News from around the World
October 2010
- Fire information at your finger tips! Take a look at FIREINF!
- 9 December 2010 - Croner Hawksmere 6th Annual Health and Safety Conference, London, UK
- The EU approach to regulating nanotechnology
- Keep up-to-date with critical occupational health and safety information! OSH UPDATE is here to help - easy to use and very subscription friendly - why pay more?
- 2nd Strategy Conference: Five Pillars - Strategies on Safety and Health at Work, 3-4 February 2011, DGUV Academy Dresden, Germany
- Get ready for the European Week in your country
- ECHA calls for comments on reports proposing restrictions on mercury and phenylmercury
- 2012 to be the "European Year for Active Ageing"
- Dialing, Talking, Texting ... Know the Hazards of Driver Distraction
- 11 September 2011 - 19th World Congress on Safety and Health at work, Istanbul, Turkey
Fire information at your finger tips! Take a look at FIREINF!
FIREINF is arguably the world's premier collection of validated, authoritative information on fire and fire related information as well as a broad range of occupational safety and health information.
Emphasis in FIREINF is on all aspects of fire, emergency and preparedness management principles, fire risk assessment, practices and research.
FIREINF now has 17 databases - the last one added is the BRE Flair Database.
FIREINF leads the searcher to quality guidance and advice from around the world. It is used worldwide by organisations, including those teaching fire science as well as fire brigades and their union, rescue services, forensic and fire experts.
The Full Text Collection has 5 databases and The Bibliographic Collection has 12 databases. Together these sources contain over 534,000 records with links to 34,000 full text documents to journal articles, guidance and advice, circulars, reports, conference proceedings, research reports, statistics and codes of practice from worldwide sources, all of which may be easily accessed. One of the databases - from the British Standards Institution - contains references to over 4000 fire and fire related standards.
- FIREINF is continuously enlarged as information including new research and new ways of working is published
- It helps those responsible for fire, emergencies and preparedness in workplaces of all kinds to keep ahead with the latest information and developments
- It assists individuals and organisations that cannot afford to subscribe to a range of journals/magazines because these are indexed within FIREINF
- FIREINF contains information that has been published in the past, so an easy reference point for researchers
One way to quickly gain access to legislation, guidance and advice that is up-to-date and relevant is to take a 15-day Free Trial of FIREINF - the service that is focused, affordable, easy to use and continuously updated as new data is published.
Published by Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd. since 1997 FIREINF uses the powerful Headfast software. FIREINF is accessible via the Internet Service www.fireinf.com.
Contact Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd. for 15 day FREE trials for all services that are cost effective. Why pay more for information? Go to www.sheilapantry.com/interest.html
9 December 2010 - Croner Hawksmere 6th Annual Health and Safety Conference, London, UK
Now in its sixth year, this extremely popular conference will take a very close look the major health and safety topics and help you move ahead to face the health and safety challenges in your organisation in these austere times.
It will give guidance and advice at what will constitute a successful occupational safety and health year in 2011.
This practical one-day conference will help delegates in their everyday work in their organisations. The eminent speakers will highlight the priorities and essential topics that should be on the delegates' 2011 Health and Safety Agenda.
