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Over the past 15 years, there have been numerous fatalities related to working with animal slurry. Working with cattle slurry releases toxic gases, in particular, hydrogen sulphide (H2S), which can cause acute central nervous system toxicity, breathing difficulties, and death if exposed to high concentrations. Real-time measurements of H2S gas were taken over distance and time, during the stirring of cattle slurry on farms. Gas was measured at eight slurry stores with differing typical configurations of indoor or outdoor stores and with or without slatted flooring. Highest H2S gas levels were measured from indoor stores under slatted floors, and generally at positions closest to the stirrer or the point of maximum stirring, with levels decreasing with distance from source. Most of the data indicate H2S gas levels increase very rapidly after stirring starts, and mostly decline to baseline levels within 30 min post start of stirring. There were, however, circumstances where gas levels remained high and only started to decline once the stirrer had stopped. H2S gas levels at all farms, at all positions measured were consistently below 10 ppm within 30 min of the stirrer being stopped. The current data highlight areas of the farm and ways of working that have the potential for workers and others to be at risk of exposure to toxic slurry gases. The area should be left to ventilate naturally for at least 30 min after the stirrer has been stopped before re-entering buildings. Influencing the design of stirring equipment and future slurry stores would likely reduce the risk of worker exposure to slurry gases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies have reported evidence on sharps injuries among nursing, medical and dental students but little is known about the amount, type and causes of sharps injuries affecting other healthcare students. Aim: The aim of the narrative review was to identify the extent, type and causes of sharps injuries sustained by healthcare students, especially those not in those fields. Method: Eight databases were searched using keywords to identify studies published between 1980 and March 2023. Findings: This narrative review highlights that some groups of healthcare students, including those studying pharmacy, physiotherapy and radiography, sustain sharps injuries from similar devices as reported in research on such injuries in nursing, medical and nursing students. Sharps injuries happen in a range of healthcare environments, and many were not reported by students. The main cause of a sharps injury identified was a lack of knowledge. Conclusion: More research is needed on the extent of sharps injuries in healthcare students in European countries and the UK as well as on their physical and psychological effects. Education and training in sharps use and disposal are essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the response of the relevant authorities to evidence that female primary schoolteachers have an elevated suicide risk in the UK. The paper situates the recent tragic death of a primary school head teacher, following an Ofsted inspection at her school, within the wider context of teacher suicide deaths and asks what, if any, action the authorities have taken to prevent avoidable suicide deaths from occurring. Design/methodology/approach: The paper examines a recent case of suicide by a primary head teacher within the wider context of statistical data on suicides by primary schoolteachers and in relation to previous cases of suicide linked to a school inspection. Findings: The paper suggests that the relevant authorities have failed to act in relation to evidence of high suicide risk amongst female primary schoolteachers and to previous suicide deaths linked to the impact of a school inspection. Without learning from suicide deaths and acting on available evidence, there is a risk that preventable suicide deaths will continue to occur. Originality/value: The paper draws together case study evidence and statistical data to make the case for regulatory reform to ensure that work-related suicides are investigated, monitored and prevented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A surge in measles cases has prompted the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to declare a national incident. Agency chief executive Jenny Harries says the UK is on a ‘trajectory for everything getting much worse’ because of low vaccination uptake. Nurses have described the situation as frustrating because the virus is preventable with two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) COVID-19 Working Group developed a control banding matrix to provide guidance for employers and others to help assess the risks of COVID-19 infection during the pandemic. The matrix was based on occupational hygiene principles and the judgement of the occupational health practitioners involved; since objective data on workers' exposure were unavailable. Users of the matrix identify one of five exposure categories based on generic job descriptions and example occupations, and these categories are linked to generic guidance on interventions at source, on the exposure pathway and for individual workers. The risk matrix was published on the BOHS website and the guidance has been downloaded more than 2000 times. The matrix has had limited evaluation for reliability, but the data suggest that the highest