published by: asian network for the rights of occupational and … · 2013. 2. 16. · osh rights |...

Issue Number: 25 ● Leading Workers Rights Movement in Asia ● July - Sep 2012

Published by: Asian Network for the Rights of Occupational and Environmental Victims

OSH Rights | July - September 2012

Issue Number 24

July - September 2012

Copyright Asian Network for the Rights of Occupational and Environmental Victims (ANROEV)

EDITOR Mohit Gupta

Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Rights is a quarterly newsletter on occupational and safety issues in Asia. It is prepared by the ANROEV Secretariat. The newsletter contains information and news about the campaigns of the network in Asia – Mining, Victims Organising, Lung Diseases, and Electronics Articles and information in OSH Rights may be reproduced in non-profit publications with clear citations, credit to author/s and OSH Rights. Opinions and suggestions to the editor are encouraged. Please send enquiries to

The Editor Secretariat – ANROEV

c/o Environics Trust Khasra Number 177, Neb Sarai

Ne w Delhi – 110068 Ph – (91-11)2953-3957 Fax – (91-11)2953-1814

Email – [email protected] URL - www.anroev.org

Inside This IssueInside This IssueInside This IssueInside This Issue

New Asbestos Mine in Canada-Business or Shameful Profiteering!....................................................................................

3

Update from Partners....... 4

Laurie Kazan-Allen Receives Prestigious Award for

Raising Global Awareness of Asbestos Diseases……..

7

Short News from SHAPRs 8

News from Busan, Korea…………………… 9

Osaka High Court Judgment 10

3 Gandhinagar units under lens for health hazards 10

Pro-asbestos advocacy group shuts its door 11

Landmark verdict on i llegal mining 13

Workers Memorial Day and Labour Day Activities 13

Kobe earthquake rubble handler develops cancer 17

years later

16

The Future We Want is Asbestos-Free 17

Campaigners urge permanent closure of Indian asbestos

plants

17

Safety NGO calls for comprehensive probe on Butuan

killer fire

18

Grinding stone factories have claimed 30 lives since

2004-Pakistan

18

Tributes…………………………………………………….... 20

The Environmental Impact of the Manufacturing of

Semiconductor’s

20

Regional News……………….. 15

All readers are welcome to provide feedback and suggestions to

articles of OSH Rights. In the coming issues, we will offer space

for reader feedback.

For any questions about Occupational Health and Safety in Asia,

send an email to [email protected]. Our panel of experts will

attempt to reply to all questions.

OSH Rights | July – September 2012

New Asbestos Mine in Canada-

Business or Shameful

Profiteering!

The Government of Quebec on 29th June

announced that it had given a $58 million loan

guarantee to a consortium to develop a new

underground chrysotile asbestos mine at the

Jeffrey Asbestos Mine. The decision was

immediately praised by the President of Jeffery

Mines, Bernard Coulombe, Quebec National

Assembly member Yvon Vallieres and trade

unionist Francois Vaudreuil. The government’s so

called “courageous decision” to support the

controversial project and employment prospects

for people in the mining region; up to 500 direct

full-time jobs and 1,000 indirect jobs will be

created was a step in the right direction.

However the decision has been blasted by

environmentalists, activists, doctors and other

concerned people. Commenting on the

government subsidy, Paul Lapierre, of the

Canadian Cancer Society, said:”This decision

means the Quebec Government is in direct

conflict with global cancer control as all forms of

asbestos cause cancer. We urge the Quebec

government to reconsider its decision and cancel

the loan guarantee. We believe these funds

should instead be directed to projects to help the

affected communities diversify their economic

base.”

Most of the Asbestos from this mine will be

shipped to Asian countries like India and

Indonesia and thousands of workers and their

families will be exposed to the deadly Asbestos

Fibre.

Activists across the globe have raised this issue of

the double standards of Canada of no using

Asbestos within Canada but exporting it to

developing nations.

In Korea, under the banner of BANKO,

a protest was organised outside the Canadian

Embassy in Seoul. A protest letter was handed

was also handed over. To read the letter Click

here

Some Photos of protest from Korea

Photo of Protests from Nagoya, Japan

Read Blog written by Laurie Kazan-Allen

More protests and events are being held in other

countries.


With the internet and widespread use of social

media platforms, the global ban asbestos

community will make sure that the news of

Quebec’s plans is known around the world. This is

not over!

Update from Partners

SHARPs- Supporters for the Health

and Rights of People in the

Semiconductor industry

1. Four female workers at the Samsung LCD and

semiconductor factories died of cancer this year

so far; fifty-six workers at Samsung reportedly

died of occupational illness until now - We are

witnessing continuous tragedies: four female

workers at Samsung lost their lives to cancer

during the first half of this year. In January, a

worker in charge of assembling semiconductor

parts (wire-bonding) at Samsung’s On-Yang

factory died of ovarian cancer at age thirty-seven.

In March, a worker who worked at Samsung’s Gi-

Heung factory implant process (radioactive

exposure; night-time shift) died of breast cancer

at age thirty-six. In May, a worker in charge of

testing semiconductor chips in high temperature

at Samsung’s On-Yang factory died of malignant

brain tumor at age thirty-two. In June, a worker at

Samsung’s LCD factory died of aplastic anemia at

age thirty-one. SHARPS is planning to hold a

meeting in front of the Seoul City Hall on July

20th, 2012 to commemorate the fifty-six deceased

workers and denounce Samsung.

Photographs: May 7, 2012. Yun-Jeong Lee, a worker at

Samsung died of malignant brain tumor

2. Republic of Korea Ministry of Employment and

Labor announced in February that carcinogenic

chemicals such as benzene are produced during

the semiconductor manufacturing process and

required businesses to take correction measures

- On February 6th, the Ministry of Employment

and Labor announced that carcinogenic materials

such as benzene, formaldehyde, arsenic and

radioactive rays are produced as by-products at

wafer production and semiconductor assembly

lines. The Korea Occupational Safety and Health

Institute conducted in-depth research from 2009

to 2011 on the working conditions of

semiconductor workplaces at Samsung, Hynix,

and Fairchild Semiconductor Korea and derived

the above-mentioned result. It is noteworthy that

the workplaces under this inspection had the

most up-to-date facilities but still produced

carcinogenic by-products. Therefore, we can

reasonably conjecture that there used to be

higher levels of carcinogenic exposure in inferior

working environments in the past. This research

announcement thus shows that semiconductor

works are related to the outbreak of blood-

related cancer such as leukemia. According the

research that carcinogenic materials are

produced as by-products during the high-

temperature manufacturing process, the Ministry

of Employment and Labor declared a

recommendation decision that semiconductor

businesses use safe alternative materials and

protect occupational health of their employees.

This announcement of the Ministry is the result of

common efforts during the last five years by


semiconductor workers, their families and

SHARPS to advocate and fight for the approval of

compensation for occupational disasters. In

response to the Ministry’s announcement,

SHARPS demanded that Samsung approve the

compensation for occupational disasters and stop

obstructing workers’ efforts to fight for such

approval.

3. Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare

Service approved the occupational disaster

status for a semiconductor worker’s blood-

related cancer for the first time - On April 10,

2012, Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare

Service declared an “approval decision” on the

occupational disaster compensation application

of Ji-sook Kim, who fell sick of aplastic anemia

during her employment at Samsung’s On-Yang

semiconductor factory. Korean press widely

reported and covered this news. Ji-Sook Kim is

the eighteenth victim of occupational disaster at

Samsung and the first one out of twenty

applicants who requested approval and

compensation from the Service. There are similar

workers like Ji-Sook Kim who worked during the

same period and conducted the same task as she

did, but could not get approval decision from the

Service; the recent decision thus shows that there

exist open possibilities for approval and

compensation for blood-related cancer (including

serious blood-related diseases). SHAPRS

welcomed this recent decision and urged for

further approval decisions for other victims. Ji-

Sook Kim will receive medical treatment fees and

temporary suspension salaries (70% of average

salaries for the period of medical leave from

work) as benefits according to the Service’s

approval decision.

