CIS Newsletter

No. 212
May 2007


CIS Newsletter celebrates 19 years & still going strong!
Bringing news to over 140 countries in the CIS Network!


Contents

  1. Editorial
  2. News from CIS HQ - CIS Annual Meeting 2007 information
  3. News from around the World - Bahrain, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, UK and the USA
  4. FOCUS - Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation
  5. OSH News Briefs
  6. Diary of Events

Editorial

Dear CIS Colleagues

I hope that you had a successful 28 April 2007 - World Day for Safety and Health at Work! If you wish to send any reports re your activities and events - please send for the next CIS Newsletter. Likewise if you wish to send notice of any of your future planned events please let me know. Anything you do - even the smallest event will bring safety and health to the forefront in your country. Don't forget to look at the web site www.ilo.org

More information and early preparations are now taking place for our 2007 CIS Meeting - in Düsseldorf, Germany, on Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 September 2007.

The Meeting is being organized jointly with the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. The CIS Meeting will be held at the same time as the European Agency has its meeting of focal points, some of which are also our centres.

The Meeting will be held in conjunction with the A+A 2007 Congress and Trade Show, jointly sponsored by BASI (Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft für Sicherheit und Gesundheit bei der Arbeit), the ILO, the European Agency and other safety and health bodies. For greater details see below message from Gabor Sandi at CIS HQ.

Please note that hotel accommodation is already getting booked up - so the advice is book early - like now! Some of us have booked at the Mondial Hotel, Graf-Adolf Strasse 82, Central Dusseldorf, Tel +49 0211 173 9920, Fax:+49 0211 162 678, www.nk-hotels.de, Email: mondial@nk-hotels.de. Costs 125 euros per night. (Centrally located near stations and a little cheaper than the hotel near the Congress site).

And because of the joint meeting there will NOT be any Training Workshops for CIS members this year.

Remember also that the 2008 Annual CIS meeting will be in Seoul, Korea - held at the same time as XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work - Global Forum for Prevention - "Safety and Health at Work: A Societal Responsibility" to held June 29 - July 2, 2008, at the COEX Convention Center, Seoul, Korea. www.safety2008korea.org.

The three organizing bodies are International Labour Organization, International Social Security Association and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency

Thanks for the publications, emails and news - these are always gratefully received and are used as soon as possible. So now we can share the information worldwide...

Publicity... tell them, tell them and tell them again... Remember >>>>

Use the CIS Logo on your web site and publications!

Thriving in 2007... Keep promoting and telling the World at large that CIS and its network exists!

You know I welcome ideas for inclusion in the future editions of this Newsletter. It is amazing how much the CIS Newsletter content gets re-used around the world. Take advantage of free publicity! Remember you can see CIS Newsletter on the web site www.sheilapantry.com/cis where back issues are stored.

Changed email number recently? Please let me know of any changes so that I can continually alert you to when the new edition of CIS Newsletter is available via this website

All good wishes to you, your families and your colleagues.

Sheila Pantry, OBE

85 The Meadows, Todwick, Sheffield S26 1JG, UK
Tel: +44 1909 771024
Fax: +44 1909 772829
Email: sp@sheilapantry.com
www.oshworld.com
www.sheilapantry.com
www.shebuyersguide.com
www.oshupdate.com
www.fireinf.com


Please consider the environment before printing this Newsletter
Feel free to use this Newsletter on your own web site/pages/e-news


NEWS FROM CIS HQ, GENEVA

News from Gabor Sandi, CIS HQ

Dear Colleagues,

It is a pleasure to invite you to the 45th annual Meeting of CIS National, Collaborating and Regional Centres, to be held in Düsseldorf, Germany, on Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 September 2007.

The Meeting will be organized jointly with the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, whose Director (as you may already know) is a former Head of CIS and SafeWork in the ILO, Dr Jukka Takala. We intend to work very closely in the future with the European Agency, and we decided this year to organize our CIS Meeting at the same time as the European Agency has its meeting of focal points, some of which are also our centres. A joint meeting of this kind will be a very fruitful way to increase collaboration among institutions concerned with occupational safety and health information.

