Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Publications
Health and Safety Executive
HSE Books, 2009 (INDG429)
Published 05.2009
Pocket guide providing pictorial advice on how to protect your health from dust when working in the baking industry.
Health and Safety Executive
HSE Books, 2009 (INDG427)
Published 05.2009
This guidance is relevant to everyone working on farms, including employers, employees and the self employed. And will help identify the causes of injuries and ill health, eliminate hazards and control risks.
BOMEL Limited and Health and Safety Laboratory and Health and Safety Executive
(RR700)
Published 05.2009
Agriculture, of all UK industries, has the highest rate of fatal accidents. This study has examined farmers’ attitudes, and the underlying influences, to identify how these might be changed to help improve safety in the industry.
A literature review showed that people’s perceptions of risk are influenced by social, cultural and group processes but no studies look specifically at perceptions of risk and attitudes to safety among farmers.
The main study examined the influences on farmers’ attitudes based on interviews with 35 farmers either at their farm or at livestock markets in the South West and South East of England. The sample covered farmers on small and large farms.
The study found that overall the farmers had positive attitudes and behaviours with respect to safety.
Olanre Okunribido and Health and Safety Laboratory and Health and Safety Executive
(RR706)
Published 05.2009
This work was commissioned to examine more closely the nature and extent of workplace lower limb musculoskeletal disorders and injuries (LLD) and the causal agents with the aim of informing evidence based guidance and advice for workers and employers.
LLD are a problem in many workplaces and they tend to be associated with conditions in other areas of the body. There are consequences for society, the economy and industry in terms of lost working time, medical treatment and hospitalisation, and effects on quality of life. There is appreciable evidence for kneeling/ squatting, climbing stairs or ladders, heavy lifting, walking/standing, and slips and trips hazards as causal risk factors for LLD.
Noise and hand arm vibration
Liz Yeomans and Health and Safety Laboratory and Health and Safety Executive
(RR705)
Published 05.2009
The Worker Involvement Activity forms part of the Noise and HAV programme. The aim of this activity was to reduce occupational ill health related to noise and HAV exposure by introducing worker participation projects. Twenty eight companies were recruited by HSE to set up worker involvement projects in July 2006. Four of these pilot projects were selected for this in depth feedback study which aimed to: gain views of worker involvement in the decision making process; gain feedback on the usefulness of the support materials; identify processes and difficulties involved in setting up the project; identify the noise and HAV exposure reduction outcomes from the project; and identify lessons that could be learnt for setting up worker involvement projects.
This study found that the worker involvement projects were considered to have been effective, beneficial and reasonably successful in identifying and solving noise and HAV problems, raising risk awareness, improving working relationships between workers and managers, and improving risk assessments.
A Adisesh, L Robinson, A Codling and J Harris-Roberts of the Health and Safety Laboratory and Dr. C Lee and K Porter of the Health and Safety Executive
(RR708)
Published 05.2009
In 2002 the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published a review entitled ‘Harness Suspension: Review and Evaluation of Existing Information’. It was noted in this report that the rescue plan was an essential part of fall protection arrangements. The report quoted and summarised advice extracted from various papers concerning harness suspension and noted that, ‘some of the advice appears to conflict’. Nevertheless, although this document was not intended to be a review of the medical advice for rescue from suspension it has been frequently cited in such a context and in support of measures that differ from standard UK first aid practice. Consequently, it was the recognition that authoritative guidance was needed for first responders, in the workplace setting, to any cases of a fall into harness suspension, which led to this project being undertaken.
K Poole of the Health and Safety Laboratory and Health and Safety Executive
(RR711)
Published 05.2009
Health surveillance for those exposed to hand-arm vibration, and the diagnosis of hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) is heavily dependent upon self-reporting of symptoms. However, this self-reporting may not be accurate for a number of reasons including the ability of individuals to recall symptoms, misunderstanding or misidentification of symptoms and fears regarding an individual’s job, or ongoing litigation. Therefore techniques that could be used to obtain better information, or tests that could be applied to obtain a more accurate diagnosis may be useful in this area. In 2004 the Faculty of Occupational Medicine published an evidence based review of clinical testing and management of individuals exposed to hand transmitted vibration. More recent work, which is the subject of this report, is a short update review of the literature published in this area since 2004. It is the intention that this review is used to inform future research work in the area of assessment for HAVS.
J Ferreira, M Gray, L Hunter, M Birtles, D Riley of the Health and Safety Laboratory and Health and Safety Executive
(RR707)
Published 05.2009
The prevention, control and management of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSD) are a priority for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and one of the key ways of improving occupational health in Great Britain. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Local Authority (LA) Inspectors play an important role in preventing WRMSD. As well as enforcing health and safety law, they provide advice on risk factors and control measures on a range of health and safety issues. To support this work, assessment tools are required that offer an intuitive and relatively quick process to screen workplaces for high-risk activities, raise awareness of risk factors, demonstrate the presence of risk, and recommend areas for improvement.
