road protests 1999
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Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 00:46:52 +0000
From: SchNEWS (schnews@gn.apc.org)
Reply-To: schnews@brighton.co.uk
To: SchNEWS Subscribers (schnews@gn.apc.org)
Subject: SchNEWS 211, 14 May 1999
TARRED TO THE MAX
The construction firm Tarmac has been breaking such different sorts of
records - Roy Castle would be proud. They recently scooped four of the
government and construction industry's 1999 'Quality in Construction' major
awards, including that in the environment category. Which may raise hollow
laughs from people in the Bestwood area of Nottinghamshire, if not as
hollow as the yawning quarry Tarmac intends to inflict on the forest there.
The judges displayed an even more finely honed sense of irony in awarding a
Tarmac subsidiary the Safety award, lauding their 'degree of absolute
commitment [which] is fantastic', and reflecting the 10(!) awards Tarmac
companies have this week received from the Royal Society for the Prevention
of Accidents. Now, this ain't going to raise even a hollow laugh (or much
else) from any of the 13 Tarmac employees killed at work over the last
decade. And that's not just a rogue statistic; to place it in context, note
that Tarmac was convicted in that time of more Health and Safety offences
than any other UK firm, almost twice as many as the next worst offender.
(Let's take a quick glance at the cost benefit analysis: the company
received fines of, on average, just over 3 grand for a seriously injured
employees, just over 11 grand for a death; while such skimping on H&S
considerations may have contributed to their truly fantastic average annual
profits of £184 million). That is a serious record.
Perhaps just as well they didn't employ Roy Castle, who died before Tarmac could get their hands on him.
road protests 1999
| road protests (current)
| movement links