The Meeting will be held in conjunction with the A+A 2007 Congress and Trade Show, jointly sponsored by BASI (Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft für Sicherheit und Gesundheit bei der Arbeit), the ILO, the European Agency and other safety and health bodies. Attending the CIS Meeting will therefore also enable you to participate in one of the largest European OSH conferences and trade shows. An attachment to this e-mail (A+A.doc) contains a general introduction to the A+A event, prepared by BASI. You can also check the web site of A+A (http://www.aplusa-online.de/) for more information.

The Meeting will consist of two sessions:

  1. On the afternoon of Wednesday, 19 September, there will be a joint meeting involving CIS Centres and Focal Points of the European Agency for Safety and Health. This unique opportunity will bring together representatives of two very important networks of the OSH information community.
  2. On Thursday, 20 September, the whole day will be devoted to the CIS Network alone. We shall follow the traditional format of such meetings. However, European Agency Focal Point representatives and members of other OSH information networks will be welcome to participate as observers.

A provisional agenda will be sent to you in due course.

The Meeting will be held in English. There will be no simultaneous interpretation into other languages.

Because the CIS Meeting will be held within the Congress location, participants will be asked to pay a registration fee for the Congress. We have, however, negotiated a special price for CIS participants: €70, instead of the €140 for normal attendees. Payment of this registration fee will, naturally, enable you to participate in all Congress activities and attend the trade show.

Please note that the A+A meeting is expected to be very heavily attended, and therefore we advise you to reserve hotel accommodation as soon as possible. The Congress organizers have made arrangements with the hotel Express by Holiday Inn Düsseldorf-Nord, for a special price of €149 per night (for a single room, buffet breakfast included) during the period 17-20 Sept. 2007. The number of these rooms is limited. If you are interested, we recommend that you make your reservations as soon as possible (this offer ends on 11 May, in any case). Reservations can be made (with a credit card) through the Internet site www.hiexpress.de - please mention "BASI" during the reservation process in order to benefit from the special rate.

If for some reason the above hotel is not a possibility for you, the organizers recommend the web site www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/ex/394/de/home for hotel reservations in the Düsseldorf area.

If you intend to attend the Meeting, please inform the CIS Secretariat by sending an e-mail to: ciscentres@ilo.org

Alternatively, you can send it by mail to: International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre (CIS), International Labour Office, 4, route des Morillons, 1211 Genève 22, Switzerland

Yours sincerely,

Gábor Sándi
Head, CIS


More news from Geneva

Annick Virot, CIS Co-ordinator writes ...

Following my conversation with David Gold, I am pleased to inform you that the SafeDay team launched it brand new Website for the 2007 World Day.

As you will see, this site contains a wealth of information and is very eye-catching. You can in particular access the report, the poster, the post card, page-marker, but above all A VIDEO MESSAGE recorded on the occasion by Dr- Al-Tuwaijri (in English, French, Spanish and Arabic). You will also find in the next few days a PPT in English, French, Spanish and Arabic (possibly in other languages?).

Following David's instructions, please do not hesitate to use this information and to disseminate as widely as possible.

www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/worldday

Annick Virot
SafeDay team


News from around the World...

Bulgaria

CIS Centre Initiates 28 April Week in Bulgaria

The SafeDay team in the National Centre of Public Health Protection in Bulgaria prepared a comprehensive programme to highlight 28 April 2007 under the ILO theme of 'World Day for Safety and Health at Work'. A special web page was been dedicated to promotion of the Day.

The National Centre of Public Health Protection which is also the Bulgarian CIS National Centre scheduled a press conference on 23 April 2007 to begin the week leading up to 28th April, at which speakers addressed a number of topics including the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention 187, and the World Health Organization's 'Global Plan of Action on Worker's Health'.

Speakers presented the National OSH Profile for Bulgaria, highlighting the priorities of the National OSH agenda, as well as the involvement of the National CIS Centre in the European Semantic Portal on Workplace Safety.

There was full media coverage and wide stakeholders' involvement for the event. In addition, the CIS Centre distributed an information package on 28 April, containing data from the ILO Report "Safe and Healthy Workplaces - Making Decent Work Reality (2007)" and the WHO National Cancer Profile, which is also hosted on their website.

The CIS (International Occupational Safety & Health Information Centre) is the knowledge management arm of the ILO's Programme on Safety and Health at Work and the Environment, whose goal is to ensure that those concerned with worker protection have access to the facts they need to prevent occupational injuries and diseases. It constantly monitors literature on occupational safety and health through contacts with publishers and others. 140+ CIS Centres operate as focal points at the national or regional level, and also work with Collaborating Centres to expand their reach in countries around the world.