4. Global Strategy Meeting on Sustainable

Electronics Industry held at Suwon, Korea from

June 18 to 21, 2012; Press Conference in front of

Samsung’s main building to deliver the message

“No More Death at Samsung” in protest against

the corporation’s measures - Global Strategy

Meeting on Sustainable Electronics Industry was

held at Suwon, Korea from June 18 to 21, 2012.

The conference, organized jointly by SHAPRS,

Asia Monitoring Resource Centre (AMRC), Citizen

of the Earth Taiwan(CET), Good Electronics,

International Campaign for Responsible

Technology(ICRT), gathered activists of 36

organizations from 10 countries to share the

issues and problems of the world’s semiconductor

industries and protest experiences, and discuss

measures and ways to strengthen local struggles

and international cooperation. In addition, the

participants of the conference held a press

conference in front of Samsung’s headquarter in

Seoul on June 20th to express solidarity for

workers and their families and protest Samsung’s

inhumane workplace conditions and attitude.

Activists from various countries including Taiwan,

Hong Kong, U.S., China, and Indonesia held

pickets with the message “No More Death as

Samsung” in their own languages and made a

resolution to protest worldwide Samsung’s

occupational illness issues and crack-down on

basic labor rights.

Global Strategy Meeting held at Suwon, Korea from June 18

to 21


Protest in front of the Samsung’s headquarter in Seoul on

June 20, 2012

Hesperian Health Guides

We have been hard at work finishing the drafts

for “Work Hazards in Electronics Factories” and

“Work Hazards in Shoe Factories” for the book A

Workers’ Guide to Health and Safety. We have

written stories based on the experiences of some

ANROEV members and are currently looking for

people interested in contributing to the

development of these two sections. Please

contact [email protected] if you are

interested or if you would like to review and

comment on these sections.

During the last 3 months we also launched the

Fair and Health Work Section of the People’s

Health Movement-US and planned the first work-

specific plenary and workshop at the 3rd People’s

Health Assembly being held in Cape Town, South

Africa on July 7 to July 11th. Miriam was able to

interview Dr. Kong about SHARPS during her visit

to Korea in June and her video statement will be

part of the subplenary “Fair and Healthy Work.”

After the subplenary there will be meeting titled

“Work and the Right to Health” that will build

upon the experiences from many groups around

the world. We would be happy to share any of

the outcomes from this meeting and

subsequently formed group with anybody that is

interested.

We are looking forward to participating in the

annual American Public Health Association

meeting in San Francisco in October, along with

several ANROEV members, to bring awareness

and built momentum for campaigns against

electronic corporations in Asia.

IBAS A-BAN Related Developments-

2012

An idea which was developed after a chance

meeting at the A-BAN conference in Jaipur in

November 2011 came to fruition on June 27, 2012

when Barrister Krishnendu Mukherjee made the

keynote presentation to the annual asbestos

seminar of the All Party Parliamentary Asbestos

Sub-Group. Krishnendu, known to his friends as

Tublu, told Members of Parliament about the

experience of people living in the world's biggest

asbestos importing country: India. With virtually

no effective health and safety legislation and no

controls on workplace exposures, commercial

interests are able to make huge profits from

asbestos processes whilst workers endure

industrial conditions last seen in Britain in the

Co-chair John Cryer making presentation to Krishnendu

Mukherjee

1950s. Mukherjee challenged delegates to the

seminar to confront British companies, including

New ANROEV Website

The new look ANROEV network website is now online. The site has a new domain in keeping with the new name of the network and can be seen at www.anroev.org. Please send in your suggestions / comments and any material /reports/photos you would like to be a part of the website.


banks and financial institutions, which invest in

the Indian asbestos industry; the naming of

British financial stakeholders stimulated a great

degree of concern and discussion about how such

immoral investments might be publicized.

See: Westminster Asbestos Seminar

Cividep

In April 2012 Cividep India organized a labour

rights training in Pondicherry on Freedom of

Association and Collective Bargaining for workers

from the mobile phone industry. The training was

attended by 21 workers from Nokia, Foxconn and

Wintek.

Workers were educated about their right to

Collective Bargaining, the historical and legal

background of trade unions and learned how to

formulate a charter of demands. Workers also

reported on their working conditions in the

factory and challenges they face during work.

In May 2012 Cividep-India together with Suedwind

from Austria published the report 'Shiny Phone -

Paltry Pay' on living conditions of electronics

sector workers in the mobile phone

manufacturing industry.

The report can be accessed here:

Laurie Kazan-Allen Receives

Prestigious Award for Raising

Global Awareness of Asbestos

Diseases

By Steve Allen

Fighting for asbestos victims is my family’s work. I

am very proud to announce that my sister, Laurie

Kazan-Allen, coordinator of the International Ban

Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) since its inception in

2000, received the distinction of being named

the 2012 winner of the Emeritus Professor Eric G

Saint Memorial Award on Sunday, March 25 at the

Annual General meeting of the Asbestos Diseases

Society of Australia (ADSA) in Perth, WA.

The Emeritus Professor Eric G Saint Memorial

Award has been awarded 21 times and includes

medical professionals such as doctors and nurses,

asbestos disease clinicians and researchers as well

as representatives of the ADSA. Laurie-Kazan

Allen is the only non-Australian recipient of this

highly prestigious award.

Announcing the 2012 recipient, Rosemarie

Vojakovic, an Executive Officer of the ADSA said:

“Over the year, our organization (the ADSA) has

greatly benefitted from information provided by

our worthy recipient. Of particular importance

and benefit to all Australians was information

mainly relating to white asbestos and its

carcinogenic properties which cause malignant

Mesothelioma. Our worthy recipient has

represented our organization with pride and

dignity in all parts of the world and placed our

organization on the global scene.”

The award was presented to Laurie Kazan-Allen

by the Honourable John Kobelke, MLA, member

of the legislative assembly, the lower house of

the Western Australian legislature.

The award’s namesake, Dr. Eric Saint, was born in

Britain in 1918. He qualified as a medical doctor

and served in the RAF in India World War II. In

1948 he went to Western Australia, where he

remained until he died at age 70.

He spent his career occupied in issues related to

public and occupational health including infant

welfare, insects and pests and the asbestos

mining industry. In the 1940s he sent a letter

regarding the Wittenoom blue asbestos mine to


the authorities predicting that “in a year or two,

[the company of] Australian Blue Asbestos will

produce the richest crop of asbestos disease in

the world’s literature.” The letter came to light

and was used successfully as Wittenoom miners

began to litigate against the mine owners for the

diseases they contracted working at Wittenoom.

Dr Eric Saint helped to found the medical school

in Western Australia and is widely regarded as an

iconic figure in WA history.

Short News from SHARPs

The First Historical Approval of Workers

Compensation for Samsung Semiconductor

Worker by the Korean Government

April 10, the Ministry of Employment and Labor

announced that KCOMWEL (Korea Workers

Compensation & Welfare Service) approved the

compensation for Ji-sook Kim, who got aplastic

anemia from Samsung semiconductor Onyang

factory.

Ji-sook Kim is the 18th victim who claimed

Workers' compensation to KCOMWEL with the

support of SHARPS.

She entered Samsung semiconductor at

December 1993, at her age of 19, as an operator

of Soldering and Trim/Form process until 1999

April.

The factory was operated 24 hours a day, so that

she worked 12 hours a day under two shifts for

several years. Later the shift system was changed

into three shifts.

When she worked at Soldering process, she was

diagnosed as <lead intoxication> and serious

anemia. She consulted with the doctor in the

factory and began to take iron supplement and

vitamin. But nothing was changed at her work

environment. Finally she quit the job because her

work got harder and her health got worsened.

She was exposed to lead and thinner which were

used at her workstation. Sometimes she must use

TCE to remove dirt from the chip, and clean the

workstation and facilities with <air gun> which

blow the dirt with high pressure of air. Also she

could not be protected from other chemicals such

as formaldehyde and benzene which were used

or produced in the neighbor processes like mold

and plating, because there was no spatial

separation between those workstations.

