News from around the World

News Archive

November 2018

Medical Royal College presidents and chair urge Simon Stevens to offer treatment to every smoker

The Presidents of the RCP, RCPsych, RCOG, RCPCH, the Chair of Council of the RCGP, and over 800 other doctors, health professionals and academics are calling on NHS England to ensure that tobacco dependence treatment is provided for every smoker cared for by the NHS, as part of the long-term plan. In a letter to NHS England’s Chief Executive Simon Stevens published in the BMJ today, they point out that treatment for tobacco dependency is one of the most cost-effective healthcare interventions, with the potential to produce substantial in-year savings by reducing demand on the NHS.

More information: https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/news/royal-colleges-urge-nhs-england-ensure-tobacco-dependence-treatment-every-smoker

ASH comment on Royal College of Physicians press release

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH, said:

“The evidence is clear that even people already seriously ill from smoking can improve the quality and length of their lives by quitting. For example, a third of lung cancer patients still smoke at diagnosis. If they quit they can nearly double their life expectancy, yet currently only 13% of cancer patients are prescribed stop smoking treatment and, unsurprisingly, the majority continue to smoke. Tobacco dependence treatment is cheap and cost-effective and NHS England must ensure it is integral to the new long-term plan.”

Visit: https://www.spcr.nihr.ac.uk/news/quit-smoking-and-live-a-longer-and-better-life

Event: Hot Work Passport

26 November 2018, Moreton in Marsh, UK
10 December 2018, London, UK
15 January 2019, London, UK

“The Fire Protection Association (FPA) has introduced a Hot Work Passport scheme to enhance the level of competence of those involved in work with the potential to produce ignition sources. The Passport Scheme was developed in response to calls from industry for a national benchmark of fire safety knowledge. Over 2,850 Hot Work Passports have been issued to date. The FPA Hot Work Passport is valid for five years from the date of completion of the appropriate hot works course.” Dame Judith Hackitt DBE FREng – Building a Safer Future.

Upon attendance at this course, and successful completion of a short assessment, you will be awarded a personalised Hot Work Passport, valid for 5 years.

You will develop knowledge and understanding of:

• The importance of fire prevention and your own responsibility when performing dangerous work
• Systematic working and fire prevention methods underpinned by the relevant legislation and regulations
• Certification
• FPA Hot Work Passport valid for 5 years
• CFPA Europe Certificate in Hot Works

Contact: Fire Protection Association, Tel: +44 (0)1608 812 500, Email: training@thefpa.co.uk

Event: Fire Safety Design of Buildings

3 December 2018, Moreton in Marsh, UK
12 February 2019, London, UK
26 March 2019, London, UK

You will develop:

• an understanding of key concepts in Approved Document B, BS 9999 and other guidance documents.
• knowledge of the theory and practical application of the basic principles of constructional fire protection.
• understanding of the need for and benefits of passive and active fire protection.
• awareness of the essential components of BS 476: Parts 20-24 and BS EN equivalents.
• ability to apply fire design criteria to building design.
• Certification; FPA certificate

This course has been awarded 17.5 IFE CPD hours.

Contact: Fire Protection Association, Tel: +44 (0)1608 812 500, Email: training@thefpa.co.uk

Event: The Hackitt Review Update – Seminar

3 December 2018, Cavendish Conference Centre, 22 Duchess Mews, London, W1G 9DT

This seminar brings together industry professionals to provide expert guidance on British Standards and testing, product selection and legislative change. Highlighting the implications of each area and the impact this may have on your business, the event is aimed at those concerned with the implications of the Government response to the Hackitt Review.

Contact: Fire Protection Association, Tel: +44 (0)1608 812 500, Email: training@thefpa.co.uk

Event: European Conference Women, Work and Cancer

4-5 December 2018, Brussels, Belgium

Contrary to popular belief, predominantly female occupations are very much exposed to occupational cancer risks. Effective prevention of the occupational factors could lead to 35,000 fewer cases of breast cancer each year in Europe.

100,000 people die each year in the European Union from cancer caused by bad working conditions. The majority of cancer prevention campaigns neglect this issue, solely targeting individual behaviour. Yet all occupational cancers could be avoided by eliminating the risks at work.

Looking specifically at women, preventing occupational cancers is beset by particular difficulties. Guided by a stereotype associating occupational cancers with male occupations in traditional industries, epidemiological research in this field more often than not focuses on men rather than women. Even so, there is a lot of data available. Predominantly female occupations are very much exposed to occupational cancer risks: hairdressers and beauticians, nurses, cleaners, workers in the pharmaceutical industry, etc.

Accounting for more than 93,000 deaths in 2014, breast cancer is the main cause of death by cancer among women in the European Union, though it is very rare among men (some 1,000 deaths a year). In Europe, numbers of newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer are increasing, while mortality is decreasing due to early detection and improved therapies. According to a study published last year by the European Trade Union Institute, effective prevention of the occupational factors could lead to at least 35,000 fewer cases of breast cancer each year in Europe. The occupational exposures contributing most to the development of breast cancer are chemical carcinogens (in particular in pesticides and in certain drugs), nightwork (which disturbs the functioning of the hormonal system) and ionising radiation (especially in the health sector).

This conference provides an update on the relationship between working conditions and cancer among women, while at the same time looking at how women with cancer struggle with discrimination after contracting the disease or post-recovery. Coming from various European countries, speakers include scientists, women who have struggled with cancer, and trade unionists fighting for better working condition and for eliminating health-related discrimination.

Contact: ETUI, www.etui.org/Events/Conference-Women-Work-and-Cancer

Event: UK Climate Change Preparedness – Embedding a Holistic Approach to Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation

30 January 2019, Central London, UK

Human contribution of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere continues to represent one of the greatest threats to the natural world and human populations globally. Related extreme weather occurrences including flooding and high temperatures, as well as consequent water scarcity, food insecurity and disease already cause mass disruptions to human life. Over the last two decades severe weather events have cost on average £1.5 billion per year (Committee on Climate Change, 2018).

Successive governments have developed a new policy and legislative framework to combat rising temperatures and mitigate the risks of increased climate variability. Earlier this year, the Government published its long-awaited 25 Year Environment Plan, with climate change abatement residing at the centre of its strategy. In July 2018, the second National Adaptation Programme (NAP) was released. This included new provisions to build resilience against flooding, drought and coastal erosion. The NAP has pledged to restore degraded eco-systems by creating 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat. The Government is also investing £2.6 billion between 2015 and 2021 to protect the country from coastal erosion and flooding.

Despite consistent government engagement, numerous challenges still obstruct a comprehensive UK strategy on climate change adaptation and mitigation. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has warned that only some of the urgent risks identified in its 2017 Climate Change Risk Assessment have been addressed. Moreover, the UK remains the second largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the EU after Germany, with latest statistics showing the UK was responsible for 11.6% of all EU emissions in 2016 (Eurostat, 2018). Planned enlargement of Heathrow airport has raised further doubts over the Government’s commitment to reduce total emissions by 80% before 2050. The Department for Transport announced the aviation emissions were forecasted to reach 42.8 million tonnes by 2030 following the expansion (DfT, 2017).

More information: www.publicpolicyexchange.co.uk/events/JA30-PPE

Event: Two Day Biocides Efficacy Workshop

6-7 March 2019, Health and Safety Executive, Redgrave Court, Merton Road, Bootle, UK

HSE’s Chemicals Regulation Division (CRD) will be holding a two day Biocides Efficacy workshop. This workshop will help attendees to develop an understanding of the regulatory approach to efficacy assessment under the Biocidal Product Regulation (BPR).

The course will provide a general overview of how to identify the correct efficacy data requirements for a product and, in some cases, how this may be different from the requirements for an active substance. It will also note the UK experience of the interpretation of requirements by other Member States. The course will then address how to generate and present appropriate data to meet these requirements. There will also be sections dedicated to some specific product types (or groups of product types) for which significant interest has already been expressed. There will be worked examples to help attendees to recognise common problems and best practice, as well as a number of discussion opportunities to allow attendees to raise key issues and ask questions.

The following topics will be covered:

• Identifying the label claims for a product and using the guidance to find the correct data requirements for these claims.
• Generating and presenting data to meet these requirements.
• Options when guidance is limited or unavailable.
• Product type (PT) specific considerations for: PT 1 – 5, PT 18 and PT 19
• Specific common issues for other product types.
• Efficacy data requirements for product families.
• Efficacy data requirements to demonstrate that a co-formulant is not an active substance in a product.
• Question and answer session.

Target Audience

The course is suitable for all those involved in the creation and submission of an efficacy data package for biocidal product applications, including test houses, applicants, consultants, etc. The course will focus on helping attendees to understand how dossiers are viewed from a regulator’s perspective. No prior experience is assumed; the course would provide both a good starting point for beginners and an opportunity to develop and update the knowledge of those experienced in producing dossiers.

Registrations

If you wish to register for the workshop please visit www.hsl.gov.uk/crd and complete an online registration form. The closing date for registration is the 11th February 2019.

Event: IFSEC International 2019

18-20 June 2019, ExCeL, London, UK

In 2019, the global security industry will return to IFSEC to learn its way around the future of security. Make sure you’re on the map. Find out how you can:

• Be a part of the global security conversation, and ensure your technologies are at the heart of innovation development
• Generate business from a truly international audience of buyers from Government, Telecoms, Utilities, Transport and more
• Establish and strengthen your supply chain by meeting existing and prospective partners at the central event for the global security industry
• Launch new products to a captive and engaged audience of buyers with over £20 billion to spend!

More information: https://www.ifsec.events/international

Delivering on the European Pillar of Social Rights: A year on

A ground-breaking initiative for a stronger social Europe was jointly proclaimed by the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council on 17 November 2017. The European Pillar of Social Rights confirms the Union’s shared commitment to new and more effective rights for citizens including improved working conditions.

One year later, we are looking at significant progress achieved. In April, in line with the current Healthy Workplaces Campaign, the Commission proposed to limit workers’ exposure to five cancer-causing chemicals. Estimates show that this proposal would improve working conditions for over 1,000,000 EU workers and prevent over 22,000 cases of work-related illness.

In June, another agreement was reached including proposals for directives on work-life balance and transparent and predictable working conditions.

EU-OSHA is an active supporter of the Pillar of Social Rights through many activities such as our work on the safety and health of older workers which offers analysis of policies and initiatives addressing the challenges of ageing workforces across Europe.

More information: https://osha.europa.eu/en/highlights/delivering-european-pillar-social-rights-year

The 2018 European Week for Safety and Health at Work was a roaring success!

Once again the European Week for Safety and Health at Work created a massive buzz on social media as events took place across Europe. EU-OSHA’s network of partners, workers and employers all came together to share good practice and raise awareness of the importance of managing dangerous substances in order to create safe and healthy work environments for all.

Throughout the week of 22-26 October 2018, events and PR actions ranging from conferences to good practice exchange events took place to spread the messages of the Healthy Workplaces Manage Dangerous Substances Campaign. Here we look at a small selection of the many events that took place, all of which were promoted via the campaign website, as well as on a dedicated Facebook page and on Twitter.

More information: https://healthy-workplaces.eu/en/media-centre/news/2018-european-week-safety-and-health-work-was-roaring-success

Conference discussed case studies on innovative occupational risk prevention

This conference aimed to encourage participants to actively implement prevention measures that reduce workplace accidents and diseases, highlighting the advantages gained from investing in occupational risk prevention. By using innovative measures, such as sensors and cameras in drones to measure physical and chemical agents, workers can be protected more effectively.

Taking place in Málaga on 18 October 2018 and co-organised by the Social Security service Mutua Universal, the Prevention and Corporate Social Responsibility department of the University of Málaga (UMA) and the School of Industrial Engineers, speakers discussed occupational risk prevention measures for different companies and sectors. They focused on a variety of Occupational Safety and Health topics including mental health, innovative information and communication technologies.

