Best whishes for 2008.

The year is over and it is time to think of these first months of "WorkingSafe".

Starting a project from scratch is not an easy task and it takes time and energy. We are very happy with how we have managed to build a nice community and increase our statistics month after month.

For the coming year, we have a great deal of new projects and enthusiasm enough to put them in place, hoping they will serve our main objective:

Disseminate information and rise awareness so everyone can Work Safe.

Best whishes for 2008.

Picture credit

ICT and healthcare, a close relation.

Euractiv.com has published an article on ICT and the benifits it brings to cronic diseases in the present ageing environment.

EU-OSHA is running an Online Survey

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is running an online Survey to measure the services offered and collect feedback from users.



A similar campaign was made in 2006 and it led to important technical improvements and reorganisation of the content.

By filling the questionnaire you will spend less than 5 minutes and contribute to help EU-OSHA provide a better service.

Statistics on Safety and Health at Work

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has recently published a new "Single entry point" on Safety and Health at Work Statistics.



After some global figures there is more information on particular sectors and also links to other resources on this topic.

A good place to start looking for figures.

Fighting Safety and Health myths

The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) publishes a monthly section called "myth of the month", where myths are fought against.




Safety and health is an area in which many myths are really "popular", and it is a great idea to provide information and explanations that can help people find what is real. That's why we support this initiative and contribute to disseminate this information.

A+A 2007: A great event on Safety and Health at Work.

The A+A is probably the most important conference on the Safety and Health sector and takes places in Düsseldorf every other year. Due to its tradition (first conference took place in 1954), ability to gether many atendees and communication to decision-takers, the A+A is seen for many as an indicator for Safety and Health tends on pan-European market.

Taking this into account, we are satisfied to certified the success of this edition (18th to 21st of September), that had over 55,000 visitors and 1,400 exhibitors form as many as 51 countries.

If you missed the event it is easy (and worth) having a look at the summaries the organisation prepaired on the following links:

Opening day

Second day

Third Day

The next edition of this condeference will take place from 3rd to 6th of November 2009.

REACH is 3 months old ... are you aware?

Three months after REACH entered into force, there has been a lot of questions and queries about it.

You can have information on it on the ECHA site.

If you are interested on knowing more about REACH, wether you are user, manufactores or importer, the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) has put together some resources that are very clarifying.

Aging workforce (Case Studies from Eurofound)

The aging of population in Europe is causing an aging workforce in many EU organizations. Far from being something temporary, the trend is settled and will probably stay in the near future.

Many companies have taken measures that allow them retain talent and benefit from experienced staff.

Eurofound released a series of case studies that can give ideas of how to better integrate and capitalise of aging workers inside the organisation.

There are 11 reports covering a series of EU countries(i.e. Austria, Germany), Italy, Spain and UK, all in English.

Hope some of the measure can be spread and reproduce in other organisations.

A+A trade fair. A great event is coming

From the 18th to the 21st of September the A+A Trade Fair will take place.

This event is a must for all Occupational Safety and Health professionals and a great opportunity for everyone interestedd in this matter.

We will attend and report on it.

Find more information on A+A

Fixed-term contracts increase in EU

Fixed-term contracts are not the best to ensure safe work. In the EU almost 1 out of 6 employees are fixed-term employees, almost half of them involuntarily.

By country, Spain gets the highs rate with more than 30% fixed-term contracts, while other countries like Estonia, Ireland or UK have a very low percentage. Agriculture is the sector with higher fixed-term contracts.

A negative aspect is that both total fixed-term contracts (women:14.1% in 2000 to 14.9% in 2005, men:12.5% in 2000 to 13.9% in 2005) and Involuntary fixed-term contracts (women:6.6% in 2000 to 7.5% in 2005, men:5.7% in 2000 to 6.7% in 2005) have increased during the last 5 years.

Find full report

EU-OSHA undertakes interesting changes

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has undertaken an slight "face lift", in order to make its homepage more usable and nice looking.



But we find even more interesting a new service launched, called "alerts", that allows users to receive an email notification each time there is new content on their area of interest. The list of topics of interest is really extensive, and covers most of the topics any OSH specialist could be interested on.

As users, we welcome these improvements that will enhance the user's experience by making content easily available.