There was no protective equipment. All she was

provided was a cap which prevented pollution of

the chip by workers' hair, and cotton gloves

which could not protect workers from chemical

absorption. No respiratory protective equipment

she could get. Actually she never knew about

chemicals nor the toxicity.

There are other cancer victims who worked at the

same time and/or the same factory with Ji-sook.

Both Chang-ho Song (malignant lymphoma) from

the soldering and plating process and Eun-gyoung

Kim(acute leukemia) from the trim/form process

share the same time zone and the working place.

Myoung-wha You (aplastic anemia) and Yoon-

jeong Lee(malignant brain cancer) got cancer

from the neighbor workstation of Ji-sook. All of

these workers got cancer in their 20's or 30's.

For more detail information Click here [Korean]

Statement of SHARPS hailing

KCOMWEL’s first recognition of

workers’ compensation of a

Samsung worker victim

April 28, 2012 by stopsamsung

On 10th April 2012, Samsung occupational victims in

the semiconductor industry received a major boost

forward in their long struggle.

Below is the statement of SHARPS on April 10

regarding the ruling:

Today, April 10, The Ministry of Employment and

Labor announced its recognition of the aplastic

anaemia suffered by Ms. Jisook Kim as an

occupational disease from her work at Samsung


Semiconductor Onyang factory. Ms. Jisook Kim is

the 18th victim to make a workers’ compensation

application with SHARPS.

In SHARPS we believe this recognition of Ms.

Kim’s aplastic anemia as an occupational disease

by KCOMWEL is a completely correct and sensible

judgment.

The work conditions of Ms. Jisook Kim were

almost same as for the other victims of Samsung

Semiconductor Onyang factory who had applied

with SHARPS for workers’ compensation since

2007.

In that time, KCOMWEL had investigated the

illnesses (such as leukaemia, malignant lymphoma

, aplastic anemia and related blood diseases) of

the same type as Ms. Kim which had been

reported in the same workplace, but it had said

that no cancerous materials like benzene could be

found, and had repeatedly refused to give

recognition of the illnesses as occupational

diseases. But now it has recognized the worker’s

disease as an occupational one in the case of Ms.

Kim’s application.

This essentially shows KCOMWEL’s own

recognition that its previous refusals to recognize

occupational disease had been wrong.

We can say that with the approval ruling for Ms.

Jisook Kim, KCOMWEL has set a new benchmark.

We believe that this opens a path in the future for

workers’ compensation approvals for victims of

leukaemia, malignant lymphoma, aplastic anomie,

and other illnesses, not only in Samsung but also

in every semiconductor factory.

There are so many cases that should already have

been approved for workers’ compensation by

now. Although we feel it is very late for

KCOMWEL to give approval of workers’

compensation for the first time now, five years

after leukaemia and other diseases in

semiconductor factories had become known, we

still gladly welcome the ruling of KCOMWEL

based on reason and truthful evidence, even if

only now.

Above all, we can’t help but be glad that this

recognition ruling will give at least a little comfort

to the victims who struggle day by day to cope

with their diseases like aplastic anemia.

Moreover, this decision opens the way for

workers’ compensation approval for occupational

disease victims of Samsung Semiconductor who

had previously been rejected for compensation

and who are now in civil lawsuits -Chang-ho Song,

Eun-kyung Kim, Myeong-hwa Yoo, Yoon-jung Lee,

Yoo–mi Hwang (d), Sook-young Lee (d), Min-

Woong Hwang (d), and others – as well as other

victims.

Lastly, this is the chance for Samsung to stop

insisting and deceiving the public that it uses no

cancerous chemicals and that the sicknesses of

the workers are not occupational. Instead, with

the decision of KCOMWEL to recognize Ms.

Jisook Kim’s occupation disease, Samsung should

admit there was a serious problem in the work

conditions at its semiconductor factories, and

apologize to the victims and to the public.

For this, the first step of Samsung should be to

stop to its interference (application to

supplement the lawsuit) in the civil lawsuits of the

victims for workers’ compensation.

Original statement in Korean by SHARPS with

related statements and documents are here

Source

News from Busan, Korea

Survivors of two deceased Mesothelioma victims

who had lived near a major asbestos textile plant

in Busan and three asbestosis victims who had

worked for the company won their civil damage

case against the company (Jeil E&S) but lost

against the Korean government and Japanese

company (Nichias) at the Busan District Court. The

judgment ordered the company to pay 90 % of total

amount of damages for 3 former worker asbestosis


cases and 60 % for environmental Mesothelioma

cases.

Osaka High Court Judgment

Ms. Kazumi Yoshizaki, a member of the Asian

Solidarity Delegation to Quebec in 2010, won

again a civil case on her father's Mesothelioma

death against the Nippon Express at the Osaka

High Court.

The Nippon Express was the employer of late

Yoshizaki and supplied raw asbestos to a Nichias

plant in Nara.

She usually worked at a storage warehouse of the

Nichias.

The Osaka District Court ordered both companies

to pay jointly 26 million JPY to his family on March

31, 2011. Today's High Court Judgment absolved

the Nichias but didn't change the amount of

compensation (by the Nippon Express).

3 Gandhinagar units under lens

for health hazards

All employees handling polyacrylate material at

three industrial units in Gandhinagar district must

be sent to the National Institute of Occupational

Health for a complete health check-up, amicus

curiae Shalin N Mehta has told the Gujarat High

Court.

The three pharmaceutical units manufacturing

the material are Chhatral-based Vikram Thermo

(India) Ltd and Shree Chemicals, and Rakanpur-

based Maruti Chemicals.

The court is currently hearing a suo motu case

about occupational health hazards believed to be

caused by polyacrylate.

At least four workers at a factory owned by Corel

Pharma Chem at Kadi in Mehsana district are

believed to have died from pulmonary

complications caused by the material. Two others

are currently ill.

Occupational health experts who first examined

four of the victims in June 2011 were alarmed to

observe that severe ailments were setting in and

killing the workers faster than silicosis.

The Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health

(DISH) had subsequently been directed by the

court to inspect pharmaceutical units across the

state, where it was found that three out of 146

such units manufactured polyacrylate, while two

used the material in one or the other process.

Mehta also submitted that the three units must

be asked to explain whether the safety

equipments (gloves, masks, etc.) provided to

workers are of industrial grade, and if the workers

came into direct contact with the material.

He also told the court that at least eight raw

materials with “their own peculiar properties and

ill-effects upon coming into contact with human

beings” were used by the units.

Separately, DISH’s certifying surgeon had

conducted follow-up health checks on nine

workers employed in Vikram Thermo and Maruti

Chemicals. They were found suffering from

ailments such as anaemia, high values of serum

bilirubin and SGBT, and alveolitis.

DISH told the court that all nine were showing

signs of improvement after treatment.

The factory manager at Shree Chemicals,

however, told the certifying surgeon that all three

workers at the unit earlier diagnosed with


ailments (one with interstitial lung disease) no

longer worked there.

Click here to read the article

Pro-asbestos advocacy group

shuts its doors

INSTITUT DU CHRYSOTILE

SURRENDER OF CHARTER

For 27 years, the federal government has financed

the Chrysotile Institute (previously called the

Asbestos Institute) and has given it over $20

million in funding. In April 2011, in the face of

mounting strong criticism, the Harper

government stopped its funding, although the

Quebec government continued its funding.

Around the world the Chrysotile Institute has

played the leading role of propagandist for the

global asbestos industry and has been

condemned by scientists for the false and

dangerous misinformation it has disseminated.

The Chrysotile Institute had earlier tried to put

pressure on the federal government to continue

financing it, by stating that, if the funding from

the federal government was withdrawn, it could

not survive. On the Chrysotile Institute’s website,

no explanation is provided.

Around the world, there will be a cheer from all

those working to protect people from asbestos

harm, when the Chrysotile Institute finally closes

its doors.

For the past year and more, Montreal asbestos

investor, Baljit Chadha and the public relations

agents he has hired, have been leading the battle

in Canada to promote the interests of the

asbestos industry, to complete and open the

underground Jeffrey mine and to re-start the

asbestos industry in Quebec all over again.

