News from around the World

News Archive

July 2002

News from the USA

Guidance for Protecting Building Environments from Airborne Chemical, Biological, or Radiological Attacks

This guidance is the result of recent building vulnerability assessments conducted by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). As with most hazards, there are preventative steps that can reduce the likelihood and mitigate the impact of terrorist threats. Tried and proven principles in the control of air-borne contaminants can be joined with similarity focused safety and security principles to provide guidance on how we design and operate our building environments.

US National Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Guidance for Protecting Building Environments from Airborne Chemical, Biological, or Radiological Attacks. DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2002-139, 2002, 28 pages. Includes a list of web sites containing further information.

Available from: US NIOSH, Publications Dissemination, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati OH 45226 1998, USA | Tel: +1 800356 4674 | Fax: +1 513 533 8573 | Email: pubstaft@cdc.gov | web: www.cdc.gov/niosh

News from the UK

ENVIRONMENT PLUS goes 24:7

24-hour, 7 days a week Internet-based access to Environment Plus is available, as well as the CD-ROM version.

Why waste time looking for a particular piece of environment legislation or guidance, when you can quickly access the information by searching the increasingly popular Environment Plus produced by Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd using SilverPlatter WinSPIRS/WebSPIRS software? The latest edition, contains over 20,000 pages of text - all searchable by keywords or phrases.

Environment Plus contains hundreds of documents:

• European Union Directives
• Acts of Parliament
• UK Statutory Instruments
• Scottish Statutory Instruments
• Northern Ireland Statutory Orders and Regulations
• Welsh legislation

plus the following publications from the Environment Agency, HM Inspectorate of Pollution, the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and the THE former Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR):

• Planning Policy Guidelines
• Process Guidance Notes
• EA Pollution Prevention Guidelines
• EA Integrated Pollution Control Guidance
• IPR Guidance Notes, 2nd series
• HM Inspectorate of Pollution Chief Inspector's Guidance Notes and
• Technical Guidelines

Also included is the database from the DEFRA Information Services which continues to expand and currently contains over 145,000 references to worldwide information.

Each edition brings you the latest information removing the worry of keeping up with developments and the latest legislation. This is extremely useful for those seeking ISO 14001 accreditation.

Currently, local Councils' Environment Health Departments, Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Environment Agency, the Highways Agency, Information Services, Universities and many private sector organisations and governments worldwide are now finding Environment Plus of great benefit to them in their daily work. Consortia purchasing encouraged.

TRAINING in HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT

The UK based National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) courses are offered by over 400 programme organisers throughout the world.

NEBOSH qualifications are recognised and respected by employers in all sectors of employment and provide the benchmark standard against which others are compared.

NEBOSH is the only health and safety awarding body that has been given accreditation by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). You can therefore be assured that a NEBOSH qualification provides evidence of real achievement. The new, unitised Syllabus for The National General Certificate has just been announced, which will be examinable from 6 December 2002.

To support this a A new Guide or The National General Certificate has been produced.

Teams of professionally qualified examiners, moderators and assessors, overseen by an Advisory Committee of eminent people from national institutions, work hard to ensure that NEBOSH qualifications maintain their deserved reputation for excellence.

For further information contact:
NEBOSH, Dominus Way, Meridian Business Park, Leicester LE19 1QW, UK
Tel: +44 (0)116 263 4700 Fax:+44 (0)116 282 4000
email: info@nebosh.org.uk | web: www.nebosh.org.uk

News from International Sources

OSH-ROM.... a premier source OSH information

OSH-ROM is one of the world's oldest health and safety collection of information. Started in 1986, by Sheila Pantry and SilverPlatter Information it brings together six complementary bibliographic databases covering critical international occupational health and safety information. OSH-ROM is a unique and vital resource for information concerning occupational health and safety, hazardous incidents, and the handling of dangerous materials. The individual databases contain over 1.2 million citations from over 5000 journals and 100,000 monographs and technical reports.

These comprehensive databases of bibliographic references and cover international health and safety, chemical toxicology, environmental health, safety engineering, biotechnology, biohazards, workers' compensation and workplace disability issues. They are constantly picking up new trends, results of research and new legislation. The databases are:

• RILOSH Ryerson International Labour Occupational Safety and Health Index is produced by the Ryerson Technical University Library, Toronto, Canada.
• HSELINE from the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Information Services
• CISDOC from the International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre (CIS) of the ILO
• MHIDAS the Major Hazard Incident Data Service, created by AEA Technology Plc on behalf of the Major Hazards Assessment Unit of the UK Health and Safety Executive
• MEDLINE Advanced OEM Subset: Occupational and Environmental Medicine a subset of the U.S. National Library of Medicine's (NLM) MEDLINE database
• NIOSHTIC and NIOSHTIC2 from the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

SOFTWARE

All the products are based on the powerful SilverPlatter's WinSPIRS or WebSPIRS software which will give the user quick and easy access to a wealth of important publications. The user can download data and print out required full text documents as well as cross search the database with other titles which use the same software.

It is also possible to network CD-ROMs to enable simultaneous access by multiple users in an organisation. Users will be able to use their own personal computers to give authoritative and validated answers to questions on all aspects of health, safety, environment and fire.