Foot and mouth desease outbreak being tackled

The foot and mouth outbreak detected in UK is been tackled in a very efficient way, having learnt the lesson in 2001, when this was not the case.




More information on the outbreak from HSE

Hold me tight! Another NAPO film

This video shows the right way to handle weights.

NAPO films are very successful, both in training sessions and awareness raising events.

NAPO gets the message accross.

Good moment to review the conditions of summer season working conditions

During the summer season some service activities get increased, especially those related to tourism.

It might be a good opportunity to go through these checklists.

Restaurants

Discotheques and night clubs

These and other checklist are available in the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA).

Smoking ban in UK. One month later

It has been one month since the smoking ban entered into force in the UK. This law, already implemented in other countries has been adopted in different levels, altough always proved to be benefitial for worker's and general public's health.

After this short period, it would be nice to have first opinions and comments from those under this law (employees, employers and general public in the UK), or from others that saw how this law was implemented on their country.

Any opinion is welcome.

Be safe on your bike

Usage of motorbike increase drastically in summer, and in many cases the stationallity of this activity makes it even more dangerous.

The RoSPA in the UK has issue an interesting report that helps increase safety and assess risks.

First wave of HWI seminars over

From 19th April in Warsaw to 29th of June in Constanta, 9 HWI (Healthy Workplace Initiative) seminars were held in 6 new EU member states.

The seminars gathered over 1,000 atendees and were a great opportunity to share knowledge and experiences aimed at creating a "Healthy Workplace".

A second wave of seminars, with around 20 new events, will be organised from September to November in major cities in new EU member states (Siauliai, Alytus and Kedainiai in Lithuania already confirmed, and Sofia and Tallin very advanced).

Keep informed on dates and content of the seminars visiting the Healthy Workplace Initiative (HWI).

Pictures from seminars held in 2006 are available here.


More posts on HWI

Information for the aftermath of hurricanes and storms

In preparation for sumer and fall hurricanes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a series of resources aimed at ensuring safety of those working in the aftermath.

The types of materials are:

• QuickCards



• Fact Sheets



• Safety and Health Information Bulletins (SHIBs)

More information available here

Summer jobs: start a Future, don't end a life.

Young workers are a group with higher risks than average. This situation gets even worse during summer, when many young workers get their first working experience. Very frequently either for lack of knowledge or due to the will to cause a good impression in the company young workers put themselves under risk situations.

Canada's National Occupational Health and Safety Resource (ccohs) enfasizes the importance of the working conditions of the youngest and newest in the staff, and offers many resources and personalised answers on the subject.

Information from CCOHS

England to go smokefree as of 1st of July!

Following other countries in EU, England will have a law to protect employees and public in general from seconhand smoke effects.

Employers are asked to take a series of actions to be fully compliant with the law, such us:

• Display 'no-smoking' signs in smokefree premises and vehicles

• Take reasonable steps to ensure that staff, customers/members and visitors are aware that premises and vehicles are legally required to be smokefree
  

• Remove any existing indoor smoking rooms

• Ensure that no one smokes in smokefree premises or vehicles

• Remove ashtrays from smokefree areas

• Develop a smokefree policy in consultation with staff

• Offer staff training to help them understand the new law and what their responsibilities are

• Provide your staff and customers with support to quit smoking

We welcome this new law and encourage all employers and employees to respect it.

A site has been set to introduce this new law.

More NAPO films

Napo films have proved to be excellent tools to address different Occupational Safety and Health issues.





Now a new set of clips is available aimed at dealing with Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs). These clips are "multilingual" and "multicultural" so can be used in any country to face Occupational Safety and Health issues through a kind approach.

Worth sharing them!

Employment and working conditions of migrant workers

Eurofound has issued a report on Employment and working conditions of migrant workers.

This report confirms the evidence that immigrants play an increasingly important role in the labour markets of EU Member States

In most countries, migrant people face higher unemployment rates and tend to be segregated in unskilled occupations and exposed to higher risks of over-qualification. As immigrants today are often educated, this represents a significant waste of human capital, and a strong form of inequality.


However there is room for optimism, based on the improvement of immigrants employment and working conditions based on the raising of self-employment and assigment to more skilled jobs.

An interesteing report worth reading.

ENWHP 7th initiative on life-style.

The ENWHP (European Network for Workplace Health Promotion) has developed its 7th initiative on life-style related Workplace Health Promotion (WHP).