Other asbestos lobby groups in other countries,

such as Russia, are working to continue the

deadly role of the Chrysotile Institute overseas.

By Robert Hiltz, Postmedia News, Montreal

Gazette, April 29, 2012 Source

A decades-old pro-asbestos lobby group,

currently funded by the Quebec government, will

be shutting its doors after notifying the federal

government of its plan to dissolve.

The Montreal-based Chrysotile Institute issued

the notice in the Canada Gazette — the

government’s official publication for announcing

new laws and other public information. The

institute, first formed in 1984, promotes the safe

use of chrysotile asbestos on behalf of Canada’s

asbestos mining industry.

NDP MP Pat Martin — a long-time critic of the

asbestos industry and former miner himself —

said the closing of the institute signals the “death

knell” of asbestos mining in Canada.

“I see it as a real tipping point in the movement to

get Canada out of the asbestos industry,” Martin

said. “It’s just another demonstration of the

death rattle of the asbestos industry in this

country.”

He said he first learned of the institute’s intention

to dissolve Saturday, International Workers’

Memorial Day — a day of commemoration for

workers injured and killed around the globe.

“I’ve lost an awful lot of friends and colleagues to

asbestos in my time as an asbestos miner and a

carpenter in the building trades,” Martin said. “It

was very poignant for me to learn that (the

institute was closing) on the very day of mourning

for injured and fallen workers with the flags at

half mast — it was very, very fitting.”

Asbestos is a fibrous construction material used

as insulation that has been linked to a number of

lung diseases, including certain types of cancer.

In a number of Asian countries, including India,

activists are increasingly holding demonstrations

to protest asbestos exports because they say the

substance is harming workers.


The Chrysotile Institute has long countered by

saying that as long as asbestos is handled in a safe

and controlled manner, it causes little risk to

workers.

Canada’s asbestos industry is centred on two

mines in Thetford Mines and Asbestos, both in

Quebec — and both currently out of production

for the first time in 130 years.

Quebec’s industry department has offered

Balcorp Ltd. of Montreal a loan guarantee of $58

million if the company is able to find $25 million in

financing to reopen the Jeffery Mine in Asbestos.

Kathleen Ruff, senior human-rights adviser to the

independent research group the Rideau Institute,

said the closing of the lobby group sends a signal

to the international community that the industry

is collapsing in Canada.

“It will be noticed all around the world because

the Chrysotile Institute has been the key leader in

pushing the interests in the asbestos industry

around the world,” Ruff said.

The majority of asbestos mined in Canada is

exported abroad to developing countries where

asbestos regulations are less stringent. More than

50 countries have banned asbestos use.

Canada drew international scorn when it moved

to block the listing of chrysotile asbestos on a

United Nations list of restricted chemicals last

June. Listing the material on Annex III of the UN’s

Rotterdam Convention would have required

“prior informed consent” to be provided by

exporting countries.

Once an importing country is informed of the

dangers of the material, it could refuse to accept

the potentially cancer-causing substance if they

felt they would be unable to handle it safely.

Under the convention protocol, chrysotile

asbestos remained off Annex III because

consensus was not reached between attending

countries.

The European Parliament has chastised the

Canadian government over its asbestos exports

— as well as for the seal industry and oilsands

development — and issued a news release

expressing members’ concerns of the harm the

substance caused to miners. The use and

processing of asbestos is banned within the

European Union.

Australia’s Upper House also passed a motion in

November calling on its government to apply

pressure to Canada to end its asbestos exporting.

The link between exposure to asbestos and other

types of cancers is not clear, Health Canada says

on its website. However, the International Agency

for Research on Cancer, affiliated with the World

Health Organization, has concluded after a full

review of the scientific research that asbestos,

including chrysotile asbestos mined in Quebec, "is

carcinogenic in all its forms."

Recently, asbestos research conducted at

Montreal’s McGill University was called into

question by a documentary aired on CBC

television.

The university launched a preliminary review of

the work of one of its retired professors following

allegations the university had close ties to the

industry.

Along with the documentary, a letter making

similar allegations was sent to McGill officials by

doctors, scientists and academics that included

McGill faculty on the same day the documentary

was aired. Both the letter and the film suggested

researchers at McGill received funding from the

industry to publish research that would make

chrysotile asbestos seem less harmful to health

than it is.

The World Health Organization estimates that

globally, more than 100,000 people die from

asbestos-related illnesses, including cancer, every

year.


Emails to the Chrysotile Institute were not

immediately returned Sunday and the phone

number listed on the institute’s website was no

longer in service.

Landmark verdict on illegal

mining

The Rajasthan High Court in its landmark verdict,

has imposed the largest ever penalty of 50 crores

upon the mining association of Makrana,

Rajasthan, India. Makrana is known for its best

quality marble - used for construction of the

wonder of the world TAJMAHAL. But

the scenario of mining in the said area is pathetic

and the greed of the mining operators has left no

land free from mining.

The petition had been filed in the year 1996, by

the Ministry of Railway, Union of India

highlighting the facts that the entire land below a

railway track - running from makrana to parbatsar

has been dug for mining and left the railway

track hanging in air. The mining operators have

continued the illegal mining despite the clear stay

order passed by the Hon'ble Court.

Rajasthan High Court, in wake of illegal mining

going on across the state, has taken the

matter seriously and called a factual report by

court commissioner. The level of illegality was

very high and apparent, in case of makrana.

Mining of makrana has also earned a bad name

due to the most unsafe and unscientific mining,

resulting of deaths of labours in frequent

intervals.

The division bench of the Rajasthan High Court

headed by Chief Justice - Arun Kumar Mishra, in

its remarkable verdicts has imposed penalty of

Rs. 50 crores upon the mining association of

makrana. There apart ordered for recovery of

amount @ 10 times of loss of mining royalty

caused to state government (which may also go

in many crore). The Court has also imposed a

clear ban on mining up to 45 meters along with

railway tracks and roads across the state. The

court further ordered for CBI probe in this

matter, so that all govt. official remained posted

in makrana during the entire period of illegal

mining may be handled.

For more information - Article 1, Article 2

Workers Memorial Day and

Labour Day Activities

New Report Highlights Crisis of

Occupational Safety and

Health in Asia

Regional Worker Rights Network Releases

Grassroots Research for International Workers

Memorial Day

Hong Kong, China - Asia is home to some of the

most dangerous workplaces in the world. The ILO

estimates that 1.1 million work-related deaths,

accounting for over half of the world’s fatalities,

take place annually in Asia. On the eve of

International Workers Memorial Day on April 28,

Hong Kong-based Asia Monitor Resource Centre

(AMRC) released a detailed report from six Asian

countries namely China, India, Cambodia,

Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia to portray the

real situation of occupational safety and health

(OSH) on the ground and the struggle of workers,

victims and their families to gain recognition,

compensation and justice.

The report was prepared in collaboration with the

Asian Network for the Rights of Occupational and

Environmental Victims (ANROEV) – a network of

victims groups, trade unions, labour and

environmental organizations based in 16 Asian

countries all working towards a safe and healthy

workplaces, OSH rights and environmental

justice. These grassroots groups, frustrated by

years of apathy by their governments and

negligent employers, decided to produce their

own report to show the extent of the problem at

the ground with the hope it will draw public

attention to the senseless massacre of workers

across the region.


“Sick and injured workers in Asia remain invisible

as most countries in Asia do not adequately

report work-related deaths, injuries and

diseases,” said AMRC Executive Director Sanjiv

Pandita. “These victims are are denied justice.

Their dignity. Their deaths are the price that we as

society have paid for the sake of development.”

Ramesh Makwana, a silicosis victim from Gujarat,

India spoke about the problems of gem polishing

workers. He comes from a village that is covered

with a film of deadly silica dust from the gems

that causes the occupational disease. “First it kills

the men who are the primary breadwinners for

their families. Then the disease kills the women

who are forced to take over the work to survive

and finally it takes our children,” he said. “Yet, we

remain largely invisible to our governments and

are denied compensation.”

