Construction Industry Briefing: Issue 9(November 07)
The following topics are covered in this issue: Health statistics, Asbestos, Ergonomics, Occupational cancer and Disability
The Health and Safety Executive reported that in 2005/2006 the construction industry had the second highest rate of self reported illness attributed to work. RR584 examines occupational health provision in the construction sector and can be viewed at…
http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr584.htm
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration has placed the revised version of the 'Asbestos Standard for the Construction Industry' on its web site:
http://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3096.pdf
This article published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene is a study of ‘The development and field testing of an ergonomic intervention for the preparation of footers in postframe building construction’….
http://www.informaworld.com/index/768434515.pdf
The conclusion of the paper is that ‘The engineered footer pad drop device showed promise through the estimated reductions in low back disc compression force of up to 95% when compared with the manual lifting and dropping of the footer pads’.
The HSE has published a research report on ‘The burden of occupational cancer in Great Britain’ (RR595), which highlights the fact that ‘large numbers of workers were potentially exposed to several carcinogenic agents over the risk exposure periods, particularly in the construction industry…’ The full report is available at...
http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr595.htm
A paper has been published in the online version of ‘Occupational and Environmental Medicine’ on the effectiveness of a counselling and education programme on work ability and work disability pension for employees in the construction industry. The full text of the article is available from the page below…
http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/oem.2006.029678v1
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)