More information: https://healthy-workplaces.eu/en/media-centre/news/discussing-case-studies-innovative-occupational-risk-prevention

European Chemicals Agency says: Keep your registration up to date

Registering your chemicals under REACH is not a one-off exercise: you will learn new things about your substance, and your own situation may change. This has to be reflected in your registration. Therefore, you need to regularly review your dossier and update it when new information becomes available.

https://echa.europa.eu/-/keep-your-registration-up-to-date

Training beyond reality

The British Safety Council is introducing immersive technologies into its training courses, both online and in the classroom, and becomes the first health and safety provider in the country to do so.

James Mansbridge, head of digital learning at the British Safety Council, introduces their new training tools:

My first experience with virtual reality was in 1994, at the London Trocadero in Piccadilly Circus. Its Funland was one of the best arcades in Europe, full of the latest state-of-the-art gaming machines and a mecca for the nation’s teenagers.

Funland’s virtual reality games were made by a company called Virtuality. Their huge brightly coloured headsets and futuristic seating pods all added to the experience. At the time, virtual reality (VR) was set to become the next big thing in the arcade games industry.

That didn’t happen, however, as the technology wasn’t quite there and the arcade game had already had its heyday – think Space Invaders and Pac-Man over a decade earlier.

By the late 1990s, arcade games had declined massively in popularity and the home console industry was growing in the other direction. Consoles such as Sony’s PlayStation could give arcade-like experiences from the comfort of a living room. And with that, VR faded into obscurity.

Fast forward 20 years and manufacturers were ready to try again – this time bringing VR into the home and the pocket. Headsets like the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive provide incredible gaming experiences but now there is a lot more they can offer.

More information: https://www.britsafe.org/publications/safety-management-magazine/safety-management-magazine/2018/training-beyond-reality

Work stress is a ‘growing epidemic’, warns TUC

Warm words won’t fix the ‘growing epidemic’ of work-related stress, the TUC has said.

The union body was commenting on figures published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on 31 October 2018 that show that across Great Britain 15.4 million working days were lost to work-related stress, anxiety and depression in 2017/2018 – an increase of nearly 3 million on the previous year and the highest level on record. The new statistics show there were 239,000 new cases of work-related stress, depression and anxiety reported over the last year.

More information: https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/tuc-risks-874-10-november-2018#_Toc529361529

Work with safety reps to tackle stress, Prospect says

Civil service union Prospect has called on employers to work with safety reps to tackle record-high levels of work-related stress.

The official Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures show stress-related absence is at the highest level since the regulator started routinely collecting the data in the early 2000s. The number of people saying they had work-related stress leapt by 13 per cent compared to the year before, according to the data, which is drawn from the Labour Force Survey. Prospect says rates of work-related mental ill health are highest in the civil service – around 40 per cent higher than the average across all industries.

More information: https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/tuc-risks-874-10-november-2018#_Toc529361530

Don’t miss out on your #RoSPAWinner moment!

As well as offering a suite of workplace and fleet courses and events, did you know that 2019 will mark the 63rd year of the highly prestigious RoSPA Health & Safety Awards?

Already hundreds of organisations from across the globe have registered for the chance to be awarded the #RoSPAWinner title! From the internationally renowned Achievement and Sector Awards, to the brand new Safe@Work, Safe@Home Award, which recognise organisations who have demonstrated excellence and innovation in promoting safety outside of the workplace – there’s something for everyone. See the full category guide, and discover which award is perfect for you.

Take a look at the Award Winner case studies too, why almost 2000 organisations enter every year.

“Each year I am amazed by the quality of the RoSPA Award Winners and the hundreds of organisations who demonstrate their commitment to raising health and safety standards.” – Dee Arp, Director of Technical Standards at NEBOSH.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, https://www.rospa.com

Study identifies a workplace ‘exhaustion epidemic’

Britain’s workers are falling victim to a workplace ‘exhaustion epidemic’, a study has concluded.

The research from Westfield Health found almost half of British workers regularly turn up to their job feeling too tired to work, 3 in 10 have had an accident or made a serious mistake due to fatigue, and 13 per cent have even drifted to sleep whilst driving. The September 2018 survey of 1,000 UK employees found almost 9 out of 10 workers (86 per cent) didn’t feel confident taking to managers about how fatigue was affecting their performance and six in ten admitted turning up to work too tired to do their job.

More information: https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/tuc-risks-874-10-november-2018#_Toc529361541