exposure ranked jobs were associated with higher age-standardized mortality in Britain during the pandemic. However, there was considerable variability in exposure assignments between assessors, which underlines the need for the control guidance to be precautionary. The BOHS calls on academic researchers to undertake further work to validate the reliability of the tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last 15 years has witnessed a surge in rail-related human factors research but little has examined the Track Worker role. Track work often takes place whilst trains are running under the protection of Lookouts who provide warning of approaching trains. Despite—or perhaps because of—these measures, there is a notable prevalence of incidents involving Lookouts, warranting a closer look at the nature of their task and the wider sociotechnical system (STS) to identify what may be learned for railway safety management. A systematic review of incident reports involving Lookouts was undertaken on Australian and UK rail incidents from 2006 to mid-2018 with a qualitative meta-analysis (n = 31) revealing nine factors corresponding with STS dimensions at the organisational, social, task and individual level. Much of the risk lay in the set up and implementation of Lookout working, and in Track Worker group dynamics—factors endemic to working whilst trains are running—rather than specific to the Lookout, with such factors arguably applicable across other Track Worker groups. Findings point to a need for more targeted research into the STS aspects of track working, as well as improving the training and/or procedures of those managing the Lookout protection system of work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study of runaway incidents involving thermal chemical reactions in the UK over the past 25 years (1988-2013) has been carried out. The objective of this study is to determine possible causes of thermal runaway incidents. A statistical analysis of the underlying problems that led to thermal runaway incidents has been provided. A comparison of the current study on thermal runaway incidents with those identified prior to 1988 has been carried out. This study clearly shows that lessons have not been learnt from thermal runaway incidents caused by operator errors, management failures and lack of organised operating procedures. These factors have been the possible causes of about 77% of all the thermal runaway incidents analysed in this study. The number of fatalities and injuries as a result of thermal runaway incidents has increased by ~325% and ~279%, respectively, in the last 25 years even though the number of incidents was significantly less. On the basis of this analysis, several recommendations have been proposed that could help to minimise the risks associated with any thermal runaway incidents in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's views on health and safety legislations, guidelines and standards in dental industry and mentions risk of injury, disease and dangerous occurrence regulations; control of substances hazardous to health; and risk assessments.

The article discusses compliance measures to Great Britain's "Sharps Directive," which was born due to the European Union Council Directive 2010/32/ that demands the safest possible workplace for all healthcare professionals through prevention of sharp injury. Training is seen as an important part of compliance, which should be updated regularly and cover regular turnover of staff in junior and support posts. Performance and reliability are factors to consider when choosing substitute sharps.

In 2010, the European Union adopted the "Council Directive 2010/32/EU Implementing the Framework Agreement on Prevention from Sharps Injuries in the Hospital and Healthcare Sector". Member states of the EU have until 11 May 2013 to implement the directive into national legislation. This article examines the issues concerning needlestick injuries and the recent publication of "Safety of sharps in diabetes recommendations". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over £400 million per year is spent on back injuries to NHS staff, and back injuries are the largest single cause of work-related sickness in the UK health sector. Moving and handling is an integral part of practice in a community setting, and community nurses face unique challenges to ensure the safety of and minimize risk to both patients and themselves. As with any care activity, moving and handling needs have to be assessed, planned for, implemented and evaluated. This article explains the legislation related to moving and handling, with particular application to community nurses. It focuses on the Health and Safety Executive's (2009) advice Working Alone: Health and Safety Guidance on the Risks of Lone Working, which reinforced that employers have responsibility for the health, safety and welfare of all their employees while they are at work. Employers have a duty to assess risks to lone workers and take steps to avoid or control these risks. Employees have the responsibility to take reasonable care of themselves and others. This article also explores the assessment of the specific risks nurses in the community are confronted with and provides advice on addressing and minimizing these risks at work, both in the client's home and in health-care facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study is anchored in a