May 2008
PUWER 1998
Safe use of work equipment - Provision and use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
The third edition of the Approved Code of Practice on the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; has been amended and updated to reflect changes to legislation. The book is for anyone with responsibility directly or indirectly for work equipment or its use.
Borehole sites
A guide to the Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995
This publication contains full text of the Boreholes Sites and Operations Regulations 1995, together with accompanying guidance concerning the minimum requirements for improving safety and health protection of workers in the mineral extraction industries through drilling.
Wave mapping
Wave mapping in UK waters
This work updates the contour map of 50-year extreme significant wave height that is provided in OT 2001/010 (previously Section 11 of the Guidance Notes). The updated map, now presented for the 100 year return period, presents extreme significant wave height in UK waters derived from 373 data sets from the NEXTRA hindcast, calibrated against measured wave data and verified against established criteria.
Musculoskeletal disorders
Feasibility of carrying out an ergonomics intervention study to prevent the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders
This work is in response to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) tender specification entitled:
“Feasibility of Assessing the Effectiveness of Preventative Workplace Ergonomic Interventions”. This requested an examination of the feasibility of assessing the effectiveness of such interventions to prevent musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Reducing the risk of workers suffering these problems would reduce the resultant burden of pain, medical treatment and work-loss. Preventative (primary) interventions are distinct from secondary interventions, as these are aimed at preventing chronic disability in individuals already experiencing musculoskeletal problems, and from tertiary interventions, which are aimed at rehabilitating or getting back to work individuals suffering from chronic musculoskeletal disorders.
This report reviews existing models of causation of MSDs, reviews the scientific literature on interventions to prevent MSDs, and summarises the relevant epidemiological methods and research protocols. It illustrates the methodological issues through an example project plan and provides checklists for evaluating proposals and reports of randomised intervention studies.
- Image:
Feasibility of carrying out an ergonomics intervention study to prevent the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders- Published:
- 06/05/2008
- Author:
- A. Pinder, J. Wegerdt of Health and Safety Laboratory and Health and Safety Executive
- Ref#:
- RR626
- Download:
- PDF [563KB]
LEV
Clearing the air: A simple guide to buying and using local exhaust ventilation (LEV)
This free publication provides advice to employers on buying the right local exhaust ventilation (LEV) and using and maintaining it properly.
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Clearing the air: A simple guide to buying and using local exhaust ventilation (LEV)- Published:
- 05/2008
- Author:
- Health and Safety Executive, HSE Books
- ISBN:
- 9780717663019
- Ref#:
- INDG408
- Download:
- PDF [193KB]
Controlling airborne contaminants at work: A guide to local exhaust ventilation (LEV)
This publication provides guidance on the supply of new local exhaust ventilation (LEV) equipment. It describes the principles and best practice of deciding on the designing, commissioning and testing of cost-effective LEV.
RIDDOR
A guide to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995
This new edition brings the associated up to date, particularly in relation to the changes in reporting arrangements and the need to use the Incident Contact Centre (ICC).
Gas
Effect of tubing type on gas detector sampling system
Objectives
This investigation was designed to determine the effect of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) and Tygon tubing on the response times of the detection systems utilised to monitor Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Nitric Oxide (NO) and Toluene (C7H8).
Main Findings
With the exception of C7H8 passing through Tygon tubing, the change in T90 as a function of tubing length is comparable within accuracy limits for all gases at each corresponding tubing type and diameter.
The times taken for H2S and NO to reach T90, T100 and T10 are comparable for all corresponding dimensions of PTFE and FEP tubing, but while the time taken to reach T10 is comparable for Tygon tubing, the times taken to reach T90 and T100 are considerably longer for all corresponding dimensions.
The times taken for NO2 to reach T90 and T10 are comparable for all corresponding dimensions of PTFE, FEP and Tygon tubing and to reach T100 for all but the largest dimension of Tygon tubing.
The times taken for C7H8 to reach T90 and T100 through all dimensions of Tygon tubing were greater than one hour.
