OHS in a Historical Trade Union Perspective

Thora BrendstrupMedical advisor, MD, PhD

3F, United Federation of Danish Workers

The Danish Experience

• And something about European OHS movements.

• Denmark is special - it has no factory doctors and no doctors within the companies – the factories are too small.

1960-1970

• A blowing industrialization and a growing awareness concerning health and safety problems.

• Focus on classic occupational diseases such as silicosis in the lungs of quarry workers and miners.

1970-1980

• Focus on new chemicals used in the industry:• The painters want to know what is in the paint. They

contact their trade union and asked about this. The union seeks expert advice amongst the students at the universities.

• A unique alliance was made between students and trade unions organizing painters, bricklayers, welders, etc.

• This alliance was based on trust, probably because Denmark is so small that everybody know one another.

1970-1980 continued

• In the alliance between unions and students reports were made to document health and safety problems:

• Loss of hearing amongst brewery workers.

• Brain damage amongst painters working with organic solvents.

• Low back pain amongst brick layers.

• Knee problems amongst carpet layers.

1970-1980 continued

• 1971 - the first OHS consultant was engaged by the General Workers’ Union.

• 1978 - a new law was passed on protection of the working environment.

• The trade unions walked on two legs:• 1. Trying to improve the regulation of the

working environment.• 2. Helping members to get compensation

after an industrial injury.

1980 - 1990

• Trade unions were represented in tripartite organizations to improve the working environment and to improve compensations.

• Election of safety representatives in the companies became mandatory.

1980 -1990 continued

• A successful story is the union fighting against organic solvents in paintings:

• One result was that brain damage was compensated as an occupational disease.

• Another result was that the paint factories substituted the organic solvents by paint based on water. An export succes story

1980 – 1990 continued

• The unions supported the development of clinics of occupational medicine in all the counties of Denmark.

• The unions won the right to refer their members to these clinics.

• The clinics have doctors specialised in occupational medicine, paid by the government, not by companies. They give a neutral evaluation of the disease and its connection to the working environment.

1980 – 1990 continued

• New OHS problems were discovered:

• Repetitive Strain Injuries caused by monotonous work

and

• Low back pain caused by heavy lifting.

1980 – 1990 continued

• A successful story concerning collaboration between the textile workers’ union and the doctors:

• The union discovered many cases of chronic shoulder-neck pain amongst the sewing women.

• The union referred the members to the clinic of occupational medicine.

1980 – 1990 continued

• A research project was set up: It showed that the risk of getting chronic shoulder-neck pain among the sewing women was very high, much higher than among other comparable women workers.

• The union succeeded in getting compensation for the women and the disease is now figuring on the Danish list of recognized occupational diseases.

1980 - 1990

• During this period occupational health services were made mandatory in many branches on the labour market.

• Workers’ representatives constituted half of the delegates of the directory boards on these services.

• In this way the unions got a great deal of influence on preventive activities in the companies.

1990 - 2000

• New changes in the structure of the labour market: Many jobs were exported to low wage countries.

• Big parts of the Danish textile industry disappeared.

• Big parts of the assembly industry were exported.

• The question is if the OHS problems in these industries are exported with them?

1990 - 2000

• New OHS problems arise because of changes in the labour market structure:

• Lean/mean production is the mantra and companies compete on time schedules - fewer employed run faster than ever.

• The result is stress, mental disorders, depressions and burnout.

1970 - 2000

• Some European perspectives:

• The 1970´ies activist groups working with OHS problems met in Strasbourg to give advise to left wing parties from the European Parliament.

• The activist groups decided to make their own European network: The European Work Hazards Network – EWHN.

1970 – 2000 continued

• European perspectives:• EWHN has held conferences every

second year in different European countries: The idea is to gather safety representatives and their professional advisers in workshops on specific OHS problems like asbestos related diseases, stress at the work place, repetitive strain injuries, etc.

2006 -

• On European level:• Growing trade union collaboration

concerning health and safety, this conference being part of it.

• Regression on many national levels: Deregulation in the working environment, the Danish Occupational Health Services are no longer mandatory, the Labour Inspection has no tools to fight the new OHS problems like lean production and stress.

2006 -

• On the activist level the conferences continue: At this very place we have the next EWHN conference over this week-end and I welcome the many of you who have decided to participate in it.