Construction Industry Briefing: Issue 14 (June 08)

The following topics are covered in this issue: Asbestos, Dermatitis, Indoor Air, Safety Performmance and Lung cancer

1. Asbestos

The Scottish Government has just published a draft bill to reinstate the civil liability for pleural plaques, pleural thickening and asbestosis (without any symptoms) from asbestos exposure. The BBC news online item about this can be viewed at...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7471607.stm

2. Dermatitis

A new HSE web site on problems of skin at work has been launched. It includes:

  • Case studies on how businesses successfully tackled skin problems in their workplaces
  • Comments by people who have suffered from occupational skin diseases
  • Downloadable free leaflets, toolbox talks and posters
  • Image library, skin disorders facts and statistics

    • Significant numbers of construction workers suffer from occupational skin disorders.

    The web site is available at...
    http://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/index.htm

    3. Indoor Air

    A summary has been newly published on the internet of the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risk (SCHER) document entitled 'Opinion on risk assessment in indoor air quality'. The summary is available at:

    http://copublications.greenfacts.org/

    The 2007 SCHER document can be viewed at:

    http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_risk/committees/04_scher/docs/

    4. Safety performance

    The authors argue in a recent article in ‘Safety Science’ that if safety performance in the construction industry is to improve, design professionals need to play a role in addressing safety in their designs. The abstract of the paper is available below:

    http://www.sciencedirect.com/

    5. Lung cancer

    An article published in OEM online assessing male lung cancer in industrial sectors in the Netherlands concludes that cancer risk is increasing in a number of industrial sectors. There are several sectors including construction and the home building business that show a statistically significant risk. The full article is available for viewing at…

    http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/65/4/249

     

     

    If you would like us to feature any specific construction occupational health issue then let us know.


    CONSTRUCTION BRIEFINGS ARCHIVE

    Construction Briefing (March 2007)
    Construction Briefing (April 2007)
    Construction Briefing (May 2007)
    Construction Briefing (June 2007)
    Construction Briefing (July 2007)
    Construction Briefing (August 2007)
    Construction Briefing (September 2007)
    Construction Briefing (October 2007)
    Construction Briefing (November 2007)
    Construction Briefing (December 2007)
    Construction Briefing (January 2008)
    Construction Briefing (March 2008)
    Construction Briefing (April 2008)

     

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