Bra Protest At HSE’s Approach To Occupational Cancer

As previously reported by Unionsafety, Hilda Palmer from Hazards together with members of the Alliance For Cancer Prevention, held a protest outside the British Library in London, where the HSE was holding an event to discuss ways to reduce instances of work-related cancer. Demonstrators hung their bras on a washing line as delegates entered the conference.

The news item has also been reported by the Safety and Health Practitioner which is the magazine of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

IOSH provide a short film of an interview with Hilda Palmer and offer a response to the demonstration from the HSE:

The Hazards Campaign claims the HSE has taken minimal action to prevent workers being exposed to carcinogenic agents in the workplace.

More than 12,000 people die from occupational cancer each year and approximately 450,000 new cases of work-related ill health are reported annually.

The Hazard Campaign’s Hilda Palmer told SHP: “The HSE is taking almost no action to prevent occupational cancer. There is a lack of research in this area and the Executive must act now to remove all factors that cause these diseases in the workplace.”

In response, a spokesperson for the regulator said: “HSE recognises that more can be done to make a bigger impact in tackling occupational disease – that's why we've hosted this event. We wanted to get a range of people, experts and those from industry to consider and discuss ways by which instances of work-related cancer and occupational disease may be reduced. HSE sees itself as a catalyst to this – it can't do it alone.

“It was actually an update on the Burden of Cancer study that prompted the HSE Board to consider the wider issues of occupational disease and what was being done by HSE, and more widely. This directly led to this workshop event – an event to which Hazards campaigners staging the protest were invited in to.

“HSE rightly has to base its work and interventions on evidence. There is an ongoing study into breast cancer specifically, which is due to conclude in 2015.”

See also: Tackling Occupational Cancer Should Mean Preventing It, Not Taking A ‘3 Monkeys’ Approach

Source: IOSH / Unionsafety

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