Hazards conference focuses on cleaning up toxic work

Government and employers were sent a message from this year’s Hazards Conference by the Hazards Campaign’s Janet Newsham: “If you expose us to toxic substances, conditions and workplaces, then we will expose you.” 


The theme of the conference, held in July, was cleaning up toxic work. Outgoing TUC head of health and safety Hugh Robertson explained why toxic work is “the product of a broken regulatory system”. 


He set out the dangers of poor enforcement and weak standards, which are set to worsen under a Tory Brexit overseen by prime minister Boris Johnson. He pointed to comments by House of Commons leader Jacob Rees Mogg that “we could slash safety standards a very long way”, and “if standards are good enough for India, they are good enough for the UK”.


GMB general union head of health and safety Dan Shears reported on the union’s campaign to organise workers at Amazon, which he described as “the most toxic workplace in the country”. 


His union staged protests on Amazon’s Prime Day — when the online retail firm offers a range of special deals — across Amazon sites up and down the country as part of a global day of action in July. 


The GMB says the reality of dehumanising work conditions for many “associates” at the company’s fulfilment centres includes broken bones, being knocked unconscious and taken away in ambulances, while pregnant women are being treated appallingly.

www.hazardscampaign.org.uk/blog/category/hazards-conference