Resources on Industrial Process Health Hazards

Regulatory Agencies UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Irish Health and Safety Authority (HSA) Safe Work Australia USA Occuaptional Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) USA NIOSH – Industries and Occupations International Labour Organisation ILO Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety Campaigns BOHS – Breathefreely Breathefreely Australia Industry Organisations TWI (Welding) ECFIA (Ceramic fibre) CONCAWE (Petroleum

Resources – Effects of Hazardous Substances

  European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) for information on the classification and labelling requirements for substances on the market in the European Union The US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have extensive information on hazardous substances including: Pocket Guide Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH) Values GESTIS – A series of  very

Canary Girls

A couple of weeks ago I visited the latest exhibition showing at Manchester City Art Gallery – The Sensory War 1914-2014 This major group exhibition marking the Centenary of the First World War explores how artists have communicated the impact of military conflict on the body, mind, environment and human senses between 1914 and 2014.

Information on hazardous substances–some useful websites

There is a lot of information on hazardous substances the Internet, but not all of it is properly validated. Finding the information you need just by carrying out a search using a search engine can be frustrating as it can be difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff. However, there are a number of

Organic compounds – Health hazards

We’re running the BOHS Module W507, Health effects of hazardous substances, in Chester next week. It’s essentially an introduction to the principles of toxicology together with an overview of the effects of some substances encountered in the workplace. One group of substances commonly found are volatlile organic compounds (VOCs). They’re used for cleaning applications and

Android Apps for Occupational Hygienists

  In my last post I listed some free to download apps for the iPhone and iPad that can be useful for occupational hygienists. Here are some free apps that can be downloaded on Android phones. Wiser Also available for the iPhone/iPad, Windows and online. Designed to assist first responders in hazardous material incidents this

IPAD Apps for Occupational Hygienists

In a previous post I looked at some websites that I use regularly to find information on chemical hazards. I suspect that many occupational hygienists have an Android phone, iPhone, iPad or Android tablet that they carry around with them. Although these can be used to access the websites I mentioned in my post, there

Risk Management Measures in the real world

At the end of October, I travelled over to Helsinki for a few days. I’d been invited to deliver a short course on “Risk management measures in a REACH context”  to personnel working for the European Chemicals Agency* (ECHA) who are responsible for evaluating the dossiers chemical manufacturers have to submit under the European REACH

COSHH Assessments – 7 key questions

  In my last post I discussed the main problems that I often encounter with how COSHH assessments are carried out in practice. These were concentrating on the hazards rather than the risks neglecting to include process generated substances concentrating on inhalation exposures and neglecting other routes lack of emphasis on controls failure to consider

Common problems with COSHH assessments

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) are undoubtedly the most important legal requirements for occupational hygienists working in Great Britain. They’ve been around for a long time now – the first version being enacted in 1988 – yet, in my experience, there are still many organisations that haven’t completely got to grips