The battle for compensation and justice was also

echoed by an occupational disease victim from

China. Ms. Wang, a former worker at a battery

manufacturing plant, spoke about her working

conditions in China where she was poisoned by

cadmium. Her kidneys are damaged and she has

not received any compensation for her illness.

Instead she has been harassed by the company

and government officials in her fight for justice.

The report is aimed to bring recognition for

victims like Ramesh and Wang so that they

receive treatment, compensation, rehabilitation

and justice.

May Day Rally by Agate

Workers-Gujarat

International Workers Memorial Day was

observed on May 1, instead of 28 April by Agate

workers. Victims of silicosis, mothers-widows-

children and other family members of the

diseased workers came together at Shakarpur to

pay homage to the workers who died in Silicosis

during last one year. Pictures of the diseased

workers were garlanded and then two minute

silence was observed. Jayesh Dave, Ramesh

Makwana and Jagdish Patel spoke on

the occasion. Jagdish congratulated them for

organizing rally for the first time. Ramesh-who

returned from Hong Kong after attending various

programs organized by Asia Monitor Resource

Centre to launch their latest report "Invisible

victims of Development - Report on H & S in 6

Asian Countries." shared his experiences

and learning.

Later rally set out from Shakarpur to Khambhat.

They all walked 3 km distance in soaring heat (41+

degree Celsius.). They demanded that the officer

climb down to accept the Memorandum but he

refused. Later, representatives of the victims

visited him in his office and presented the

memorandum. He promised to forward it to the

higher ups in Government.

Earlier, on 27 April when Health Minister Jay

Narayan Vays visited Khambhat for a Government

public function, Memorandum was presented to

him by the victims


Rally in Hong Kong

Over 300 people assembled and participated in a

rally and demonstration on April 28th, which

included injured workers, families of dead

workers, and labour organizations from mainland

China. Overseas participants from India,

Indonesia, USA, Thailand also joined. 200 crosses

you see in the photos represented the almost 200

workers who die on the job per year.

More Details of Programs all over the

world can be seen at

www.hazards.org/wmd,

Labour Day Program in Panna, Madhya

Pradesh

A May day event was organized in Panna, Madhya

Pradesh. Almost 300 workers and villagers

participated in the rally and program. Workers

were informed about their labour rights and

information was given about how to work in a

safe environment

A memorandum of demands was given to the

elected Government representative.

Documentary film dedicated to

workers who died due to work

launched on Workers Memorial

Day

More than 200 people flocked to the Bantayog ng

mga Bayani auditorium to watch the premiere of

PIYON, a documentary film tackling the life and

struggle of workers who died due to work, last

April 28, 2012, coinciding with the worldwide

commemoration of Workers Memorial Day.

Workers and activists joined the families of

victims of work-related accidents, to catch the

first glimpse of the documentary dedicated to

those who died due to work. “Workers Memorial

Day is commemorated across the globe and this

documentary is our humble contribution to this

event,” said Noel Colina, Executive Director of the


Institute for Occupational Health and Safety

Development (www.IOHSAD.org). “We wanted

to show the human side of the tragedy happening

in many workplaces and not merely display the

victims as mere statistics.”

The 32-minute HD film was made by Mayday

Multimedia. “PIYON plays an important role in

exposing the realities that are brought about by

work-related accidents due to that lack of safety

and security for the workers. It aims to humanize

the victims of these accidents, beyond the

numbered list of names, giving them light as

members of their own families and of society,”

said Kathy S. Molina, co-director of PIYON.

According to Colina, PIYON will soon be available

online. “Although the setting of the documentary

is local, the theme of human loss is universal and

anyone who will watch the film can relate to its

narrative. Hopefully, this will encourage more

people to take up the cause of promoting safe

workplaces across the globe.”

Synopsis:

They work to live not to die.

Benbon Cristobal and Chris Xander Papna are just

two among many who have become victims of

their working conditions — conditions that

neglect their safety and took for granted their

humanity. PIYON is a short video documentary

that aims to give faces to these names and to

shed light on the circumstances that left their

families with lingering emptiness and hopeful

struggles. Woven together by their commonality

of loss, their families share their stories beyond

the tragedies that struck them and their

continuous search for justice.

Source – www.iohsad.org

Kobe earthquake rubble

handler develops cancer 17

years later

KASHI, Hyogo -- A municipal government

employee who worked in rubble processing

following the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake has

developed Mesothelioma, the Akashi Municipal

Government announced on July 6.

With massive amounts of rubble generated last

year by the Great East Japan Earthquake and

ensuing tsunami, the latest revelations are likely

to result in further calls for the use of anti-dust

masks and the implementation of other anti-

asbestos measures.

According to the municipal government, at the

time of the massive earthquake that hit Kobe and

its surrounding environs, the employee, a

member of the environment division, handled

garbage collection. For three weeks following the

earthquake, he loaded debris from homes in the

eastern part of the city of Akashi into compactor

trucks, and for the subsequent two to three

months, transported rubble from temporary

storage to processing facilities. Although he wore

a mask and gloves while he worked, the mask did

not protect against fine dust.

The man, now in his 40s, developed swelling on

his right side in January of this year, and

consulted medical professionals in May when the

swelling increased. In June, he was diagnosed

with malignant peritoneal Mesothelioma and is

receiving chemotherapy and other treatment.

The municipal government says that while it is

unclear whether the man's handling of debris

caused his cancer, it considers it a possible cause,

and is planning to hold asbestos screenings for

192 employees who were involved in rubble

treatment. The municipal government also says

that it will interview the man's colleagues from

the period after the earthquake, and test for

asbestos and other flotage from the garbage

processing facilities to shed light on the situation.


The man is expected to file for public workers'

compensation shortly.

According to the Hyogo prefectural branch of the

Fund for Local Government Employees' Accident

Compensation, there have been no cases of such

applications being accepted in Hyogo Prefecture

in the past.

This is believed to be the first time that a case of

Mesothelioma in a civil servant who handled

rubble resulting from the 1995 Kobe earthquake

has been made public.

Source

The Future We Want is

Asbestos-Free

Rio+20, the 2012 United Nations sustainable

development summit in Brazil, is history. The

long-anticipated three-day event which started on

June 20 had been intended to commemorate the

1992 Earth Summit, also held in Rio de Janeiro,

and reignite the commitment of global leaders to

achieving “The Future We Want,” the 2012

summit's slogan. That it fell far short of both goals

has much to do with the non-attendance of heads

of governments from major polluters; amongst

the list of absentees were President Obama,

Prime Minister David Cameron, Chancellor Angela

Merkel, President Vladimir Putin and Prime

Minister Stephen Harper. In the face of strong

pressure from corporate stakeholders, the lack of

political will and the ongoing economic crisis,

there was a pronounced failure to engage with

agenda issues such as: curbing CO2 emissions,

eliminating subsidies on fossil fuels, providing

universal access to clean water and adequate

food supplies, safeguarding women's

reproductive rights and pushing forward the

green agenda. Summing up the mood as the

Summit ended on Friday (June 22), Sha Zukang,

the Secretary-General of the conference,

described the lack of progress as “an outcome

that makes nobody happy. My job,” he noted

“was to make everyone equally unhappy.”

Unlike the sense of disappointment which

pervaded the Summit's official proceedings, the

spontaneity, diversity and inclusivity of the Rio+20

People's Summit for Social and Environmental

Justice, a parallel event open to all-comers,

created a spirit of subdued optimism. The

allocation of spaces for events organized by more

than 200 non-governmental bodies from June 13

to June 22 enabled discussions on alternative

solutions to the planet's environmental and social

challenges to proceed. The fact that these

debates took place on Flamengo Beach, just a

short distance away from its more famous sibling:

Copacabana, was entirely appropriate; despite

the challenges presented by the unusual

surroundings, organisers and participants made

great use of the time and space available in the

heart of the “cidade maravilhosa” (marvellous

city), Rio de Janeiro.

One constructive happening held under the

umbrella of the People's Summit was a day of civil

action called Rio+20 Asbestos Toxic Tour. The June

15th activities mounted to draw attention to the

deadly threat to humanity and the environment

posed by the continuing production and use of

asbestos began in the morning with a

demonstration and continued in the afternoon

with a bilingual dialogue on strategies for

achieving the aims of the seminar “The Future We

Want is Asbestos-Free” (O Futuro Que Queremos

é Sem Amianto).

The article has been written by Laurie Kazan-Allen

and can be accessed by clicking here

Campaigners urge permanent

closure of Indian asbestos

plants

For two years, villagers in the Indian state of Bihar

have tried to prevent the construction of a new

chrysotile (white) asbestos factory.


According to internationally-renowned civil

society leader, Medha Patkar, the company

behind the plant published a seriously-flawed

environmental impact assessment, and has also

framed false charges against local opponents.

Backed by a number of Indian political parties,

last month the villagers’ campaign received

support from Dr Barry Castleman, a world expert

on the control of asbestos and other chemical

hazards.

Dr Castleman says that closing of all asbestos

plants in the state “is enormously important in

protecting public health and can serve as an

example for the rest of India in reducing the

impact of a public health disaster in coming

decades.”

For Details: Ajit Kr Singh, Khet Bachao Jeevan

Bachao Jan Sangharsh Committee (KBJBJC),

Vaishali, Mb: 08002903995, E-mail:

[email protected]

Safety NGO calls for

comprehensive probe on

Butuan killer fire

18 workers died after being trapped inside their

workplace

A safety NGO on Wednesday called on the

Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) to

conduct a comprehensive probe on a fire which

killed 18 workers and injured 2 more. The fire

started around 3 in the morning, May 9, 2012 at

the Novo Jeans and Shirts department store

along Montilla Boulevard, Butuan City. According

to news report, there were a total of 22 stay-in

female workers when the fire broke-out.

“The regional office of the DoLE must investigate

the death of the workers and why they were

trapped inside the burning building and prosecute

those responsible for the neglect of the workers

safety,” said Noel Colina, Executive Director of

the Institute for Occupational Health and Safety

Development (www.IOHSAD.org). “Rule 1943.03

of the Philippine Occupational Health and

Standards (OHSS) outlines the need to have 'at

least of 2 exits every floor and basement capable

of clearing the work area in five (5) minutes'.

There must also be a safety plan in case of fire

which the workers should made familiar with.”

“Workplaces remain to be the top killer of

workers, with 2.2 M dying annually across the

globe based on the International Labor

Organization (ILO) estimates. The DoLE

Department Order 57-04, allowing workplaces

with 200 or more workers to conduct self-

assessment on adherence to labour standards

have failed to protect workers,” said Colina.

Colina reiterated the need to improve and add

strong penal provision to the existing OHSS. “We

should also legislate Industrial Manslaughter to

prosecute employers who neglect their duty to

protect the health and safety of their workers.”

Grinding stone factories have

claimed 30 lives since 2004-

Pakistan

As many as 30 persons have lost their lives since

2004 while 76 are on deathbed due to gross

violations of environmental laws by grinding

stone factories in Lahore, Gujranwala and

Sheikhupura.

Stone grinding results in the emission of fine

grained dust particles, which if not controlled

through appropriate measures, causes fatal


diseases, like Silicosis and Pulmonary

Tuberculosis.

The 30 men, who lost their lives, were workers at

these stone grinding factories. All over the world

stone-grinding is identified as the chief

contributor to Silicosis and Pulmonary

Tuberculosis, and therefore, special heavy-duty

air purification systems with special filtration, like

wet-scrubbers, are installed at such factories to

avoid health hazards.

In a majority of the cases, appropriate measures,

such as wet-process cutting equipment, is

employed which reduces the possibility of the

fine stone dust from getting airborne and

entering the respiratory system of the workers.

In Pakistan, however, due to the high rate of

unemployment, low level of health care

awareness and toothless environmental laws, the

factory owners hardly practice the safety

standards imperative. The survey conducted by

the Environment Protection Department, Punjab,

revealed that not only did the factories owners

choose not to employ any air-purification system,

they didn’t even provide their workers with the

masks required to give some level of protection

to the workers.

The average age of the men who lost their lives

working for these factories was 35 and they

belonged to roughly the same area near Choti

Bala in the Dera Ghazi Khan district. Due to the

high unemployment in these areas, it is easy for

the factory owners to recruit from these areas

and once a few men return home with the

money, other join in to feed their homes.

‘We have appealed to the government several

times to check the practices at these factories

after our men started dying, but nobody paid

heed to our complaints, said Nazeeraan Bibi’,

widow of Shahnawaz who died due to the disease

and is now getting her brother treated for

Pulmonary Tuberculosis at a government hospital

in Lahore.

At least 60 percent of the unfortunate deceased

are married and their families have now sunk

deeper down into the abyss of misery. While

those who were not even married, took the

prized dreams of their families with them. The

MNA of the area, Sardar Mohammad Jaffar Khan

Leghari, wrote a letter to the chief minister

explaining this precarious situation. A copy of the

letter was sent to the secretaries of the Health,

the Labor and the Environment departments.

Punjab Environment secretary Saeed Iqbal

Wahlah took the initiative to visit the factory and

found them guilty of criminal negligence and

blatant violation of environmental safety

standards.

According to National Environmental Quality

(NEQ) Standards the permissible limit of the

Mean Measured Level of Suspended Particular

Matter (MMLSP) is 500 parts per million.

The sampling of the EPD measured the MMLSP at

these factories ranging from 3,400 to 4,000 parts

per million, which is 700 percent more that of the

permitted range. The staggering fact, however, is

that, despite plausible proof of the criminal

negligence of these factories and the clear

responsibility for the death of 30 men, the

environmental department does not have legal

powers to seal these death-dispensing units.

When contacted, the Environment secretary

confirmed the death toll and the fact that they

had been caused due to the negligence of the

factories owners. However, he said, due to the

Environmental Protection Act 1997 and its

amendments in 2012, the department did not

have the powers to take definite action against

these offenders. The best we can do, he added,

was to refer the case to the environment tribunal,

which too, at maximum could fine these factories.

The lives of the 76 currently suffering from

Silicosis and Pulmonary is still hangs in the

balance as these factories are still operating


without the equipment mandatory to curtail the

health hazards.

source

Tributes

Lee Yunjeong - 55th Death from Samsung

Born in 1980. She worked in Samsung

semiconductor Assembly & Test factory in

Onyang for six years from 1997 to 2003.

Was Diagnosed with

malignant brain cancer

at 2010. She underwent

Brain surgery and

chemotherapy.

She died 7 May 2012,

only 32 years old,

leaving behind a loving

husband and two

children.

Lee Yunjeong had applied for Workers’

Compensation to the Governments, which is one

of Korean social insurances, but the Governments

refused to compensate her because she could not

prove which toxic chemicals she had been

exposed to.

Lee raised lawsuit against the Governments’

decision at 2011, but could not survive long

enough to see the result of lawsuit. Samsung has

involved the lawsuit by hiring lawyers to support

the Governments and to prevent the workers and

the families from getting compensation.

• Korean Government and Samsung should

apologize in front of the death of Lee.

• Korean Government and Samsung should

guarantee the solemn funeral ceremony can

be finished in peace at May 10th.

• Samsung should stop undermining the just

right of workers to be compensated, and

respect the labour rights.

• Korean Government should compensate to all

the victims from electronic industry including

Samsung.

The story of Lee was shown at TV “Chujuk

60boon” in KBS. You can see the interview of her

and her husband on the

http://youtu.be/wOTRp9Hl4e4 at the scenes from

2:25 to 5:50.

The Environmental Impact of

the Manufacturing of

Semiconductor’s

Module by: Jason Holden, Christopher Kelty. E

Summary: This module gives a brief general

overview of semi-conductor manufacturing and

some of the components and processes used to

produce them that can potentially cause harm to

humans or the environment.

