4 em 1:
01. Julgamento de gerentes franceses da France Telecom depois de 19 (dezenove!!!) suicídios na meporesa.
02. Políticas antisindicais aumentam mortes no trabalho
03. Preposto de empregador na consulta médica de vítima de acidente !??
04. Austrália divulga novo guia para promoção da saúde e segurança psíquica no trabalho
01. France: Employers to stand trial over suicides
The former chief executive of France Telecom and six other managers are to stand trial over a spate of suicides among their staff in the late 2000s. Prosecutors have long claimed they presided over a culture of harassment at the firm that led at least 19 employees to kill themselves. They are accused of "moral harassment". If found guilty the defendants could face two years in prison and 30,000 euros (A$47,175) in fines.
Ex-boss Didier Lombard and his fellow defendants deny their tough restructuring measures in 2006 were to blame for the subsequent loss of life. The push for greater efficiency came two years after the company was privatised. Mr Lombard was trying to cut 22,000 jobs and retrain at least 10,000 workers. "I'll get them out one way or another, through the window or through the door," he was quoted as telling senior managers in 2007. Some were transferred away from their families or left behind when offices were moved, or assigned demeaning jobs. From 2008 onwards, at least 19 members of staff took their own lives, 12 attempted suicide and eight others suffered from depression and related illnesses.
In disturbing news just in, Telstra Australia has announced plans to cut 8,000 jobs and reduce its workforce by a quarter. Apart from concerns relating to erosion of services, the plans have serious implications for the health and safety of Telstra workers.
Read more: BBC News; More on work-related suicides: Hazards
02. Anti-union policies lead to sharp rise in fatalities
A Harvard University study has has found that "anti-union" laws discourage membership and significantly increase workplace fatality rates. The study examined the use of anti-union 'right to work' (RTW) laws in the USA. The author, Michael Zoorob, notes: "The paper demonstrates that the protective effect of unions on workplace safety at the micro level translates into large scale reductions in occupational fatalities...I find that diminished union membership due to 'right to work' legislation has led to a 14.2% increase in workplace mortality."
As well as discussing the many ways unions make workplaces safer, the paper notes: "Though worker fatalities have declined in the last two decades in the USA, this decline has been steeper in states with higher levels of unionisation. Moreover, this study shows that RTW legislation, under consideration in many state legislatures and nationwide, may lead to greater workplace mortality through decreasing the percentage of unionised workers. Indeed, worker fatalities have climbed somewhat since 2008, a reversal from previous years, during the same period that several states adopted RTW"
The paper found that 5,190 American workers were killed on the job in 2016 – the country's third consecutive year of increasing occupational mortality and the highest annual death toll in nearly a decade. This increase coincided with the recent adoption of right-to-work laws – which prohibit employment contracts requiring union membership – in seven US states, taking the number of states with this type of legislation to 28. The author concluded: "In light of these findings, policymakers in the USA and other countries might consider how declining unionisation rates may impact worker safety."
The view of Australian unions is that the anti-union legislation which established the ABCC has a similar outcome on Australian construction sites, and must be repealed.
Read more: Michael Zoorob Does 'right to work' imperil the right to health? The effect of labour unions on workplace fatalities.[Abstract] Occupational and Environmental Medicine, online first June 2018, doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2017-104747.
03. WA: Notice re doctors' appointments
WorkCover WA has issued a notice entitled Employer attendance at medical consultations - in which the regulator comments that it has become aware of the practice of some employers attending medical consultations with injured workers. It then states: "There is no legal or operational basis for employers or their representatives to be present during a medical consultation between an injured worker and a treating doctor. This applies even where treatment is recommended or facilitated by the employer."
Unions WA said while WorkCover's notice was long overdue, it would go a long way towards resolving disputes. "It's a really clear and definitive statement from the regulator that says there's no reason why employers should be in a medical appointment of a worker," Unions WA assistant secretary Owen Whittle said. He said Unions WA wanted fines of up to $100,000 for employers who ignore the rules, and said doctors should kick meddling bosses out of consultations.
Workers in Victoria have faced a similar situation, and need to know that they have the right to attend medical consultations on their own. The VTHC will be requesting that WorkSafe Victoria issue a similar statement. Read more: ABC news online. Ver também aqui. (o link acima na notícia original não estava funcionando. O tema é discutido na net).
Safe Work Australia News
04. New guidance on work-related psychological health and safety
Safe Work Australia has released new guidance for employers and workers, which provides advice on how to build a psychologically healthy and safe workplace by identifying, assessing and controlling risks to workers' mental health.
Dr Peta Miller, Special Adviser for Safe Work Australia, said that while work-related psychological injury is expensive, we know what causes harm and that taking preventative action works. "Poor psychological safety costs Australian organisations $6 billion per annum in lost productivity. This is primarily because psychological injuries typically require three times more time off work than other injuries. Additionally, workplaces with poor psychological working conditions accrue 43 per cent more sick days per month."
Work-related psychological injury can be caused by excessive time pressures, unreasonable deadlines and poorly managed organisational change. The guide takes a preventative approach: identifying the hazards to good mental health, assessing how severe the risks are, and taking steps to eliminate and control the risks are essential steps to building a healthy and safe workplace.
Read more: Safe Work Australia Media release; The Guide: Work-related psychological health and safety - A systematic approach to meeting your duties; (versão pdf) More information on Stress
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