The SilverPlatter powerful software enables the databases in OSH-ROM to be searched either separately or together. These databases provide references to thousands of reports, journal articles, guidance and advice publications, press releases, all appropriate legislation, all appropriate interpretations of legislation, research papers, appropriate governmental papers, codes of practice, circulars, reports, monographs, statistics, annual reports, conference proceedings, audio visual items are covered in a wide range of subjects.

OVID TECHNOLOGIES
Merlin House, 20 Belmont Terrace, Chiswick, London W4 5UG, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)208 585 6400 Fax: +44 (0)208 585 6640
E-mail: europe@ovid.com | www.ovid.com

News from the USA

Protecting Workers' Families: a research Agenda

This report from the Workers' Family Protection Task Force represents the Task's Force's commentary on the NIOSH Report, identifies gaps in the current knowledge about take-home exposures and related health effects, and provides a prioritized agenda for Federally sponsored research. The principal objective of the Task Force was to develop a research agenda to address the health hazards posed by take-home exposures, including identifying future threats.

The final section of the report is devoted to legal and policy considerations.

US National Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Protecting Workers' Families: a research Agenda.
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2002-113. 2002. 11 pages
Available from: US NIOSH, Publications Dissemination, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226 1998, USA | Tel: +1 800356 4674 | Fax: +1 513 533 8573 | Email: pubstaft@cdc.gov | web: www.cdc.gov/niosh

News from the ILO

A future without child labour: The World of Work

The latest edition of the International Labour Office (ILO) magazine The World of Work main focus is child labour which remains a massive problem. Child labour continues to be a global phenomenon - no country or region is immune. Ten years after launching a worldwide campaign the ILO has launched a comprehensive new look at the problem. The findings are cause for concern; despite significant progress in efforts to abolish child labour, the report* says that alarming number of children remain trapped in its worst form. In many developed countries, agriculture is also the sector most children work. Other articles include:

• New research shows workplace violence threatens health services worldwide
• Workers' Memorial Day ceremony focuses on emergency workers, firefighters
• New ILO Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health Systems - ILO-OSH** approved

* A future without Child Labour: Global Report under the Follow-up..., ISBN 92 2 1124169, 2002 also available www.ilo.org/declaration and also from the ILO Office, 4 route des Morillons, CH 1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland

** ILO-OSH, contact SafeWork, ILO, 4 route des Morillons, CH 1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland | Tel: 41 22 799 6715 | Fax: +41 22 799 6878 | Email: safework@ilo.org | web: www.ilo.org/safework/lang--en/index.htm

World of Work, June 2002 available from: ILO, Department of Communications, 4 route des Morillons, CH 1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland | Tel: 41 22 799 7912 | Fax: +41 22 799 8577

News from the European Commission

First pan-European campaign to combat work-related stress

With 28% of employees in the European Union (EU) reporting that they are affected by work-related stress; Women appear to be suffering slightly more than men; Common causes include lack of job security and control and work overload and over 50% of absenteeism has its roots in work-related stress. The problem is thought to cost the EU at least €20 billion a year in lost time and health costs.

A major campaign to combat work-related stress - the second biggest occupational health problem in the European Union after back pain was recently launched by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. The initiative, which forms the heart of the Agency's annual European Week for Safety and Health at Work, will be the first EU-wide campaign to tackle work-related stress, a problem that is estimated to affect over 40 million employees in the EU. Other diseases and conditions associated with this issue include musculoskeletal disorders and mental health problems.

The campaign, which is being backed by all Member States, the European Commission and Parliament, trade unions and employers federations will run until October and end with the European Week for Safety and Health at Work.

Comprehensive information packs in all 11 EU languages, posters, leaflets and a multilingual website at https://www.healthy-workplaces.eu/en/european-week-safety-and-health-work

Contact: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Gran Via 33, E-48009 Bilbao, Spain | email: information@osha.eu.int | Fax: +34 94 479 4383.

Titles you may have missed...

The Biocides Business: Regulation, Safety and Applications

Biocides are products which control harmful organisms by chemical or biological means. They protect health, improve product performance and prevent spoilage and are increasingly important in modern life, as consumers demand safe, long lasting and effective products from cosmetics to paints, and from drinking water to swimming pools.

The Biocides Business describes the regulatory controls and the safety assessments in the EU, the USA, Japan and other key markets, within a commercial, political and socio-economic context.

The Biocides Business: Regulations, Safety and Applications
edited Derek J Knight and Mel A Cooke
Wiley-VCH, 2002. ISBN 3 527 303669

Code of Practice Rider-operated lift trucks: operator training and Supplementary Guidance

Published by Health and Safety Authority, 10 Hogan Place, Dublin 2 , Ireland | Tel: +353 1 662 0400 | Fax: +353 1 662 0411
2002. 36 pages. Euros 2.00
Also on web site www.hsa.ie

News from South Africa

Safety Management reports...

The latest edition of Safety Management June 2002 contains a number of topical subjects including:

• Training focus on fire and emergency management
• Environment management
• Occupational health - nurses in the firing line
• Human Resources: training focus - why people take risks

Contact: Safety Management, NOSA, 508 Proes Street, Arcadia 0083, Box 26434 Arcadia, Pretoria 0007 South Africa | E-mail: worksafe@nosa.co.za