Note:

"This module was developed as part of a Rice

University Class called "Nanotechnology: Content

and Context" initially funded by the National

Science Foundation under Grant No. EEC-0407237.

It was conceived, researched, written and edited

by students in the Fall 2005 version of the class,

and reviewed by participating professors."


What is a semiconductor?

The semiconductor industry is one of the fastest

growing manufacturing sectors in not only the

United States but also in the world. According to

the American Electronics Association, the

domestic sales of electronic components have

skyrocketed, jumping from $127 billion to $306

billion over the course of the 1980’s. In the first

three quarters of the 2003 fiscal year alone, the

export of technology goods from the United

States increased by $19 billion.

The word “semiconductor” technically refers to

any member of a class of solid, crystalline

materials that is characterized by an electrical

conductivity better than that of insulators (e.g.,

plastic) but less than that of good conductors

(e.g., copper). Semiconductors are particularly

useful as a base material in the manufacturing of

computer chips, and the term semiconductor has

actually come to be synonymous with the

computer chips, themselves. However,

semiconductors are not only used in computers.

Computers only make up 44% of entire industry

consumption (see Figure 1). Semiconductors are

also used for military, automotive, industrial,

communications, and other consumer purposes.

To read more click here

Regional News

Mass fainting in Cambodia

A total of 107 workers at the Sabrina Garment

factory in Kampong Speu's Sambo commune

were sent to hospital after becoming dizzy and

fainting late yesterday [4 Apr 2012] morning.

Choek Borin, the Labour Department's Kampong

Speu bureau chief, said that 107 factory workers

fainted, with nearly 60 sent to the provincial

federal hospital.

He said that after investigations by officials, it is

believed the faintings were caused by a

poisonous chemical used to manufacture gloves

in another section of the factory building.

Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union,

travelled to the scene and said that a few workers

fainted in the factory after 9 am. 2 hours later,

there was a mass fainting on the factory grounds

which affected nearly 100 Sabrina Garment

employees.

"Workers were panicked after becoming dizzy

and seeing their co-workers fainting, so they

rushed out from the building," Chea Mony said.

An employee at the factory who fainted in the

factory but later recovered at the scene, said

workers smelled a chemical which made it

difficult to breathe. Workers were ordered to

leave the building to avoid mass fainting.

Sabrina Garment could not be reached for

comment.

Hundreds riot and dozens arrested

at Foxconn iPhone factory in China

in protest at poor working

conditions

• Estimated 1,000 staff clash with security

guards in factory dorm rooms

• Foxconn is world's biggest gadget maker and

produces iPhone and iPad

• Firm has been slammed for forcing staff into

long hours and low pay

• Latest incident after suicides and explosion

at Foxconn plants

Hundreds of workers at the world's largest

electronics manufacturer have rioted at a factory

in China, resulting in dozens of arrests.

An estimated 1,000 Employees at the Foxconn

plant in Chengdu, southwest China, clashed with

security guards who had attempted to prevent a

man stealing on Monday night, according to

Taiwan-based news website Want China Times.

Foxconn makes many of the world's most popular

gadgets, including Apple's iPhone and iPad, the

Amazon Kindle and the PlayStation 3 and Xbox

360 video game consoles.


The manufacturer has previously come under fire

for forcing staff to work long hours and in unsafe

conditions for low pay.

The riot at the Foxconn factory in Chengdu,

southwestern China, comes after reports of poor

working conditions at the plants

Workers reportedly threw bins, chairs and even

fireworks at security officers from the upper

floors of the building after the riot broke out in a

dormitory at the plant.

Two guards had called out to stop a thief but staff

took the opportunity to air their grudges at

working conditions.

The clash ended after two hours when hundreds

of police officers were called to the scene and

dozens were arrested.

The riot is the latest high-profile incident to affect

Foxconn, which employs up to 120,000 people at

its Chengdu plant, and more than one million in

total.

Under fire: Workers queue to enter the Foxconn

factory in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. The

company employs more than one million people

Blast: A Foxconn worker arrives at a hospital in

May last year after an explosion on an iPad2

production line

Up to 14 Workers at a separate plant in Shenzhen,

Guangdong province, committed suicide by

throwing themselves from the top of the factory

in 2010.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has vowed to work for

better conditions for Foxconn employees

An explosion in May last year killed two and

injured 16 employees who were working on the

iPad 2 production line at the Chengdu factory.

Foxconn's customers, including Apple, have been

criticised for failing to encourage changes at the

Chinese manufacturer's factories.

An investigation ordered by Apple earlier this year

found 'significant' problems at the plants.

Employees can work 76-hour weeks and for 11

days in a row, yet are paid as little as £150 a

month, around three-quarters the country's

average wage and less than half the price of the

iPads they produce.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has vowed to work to

improve conditions at the plants, where 90 per

cent of the technology firm's products are made,

including reducing overtime, which the report

found some workers were not paid for.

'We want everyone to know what we are doing,

and we hope that people copy. We've put a tonne

of effort into taking overtime down,' Cook said in

May.

Source


U.S., Europe and Japan Escalate

Rare-Earth Dispute With China

By PAUL GEITNER Published: June 27, 2012

BRUSSELS — The European Union, the United

States and Japan ramped up their dispute with

China over its restrictions on exports of rare

earths Wednesday after failing to resolve the case

through negotiations at the World Trade

Organization.

The European trade commissioner, Karel De

Gucht said that the European Union and its

partners in the case had asked for a dispute

settlement panel to be formed in the wake of

inconclusive consultations with China, which were

held after the complaint was filed last March.

Mr. De Gucht noted that in January, an appeals

tribunal at the W.T.O. upheld a ruling from last

year in a related case, in which China was told to

dismantle export duties and quotas on nine other

industrial raw materials, including bauxite.

The current complaint involves restrictions on

rare earths, tungsten and molybdenum, which

were imposed by China in 2006 and tightened

since then.

“Despite the very clear W.T.O. ruling earlier this

year in the first raw materials case, Beijing has not

taken steps to remove these export restrictions,”

Mr. De Gucht said in a statement. “We regret that

we are left with no other choice but to solve this

through litigation.”

China currently produces more than 90 percent of

the world’s rare earth metals, which are essential

to high-technology products from smart phones

to electric car motors. The W.T.O. case argues

that Beijing is violating free trade rules by putting

pressure on companies to move factories to China

if they want access to Chinese raw materials.

Chinese officials have previously signaled that

their defense in that case will be to use a

provision of W.T.O. rules that allows export

restrictions for environmental protection and the

conservation of scarce natural resources.

In what may have been an effort to buttress that

argument, China’s cabinet last week issued its

first white paper on rare earth industry policies,

saying that poorly regulated mining of rare earth

metals had caused widespread environmental

damage and promising an extensive cleanup and

a crackdown on illegal mines.

The W.T.O. dispute settlement panel, once

established, has six months to deliver its report to

the parties, who then can later file an appeal.

Keith Bradsher contributed reporting from Hong

Kong.

A version of this article appeared in print on June

28, 2012, in The International Herald Tribune.

Source

2nd Trade Union Assembly on

Labour and Environment

Just before governments were set to begin the

Rio+20 negotiations, trade unions from all over

the world gathered at an Assembly to launch an

urgent call for action for sustainability and

decent work. From June 11–13, 2012 close to 400

delegates from 56 countries discussed how to

get governments to commit through concrete

obligations for social and environmental change,

that translate into binding agreements, in order

to transform in a fundamental way, the current

profit-based model of production and

consumption.

Trade unions came to Rio with a plan in hand:

immediate action on universal social protection,

green and decent jobs, and financing for

sustainable development, but they also wanted

to agree on an ambitious agenda for their own

organizations related to socio-environmental

issues.

The shameful tendency in recent years of growing

inequalities in the world must be eliminated; and


instead access to food, energy and water must be

urgently provided to millions of people who are

lacking it, respecting the planet’s ecological limits.