The Programme
9.00 |
Coffee and registration |
9.30 |
Chair's welcome and introduction Sheila Pantry OBE, Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd |
9.35 |
Workplace health - fitness for work, improving health at work and changing lives
Deborah Jamieson OBE, Cross Government Head of Health, Work and Wellbeing at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) |
10.20 |
Ignorance of the law is no excuse: Updating your legal knowledge
Jeremy Stranks, Consultant, Writer and Lecturer, Safety and Hygiene Consultants, UK |
11.05 |
Coffee and networking |
11.20 |
WISH list - Workforce Involvement in Safety and Health
Roger Bibbings, Safety Adviser, Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) |
12.05 |
An Inspector may call... Encouraging a health and safety positive culture
Professor Neil Budworth, Corporate Health and Safety Manager E.ON UK; a Visiting Professor in Occupational Safety and Health in the Department of Human Sciences at Loughborough University and a Past President of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).) |
12.50 |
Lunch |
1.50 |
Learning from disasters and making a safer world
David Eves CB |
2.45 |
Expanding your horizons with Safety Groups UK
Kerry Ross, Chairman, Safety Groups UK, Abacus Safety Services, President, Manchester Occupational Health and Safety Group |
3.20 |
It could happen to you: getting caught up in the legal process
Pat Perry, Executive Chairman, Perry Scott Nash Associates |
4.05 |
Discussion |
4.20 |
Chair's closing remarks Sheila Pantry OBE |
4.30 |
Close of conference |
This conference will help you to:
- Identify the key workplace health and safety topics for 2011
- Understand the aims and objectives of the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) new Strategy Be part of the Solution, including workforce involvement in safety and health
- Turn your own strategy into a successful action programme
Benefits of attending
The aims of this very practical 2011 conference will help you to:
- Identify the key workplace health and safety topics for 2011
- Keep up-to-date with recent health, safety and environment legislation
- Understand the aims and objectives of the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) new Strategy Be part of the Solution, including workforce involvement in safety and health
- Achieve zero levels of accidents and ill-health
- Expand your horizons with Safety Groups UK; Raise individual awareness on occupational health in the workplace - life after sick notes; WISH - Worker Involvement in Safety and Health; Learning from disasters; Encouraging a health and safety positive culture; and learn what happens when companies and individuals get caught up in the legal process!
- Turn your own strategy into a successful action programme
- Network with individuals from other organisations and also to benchmark your own organisations' achievements, and
- Give you the opportunity to talk to and ask questions of the expert speakers
Who should attend?
All Occupational Safety and Health Directors and Managers aiming to be as up-to-date as possible as they begin their work in 2011
- Representatives from organisations wishing to benchmark their own practices against other leading organisations
- Senior level Managers and Directors who need to be aware about their health and safety responsibilities and the consequences of non-compliance
- Financial Directors who need to be aware of the costs of ignoring occupational safety and health
- Health, Safety and Facilities Managers looking to update and improve their own knowledge and skills base on what is changing in health, safety, professional capabilities, latest legislation and trends
- Senior Employee Representatives
Contact www.kaplanhawksmere.co.uk/hsconference
The EU approach to regulating nanotechnology
The European Union's (EU) nanotechnology strategy aims chiefly to catch up the lag behind the US and Asia. The health risks posed by the commercial use of nanomaterials have recently come onto the European Commission's agenda.
The Commission has not so far seen a need for specific legislation to govern nanotechnologies - a view not shared by either Parliament or the European trade union movement. The European Trade Union Confederation wants the EU to bring the Community legislative framework into line with the precautionary principle. Nanotechnologies may be an economic opportunity that the EU cannot ignore, but their unregulated development is causing growing concern among trade unions due to the health risks posed by certain types of nanomaterials.
In this publication, ETUI researcher Aida Ponce combines a detailed survey of European policy in the area with an exploration of the ethical and social issues surrounding nanotechnologies.
The EU approach to regulating nanotechnology, by Aïda María Ponce Del Castillo
ETUI, 2010 43 pages
www.etui.org/Publications2/Working-Papers/The-EU-approach-to-regulating-nanotechnology
Keep up-to-date with critical occupational health and safety information! OSH UPDATE is here to help - easy to use and very subscription friendly - why pay more?
Comprehensive and cost effective - OSH UPDATE - arguably one of the world's best collections of full text and bibliographic health and safety information is continuously updated as new data is published.
- OSH UPDATE has 19 databases containing validated and authoritative worldwide information on all aspects of health and safety at work.
- Contain over 814,000 records containing thousands of links to full text documents containing guidance, advice, research results, standards etc on all aspects of worked related health and safety.
- It has user-friendly powerful software that takes you direct to the documents and information that you are seeking.
- Is the lowest priced collection in the world of occupational safety and health (OSH) information.
- Will help you keep up-to-date easy and cheaply.
- Used by organisations worldwide from government departments, research laboratories, private companies, institutions, associations to individual consultants.
Don't make health and safety decisions without consulting the world's authoritative and validated guidance and advice that is found within OSH UPDATE. www.oshupdate.com
Why not take a FREE NO OBLIGATION TRIAL FOR 15 DAY OF OSH UPDATE now?
Send your request at www.sheilapantry.com/interest.html
Contact: Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd, Sheffield S26 1JG, UK | Tel: +44 (0) 1909 771024
| Fax: +44 (0) 1909 772829 | Email:
sp@sheilapantry.com
Websites: www.sheilapantry.com |
www.oshworld.com | www.shebuyersguide.com
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www.fireinf.com
2nd Strategy Conference: Five Pillars - Strategies on Safety and Health at Work, 3-4 February 2011, DGUV Academy Dresden, Germany
A key outcome of the 1st Strategy Conference in January 2009 was the call for better coordination between international and national strategies on safety and health at work.
The 2nd Strategy Conference will offer international experts and high-level policymakers the opportunity to explore how the various international strategies can be better linked with one another and how implementation at the national level can be better coordinated. The common goal of the conference organisers is to promote a worldwide prevention culture.
The first day will focus on five core issues (pillars) common to the various international and European strategies on safety and health. International experts will discuss how important these core issues are for their strategy. National experts will give examples of how these core issues can be strategically implemented in their home countries. At the end of the first day, the delegates will sign the Seoul Declaration, to explicitly express their commitment to a worldwide prevention culture
The second day will examine instruments and examples for the development, monitoring and evaluation of strategies. The discussion will be initiated with a report on the mid-term review of the Community Strategy on Health and Safety at Work 2007-2012. Representatives of the European Commission, social partners, governmental representatives and other policy makers will discuss how the strategies and their implementation should proceed in the future. The outcome of the conference will be an action plan that sets out the necessary milestones and instruments for the development of a prevention culture at international, national and company levels.
The conference is being held by the DGUV (German Social Accident Insurance) in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO) International Social Security Association (ISSA) European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA) and the International Association of Labour Inspection (IALI).
To improve coordination between the various international and European strategies on safety and health at work, to present instruments with which to coordinate implementation at international, national and company levels, to produce an action plan that sets out the necessary milestones and instruments for the development of a worldwide prevention culture.
For more details: www.dguv.de/iag/veranstaltungen/strategiekonferenz/2011/index-2.jsp
Get ready for the European Week in your country
Safe maintenance will be the focus of this year's European Week for Safety and Health at Work from October 25 to 29 as hundreds of conferences, exhibitions, and training sessions are held throughout Europe.
Find out how you can get involved
Find out more about Safe Maintenance
ECHA calls for comments on reports proposing restrictions on mercury and phenylmercury
ECHA has prepared a report, on the request of the Commission, suggesting restrictions on several mercury containing measuring devices. A report from Norway is suggesting a ban on five phenylmercury substances. ECHA starts today the six-month public consultation period on these proposals. ECHA, however, encourages interested parties to send in their comments by 24 December 2010.
Mercury in measuring devices
At the request of the European Commission, ECHA reviewed the availability of reliable safer alternatives to mercury containing measuring devices. As a result, ECHA has now prepared a restriction report proposing to restrict mercury in several measuring devices that are used in industrial and professional settings (thermometers, sphygmomanometers, barometers, manometers, metering devices for the determination of softening point, pycnometers and strain gauges). Mercury in measuring devices intended for the general public is already restricted. With this proposed restriction, the listed mercury containing measuring devices in industrial and professional use would be prohibited (with some minor derogations) from being imported or placed on the market in the EU after 18 months from the entry into force.
Phenylmercury substances
Norway proposed to restrict five phenylmercury substances. These substances are mainly used as catalysts in the production of polyurethane coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers. The life-cycle of the phenylmercury compounds leads to the release of mercury to the environment.
In the restriction report Norway suggests that these substances should not be manufactured, placed on the market or used as a substance or in mixtures in concentrations above 0.01 % weight by weight. The same concentration limit would apply for the substances in articles or homogenous parts of articles. In order to give time for the replacement of the substances by alternatives, Norway proposes that the restriction take effect 5 years after entry into force of the restriction.
ECHA invites comments on the above restriction report
Interested parties can comment on the proposals and the restriction reports (so called Annex XV reports) via the ECHA website. Comments will be reviewed and taken into account by the ECHA Committees for Risk Assessment (RAC) and Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC).The final opinions of the committees on the proposed restrictions are scheduled for September 2011. Based on these opinions, the European Commission will take the decisions whether to introduce additional restrictions into the REACH Regulation.
The Annex XV reports contain the background and justifications for the proposed restrictions. They include the identified risks, information on alternatives, the effectiveness of the restriction in reducing the risks and costs of the restriction.
Although the six-month public consultation concludes on 24 March 2011, the Rapporteurs of RAC and SEAC would appreciate receiving comments by 24 December 2010 to assist them in the detailed discussion of the restriction proposal in January 2011.
Further Information: https://echa.europa.eu/view-article/-/journal_content/title/echa-calls-for-comments-on-reports-proposing-restrictions-on-mercury-and-phenylmercury/
2012 to be the "European Year for Active Ageing"
The European Commission has on September 6, 2010 proposed that 2012 be designated as the "European Year for Active Ageing".
The initiative aims to help create better job opportunities and working conditions for the growing numbers of older people in Europe, help them take an active role in society and encourage healthy ageing.
It comes as Europe's policymakers grapple with a steadily ageing population and its impacts on public services and finances. The European Parliament and Council are expected to endorse the initiative by the beginning of next year.
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&newsId=860
Dialing, Talking, Texting ... Know the Hazards of Driver Distraction
The US Oregon Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (OR-FACE) Program has published a safety brochure on cell phones and driver distraction at the request of safety trainers at SAIF, the state's principal workers' compensation insurer.
The brochure titled Dialing, Talking, Texting ... Know the Hazards of Driver Distraction discusses distractions common to both handheld and hands-free phones and presents a table of relative risk ratios for the most common distractions.
Other driver impairments are summarized, including mental distraction, use of alcohol, drowsiness, and not using a seatbelt.
The brochure and other safety materials are available at www.ohsu.edu/croet/face
11 September 2011 - 19th World Congress on Safety and Health at work, Istanbul, Turkey
The Ministry of Labour and Social Security of Turkey (MLSST) will co-host the XIX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work from 11-15 September 2011 in İstanbul, Turkey, together with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Social Security Association (ISSA).
Programme
The programme will consist of an opening, plenaries, technical sessions and symposia as well as a high-level closing session, to elaborate on the motto and the themes of the World Congress. Speaker's corners, Poster sessions, a safety and health exhibition and the international Film and Multimedia Festival round up the conference programme.
International Film and Multimedia Festival
The International Film and Multimedia Festival will be an integral part of the XIX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey. The Festival will be organized by the ISSA International Commission for Prevention via its two sections for "Electricity, Gas and Water" as well as for "Information." It will provide the Congress participants with an overview of the manifold offer in the field of films and multimedia products on "Safety and Health at Work". Juries of experts will select the best products and prizes and they will be awarded accordingly.
Technical visits, cultural excursions, and social events
Technical visits to enterprises engaged in industry, commerce, and service located in Istanbul and nearby areas shall be organized for groups of interested people on a reservation basis only; the same applies to cultural excursions and various social events before, during, and after the Congress.
Facilities for private meetings
Meeting rooms shall be available for professional safety and health organizations, as well as for other interested groups upon request.