A massive health and safety survey has been undertaken as part of a joint initiative between UK and US unions. The survey is coming on the heels of several serious injuries and even fatal accidents that have taken place the paper industry in the US.
Following a series of accidents in the US paper industry, unions are taking a serious look at the manner in which safety measures are deployed throughout the sector in the UK markets. The move has been initiated by Workers Unite, which is a global union combining the might of both the US based United Steelworkers (USW) and Unite the Union. Workers Unite is the first such union to span two countries and to address problems which are common in both.
A survey by USW revealed alarmingly low levels of safety norms in the paper industry in the US. Expecting to find similar failings in the UK industry also, the global union has undertaken to determine the state of the UK paper industry. The joint campaign is the largest of its kind and has the distinction of being the first campaign of its kind to bring workers of different countries together.
The US survey revealed that safety training was not being imparted adequately, and that union safety committees were becoming victims of cutbacks. Worst of all, employees were being offered financial incentives if they kept from reporting accidents and mishaps (see accident investigation) which occurred during work.
The Assistant General Secretary of Unite, Tony Burke, said that employers in the paper industry are found to be increasingly avoiding responsibility for employee health and safety. He said that this dangerous trend must be checked right away. He added that the existence of a policy to avert accident reporting by giving financial rewards is one that must not be allowed to occur at any cost, as this will mar any accurate picture of the actual safety failings in an organization.
As many employers in the paper industry have significant presence in both the UK and the US, issues which are coming up in one location are bound to crop up in the other too, feels the union.
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on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 4:50 am
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