Contact: Boryana Barbukova, Bulgarian CIS Centre | Email: b.barbukova@ncphp.government.bg


Canada

Occupational Health and Safety Research Institute (IRSST)

Located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada scientific activities are concentrated in seven research fields: accidents, chemical substances and biological agents, musculoskeletal disorders, noise and vibration, protective equipment, occupational rehabilitation, safety of industrial tools, machines and processes.

More than 1,000 research reports are available for free download at www.irsst.qc.ca/en

For more information about IRSST as well as the research you can subscribe at l'Info IRSST www.irsst.qc.ca/en/subscribe.html

You will receive a monthly newsletter with IRSST's newest information.

Should you require any additional information please contact: Maura Tomi, Information agent, Direction des communication, IRSST, Montreal, Quebec, Canada | Tel: +1 514-288-1551 ext 302 | Email: mautom@irsst.qc.ca | www.irsst.qc.ca


UK

Horizon Scanning System

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Horizon Scanning system is based on a dedicated team at the Health and Safety Laboratory, which gathers and analyses information on emerging trends and developments from many sources and feeds via Strategy Division into the Horizon Scanning Intelligence Group.

Demographics is the Topic of the current Quarter
The Horizon Scanning Section's report on demographics covers a range of issues of relevance to the health and safety system. These include: population; ageing; sector and occupational trends; working patterns; migration and ethnicity; housing and living arrangements; and the shape of industry. The report contains statistics on existing trends and, where they exist, predictions of future trends.

In each issue of HSE's Science and Research Outlook (SRO) there will be highlighted selected topics and give news of significant activities and developments.

See www.hsesro.com/View_Article.aspx?id=163

NB Horizon Scanning is 'the systematic examination of potential threats, opportunities and likely future developments, including (but not restricted to) those at the margins of current thinking and planning. Horizon scanning may explore novel and unexpected issues as well as persistent problems or trends' (Government Chief Scientific Adviser's Committee, 2004).


Canada

CCOHS Launches Website Dedicated to Planning for Pandemic

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has launched its newest public service - Pandemic Planning - a web portal to help inspire and enable people to plan and be better prepared for an influenza pandemic.

The world has faced several threats of pandemic over the last few years, and the World Health Organization predicts the occurrence of the next pandemic is just a matter of time. Planning for, being informed about and knowing what to do in a pandemic can help minimize the impact in our daily lives, work, and activities.

CCOHS created the Pandemic Planning website to provide a credible, single source of practical pandemic information and planning resources for businesses and workers, and make it widely available.

CCOHS developed practical content and tools for this resource-rich website, specifically for use in the community, at home, and at work. These pandemic planning resources are designed to be helpful and easy to use by businesses and employees in developing both personal and business pandemic plans. The goal is to provide information that can help keep workplaces healthy and working and people thriving during an influenza pandemic.

Pandemic Planning portal service features:

Contact: Eleanor Westwood, Manager - Communications, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) | Tel: + 1 905/572-2981, Ext. 4408 | Email: eleanorw@ccohs.ca | www.ccohs.ca/pandemic


UK

HSE Staff Union Propect asks "who will enforce new rules?"

Prospect has welcomed the new construction, design and management regulations that came into force 6 April 2007, but questions how well they will be enforced.

On behalf of 1,750 inspectors, scientists and other professionals in the Health and Safety Executive, the union asks who will police the new regulations when the body responsible for inspecting workplaces is already reeling from massive job cuts and faces a further drive to find 15% cost savings over the next three years.

Neil Hope-Collins, Chair of Prospect's HSE branch, said: "Any measure to clarify the law is admirable particularly given the 14% increase in construction fatalities, and lives destroyed by major accidents, that we have seen this year. But you have to ask who will enforce the new regulations?

"HSE has suffered year-on-year real term cuts since 2002 with recent constraints on funding resulting in the need to cut over 280 jobs by next year. These dramatic cuts are required to remain within existing funding limits. If our parent body, the Department of Work and Pensions, chooses to impose its 15% efficiency savings at the cost of health and safety, then even more jobs will be lost from 2008 to 2011.

