-abuse-at-work-last-year-union-finds

Phil Taylor Homeworking survey: https://wfh-survey.uk/

For 28 April, ITUC has named the campaign for health and safety to be recognised by ILO as a ‘fundamental right at work’. Our related briefing uses Covid-19 to illustrate the reasons why. https://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/ituc_campaign_brief_osh_en.pdf

VENTING | Coronavirus risks are mostly up in the air – Hazards magazine https://www.hazards.org/infections/venting.htm 

Reel News Coronavirus Killer Workplaces  https://reelnews.co.uk/2020/11/04/coronavirus/covid-transmission-and-killer-workplaces/

Hazards Campaign Thursday talk. Where are the sirens? Can the tsunami of work clusters be stopped? Hazards Campaign http://www.hazardscampaign.org.uk/blog/hazards-campaign-thursday-talk-where-are-the-sirens-can-the-tsunami-of-work-clusters-be-stopped

Teacher Covid rates up to 333% above average https://www.tes.com/news/exclusive-coronavirus-schools-teacher-covid-rates-333-above-average

Comment: “I’m extrapolating from the post infection immunity to vaccine immunity, which may not be reliable. However it is not a naspharyngeal vaccine, so it isn’t too big a reach. Here is the related paper/ Do antibody positive healthcare workers have lower SARS-CoV-2 infection rates than antibody negative healthcare workers? Large multi-centre prospective cohort study (the SIREN study), England: June to November 2020

TUC Risks story on the BFAWU award – Union wins ‘unsung hero’ award for Covid fight

BSI Standards for Face Coverings 

Further details and support

Supporting our work
If you would like to get involved in the work of the Hazards Campaign and/or would like to donate. Then please send an email and/or any donations to Hazards Campaign c/o:
info@hazardscampaign.org.uk

Account Greater Manchester Hazards Centre Ltd
Sort Code 60 83 01
Account Number 20090443
Ref Name/organisation
Or by cheque to Hazards Campaign c/o Janet Newsham
177 Watling Street Road, Fulwood, Preston PR2 8AE

For more information
janet@gmhazards.org.uk
07734 317 158

The TUC webinar ‘Managing ventilation as a Covid safety measure’, 27 January 2021, attracted over a thousand attendees.  The Hazards Campaign’s Hilda Palmer addressed the seminar. You can find HIlda’s updated explanatory notes here, jump to the beginning of her presentation here.

Below you can view the YouTube recording of the whole seminar.

Resources from the seminar

• Ventilation – presentation slides from Kirsty Storer-Cottrell, HM Principal Inspector of Health and Safety at Health and Safety Executive
• Hands. Face. Space won’t cut it! Ventilation. Ventilation. Ventilation! – presentation slides on good workplace ventilation  from Hilda Palmer, Hazards Campaign
• Is two metre physical distancing enough? Aerosol transmission and other emerging issues – video and resources from Hazards campaign.
• Covid transmission and Killer Workplaces – Reel News film with Hazards Campaign.
• Ventilation and air conditioning during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic – guidance from HSE.
• TUC Covid guidance updated Jan 2021 – includes a note on ventilation:
• BBC Radio 4 The Life Scientific – Cath Noakes on making buildings Covid-safe

Hilda’s presentation can be viewed here: