Construction Industry Briefing: Issue 5 (July 07)
The following topics are covered in this issue: health and safety statistics, asbestos, wood dust, dermatitis, and vibration
1. HEALTH AND SAFETY STATISTICS
The Health and Safety Executive have announced that the latest injury statistics show that 40% of all worker deaths in construction are caused by a fall from height. In an attempt to try to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by falls and trips the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will be carrying out inspections of construction sites in England during July. Further information is available at…http://www.hse.gov.uk/PRESS/2007/gnne2007.htmAn article by Edmond Kauffer and Raymond Vincent published in the Annals of Occupational Hygiene (Vol 51, No. 2, 2007) presents asbestos fibre exposure data recorded on the COLCHIC database (occupational exposure data for French companies). The article states that ‘From 1997 on, most sampling operations were focused on the construction sector, and it is also in this sector that we find the greatest number of values exceeding 01. fibre/ml’. (p137). The full text of the article is available at…http://annhyg.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/51/2/131
A paper published in the Annals of Occupational Hygiene entitled 'Exposure to wood dust among carpenters in the construction industry in the Netherlands' identified that long-term exposure to wood dust among carpenters was more than 1.5 times the present occupational exposure limit in the Netherlands. One of the authors of this paper, Hans Kromhout, is a co-author of several IOM papers and research reports. The full text of the paper is available below:
http://annhyg.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/51/3/241
The IOM recently published a research report entitled 'Assessment of dermal exposure to inorganic lead caused by direct skin contact with lead sheet and moulded PVC profiles (TM/06/04). This study provided information on the level of dermal lead exposure caused by direct skin contact with lead sheet material. Lead sheeting is used in building and construction. More information about the IOM report is available below: http://www.iom-world.org/news/dermal_exposure.phpAn article published in ‘Building Research & Information entitled 'Construction hand tools: vibration emission from alternative inserts’ (Vol 35(3) May 2007: pp329-342) focuses on the risks within the construction industry of hand-arm vibration (HAV) resulting from hand-held mechanical tools. The abstract is available at the URL below:
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/
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)