"HSE is simply not inefficient so these cuts will decimate front-line services if applied. For example, this drive for savings means that HSE's construction division alone faces a 10% drop in its share of allocated resources for next year, even before the DWP's efficiency savings are factored in, and that picture is reflected across the organisation."

Hope-Collins said that any drive to improve safety has to acknowledge the evidence that enforcing the law, not self-regulation, is the most effective motivator for business to improve health and safety standards. But research already shows that workplaces only receive an HSE inspection once every 13 years, and this figure is likely to increase as reduced staff numbers inevitably impact on the number of workplace inspections that can be undertaken.

The union has warned that the funding crisis is threatening to bring HSE to its knees and has called for immediate action to protect occupational health and safety by reducing the financial pressures facing the safety body.

Mike Macdonald, Prospect's Negotiations Officer responsible for the HSE, said: "If government is fully committed to preserving the UK's high standards of health and safety, then the HSE requires adequate funding. In the current financial climate, there is a risk that the health and safety of people at work will suffer due to measures that have minimal impact on overall government spending. Prospect calls on all advocates of health and safety to ask government to ensure that the HSE is adequately funded to undertake the policy development, advice and enforcement needed to protect lives and prevent serious injury."


Canada

Good Things Come in Small Packages - New Pocket Guide Offers Advice to Help Custodians Work Safely

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has released a new health and safety publication designed specifically custodial workers. Health and Safety Guide for Custodial Workers is a 170 page, pocket-sized handbook packed full of practical information. It is intended to be an essential resource to help cleaners, caretakers, facilities managers and other custodial workers recognize and control workplace hazards.

In an easy-to-read format it describes safe work practices for common custodial tasks and outlines procedures for working alone, workplace violence, and emergency preparedness. Custodial workers can also refer to the guide for recommendations on personal protective equipment (PPE), how to improve their work environment, and much more.

The guide will also assist health and safety committee members, supervisors, managers, engineers, and health and safety professionals. It offers step-by-step guidance on how to develop and implement programs to prevent occupational injuries and illnesses. In addition, the guide outlines what health and safety law requires of workers, managers, and supervisors, and can also be a resource for creating a safety-minded workplace culture.

As with all titles in CCOHS' compact, easy-to-follow pocket guide series, the Health and Safety Guide for Custodial Workers is a collaborative work. It was written by occupational health and safety experts and peer-reviewed by government health and safety authorities, representatives of workers and employers, and specialists in the field of custodial work.

The pocket guides are available for $10 each, however the discounts offered on bulk purchases make these publications an even more affordable and accessible resource.

More information about the pocket guides series from CCOHS: www.ccohs.ca/products/print.html.

Eleanor Westwood, Manager - Communications, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) | Tel: + 1 905 5722981 Ext. 4408 | Email: eleanorw@ccohs.ca | www.ccohs.ca


UK Government 'failing' on nano safety

The UK government has failed to fund adequate research into potential health risks posed by nanotechnology, a report by its leading scientific advisers has warned. The Council for Science and Technology's (CST) 'Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies Review', published recently bemoans a 'lack of progress on research into toxicology, health and environmental effects of nanomaterials.'

Government funding to investigate the possible problems of nanotechnology was out-stripped by 150 times by government money spent promoting the industry. Professor Sir John Beringer, who chaired the CST sub-committee that carried out the review, said: 'There is a pressing need for a strategic programme of central government spending into the toxicology, health and environmental effects of nanotechnologies.'

The CST review examined progress on government commitments made in 2005 (Risks 197) in response to a 2004 report commissioned by the government from the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering (Risks 167). Over the last five years, government has spent an average of just £600,000 per year on examining the impacts of nanoscience. In 2004 alone, it spent £90m on research and promoting commercialisation of nanoproducts. 'The safe development of a new technology should not depend on whether an academic wins a highly competitive research grant,' said Sir John. Science minister Malcolm Wicks welcomed the review and said government would 'respond fully' to the report in time. Global union federation IUF has called for a moratorium on the use of all nano products in food and agriculture.


FOCUS - Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation

Special press release on the occasion of World Day for Safety and Health at Work held on 28 April 2007... serious inadequacies in the manning and operation of the Factory Inspectorate

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) which monitors state compliance with ILO's conventions, has this month formally asked the Bangladesh Government to respond to a report which sets out serious inadequacies in the manning and operation of the Factory Inspectorate.

