The David Walters International Health & Safety Symposium – “What about the workers?” –  Date: Wednesday 29th January 2020 – Venue: Cardiff University, School of Social Sciences: (A Free to Attend Event) 

Professor David Walters Director of the Cardiff University Work Environment Research Centre (CWERC), is an internationally renowned researcher and writer on various aspects of the work environment and strong supporter and advocate in the strengths and positive benefits of employee and trade union representation and consultation on health and safety, the politics of health and safety at work, regulating health and safety management, chemical risk management at work and health and safety at work in all types and sizes of companies. He is the editor of the international journal, Policy and Practice in Health and Safety, a member of the IOSH Research Committee and was Special Adviser, to the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee. He is highly respected across the UK and European Trade Union movement. David is due to retire shortly and to mark his retirement an International Health and Safety Symposium entitled “What about the workers?” has been announced in his honour with the event taking place at Cardiff University on Wednesday 29^th January 2020.

The event is free to attend, but places are limited so please register early! Please follow this link to reserve a place:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/what-about-the-workers-tickets-74405991323

For Further Information contact either:-

Emma Wadsworth Email: wadsworthej@cardiff.ac.uk

or

Phil James P.W.James@mdx.ac.uk

Event Programme

9.00 – 9.15

Welcome & Introduction

Speakers – Tom Hall, Head of School, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University,

Owen Tudor, Deputy General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation and

Peter Lahay, Coordinator, International Transport Workers’ Federation

 

9.15 – 9.45

Session 1 — The Extent of the Problem? Chair and Discussant Peter Lahay, International Transport Workers’ Federation

 

Research and the Struggle to Improve Working Conditions from a Trade Union Perspective

Speaker Laurent Vogel, Senior Researcher, Health and Safety, Working Conditions, European Trade Union Institute

 

9.45 – 10.15

The Scale and Costs of Work-Related Harm

Speaker Jukka Takala, Executive Director Emeritus, President, International Commission on Occupational Health

 

10.15 – 10:45

Securing Compliance with OHS Standards: What works and what needs to be done?

Speaker Steve Tombs, Professor of Criminology, Open University

 

10:45 – 11:00

Coffee

 

11.00 – 11:30

Session 2 — OHS, Supply Chains and the Changing Nature of Employment: Responses to the Changing World of Work – Chair and Discussant Susan Murray, Former Unite National H & S Adviser

OHS and SMEs: Challenges and Solutions

Speaker Felicity Lamm, Associate Professor of Employment Relations, Co-Director of the Occupational Health and Safety Research Centre, Auckland University of Technology

 

11.30 – 12.00

The Rise and Challenges of Precarity: What Should Be Done?

Speaker Michael Quinlan, Emeritus Professor, University of New South Wales

 

12.00 – 12:30

Supply chains and the Fragmentation of OHS management: Approaches to Reassert Coordinated Control

Speaker Richard Johnstone, Professor of Criminology, Queensland University of Technology

 

12.30 – 13.30

Lunch

 

13.30 – 14.00

Session 3 – Voice and Resistance: What Can Be Done? Chair and Discussant Victor Gekara, Associate Professor, School of Business, IT and Logistics, RMIT University

 

Can research help OHS activism? The LOARC contribution

Speaker Andy King, Researcher in Residence, McMaster University School of Labour and retired Department Leader, Health, Safety and Environment, United Steelworkers of America Canadian Office

 

14.00 – 14.30

Strategies to ensure voice and protection for the mobile workforce – an Example of Current Challenges for Organising around OHS

Speaker| Katherine Lippel, Professor, University of Ottawa, Canada Research Chair on Occupational Health and Safety Law

 

14.30 – 15.00

When protections don’t protect workers: Workers’ experiences with OHS reprisals and what can be done about them

Speaker Wayne Lewchuk, LIUNA Enrico Henry Mancinelli Professor in Global Labour Issues, McMaster University

 

15.00 – 15.30

Workers are the solution, not the problem

Speaker Bud Hudspith, Unite National H&S Adviser

 

15.30 – 15.45

Coffee

 

