Derek Maylor Chairperson:

The main awaited safety issue in the UK this month is the Young Report which is due on 8th September. The rushed report will no doubt merely be a list of the burdens of red tape and safety legislation that affect businesses and costs jobs.   

Internationally the Chilean mining incident came with a complete disregard for safety. Clearly there were no alternative exits from the San Jose mine, thus leaving the 33 miners 700 metres underground since 5th.August. Local Trade Unions had tried to get the San Jose mine closed but failed despite previous deaths.

Meanwhile Colombia had its worst mining disaster for over 30 years when 73 miners died on the 16th June due to an avoidable methane explosion. There was no trade union allowed at the San Fernando mine in the province of Antioquia, this is common in Colombia with profit being more important than safety and workers have no rights to refuse to work in unsafe conditions.

The article in "the sun" last month bleated the usual nonsense about the HSE wasting money on "52 new 'elf n safety' bods" (6 August, page 2). Without attempting to look a little at the funding or background of these posts they missed the fact that the new inspectors will move into posts funded by industry so there will be no additional cost to the taxpayer. They will be working, and funded by, the offshore, nuclear and petrochemical sectors.  So whilst safety practitioners in the rest of the world are still looking for lessons and a moratorium on the Deepwater Horizon blow out in the Gulf of Mexico “the sun” says we do too much for workers and public safety. Five days following the article there was a major gas leak from the Ninian Central Offshore Installation but fortunately there was no ignition to the one tonne of highly flammable gas that was released into the atmosphere. Due to the strict emergency procedures there were no injuries to the 150 workers on board.

Some of the media recently highlighted an issue of potential exposure to Bisphenol A through thermal paper such as till receipts. The HSE and DEFRA are looking at whether there are sufficient controls at European level such as REACH regulations.

As always, and In conclusion, we aim to provide the best advice and representation for our members and to:

*Ensure a safe working environment
*Promote occupational health
*Help members raise safety concerns
*Advance industry best practice
*Provide representation at national meetings
*Raise issues with other safety or government bodies

Our greatest assets are our Union Safety Representatives and we fully support them in their work.