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14 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 28/2003
The ground breaking joint ITF/ICEM offshore industries conference in Aberdeen (September 23-25) - which brought together people working in the dangerous offshore oil and gas sector from 17 countries around the world - ended today. A press conference was held at the Ramada Jarvis Hotel in Aberdeen, Scotland, to explain the decisions taken at the conference, the first of its kind ever held.
At the press conference, it was announced a global campaign by the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and their affiliated unions to secure trade union and human rights and acceptable standards with regard to health and safety, skills, competence and standards of wages and conditions of employment for all offshore workers.
Among the resolutions passed during the event are:
The conference supported the call by British trade unions for an independent inquiry in the recent deaths on the Shell Brent Bravo rig, especially after the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) failed to listen to union warnings in March this year and even said that there was "no imminent cause for concern and no immediate risk." In the light of this gross failure, the ITF and ICEM will ask Health and Safety Minister Des Brown to appoint independent experts to conduct the investigation into the recent fatalities.
ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs endorsed such an investigation. Higgs, himself involved in the investigation as National Secretary of UK's Transport & General Workers' Union following the fatal gas blast on the Piper Alpha rig in 1988 that killed 167 workers, said, "Such a public inquiry is the only way in which remedial actions can be taken to prevent such disasters."
Delegates also said they were appalled at the numbers of workers who will die from asbestos related diseases. The HSE has predicted 10,000 deaths per year in the UK alone by 2010, while in the Australian state of New South Wales 300 new cases of mesothelioma are detected each year. The conference voted to approach the ITF's Fair Practices Committee, an influential group made up of representatives of seafarers' and dockers' unions, and request it to introduce a register of vessels known to contain or have contained asbestos.
ITF General Secretary David Cockroft describes the conference as "a first of its kind, that has laid the foundation stone for decency and common rights in the world's offshore industries."
Higgs credited efforts by the two global union federations and their affiliates to come together to embark on the joint mission. "It is essential that we work together to defend the rights of seafarers and those workers involved in offshore oil exploration and to ensure their health and safety."
At the press conference, it was announced a global campaign by the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and their affiliated unions to secure trade union and human rights and acceptable standards with regard to health and safety, skills, competence and standards of wages and conditions of employment for all offshore workers.
Among the resolutions passed during the event are:
The conference supported the call by British trade unions for an independent inquiry in the recent deaths on the Shell Brent Bravo rig, especially after the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) failed to listen to union warnings in March this year and even said that there was "no imminent cause for concern and no immediate risk." In the light of this gross failure, the ITF and ICEM will ask Health and Safety Minister Des Brown to appoint independent experts to conduct the investigation into the recent fatalities.
ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs endorsed such an investigation. Higgs, himself involved in the investigation as National Secretary of UK's Transport & General Workers' Union following the fatal gas blast on the Piper Alpha rig in 1988 that killed 167 workers, said, "Such a public inquiry is the only way in which remedial actions can be taken to prevent such disasters."
Delegates also said they were appalled at the numbers of workers who will die from asbestos related diseases. The HSE has predicted 10,000 deaths per year in the UK alone by 2010, while in the Australian state of New South Wales 300 new cases of mesothelioma are detected each year. The conference voted to approach the ITF's Fair Practices Committee, an influential group made up of representatives of seafarers' and dockers' unions, and request it to introduce a register of vessels known to contain or have contained asbestos.
ITF General Secretary David Cockroft describes the conference as "a first of its kind, that has laid the foundation stone for decency and common rights in the world's offshore industries."
Higgs credited efforts by the two global union federations and their affiliates to come together to embark on the joint mission. "It is essential that we work together to defend the rights of seafarers and those workers involved in offshore oil exploration and to ensure their health and safety."