15.45 – 16.15

Session 4 – Lessons for Policy from Research and Practice: Towards More Effective Worker Protection

Chair and Discussant Kaj Frick, Adj. Professor Emeritus (in Human Work Science), Lulea University of Technology, Sweden

 

Exploring and closing the gap between OHS knowledge and practice

Speaker Lawrence Waterman, Chair of the Board of Trustees, British Safety Council

 

16.15 – 16.45

Transferring Research into Policy: Barriers and Facilitators

Speaker William Cockburn, Head of Prevention and Research Unit, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work

 

16.45 – 17.15

Session 5 – Concluding Reflections and Thoughts Chair and Discussant Owen Tudor, Deputy General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation

 

Worker Orientated OHS Research

Speakers Professor David Walters Director of the Cardiff University Work Environment Research Centre and Phil James, Professor of Employment Relations, Middlesex University

 

17.15 – 17.45

Final Thoughts and Ways Forward

Speaker Professor David Walters Director of the Cardiff University Work Environment Research Centre

 

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

19LTB641 The David Walters International Health & Safety Symposium – What about the workers

David Walters Symposium Programme and Location Details

 

 

Working Long Hours Brings Risk of Stroke Report Published
(Things People Can Do To Reduce The Risk Of Stroke)

Working long hours has been linked to an increased risk of stroke in a recently published report.

Researchers, from Angers University and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, looked at data on age, smoking and working hours from a population study of more than 143,000 adults.

Long hours was defined in the French study as more than 10 hours on at least 50 days a year. Just under a third worked long hours, with 10% working long hours for 10 years or more.  People who worked long hours for more than a decade were at the greatest risk of stroke, the researchers concluded.

Overall, 1,224 of those in the study had had a stroke. But the UK’s Stroke Association Charity said there were lots of things people could do to counteract the effects of long hours, like exercising and eating well.

The research, published in the American Heart Association’s journal ‘Stroke’, said people working long hours had a 29% greater risk of stroke, and those doing so for 10 years or more had a 45% greater risk.

Part-time workers and those who suffered strokes before working long hours were excluded from the study.

Dr. Alexis Descatha, who led the research stated that the association between 10 years of long work hours and stroke seemed stronger for people under the age of 50. This was unexpected. Further research is needed to explore this finding.

This study looked at numbers, rather than reasons, but other research has found people who run their own businesses, chief executives and managers seem less affected by long hours — as opposed to those working irregular shifts and nights, or who have job-related stress.

Things People Can Do To Reduce The Risk Of Stroke 

Dr. Richard Francis, head of research at the Stroke Association Charity stated that there are lots of simple things people can do to reduce the risk of a stroke, even if they work long hours:-

• Eating a healthy diet
• Finding the time to exercise
• Stopping smoking and
• Getting the recommended amount of sleep can and does make a big difference to people’s health.

Yours sincerely

 

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

19LTB640 Working Long Hours Brings Risk of Stroke Report Published

 

2019 Dispute Relating to Honouring & Deploying the Four Pillars of Security & Pay/Guiding Principles National Agreement between the CWU & RMG – Unagreed Recruitment of Additional Temporary, Agency and Casual Workers

The DGS(P) Department has been made aware of adverts that have been circulated throughout large parts of the country by a number of employment agencies. These relate to the recruitment of casual, agency and in some cases temporary workers on varying rates of pay and during the hours of around 11:00 – 19:00. The Union believes these actions are a clear breach of a number of our National Agreements and are currently seeking legal advice.

In addition a Sub Group has been established to monitor the situation and devise ways that these unilateral actions can be challenged using our agreed industrial processes.

I have also taken the step of writing to the Head Office of each of the Employment Agencies that are recruiting for these posts to remind them of their legal obligations during an official dispute and strike action. It is also important that Branches contact all employment agencies in the areas where such unagreed recruitment is taking place to remind them of the legalities around this matter.

Please see attached for the information of Branches a letter which I would encourage you to use as a template to approach local employment agencies.

Any enquiries in relation to the content of this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department.

Yours sincerely,

Terry Pullinger
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

19LTB639

Attachment to LTB 639-19