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News from around the WorldMarch 2008 Mind the Gap: how do you know that the vital piece of health and safety information is not freely available on the Internet?How long are you going to live before you find that vital piece of authoritative and validated OSH information? Do you believe the myth that it is "all there on the Internet and Free"? Sadly, many people believe that ALL occupational safety and health (OSH) information is available on the Internet and free. This is just not true... there are many instances where publishers, including governments and their agencies do not publish everything on their web sites, even the UK Health and Safety Executive does not published all its guidance and advice on the web. Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd. publish a number of health, safety, environment and fire electronic services that contain authoritative and validated information from well-known organisations around the world such as the Health and Safety Executive, European Agency for Health and Safety at Work, ILO Health and Safety Centre, Geneva, US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Fire Service College and UK Forensic Science Service. These services are regularly updated, contain both full text and bibliographic information have been transferred onto new, easy-to-use software and host platform. All services are available for a 15-day free trial. The following services are long-established and are used worldwide by a wide variety of individuals, consultancies, organisations, universities, researchers and lecturers:
Prices are really competitive when compared to other worldwide services! Contact Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd. for 15 day FREE trials for all services that are cost effective. Why pay more for information? Click onto www.sheilapantry.com/interest.html Croner's 4th Annual Health and Safety Conference 2008Croner Training's 4th Annual Health and Safety Conference will be held on 3 December 2008, London. Now in its fourth year, this practical one-day conference will help you move ahead with health and safety challenges in your organisation and enable you to understand what needs to be addressed to achieve success. Programme is organised and conference chaired by Sheila Pantry OBE. The 2007 conference was attended by well over 100 delegates and received very good delegate feedback:
Attending this conference will give you:
This conference will help you to:
Who should attend?:
The final programme and speakers details will be confirmed shortly. Croner's 4th Annual Health and Safety Conference 2008 Visit www.cronertraining.co.uk/hsconference for full programme details. Contact: Customer Services on 0845 082 1170 to book your place or email: services@cronertraining.co.uk Safety Crimes'Safety crimes', produced by top UK corporate crime academics Steve Tombs and Dave Whyte, warns workplace deaths fail on the whole 'to attract the interest if the politicians, the media or - least forgivably of all - the knowledge industry of criminology.' The book is concerned with the nature of production and how this impacts on the decisions made in boardrooms. It also deals with how infrequently these decisions, however deadly, lead from the boardroom to the courtroom. It is not filled with stories of comic book villains with no concern for the consequences of their actions, portraying safety crimes as bad deeds by bad people. But boardroom decisions made with a key objective of maximising profit have consequences, and safety can be a casualty. Nice guys can kill you. The book is critical of the drive towards greater 'self-regulation', where firms are exhorted to behave better and safer - an approach that assumes safety is a concern of equal importance throughout the organisation, from mailroom to boardroom. Instead it demonstrates that safety crimes are the product of profit seeking; they do not represent a breakdown of the production system but are themselves a product of it. Safety crimes. Steve Tombs and Dave Whyte. ISBN 978 1 84392 085 4. £19.99. Willan Publishing. Eurofound celebrates International Women's Day 2008: Equal opportunities in Europe's workplaces still not a realityEfforts to ensure equal opportunities for women and men in Europe's labour markets will have limited results unless the support for formal care is increased, as women will no longer necessarily be available to assume the unpaid role of informal carer. To mark International Women's Day on Saturday 8 March 2008, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) is highlighting its recent research and work on women and equality issues. More women are working in paid employment and while men may work long working weeks in their paid jobs, Eurofound's research reveals that women work even longer weekly hours as a result of shouldering the greater part of domestic responsibilities in addition to paid employment. Across Europe, four out of five women (80%) do housework every day, as against 40% of men. The Foundation's research spans over a number of issues and perspectives related to women in society and in work, ranging from work-life balance to quality of work, family matters, women and violence at work, gender and career development, equal opportunities between women and men, the gender pay gap and working time arrangements including parental leave. All Foundation's research reports, information sheets, résumés, and detailed analytical reports can be downloaded free of charge from Eurofound's website. For more information go to: www.eurofound.europa.eu/areas/gender/internationalwomensday2008.htm For further information, contact Måns Mårtensson, Press Officer, Eurofound, on telephone +353-1-204 3124 or mobile +353-876-593 507 or email mma@eurofound.europa.eu Before their time: the dangerous world of child labourIn spite of treaties and international conventions addressing the economic exploitation of children, the control of child labour remains elusive. It is estimated that over 320 million children are working worldwide, most in hazardous conditions. These heart-wrenching portraits are a call to action for all of us to be aware of this complex and tragic problem. David Parker produces beautiful books. Exquisite black and white