Editorial

Managing Shift Work

August 2006
Sheila Pantry OBE

In this 24/7 society we need to remember those who work different work patterns. The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has produced a new book that aims to improve the understanding of shift work and its impact on health and safety. More than 3.5 million people are employed as shift workers in the UK. Imagine the numbers affected worldwide. They work in a wide variety of industries including the emergency services, healthcare, the utilities, transport, manufacturing, entertainment and retail. Poorly designed shift-working arrangements and/or long working hours may put them at risk of fatigue, accidents, injuries and ill health.

Managing Shift Work: Health and Safety Guidance (HSG 256)
ISBN 0 7176 6197 0, priced £9.95 are available from HSE books: www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books

Readers may also find it useful to use assessment tools such as HSE's Fatigue and Risk Index Tool (www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr446.htm), to compare alternative patterns and help identify whether any particular aspect of an existing or proposed working time pattern is likely to increase the risk of fatigue.

This month's OSHWORLD FOCUS draws attention to National WiseUp2Work Day will be held on Wednesday 30 August 2006.

WiseUp2Work is a major initiative by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) to address head-on the issue of safety for the under 21s when they are starting work, apprenticeships or work experience. On average, 10 young people are killed and 2,500 badly injured every year.

The Diary of Events show how many courses, conferences and seminars are being held around the world to enable people to keep up to date with the developments. Any new items carry the tag NEW!

It essential that training needs are constantly updated. It is essential that everyone is trained to do their job correctly. You may find the series of EurOhse2006 Masterclasses and other courses listed in www.oshworld.com/diary.html help to focus the type of training needed.

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FIRE, EMERGENCY AND PREPAREDNESS WORLDWIDE

At the point when Risk Assessment assumes a principle role in the activities of the fire and rescue services, and workplaces will need to do their own assessment there is no better time than now to look at Fire Emergency and Preparedness Worldwide - the premier collection of validated, authoritative information both full text and bibliographic.

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Your OSHWorld Portal

We hope that you find the information in OSHWORLD useful in your daily work. Globally there are continually new titles, news items, new products so remember to look at the News to find the latest information from a number of worldwide sources.

Use OSHWORLD as your portal to many hundreds of validated and authoritative web sites which you can find in the Country and Subject links we offer. New subject topics are constantly brought together on web sites, e.g. avian flu and the workplace.

Most information services have a reference shelf where you can quickly check the reference sources - so OSHWORLD brings you a collection of Reference sources and also teaches you how to Search the Internet.

Click onto the various Bookshops to order any new document as they are being published. Many of these Bookshops have a constant stream of new titles available.

Please send any suggestions or comments about OSHWORLD -your portal to validated and authoritative information. Remember also to look at our other really useful sites - www.sheilapantry.com and why not make a free entry about your company's products in www.shebuyersguide.com

Most of all why not try out a 30-day free trial to www.oshupdate.com
Don't work harder - work smarter! Be ahead of the game.

Wishing you a zero accident, incident-free and healthy year in 2006 in your workplace!