The report - written by Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation (OSHE), and the British based, Centre for Corporate Accountability - was submitted to the ILO in August 2006 by a coalition of trade unions (see below for names). The ILO responded to the report this month.

The report looked at the extent to which the Factory Inspectorate - which enforces health and safety and other labour law in factories around Bangladesh - complied with the requirements set out in ILO's "Labour Inspection Convention".

The report showed for example that:

The report showed that in Dhaka, for example, where there are the most heath and safety inspectors, a factory still only only 1 in 729 chance each year of receiving both an inspection relating to health and welfare law and an inspection relating to safety inspection.

In its response to the report, published this month, the ILO's 'Committee of Experts' asked the government to provide it with further information on inadequacies relating to number of inspectors, lack of training, and lack of equipment.

A.R. Chowdhury REPON, Executive Director of Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation (OSHE) said:

"We want the Government to respond positively to the ILO response - and treat it as an opportunity for fundamental reform of the Factory Inspectorate. In order for the health and safety of workers to be safeguarded, and the ILO's and Bangladesh Government's commitment to 'Decent Work' to be upheld. This country must have a proper functioning Factory Inspectorate with an adequate number of properly trained inspectors with sufficient equipment and resources to ensure that health and safety law is enforced. This is not the case now. The conditions of work of many Bangaldeshi workers are very hazardous and their right to a health and safety workplace must not be forgotten by this Government."

OSHE and the trade unions will be meeting up with the Ministry of Labour and Employment over the next few weeks to discuss reform of the Inspectorate.

For further information contact Repon Chowdhury on: 017117321218
The trade unions that submitted the report are: Jatiya Sramik League, the Bangladesh Free Trade Union Congress, the Bangladesh Trade Union Kendra, the Jatiya Sramik Federation Bangladesh, the Jatiyo Sramik Jote, the Bangladesh Labour Federation and the Bangladesh Jatiya Sramik Federation.

To download whole report: www.corporateaccountability.org/international/bangladesh/iloconv/main.htm


OSH Brief

EaSI-Pro chemical information

Look at the website of some reliable and extensive database for chemical information.

EaSI-Pro is a state of the art, customisable, easy to use, web application on dangerous or hazardous substances. It contains data on 200.000 substances, their chemical identifiers, properties, regulations and legislation. The Chemicals Management Consultants of Royal Haskoning have developed this online database.

EaSI-Pro can help you

Royal Haskoning, Barbarossastraat 35, 6522 DK NIJMEGEN, P.O. Box 151, 6500 AD NIJMEGEN, The Netherlands | Tel: +31 (0)24 3284142 | Fax: +31 (0)24 3228170 | Email: easi-pro@royalhaskoning.com | www.easi-pro.com


OSH Brief

Launch of the IAPA Small Business Safety Calculator

The Canadian Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA) has developed an online "Small Business Safety Calculator" to help promote greater awareness of OHS issues, increase OHS training and education, and improve self-reliant access to support services for small business (firm size < 50). Currently, there is no cost associated with using the calculator or any of its resources.

The calculator will help small business owners estimate the real "out of pocket" costs from a workplace injury and provide related resources to help them prevent those accidents. The calculator does not include the costs associated with increased WSIB premiums resulting from workplace injuries. And most importantly, it does not attempt to quantify the pain and suffering experienced by the injured worker, their families, their friends, and their co-workers.

Utilizing a model provided by WorkSafe BC, the calculator was re-engineered for IAPA purposes. The scenarios, industry profiles and video interviews were created within the web team with assistance from volunteer and industry relations, IAPA consultants, the stats, and research and development departments. In many cases, accident scenarios were based on real life examples.

Key Features:

To preview the IAPA Small Business Safety Calculator www.iapa.ca/main/business/sb_calculator.aspx


OSH Brief

CSA-IAPA Machine Safety Conference 4 - 5 June 2007

CSA and IAPA will be once again conducting a 2-day Machine Safety conference on June 4-5, 2007, in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada at the Airport Hilton. The conference will focus on the management of an effective machine safety program.

It will provide participants with working knowledge around standards, regulations and generally accepted principles, including risk assessment, accident prevention strategies, safeguarding and lockout programs, and the use of PPE.