It focuses on 4 aspects:

1. Physical activity,
2. healthy diet,
3. mental health,
4. smoking prevention.


Find more information

World Day against Child Labour

In line with the commemoration of the World Day against Child Labour the International Labour Organization (ILO) has published a report.

This report is divided in 4 sections, first it analyses the progress made in combating child labour, then presents actions taken from ILO, third global challenges and finally a global action plan.

As this report says, "The end of child labour: Within reach".

Meet REACH

With the aim of improving the protection of human health and the environment REACH strives to better and earlier identification of the properties of chemical substances
At the same time, innovative capability and competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry should be enhanced. The benefits of the REACH system will come gradually, as more and more substances are phased into REACH.

The REACH Regulation gives greater responsibility to industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety information on the substances. Manufacturers and importers will be required to gather information on the properties of their substances, which will help them manage them safely, and to register the information in a central database.

REACH entered into force on 1 June 2007.
REACH Website
REACH in brief

Occupational and Environmental Exposures of Skin to Chemicals

This international conference is a great opportunity for occupational and environmental health professionals, dermatologists, laboratory scientists, and policy-makers to meet and discuss on future challenges and policy opportunities related to occupational and environmental exposures of the skin to chemicals, with a special emphasis on improved prevention of local and systemic injury and disease caused by exposing skin to chemicals.

Plenary lectures,oral contributions, posters and short courses will provide technical information, and social events will encourage informal communication.

Dates: 17-20 June 2007
Location: Golden, Colorado, USA

More information on OEESC2007

Around the OSH world in 3 Webs

This article summarises three major Webs in the field of international occupatinal safety and occupational health.

International Labour Organisation (United Nations)

Quoting from ILO site:

The ILO is dedicated to bringing decent work and livelihoods, job-related security and better living standards to the people of both poor and rich countries. It helps to attain those goals by promoting rights at work, encouraging opportunities for decent employment, enhancing social protection and strengthening dialogue on work-related issues.

The four strategic objectives
• Promote and realize standards and fundamental principles and rights at work
• Create greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment and income
• Enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all
• Strengthen tripartism and social dialogue

Find out more on ILO

European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU)

The EU-OSHA site states this awareness raising text:

Every three and a half minutes, somebody in the EU dies from work-related causes. That's more than 150,000 deaths a year as a result of either work-related accidents (8,900) or occupational diseases (142,000).

EU-OSHA has a great volume of publications on different topics and focussed to different target groups that can be accessed here. Every year a campaign is organised on a topic, 2007 is on musculoskeletal disorders (MSD).

The best way to keep informed of all EU-OSHA developments is subscribing to free OSHmail.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (USA)

OSHA's mission is:

to send every worker home whole and healthy every day

.

Through "Compliance Assistance" they help employer to comply with Occupational Safety & Health Act of 1970.

Much of the content is translated into Spanish and adapted to the Hispanic community.

"QuickTakes" is a newsletter sent twice a month that collects the most important news.

"Lighten the load" campaign launch.

Next Monday 4th of June the European Campaign on Musculoskeletal disorders (“Lighten the Load”) will be launched in Brussels.

Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) is a major work-related health problem that affect many people at some point.

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work will produce information material on this issue during the campaign.



Visit the campaign site

No Tobacco day

Today, the "No tobacco day", try to do your bit to improve health and safety at your workplace by supporting this initiative. It will be an small effort and will draw long term benefits!



More information on the "No tobacco day"

How do Europeans work?

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions has issued the fourth European Working Conditions Survey.

This report presents the views of workers on a wide range of issues, from work organisation to equal opportunities or job satisfaction.

See the report

How much do you know...

How much do you know about Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs)?

Check it with this online quizz!

It is part of the European week 2007 campaign material.



Visit ew2007 site for more information

Watch out! - Don't suffer in silence.

This animation can illustrate issues many desk workers face daily.

Although it has a comic approach, the message it shares is very seriour.

Pass it on!

European Health Forum Gastein and Gestein Award.

The European Health Forum Gastein, on its 10th anniversary, has crated the Gestein Award.

This award aims at promoting policy initiatives with an European scope.

Deadline for participation: 31st of May.





More on EHFG

More on Gestein Award

Working on hard weather conditions

Working on hard weather conditions could be risky, unless the adequate measure are taken into account.

