Hazards Campaign 2008 report

This year the conference is held on the Keele University campus, near Stoke-on-Trent.

I arrived here in the pouring rain but soon found the Atmosphere was very good from the delegates. It really is good to meet up with friends from previous conferences and to making new friends at this one. Tonight’s session entitled Drama on Death at Work kicked off the conference at 7.30pm followed by a video/dvd showing the following

Mesothelioma

Simon Jones Campaign

Workers Memorials

This concludes the first day at around 10pm

Saturday starts at 9am with the Formal plenary in the main theatre

I’m looking forward to the following Campaign The Black approach – the way for occupational health? By Professor Andy Watterson (Sterling University) & our very own Doug Russell (head of H&S USDAW)

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Saturday 19/07/08

Busy day.

Started at 7am with breakfast

9am, Formal plenary in main theatre

10am – 11am Coffee break

11am -1pm 1^st Workshop session

1pm – 2.30pm Dinner

2.30pm – 4pm Campaign Debates

4pm -4.30 Coffee break

4.30pm – 6pm Fringe & Information meetings

7.30pm Dinner, Social/Bar/Music.

Speakers at the plenary included;

Karen Messing (Gender & Work Technical Committee, International Ergonomics Association)

Gave a take on women’s musculoskeletal problems in Québec, Canada.

Gave a great talk on the above subject with some quick witted remarks thrown in. Plenty of facts and figures to prove just how so-called company eggheads where getting there facts wrong.

Mike Ironside UCU Keele
Talked about Keele University, how and why it was formed. To give the working glass a better education back in the 1950/60’s. And why today they are getting rid of 35/40 lecturers himself included and asking for the support of delegates to sign the partition…….which was dually done.

Andy Turner ROHAS/Hazards Campaign

His talk was about accidents fatal and non-fatal, what the government said it had done and what the facts shown it had done. Startling evidence that when a government of any political persuasion bend the facts to suit themselves, i.e. government state that their was 141 works accidental deaths when the true figure was 369. They omitted casual workers, emigrants workers and students!

Shocking was the following facts;

1500 – 1700 workers killed each year due to works accidents where companies

50,000 work related accidents, this figure included non-employees. i.e. Customers having slips, strips and falls, etc.

Michael Lees. Gives talks on Mesothelioma (Asbestos Cancer)

His wife a teacher died 7yrs ago due to breathing asbestos dust in the classrooms of the 25 schools she taught in during her career.

How that government, local and national had so called experts to say the asbestos did not cause cancer! And how they then put a plan to get rid of the asbestos which has yet to be completed.

My 1st Workshop was Fire Safety.

This was more of a question/answer which allowed the speaker Andy Glass from the Brigade to elaborate on the answer bringing in fact above how the government and LA’s (local authorities) are going to spend 9.2 million setting up a task force of private companies and 9.0million to run it JUST in case the Brigade go on strike as they do not have any army, navel or air force personal as they are away fighting.

If they would only spend the money on the Fire Brigades you would not have a possibility of them going out on strike!