photographs give his award-winning publications the quality and feel of the best coffee table books. But his elegant, intimate work exposes a dark world of exploitation. A doctor and acclaimed advocate for the rights of children, he documents the daily work undertaken worldwide by over 300 million under the age of 16, from textile workers, to brick makers, sex workers to soldiers. Parker's latest book, 'Before their time: The world of child labor', has extraordinary scope, both geographically and occupationally. Children clean elephant stables in India and search for conch shells in the tangled roots of Nicaragua's mangrove swamps. Tiny Bolivian children mine tin in dust and darkness. Garbage picking seems to occupy the waking hours of kids from Mexico to Indonesia - anywhere poverty looms large. In his foreword to the book, US senator Tom Harkin notes: 'Parker depicts these children in their full humanity. Because his photographs make us identify with the children, we realise our responsibility to act.' More people should see this book. More people need to act. Before their time: The world of child labor. David Parker. ISBN 978 1 59372 024 7. The Quantuck Lane Press. £22.99. WW Norton and Company Ltd. HSE launches web guidance to help the construction industry manage occupational health risksThe UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched a new web site based tool to help contractors understand and manage occupational health risks more effectively. The tool is called the Construction Occupational Health Management Essentials (COHME for short). Over the years HSE and the construction industry have published plenty of guidance on specific risks. However, what's new about COHME is that it describes a framework to manage occupational health risks in general. COHME is intended to assist clients, designers and contractors and deals with 7 priority risks:
COHME contains examples, case studies and links to 3rd party websites. COHME also provides guidance on important matters like Safety-Critical Work, Health Surveillance and obtaining Expert Help. HSE Chief Inspector of Construction, Stephen Williams said "We want occupational health to move up the agenda for all construction companies. Large companies can show real leadership in influencing this cultural change. Properly managing occupational health is not a new legal requirement and we expect to see good practice in the industry. The COHME tool will equip all construction companies with practical advice on how to tackle rising occupational health issues such as dermatitis, asbestos, respiratory diseases and musculoskeletal disorders. The COHME tool will facilitate the initiative and leadership that the construction industry needs to take to tackle the occupational health issue. I urge large construction companies to act on this, with smaller companies adopting this as a part of the supply chain process. Time is ticking and now is the time to show ownership of this issue." COHME does not mean that HSE expects the industry to do more. The legal requirements to eliminate assess and control occupational health risks have existed for many years. COHME is intended to help the industry understand and deal with these risks in a smarter and more holistic way. Have a look at what COHME has to offer: www.hse.gov.uk/construction/healthrisks Want to comment about the new site or share your experience of successfully dealing with occupational health risks? HSE are interested to receive your comments and for you to share your experiences. We are keen to use real life examples as case studies on the COHME website. www.hse.gov.uk/construction/healthrisks/feedback.htm RIPH champions a healthy workplaceIn conjunction with the government's proposal to encourage employers to promote good health among employees, and as a counter to the new year's 'obesity epidemic' headlines, The Royal Institute of Public Health (RIPH) is offering accredited training for workplace 'health champions' through a new 'Health Signposting' qualification. Employers can invest in training a front-line member of staff to provide a health promotion role within the workplace, assisting employees in making healthier lifestyle choices and offering advice and support to colleagues. With the government investing £372 million over the next three years to tackle obesity, and offering individuals and companies cash and voucher incentives to undertake healthier initiatives, a company can train a health champion to support its staff in losing weight, keeping the weight off, eating more healthily or to be more physically active. RIPH recommends that employee engagement and ownership of such programmes would be further strengthened by the appointment of health champions within the workforce. Professor Richard Parish, chief executive of the Royal Society of Health comments: "Health and well-being is a full time job. As an estimated 60% of our waking hours are spent in the workplace, it's here we need health champions to promote healthy lifestyles, and work with employers to demolish he barriers to health and to build a healthy workforce from within." The qualification is available through RIPH's training centres. Anyone interested in offering this qualification to their staff should contact Nicki Alvey or Tony Varey at the Royal Institute of Public Health or visit www.riph.org.uk/healthinformation Contact: Nicki Alvey, Royal Institute of Public Health | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7580 2731 | Email: nalvey@riph.org.uk | www.riph.org.uk Health and Safety needs of older workers: US NIOSH ReportDr John Howard, Director of the US National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety writes: Another interesting prediction from the Pew study: the U.S. elderly population will more than double in size through 2050 - the result of the baby boomers entering what the report calls the traditional retirement years. If current employment trends continue, many of these men and women 65 or older will still be on the job, either part-time or full-time. Their safety and health needs will be different in many ways from those of younger workers, as an expert committee of the National Academies noted in a study conducted at NIOSH's request, Health and Safety Needs of Older Workers, available