Life in the Fasting Lane

No, I didn't write that headline. Disneyland hotel workers began a water-only fast this week to protest what they describe as life-threatening safety issues on the job.

More than 2,000 bellmen, dishwashers, room attendants, and cooks at the Grand Californian Hotel say new work requirements have led to serious health problems among workers, including heart attack, stroke and musculoskeletal injuries.

Narciso Guevara, a houseman at the Grand Californian Hotel, who is particpating int he fast, said: "We’re fighting for our health. We need better, safer conditions on the job, healthcare we can afford, and even more importantly, we need the company to respect us."

I'm all for fighting for your rights - particularly where health and safety is concerned - but aren't they just harming their own health more?

Judge for yourselves - they're blogging - and they've called it Life in the Fasting Lane.

I told you I didn't write the headline.

H&S experts pan Cameron's latest crowd-pleaser

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Legal experts, safety bodies and unions have joined in questioning the substance behind Conservative leader David Cameron's planned campaign to end what he called the the "over-the top culture of health and safety and compensation".

IIRSM chair Keith Scott said he was disappointed the Conservatives had made no constructive suggestions for legal reform.

Talking to HSW magazine, he suggested there might be scope for consolidating some overlapping legislation while maintaining its impact, as in the case of the Fire Safety Order which replaced more than 100 older regulations, and pointed out that the planned review would tread the same ground as that carried out by the government's Better Regulation Executive in 2008.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber pointed out that none of the cases mentioned in Cameron's speech relate to health and safety regulation - he called them either distortions of the facts or misunderstandings.

"People expect political parties to develop policies based on facts, not on half-truths and myths culled from newspaper headlines," he added.

So, is it just another Cameron crowd-pleaser? Or do you think it is time the Health and Safety at Work Act was revised to lessen bureaucracy? Would it make your job easier? Tell us in the discussion forums.

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Classic? A classic trip hazard more like...

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Artist Eva Rothschild's 'scribble in space' sculpture - a thin, zig-zagging metal sculpture made up of 26 enormous triangles which visitors are invited to walk through - is currently being exhibited at the Tate Modern.

Not only is it far too modern (not to mention dull) for the space in which it stands - the rather grand Duveens - does it not also present a very obvious trip hazard to gallery visitors? See for yourself and tell us your views by clicking here.

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Workers are sick of Mondays...

It's Tuesday afternoon, and memories of getting up for work on a dark, miserable Monday morning are quickly fading (until next week, that is). Interesting stats published on http://www.healthandsafetyprofessional.co.uk/ today have revealed that workers are sick of Mondays, with one in three sick days taking place on the first day of the week. In addition, Mondays account for a startling 35 per cent of all sick days.

Human resource consultants Mercer looked at absence records for around 11,000 private sector workers and also found that MSDs account for nearly a quarter of all days lost to sickness.

To read HSP's analysis of the report, click here.

Clearly borrowing a pair of scissors is considered too cutting edge...

Here's another absurd "elf 'n' safety" story for you...

A woman working in a London library says she was refused the loan of a pair of scissors by an assistant because she "might stab a member of staff". Lorna Watts, 26, told the BBC: "I asked why I couldn't borrow a pair of scissors and she said, 'they are sharp, you might stab me'.

"I then asked to borrow a guillotine to cut up my leaflets but she refused again - because she said I could hit her over the head with it!"

Lorna added: "It's absurd - there are plenty of heavy books I could have hit her with if I wanted to!"

A spokeswoman for the HSE said there was no policy in place on lending sharp implements.
"People know their own workplaces and must carry out their own risk assessments", she said.
"But we do ask workplaces to take a common sense approach. This could be a case of someone misinterpreting the rules."

Well, if Miss Watts didn't want to assault Ms.Jobsworth before her library visit, I bet she does now.

Time to give high heels the boot?

Few women can resist the allure of a pair of high heels - however, the appeal appears to be lost on delegates at the Trades Union Congress, who demanded yesterday that employers take a stand against the risks of wearing high heels in the workplace.

What do you think? Are they to blame for the two million working days lost each year to lower limb disorders?

Should women who work in the retail or airline profession be allowed to wear "sensible" shoes to work and not be forced into high heels by companies' uniform policies?

Post your comments here.

Sign our petition

In early 2010 the Health and Safety Executive's board has to decide whether or not to ask the government to create a legal duty on directors of companies and other organisations to protect the health and safety of their employees.

At present, directors' only health and safety duties in law are expressed as sanctions for criminal failure to prevent accidents or ill health.

HSW magazine and Health and Safety Bulletin believe that a positive duty would encourage senior executives to give safety a higher priority along with their financial responsibilities and raise safety standards in UK workplaces.

This belief was supported by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Work and Pensions in its 2008 report on the role of the Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety Executive in regulating workplace health and safety and in Rita Donaghy's recent government-funded inquiry into deaths on construction sites.

Petition
We call on the HSE board to recommend the government introduces a statutory duty on directors to take all reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of their organisations' workers.

Sign the petition here.

Violence against H&S practitioners

We are looking for H&S practitioners who have experienced violence in the workplace for a new article.

Have you been subjected to violence during the course of your work? How did you address it and what approach did you take to manage it?

Please post your comments here and we'll contact you.

Health and safety blamed...yet again

A Coke advertisement featuring Duffy, the singer, cycling in the street without lights or a reflective jacket has drawn 22 complaints.

The advert shows the singer cycling through the night along quiet streets, singing with passers by joining in.

Thankfully, the Advertising Standards Authority rejected all the compaints.

"Because of the fantasy context we concluded that the ad did not condone behaviour prejudicial to health and safety."

How about we get back to 'real' health and safety now?

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Be part of the solution

I attended the launch of the HSE's new strategy, 'The Health and Safety of Great Britain: Be part of the solution' yesterday.

Judith Hackitt (Chair of the HSE), James Purnell (Secretary of State for Work and Pensions), Brendan Barber (TUC General Secretary) and representatives from the LGA and EEF were all in attendance, but apart from the rather attractively-designed literature, there wasn't much to report on.

A previous article by HSW on the strategy told us all we needed to know, and it seems the three-month consultation didn't change very much. However, we'd still like to know what you think of the new strategy; add your comments in the discussion forums.

The strategy is available to download here.