Trade unions of the world propose an ambitious

agenda on climate action, and are prepared to

demand of governments an increase of a

maximum of 1.5ºC in the planet’s average

temperature; an investment of 2% of the GDP in

sectors that reduce environmental impact and

that of natural disasters, and the ban of the use

and the marketing of extremely hazardous

substances such as asbestos, paraquat, benzene,

cadmium, mercury and lead.

A sustainable world is not possible when 60% of

workers do not have a contract for safe work, 75%

of them are not covered by any type of social

protection system, and when the neo-liberal

policies on cuts are resulting in the violation of

trade union and labour rights. For this reason,

trade unions demand that advances be made on

social protection for all and in the implementation

by 2030, of ILO´s recent recommendation on the

social protection floor, through the allocation of

the necessary resources so that it may become a

reality.

This transformation demands responsible and

democratic governments that can ensure the

public control of common goods for their fair

distribution and environmental preservation, and

that urgently reform fiscal systems to make this

possible. The wealthy and the biggest polluters

must pay taxes. It is precisely in this area that

strong and efficient public services should play

their corresponding role to guarantee social

cohesion, the equitable distribution of wealth and

access to education, health, social services and

other essential services, necessary for all

societies.

The financial transaction tax is also part of trade

unions´ demands: it will help to gather funds in an

immediate way for sustainability policies and it

will reduce the scandalous speculation of financial

systems. In 2000, more than 5 billion dollars were

shuffled around through financial transactions all

over the world, ten years later this figure has

multiplied by 7. Isn’t it about time to act already?

More information available here.

OSHA, NIOSH Issue Hazard Alert on

Silica Exposure in Hydraulic

Fracturing

Last Thursday, OSHA and NIOSH issued a joint

hazard alert to ensure that employers are

properly protecting workers from silica exposure

in hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) operations.

The hazard alert follows a cooperative study by

NIOSH and industry partners, part of the “NIOSH

Field Effort to Assess Chemical Exposures to Oil

and Gas Extraction Workers,” that found that

overexposure to airborne silica is a health hazard

to those working in the fracking industry. Large

quantities of silica sand are used during fracking,

and NIOSH found seven primary sources of silica

dust exposure during fracking operations.

According to NIOSH, workers downwind of sand

mover and blender operations—especially during

hot loading—had the highest silica exposures.

During the agency study, NIOSH found that 47

percent of the 116 full-shift air samples showed

silica exposures greater than the calculated OSHA

permissible exposure limit (PEL), and 79 percent

of the samples showed silica exposures greater

than the NIOSH recommended exposure limit

(REL) of 0.05 mg/m3. The air samples were taken

at 11 different fracking sites in five states:

Arkansas, Colorado, North Dakota, Pennsylvania

and Texas.

Read OSHA’s press release. The hazard alert is

available to view as a PDF or as a Web page.

Last month, AIHA® members Eric J. Esswein,

MSPH, CIH, and John Snawder, PhD, DABT—both

of NIOSH—recently presented findings (with

Michael Breitenstein) from the field effort on the

health hazards of fracking. Read more.


78% corporate’s suffer sleep

disorder

New Delhi, Apr 6 (IBNS) Due to demanding

schedules and high stress levels, nearly 78% of the

corporate employees sleep less than 6 hours on a

daily basis which leads to sleep disorders

amongst them, according to a recent survey

conducted by ASSOCHAM on the occasion of

‘World Health Day’.

While releasing the ASSOCHAM survey its

Secretary General, D S Rawat said, “Loss of sleep

has wide ranging effects including daytime

fatigue, physical discomfort, psychological stress,

performance deterioration, low-pain threshold

and increase absenteeism”.

The survey also shows that women experience

more sleep problems than men. More than half of

women said they frequently experience a sleep

problem.

Around 55 per cent of the survey respondent’s

fall under the age bracket of 20-29 years, followed

by 30-39 years (26 per cent), 40-49 years (16 per

cent), 50-59 years (2 per cent) and 60-69 years

(approximately 1 per cent).

To read more click here

This noise can truly deafen

There is growing incidence of noise-induced

hearing loss, which results from exposure to high-

intensity sound, especially over a long period of

time.

Noise pollution is a bane of modern life — car

alarms, leaf blowers, gunshots, boom boxes and

traffic congestion among other causes fill our

cities with unhealthy decibel levels. Even rural

areas are not spared any longer, thanks to noisy

farm machinery.

The US Department of Labour's Occupational

Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) states

that exposure to 85 dB(A) of noise, known as an

exposure action value, for more than eight hours

a day can result in permanent hearing loss. It also

recommends that “exposure to impulsive or

impact noise should not exceed 140 dB peak-

sound pressure level.”

Noise-induced hearing loss is of two kinds: the

first is caused by acoustic trauma; and in the

second, the disorder develops gradually due to a

combination of sound intensity and long-term

exposure.

The disorder resulting from acoustic trauma

refers to permanent cochlear damage caused by

one-time exposure to excessive sound pressure

(above 120 dB) such as explosions, gunfire and

firecrackers.

But potentially harmful noise is not necessarily

unpleasant or unwanted. For example, the music

at a concert and the pounding of a jackhammer

on the street can be equally damaging to the

inner ear. It is the intensity with which the sound

(acoustic energy) is delivered, rather than the

source that determines the danger.

NOISE LEVELS ON A SHIP

On ships the main source of noise is the

propulsion mechanism, and therefore the highest

levels of noise are in its vicinity. In most ships the

noise exceeds 100 dB, and sometimes even

touches 110 dB.

This noise can harm the inner ear, bilaterally and

more or less symmetrically, and the damage will

worsen with extended exposure.

The symptoms of noise-induced hearing loss vary

depending on ear canal resonance, the frequency

of the harmful acoustic signal and the length of

exposure.

But as a general rule, any noise may be

considered damaging to one's hearing if it:

• becomes necessary to shout to be heard

above it;

• causes ear pain;

• makes the ears ring; or


• causes loss of hearing for several hours or

more after exposure.

Besides hearing loss, loud noise can also cause

ringing in the ears (tinnitus) and occasional

dizziness (vertigo), as well as non-auditory effects

such as increase in heart rate and blood pressure.

The following conditions are believed to increase

susceptibility to noise-induced hearing: blue eyes,

light skin, family history of hearing loss, diabetes

mellitus, Meniere disease, iron deficiency, vitamin

A deficiency, old age, atherosclerosis (hardening

of the arteries), and tobacco smoking.

PREVENTION

There are several simple, widely available and

economical devices that are useful in preventing

noise-induced hearing loss. Earplugs offer

effective protection against low-frequency noise

(such as that of a jackhammer), and earmuffs are

better against high-frequency noise (such as an

airplane taking off). Efforts to improve the

working environment for seafarers and fishermen

include compulsory workplace inspection, noise

measurements and mandatory training in safety

and health.

Combined use of earplugs and muffs is effective

when the noise exceeds 105 dB. The use of cotton

balls or tissue paper wads to cover the ear canals

will prove ineffective when the noise exceeds

about 7 dB.

Prevention is definitely the better option… as,

unfortunately, no treatment is available for noise-

induced hearing loss.

Source

115 mining companies operating

illegally in forest areas in

Indonesia

More than 100 mining companies are operating

without licenses in forest areas across 471,000

hectares in Indonesia, reports The Jakarta Post.

A recent report from Indonesia's Supreme Audit

Agency (BPK) found 115 companies are operating

in forests controlled by the Ministry of Forestry.

The agency called for an investigation into the

companies.

The findings are based on sampling in Sumatra,

Kalimantan and Maluku, among other areas.

Elfian Effendi, executive director of Greenomics-

Indonesia, said the number of companies

operating illegally in designated forest areas is

actually higher.

Read More

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issues, we will offer space for reader feedback.

For any questions about Occupational Health and Safety in Asia, send an email to [email protected].

Our panel of experts will attempt to reply to all questions.

Contact Us - Secretariat

Environics Trust Khasra Number 177, Neb Sarai, IGNOU Road, New Delhi – 110068, India Email – [email protected] URL - www.anroev.org

published by: asian network for the rights of occupational and … · 2013. 2. 16. · osh rights |...

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