at www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10884. Occupational safety and health issues for older workers are a focus of collaborative research under NIOSH's program on work organization, www.cdc.gov/niosh/programs/workorg/emerging.html. At the same time, other working men and women will follow the traditional retirement path - including occupational safety and health professionals, beginning over the next decade with those of my generation who entered their careers in the 1970s and early 1980s. It will be critically necessary to have in place a next generation of dedicated men and women to carry on the vital work that we do, and a next generation after that. Recruitment, professional development, continuing education, and mentoring will be more important than ever before. Support for high quality training and education through NIOSH's Education and Research Centers and training grants programs has always been a mainstay of our field, and will become more so in the foreseeable future. The Pew Research Center report, "Immigration to Play Lead Role in Future U.S. Growth: U.S. Population Projections: 2005-2050," by Jeffrey S. Passel and D'Vera Cohn, is available online at http://pewresearch.org/pubs/729/united-states-population-projections. While NIOSH does not have a "Project 2050" per se, our partnerships through the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) are all based on the reality that shaping the future for the better begins today. Further information on NORA can be found at www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora. If you are not already one of our NORA partners, I invite you to join us. Eurofound launches major communication campaign on active ageing: Reassessing the role of older peopleFrom a work perspective, creating conditions for working longer means introducing policies that maintain and promote the health of all employees, develop and update the skills of older workers through training, and provide suitable working conditions, including measures to reconcile work with family and care responsibilities - of growing importance in an increasingly female older workforce. With the ageing of the population, policy attention is also turning to the issue of care. While the role of the family is acknowledged as being central to fulfilling care needs, the need for paid workers to support informal care arrangements has become more important with changes in family formation and the higher proportion of women - seen as the traditional family carers - entering the labour market. Older people still have many needs for care, health and security. Others have concerns related to loneliness, poverty or illness many of which should be met by good public services. 'In our research over the past decade, the good news is that we have found that European companies have changed their attitudes towards older people,' says Robert Anderson, Eurofound's expert on ageing. 'Increasingly, older people are viewed as potential customers with considerable spending power and as a valuable resource in the workplace in terms of skills and knowledge.' The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) is launching a campaign on Working Longer, Living Better - Europe's coming of age in Brussels, Belgium, on 17 March 2008. The campaign, which explores the impact of an ageing society and workforce, providing insights into developments at EU, national and company level, brings together Eurofound's research findings, recommendations and examples of good practice and strategies for change in the workplace that it has compiled over the last decade. Eurofound's resource pack on active ageing is available (from 17 March 2008) at www.eurofound.europa.eu/resourcepacks/activeageing.htm For further information, contact Måns Mårtensson, Press Officer, on telephone +353-1-204 3124, mobile +353-876-593 507, or email mma@eurofound.europa.eu Analysis of Asbestos Data is Subject of New ASTM GuideA new ASTM International standard provides guidance for using data generated by ASTM standards in testing for asbestos in surface dust. ASTM D 7390, Guide for Evaluating Asbestos in Dust on Surfaces by Comparison Between Two Environments, was approved by ASTM International Committee D22 on Air Quality. According to James Millette, executive director, MVA Scientific Consultants, and chair of Subcommittee D22.07 on Sampling and Analysis of Asbestos, D 7390 can be used to help define the extent of asbestos contamination in a building after the asbestos has been measured using one of the following ASTM standards:
"After measuring the amount of asbestos in surface dust at various points in a facility where an asbestos release is thought to have occurred, D 7390 can be used to make sense of the data," says Millette. Building owners and their contamination consultants will find ASTM D 7390 useful, particularly when they are considering whether an area in a building has more asbestos in the dust than another area. Subcommittee D22.07 invites all interested parties to join in its standards developing activities, particularly those with expertise in asbestos analysis, statistical handling of data and design of contamination studies. ASTM International standards can be purchased from Customer Service | Tel: +1 610 832-9585 | Email: service@astm.org | www.astm.org Dangerous Substances CD - Updated twice a year - 2 week trial availableUpdated twice a year, Dangerous Substances CD combines EU Directive 67/548/EEC, its many amendments and Annexes, on the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances with both EINECS and ELINCS. The inclusion of a database on Risk Assessment plus further modules on cosmetics legislation and the transport of dangerous substances makes this CD a truly unique and complete source of information for anyone in the chemical industries. Legislation covering
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Dangerous Substances CD is used by manufacturers, laboratories, packaging companies, regulatory bodies and consultants - in fact, anyone involved in the production, processing or handling of dangerous substances and chemicals. For more information, to subscribe or arrange a trial please visit www.oxmill.com or contact us email sales@oxmill.com or phone +44 (0) 1883 343000. |