Contact: Zuzka Hora, Manager, Information Centre Team, Industrial Accident Prevention Association, 5110 Creekbank Road, Suite 300, Mississauga, Ontario L4W 0A1, CANADA | Tel: 905-614-4272 ext 2385 or 1-800-406-4272 ext 2385 | Fax: +1 905-219-0009 | Fax: 1-800-316-4272 | Email: zhora@iapa.ca | www.iapa.ca


OSH Brief

Human Factors and Behavioural Safety by Jeremy Stranks

A new book that gives a concise overview of human factors, human error and behaviour and how they affect safety performance. It covers:

Accidents and cases of occupational ill-health are commonly associated with aspects of human behaviour and the potential for human error. Human Factors and Behavioural Safety is not written for psychologists, but instead gives health and safety professionals and students a broad overview of human factors and those aspects of human behaviour that have a direct on health and safety performance within organizations.

Particular attention is paid to:

Chapter List:

  1. Human behaviour and safety
  2. Human sensory and perceptual processes
  3. Organisations and groups
  4. People factors
  5. Perception of risk and human error
  6. Organisational control and human reliability
  7. Improving human reliability
  8. Ergonomic principles
  9. Ergonomics and human reliability
  10. Principles of communication
  11. Verbal and non-verbal communication
  12. Written communication
  13. Interpersonal skills
  14. Systematic training
  15. Presentation skills
  16. Health and safety culture
  17. Change and change management
  18. Stress and stress management
  19. The behavioural safety approach
  20. Glossary
  21. Bibliography and further reading

Human Factors and Behavioural Safety by Jeremy Stranks
ISBN 978-0-7506-8155-1
Published by Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann


OSH Briefs

Ontario, Canada has two new musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) resources -

The MSD Prevention Guideline for Ontario and the Resource Manual for the MSD Prevention Guideline for Ontario

The MSD Prevention Guideline for Ontario and the Resource Manual for the MSD Prevention Guideline for Ontario were officially launched on February 28th, 2007 - the very day that is recognized as International RSI Awareness Day.

The Guideline and Resource Manual were developed by members of the Occupational Health and Safety Council of Ontario (OHSCO) which is composed of the following Ontario organizations: the Ministry of Labour (MOL), the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB), the Institute for Work and Health (IWH), and the Health and Safety Associations (HSAs) of which the Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA) is one. Ontario's Centre for Research Expertise in the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD) also assisted in the development.

In Ontario, MSDs represent 42% of all lost-time compensation claims. Direct costs due to lost-time MSDs, from 1996 to 2004, totalled more than $3 billion. The combined direct and indirect costs are conservatively estimated to be $12 billion. Left unaddressed, MSDs threaten both worker health and safety and Ontario's economic performance. Preventing MSDs can help workplaces to reduce costs, boost productivity, improve product and service quality and stimulate innovation.

The MSD Prevention Guideline for Ontario and the Resource Manual for the MSD Prevention Guideline for Ontario are part 1 and part 2 of OHSCO's 3 part MSD Prevention Series. The Guideline describes a generic recommended framework for MSD prevention; the Resource Manual contains more detailed information and advice on how to implement the generic framework for preventing musculoskeletal disorders that is described in the Guideline. Part 3 of the series, the MSD Prevention Toolbox, still in draft from, will be released in the near future and will contain worksheets, surveys, hazard identification tools, and guidance on risk assessment methods.

The English and French versions of the Guideline and Resource Manual are available for download on the IAPA website at: www.iapa.ca


US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) new reports

NIOSH has recently released the following publications:


Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association (JISHA) General Guidebook on Industrial Safety 2006

Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association (JISHA) has just published its 170 page General Guidebook on Industrial Safety 2006 to collate the latest information including an outline of the implementation procedure for National Safety Week as well as the current status of industrial accidents, basic accident prevention strategies, examples of accidents and countermeasure and statistics for those involved in safety management.

In particular JISHA has published an outline of the amendment to the Industrial Safety and Health Act.
Very useful document for all those involved in industrial safety.

JISHA Newsletter: Safety and Health in Japan March 2007

Includes: Creating pre-emptive safety environments in the workplace and Hazard Prediction Training (KYT); Activities of Industrial Safety and Health organisations; Labour Administrative Activities; Research and Statistics - including Promoting OSHMS in the Advances companies in Asia know to be implementing outstanding safety and health efforts; Workplaces adopting anti-smoking measures increase to 90%.