The times taken for C7H8 to reach T90 and T10 are comparable for all corresponding diameters of the 2.5 m and 5 m lengths of PTFE and FEP tubing, but the times taken to reach T90 in the 10 m lengths of PTFE and FEP tubing are noticeably longer and to reach T100 are considerably longer for PTFE tubing than for FEP tubing.
The times taken for H2S, NO and NO2 to reach each level of concentration are reasonably comparable for all corresponding dimensions of PTFE and FEP tubing, but are noticeably longer for all corresponding dimensions of Tygon tubing.
The times taken for NO2 to reach each level of concentration are generally noticeably shorter than the times taken by H2S, NO and C7H8 for all corresponding dimensions of PTFE, FEP and Tygon tubing.
The times taken for C7H8 to reach each level of concentration are considerably longer than the times taken by H2S, NO and NO2 for all corresponding dimensions of PTFE and FEP tubing.
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Effect of tubing type on gas detector sampling system- Published:
- 23/05/2008
- Author:
- K. P. Dowker and K. Hardwick of the Health and Safety Laboratory and Health and Safety Executive
- Ref#:
- RR635
- Download:
- PDF [247KB]
Whole body vibration
Whole-body vibration of ground-preparation activities in forestry
The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 (CoVWR 2005) place duties on employers to assess and control the risks from exposures to whole-body vibration. Long-term exposures to high levels of whole-body vibration have been associated with lower back injury. Exposure to vibration shocks is believed to be particularly damaging. Lower-back injuries are also associated with other ergonomic issues that may be present when workers are exposed to vibration, such as poor seating postures and manual handling. When considering whole-body vibration it is important that these other factors are also investigated.
Earlier work on whole-body vibration funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Forestry Commission (FC) had studied the vibration exposure from forwarders and harvesters [Pitts 2006] and the ergonomics of harvesters [Milne et al 2002]. The work reported here follows on from that earlier work, but looks at a different aspect of forestry work, ground preparation activities, where vehicles are used on a variety of off-road surfaces where exposures are likely to be high.
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Whole-body vibration of ground-preparation activities in forestry- Published:
- 30/05/2008
- Author:
- P, Pitts of Health and Safety Laboratory and Health and Safety Executive
- Ref#:
- RR636
- Download:
- PDF [3.0MB]
Health and safety law
The determinants of compliance with laws and regulations with special reference to health and safety
This report presents a review of the extensive body of socio-legal literature that exists to explain and understand the nature of compliance with regulation. It outlines how compliance has been seen in both academic and policy fields in order to describe and explain:
those themes important to assessing the determinants of compliance including the motivations for and interpretations of compliance behaviours;
how the literatures define compliance;
how scholars have identified the tools available to foster more effective regulatory compliance and enforcement strategies; and
those difficulties policy actors experience when seeking to achieve greater levels of regulatory compliance. The report draws extensively upon literature outside the domain of health and safety as a basis for understanding that area.
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The determinants of compliance with laws and regulations with special reference to health and safety- Published:
- 30/05/2008
- Author:
- London School of Economics and Political Science and Health and Safety Executive
- Ref#:
- RR638
- Download:
- PDF [476KB]
An empirical analysis of the effect of health on aggregate income and individual labour market outcomes in the UK
This paper investigates whether health in general, and ill-health caused by work in particular, has an impact on various measures of economic performance: GDP growth, productivity and employment levels. It uses two approaches. A macroeconomic approach based on growth equations and UK regional data. A microeconomic approach based on individual-level data from the British Household Panel Survey. It establishes a statistical link between health stocks and economic growth at a macroeconomic level, and an individual’s health stock and their wage and probability of being in employment, at a microeconomic level. Those who are in excellent health earn between 4-7% more per hour than those whose health is average, controlling for other characteristics; while those whose health is poor earn 7-15% less than those whose health is average. Finally, the paper presents some initial estimates linking ill-health to ill-health caused by work. The paper raises a number of issues with these estimates. However, together the analysis suggests that tackling ill-health caused by work may be one component in influencing economic performance.
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An empirical analysis of the effect of health on aggregate income and individual labour market outcomes in the UK- Published:
- 30/05/2008
- Author:
- Frontier Economics Limited and Health and Safety Executive
- Ref#:
- RR639
- Download:
- PDF [1.0MB]
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