Health and safety gains<br>at Daimler/Chrysler

USA: In the recent round of collective bargaining with Daimler/Chrysler, UAW negotiators secured some significant improvements in occupational health and safety. These include:
– an awareness and responsibilities programme for all Daimler/Chrysler employees;
– additional training for members of the local joint committees on health and safety;
– the introduction of risk assessment and hazard controls for high-risk jobs, giving priority to engineering over procedural or personal protective equipment solutions;
– the involvement of union safety representatives in official health and safety inspections, with access to all reports concerning violations of local, state or federal codes;
– the introduction of medical surveillance procedures to establish the respiratory effects of metalworking fluids, and reduce currently agreed exposure limits for machining fluids by 50%;
– consultation on the introduction of stricter limits for chemicals, including solvents, carbon monoxide and diesel exhausts;
– access to company reports on environmental issues that have an impact on employee health and safety;
– the review of health and safety-related preventative maintenance programmes;
– more frequent health and safety audits, with improved training for audit team members;
– improvement of ergonomic design and the review of current lifting guidelines, in order to improve working conditions;
– development of an emergency response plan to deal with any unforeseen health and safety emergencies;
– stricter enforcement of health and safety requirements for all contractor employees on Daimler/Chrysler sites.
Details of the agreement can be obtained on the UAW’s website.