NUJ backs calls for improved workers' rights on air pollution
Occupational risks to health caused by air pollution have been highlighted by the Trade Union Clean Air Network.
“99 percent of humanity breathes polluted air, leading to an estimated 8 million premature deaths including more than 700,000 children under five,” says UN secretary-general António Guterres in a message ahead of International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies (7 September). As he reminds the world to invest in clean air to save lives and combat climate change, Guterres stresses that pollution is also choking economies and heating up the planet by adding “fuel to the fire” of the climate crisis. This pollution disproportionally affects the most vulnerable in society, including women, children, and older people – but the “silent killer” can be stopped if we take the right action globally.
We must not, however, forget the pollution indoors.
Workers are disproportionately affected by polluted air because millions work inside where there is little legal protection, says Graham Petersen of the Trade Union Clean Air Network (TUCAN), a UK coalition of trade unions, the Hazards Campaign, and the Greener Jobs Alliance.
In a campaign launched at the recent Hazards conference at Keele University, UK, he said:
“How can it be right that there is a UK exposure standard for indoor air pollution at work that is 200 times worse than for exposure outdoors? We call on the government to act on this double standard as a matter of urgency.”
Like the UN secretary general, TUCAN believes air pollution can be tackled, but only with the right legal framework, forcing employers to address the deadly cocktail of pollutants in the workplace, providing new powers for workers and unions to intervene.
The TUCAN briefing paper sets out 20 proposals emphasising the importance of occupational indoor air pollution and the need for government and statutory bodies to provide the right legal framework for action.
The NUJ’s Health and Safety Committee continue to raise awareness of risks to workers arising from air pollution.