Report fails to find favour with former mill workers
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
A MUCH-ANTICIPATED report on the health of former Eastern Bay sawmill workers has fallen short in vital areas, according to those affected.
For the past year, policy and regulatory specialists Allen and Clarke have been working on a report on the setting up of a specialist health support service for former timber workers made sick by the chemicals they were exposed to every working day.
The report was due for public release in February but it has been sent back for a re-write after it failed to find favour with the men who worked in the mills.
Joe Harawira, spokesman for Whakatane-based lobby group Sawmill Workers Against Poisons said the report, presented at a meeting between SWAP and Allen and Clarke last month, did not adequately address workers’ concerns.
“We sent them away to get it right.”
Mr Harawira said the report fell short in three areas - the research component needed to be ongoing; it didn’t address the generational effect; and the eligibility criteria would have ruled out many of the affected workers.
Mr Harawira and SWAP have fought for more than 20 years to persuade the government and health authorities that their illnesses and premature deaths stemmed from exposure to chemicals, mainly pentachlorophenol (PCP), during their employment at the old Whakatane sawmill and other sites between the 1950s and 1980s. PCP is now banned
Their battle has gained momentum in recent years and the appointment of Allen and Clarke in 2008 by the Ministry of Health and the commissioning of this report were seen as major milestones.
The timber workers - who suffer a death rate of 12 to 18 a year - have never sought financial compensation for their illnesses, rather they want free medical treatment and checkups and ongoing research into the effects of exposure to help families and future generations.
Last year a health service - based on a report by Allen and Clarke - was developed for residents of Paritutu in Taranaki, who suffered secondary exposure to dioxin from the neighbouring Ivan Watkins Dow chemical plant.
SWAP envisages a package significantly greater than the one at Paritutu because the timber workers suffered first-hand exposure from working directly with toxic chemicals.
Mr Harawira said many workers’ families suffered genetic conditions and any proposed health service should treat the workers and their families as a group, identifying illness clusters and trends.
Despite the disappointing content of the report, Mr Harawira said he still had confidence in the process, and was hopeful an amended report would address workers’ concerns.