Too hot (working in the sun) or too cold (handling food) environments are rather common and should be taken seriously when assessing risks.

The Health and Safety Executive have colleted information on this issue.

Information on working on hard weather conditions

Report on Noise

This report describes the situation in Europe regarding noise at work.

Which are the groups at risk?
Which are the emerging risk?




You will find anwers to these and other questions in this report.

Report on Noise

International Nurses Day (12th May)

In 2006 the WHO highlighted the shortage of nurses as a priority point to work on. There are several reasons that explain this problem, and addressing them can lead to a solution.

More information on International Nurses Day from WHO

Summer jobs in construction

The US OSHA has launched the 2007 Teen Summer Job Safety Campaign to help keep teenagers safe and healthy on the job.

During the event, Thomas Edison students demonstrated safe and healthful work practices such as proper use of hearing protection and other personal protective equipment, safe use of hand tools and tips to avoid falls.

US OSHA also launches a Web Site on construction, focusing on young workers.


More info on Summer Job Safety Campaign

An Inclusive Working Life for All

This course aims to focus on experiences gained from the various initiatives in the Nordic countries. Group discussions will be organised based on the latest research findings and practical experiences. The objective of the course is to come up with a better understanding of the types of initiatives that are most likely to lead to better practice and eventually contribute to a truly “Inclusive Working Life”.

The main target groups are: Occupational health and safety experts, social insurance officers, human resource managers and other professionals or researchers with interest in sickness absence and rehabilitation issues.

More info on the course

PREVENTICA: Congress on Occupational health and safety - Ergonomics

Preventica is an important Congress on Occupational health and safety will take place in Strasbourg, France on the 6th and 7th of June.

This is the 13rd edition and will have 350 exhibitors, 90 conferences and 7,000 visitors.

More info on PREVENTICA

Musculoskeletal disorders affect up to 90% of people

At some point in their life up to 90% of people suffer from musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), which affect the body's muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments, bones and nerves. These disorders are often work-related.


Legislation on MSD


read more | digg story

Healthy Workplace Initiative

Healthy Workplace Initiative (HWI) is a great initiative from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) aimed at improving working conditions in the new EU member states.



More info on HWI

North American Safety and Health Week

NAOSH Week is an annual initiative led by the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE) in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) and Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC), in concert with North American partners in Mexico and the United States.

From 6th to 12th of May 2007

More info on NAOSH week

1st May

A very realistic view on the 1st May from Amnesty International:

Workers around the world are being threatened, harassed, even killed for standing up for their basic rights. According to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, at least 100 trade unionists are killed every year for trying to promote better pay and working conditions for employees. Many states have signed international laws safeguarding the right of trade unionists to act freely, yet some states are consistently failing to uphold their responsibilities under these laws.

More info

Quality of Work: the Key to More and Better Jobs

By staging the conference, the Federal Government wants to emphasise the importance of corporate cultures that encourage innovation for Europe as a business location and to foster joint European efforts to further develop employee-oriented corporate cultures.

The conference will take place in Berlin, on the 2nd and third of May.

More information on quality of Work

European social partners sign an agreement to fight against harassment and violence at work

Today, in the presence of Commissioner Špidla, the secretaries general of ETUC, BUSINESSEUROPE, UEAPME and CEEP officially signed an autonomous framework agreement to fight against harassment and violence at work.

Negotiated during ten months, the text commits the members of the signatory parties to combat all unacceptable behaviour that can lead to harassment and violence at the workplace.

More info

The ISSA mobilizes members for the World Day for Safety and Health at Work

The International Social Security Association (ISSA) is mobilizing its members in support of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work on 28 April 2007, under the theme "Safe and Healthy Workplaces – Making Decent Work a Reality".



More info

Technological Innovations in OSH for the Healthcare Industry

Report on Technological Innovations in Occupational Health and Safety for the Healthcare Industry summarizes emerging technological innovations in occupational health and safety, including those focused on prevention of musculoskeletal injuries.

More info

World Day for Safety and Health at Work: 28 April 2007

2007: Safe and Healthy Workplaces - Making Decent Work a Reality

World Day for Safety and Health at Work is an international campaign to promote safe, healthy, and decent work. This year, as in previous years, tripartite events will be taking place world wide, and a number of products are available from this web page to support those efforts.

More info