Between 2012 and 2014, 654 workers in Salford have suffered injuries at work, according to latest figures released by the Government's Health and Safety Executive, the fourth highest rate in Greater Manchester. The real figure, campaigners argue, is much higher as official definitions are too narrow (see previous Salford Star article - click here).
Every year, International Workers Memorial Day has the slogan `Remember the dead; fight for the living' but this year the added theme is `Save lives: Put Hazardous Chemicals out of Work!'; drawing attention to chemicals at work causing cancer, heart, lung and other diseases...
"Almost every worker is potentially exposed to some sort of hazardous substance at work" explains Hilda Palmer, from Greater Manchester Hazards Centre "...Teachers from asbestos in schools, council workers from spraying weed killer containing glyphosate, which has just been classified by the World Health Organisation as a probable carcinogen; construction workers from wood dust, paint and diesel fumes; others from cleaning products...
"...There's people working on checkouts giving you a thermal till receipt which contains endocrine disrupting chemicals which increase your risk of hormonally induced cancers like breast cancer and all sorts of other effects" she adds "Everyone is exposed to small amounts of chemicals in the course of their work and in the UK that could mean anything from 13,000 to 30,000 new cases of work cancers a year, and from 8,000 to 18,000 deaths. And they are all utterly preventable. It's a huge problem. People in all walks of life are exposed to chemicals."
This Tuesday, 28th April, at noon, there's an International Workers Memorial Day Rally at Albert Square, with speakers, including Kevin Courtney, Deputy General Secretary of the NUT and Joanne Hill from Families Against Corporate Killers, music from Claire Mooney, and a play showing how to eliminate hazardous substances from work.
Following the rally, at 1:30pm there's an event at the People's History Museum titled `Putting hazardous substances out of work in UK and EU' with speakers including Angela Rayner, the Labour Party candidate for Ashton-under-Lyne, and Hilda Palmer from GMHC on the threat from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) treaty to prevention of exposure to hazardous substances at work.
"No-one should be killed for going to work" says a spokesperson for Manchester IWMD Organising Group "Work shouldn't hurt or make us ill and it certainly shouldn't kill but it kills over 2 .3million people worldwide every year, more than war. Even in this country over a thousand people are killed in work incidents and up to 50,000 die from work-illnesses every year, that's 140 a day!
"The last five years have seen health and safety attacked, ridiculed as pointless 'red tape' and a 'burden on business'" she adds "Regulations have been cut and enforcement slashed with the consequence that injuries and illnesses are going up and workers face increased risks with even less protection."
International Workers Memorial Day Rally
Tuesday 28th April 2015
Albert Square, Manchester 12noon
For further details see www.gmhazards.org.uk
See also previous Salford Star article: Salford Miners Remembered for Workers Memorial Day - click here
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