In addition there are other items including Securing diverse employment opportunities for Baby Boomers: a forum on the 2007 problem and the future of senior employment.

Contact: Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association, 5-35-1 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0014 Japan | Tel/Fax: +81 3 3454 4596 | Email: kokusai@jisha.or.jp | www.jisha.or.jp


17-18 November 2007 International Forum of Crisis Management for Infectious Disease

Union of Risk Management for Preventive Medicine (URMPM) is jointly organising with several international regulatory organizations, such as UN, WHO, OECD the International Forum to promote and share crisis management strategies in the effort to create a healthy and safer world.

International Forum of Crisis Management for Infectious Disease will be held on 17 - 18 November 2007 at The University of Tokyo, Medical Campus, Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract deadline is May 31, 2007 www.urmpm.org/Infection2007

Shirley V. Villalobos Chaves, Assistant of Editor in Chief for JMS, International Secretary of Union of Risk Management for Preventive Medicine (URMPM), URMPM Head Office 4-36-2-103 Hongo, Bunkyoku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan | Tel: +81 3 3817 7010 (81 is the country code of Japan) | Fax: +81 3 3817 6770 (81 is the country code of Japan) | Email: secr-office@umin.net | www.urmpm.org


Diary of Events

If you have a seminar, conference or exhibition that you would like to promote - please send details to your Editor. Also look in www.oshworld.com/diary.html.

3-7 June 2007 - 11th International Hand-Arm Vibration Conference
Bologna, Italy
Contact: Secretariat of 11th Hand-Arm Vibration Conference, c/o CNR-IMAMOTER, Via Canal Bianco, 28 - I-44100, Ferrara, ITALY | Fax: +39 0532 735666

17-20 June 2007 - Occupational and Environmental Exposures of Skin to Chemicals
Co-sponsored by NIOSH and the Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO., USA
Contact: Office of Special Programs and Continuing Education, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, USA | Tel: +1 303 272 3321 | Fax: +1 303 273 331 | Email: space@mines.edu | www.mines.edu/outreach/cont_ed/oeesc

19 June 2007 - The 2007 Rasbash Lecture "Fire modelling ... the story so far" by Professor Geoff Cox
BRE, Watford, UK
Contact: Helen Griffiths, The Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE), London Road, Moreton in Marsh, GL56 0RH, UK | Tel: +44 (0)1608 812585 | Fax: +44 (0)1608 812581 | Email: helen.griffiths@ife.org.uk | www.ife.org.uk

9-13 December 2007 - Fire Department Instructor's Conference FDIC 2007
Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain
Contact: +44 1992 656 657 | Email: cengland@pennwell.com | www.fdicbahrain.com

2008

25-27 February 2008 - The RoSPA Road Safety Congress 2008
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow, UK
Contact: RoSPA, Edgbaston Park, 353 Bristol Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5 7ST, UK | Tel: +44 (0)121 248 2000 | Fax: +44 (0) 121 248 2001 | Email: help@rospa.com | www.rospa.com/events

18-19 June 2008 - 2e Congrès francophone sur les troubles musculo-squelettiques : de la recherche à l'action
Hilton Montreal Bonaventure Hotel, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Contact: IRSST, 505, blvd. De Maisonneuve West, 15th floor, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H3A 3C2 | Tel: +1 (514) 288-1551 | Fax: +1 (514) 288-7636 | Email: TMS2008@irsst.qc.ca | www.irsst.qc.ca

23-25 September 2008 - 10th International Particles Conference
Manchester, UK
Contact: British Occupational Hygiene Society 5/6 Melbourne Business Court, Millennium Way, Pride Park, Derby, DE24 8LZ, UK | Email: admin@bohs.org | www.bohs.org

2009

2-4 June, 2009 - 4th International Conference on Whole-Body Vibration Injuries
Hilton Montreal Bonaventure Hotel, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Contact: IRSST, 505, blvd. De Maisonneuve West, 15th floor, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H3A 3C2 | Tel: +1 514 288-1551 | Fax: +1 514 288-7636 | Email: Vibrations2009@irsst.qc.ca | www.irsst.qc.ca


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Block these dates in your diary: visit A+A Dusseldorf, Germany on 18-21 September 2007 www.aplusa-online.de

Also 2007 CIS Annual Meeting also in Dusseldorf, Germany