contractor company providing well services for platform drilling on the Norwegian (NCS) and the UK Continental Shelves (UKCS). The research project has as its point of departure the potential influences of group level characteristics, structural work factors, trust, and safety behaviour on safety performance. Do perceptions and performance differ across Shelves? Are “nomadic” groups or employees that have more unpredictable shift rotations more exposed to accidents than others? Is high trust and sound safety behaviour enhancing good safety performance? The results are based on questionnaire data from two samples of personnel distributed across three installations on the UKCS and nine on the NCS with a response rate of 67%: N =170 (UKCS) and N =621 (NCS). In addition, two focus group interviews were held in each country, with 15 participants in each. The results show that our model makes sense. Shelf shows a significant influence on safety performance in all but the final stage in our five-step logistic regression model, indicating that the effect may be mediated by safety compliance and safety participation. Installations and different work teams have different exposure and structural work factors matter significantly. Somewhat counter-intuitively, employees who have a “nomadic” status and who hold the least regular shift rotations appear to have a lower risk of being involved in incidents. High trust in workmates buffers against incident involvement and the same applies for high safety compliance. The results, challenges and implications for research and safety practitioners are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In managing major accident hazards in industry risk, both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands use quantitative risk analysis and quantified risk criteria. These should be understood in the historical, legal, and political context in which they were drawn up. Even when criteria are numerically the same they do not necessarily mean the same thing. The legal and historical context differs widely between the two countries. Nevertheless, it is surprising that the final results in terms of land use and levels of risk are very similar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimation and Assessment of Substance Exposure (EASE) is a computerized expert system developed by the UK Health and Safety Executive to facilitate exposure assessments in the absence of exposure measurements. The system uses a number of rules to predict a range of likely exposures or an ‘end-point’ for a given work situation. The purpose of this study was to identify a number of inhalation exposure measurements covering a wide range of end-points in the EASE system to compare with the predicted exposures. Occupational exposure data sets were identified from previous research projects or from consultancy work. Available information for each set of measurements was retrieved from archive storage and reviewed to ensure that it was adequate to enable EASE (version 2) predictions to be obtained. Exposure measurements and other relevant contextual data were abstracted and entered into a computer spreadsheet. EASE predictions were then obtained for each task or job and entered into the spreadsheet. In addition, we generated a random exposure range for each data set for comparison with the EASE predictions. Finally, we produced exposure assessments for a subset of the data using a structured subjective assessment method. We were able to identify ∼4000 inhalation exposure measurements covering 52 different scenarios and 28 EASE end-points. The data included measurements of solvent vapours, non-fibrous dusts and fibres. In 62% of the end-points the EASE predictions were generally greater than the exposure measurements and in 30% of the end-points the EASE estimates were comparable with the measurements. The random allocation of exposure ranges was, as expected, less reliable than EASE, although there were still about one-third of the cases where the randomly generated exposure ranges generally agreed with the measurements. The structured subjective assessments undertaken by a human expert produced exposure estimates in better agreement with the measurements with about two-thirds of the end-points derived from these assessments in good agreement with the data. We argue that the inhalation exposure estimates from EASE could be improved by incorporating some of the parameters included in the structured subjective assessment methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk assessment is an implicit requirement of the UK Health and Safety at Work etc. Act (HSW, 1974) and is also explicitly required by other general and industry-specific regulations. A suitable and sufficient risk assessment, with effective use made of the findings, is seen as an integral part of successful health and safety management. However, there are a number of common mistakes or `pitfalls'' that are often made or encountered when carrying out a risk assessment. This paper sets out to illustrate some of the most commonly encountered pitfalls through a series of case studies taken from a range of UK industry sectors. A discussion of good practice is also presented in each case. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In recent years, several approaches have been proposed for the application of control banding concepts to the assessment and management of various workplace health and safety risks. Whilst many of the earlier approaches have originated in the UK, several of the most recent examples have been developed in Europe. The European schemes have attempted to build upon the lessons learned from the earlier control banding schemes and to apply them to new areas of health and safety. This paper analyses the evolution of the earlier approaches and reviews the more recent European developments in the context of continuing regulatory and societal demands for the improved assessment and regulation of workplace chemical risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the institutional factors that shape regulatory officials' perceptions of risks to human health and safety and their attitudes towards associated regulation. In particular, the paper considers the extent to which the perceptions of risk and regulation of officials responsible for monitoring and enforcement are aligned with regulatory requirements, and, if not, what factors explain those perceptions. Moreover, the paper considers the impact of officials' perceptions and attitudes on policy processes and outcomes. Empirically, the paper considers three UK risk regulation regimes: occupational exposure to radon, chemical migration from plastics food packaging and BSE related controls on specified bovine offal. Analysis of those cases suggests that conventional accounts that contrast ‘rational’ bureaucratic expertise against ‘irrational’ lay perspectives can miss the institutional ‘irrationalities’ that shape officials' perceptions of risk and associated behaviour. In particular, the paper suggests that complex risk regulation regimes are vulnerable to a phenomenon of ‘institutional attenuation’. That term refers to institutional processes that serve to diminish inspectors' perceptions or awareness of a risk, and/or diminish inspectors' perceptions of the policy importance of associated regulations. Furthermore, the paper shows how such institutional attenuation can contribute to ineffective monitoring and enforcement of some risk regulation regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of human and organizational factors in predicting accidents and incidents has become of major interest to the UK offshore oil and gas industry. Some of these factors had been measured in an earlier study focusing on the role of risk perception in determining accident involvement. The current study sought to extend the methodology by focusing on perceptions of organizational factors that could have an impact on safety. A self-report questionnaire was developed and distributed to 11 installations operating on the UK Continental Shelf. A total of 722 were returned (33% response rate) from a representative sample of the offshore workforce on these installations. The study investigated the underlying structure and content of offshore employees' attitudes to safety, feelings of safety and satisfaction with safety measures. Correlations and step-wise regression analysis were used to test the relationships between measures. The results suggest that 'unsafe' behaviour is the 'best' predictor of accidents/near misses as measured by self-report data and that unsafe behaviour is, in turn, driven by perceptions of pressure for production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The size effect in the UK stock market is re-examined using the methodology of Roll (1983). Roll demonstrated that estimation of the small firm premium is critically dependent on the method of computation because of serial correlation induced by thin trading. He found that mean returns computed on a buy-and-hold basis is significantly lower than that computed on the assumption of frequent rebalancing. Roll did not consider risk-adjusted returns. The estimation of risk-adjusted returns is examined, using trade-to-trade betas which avoid thin trading bias. Consistent with Roll's hypothesis, the results show that mean buy-and-hold abnormal returns is not only lower than that of a rebalanced portfolio, but is also not statistically significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the question of what factors determine whether a hazardous activity is ‘acceptable’. We conclude that there is no simple answer to this question which can be derived from risk analysis, but that qualitative criteria can be developed to help decisionmakers evaluate risk analysis results. A preliminary set of criteria is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why you should read this article: • To learn about the risks of exposure to systemic anticancer therapy agents • To read about methods of minimising the risk of exposure to systemic anticancer therapy agents • To count towards revalidation as part of your 35 hours of CPD, or you may wish to write a reflective account (UK readers) • To contribute towards your professional development and local registration renewal requirements (non-UK readers) Many agents used for systemic anticancer therapy (SACT), which include chemotherapy drugs, monoclonal antibodies and other biological therapies, are known to be carcinogenic, teratogenic and mutagenic. Occupational exposure to SACT agents carries a proven risk of short- and long-term adverse health effects such as nausea, headaches, dizziness, hair loss, impaired fertility and cancer. The risk of contamination exists not only for staff who prepare or administer SACT agents, but also for those involved in transport, storage and waste disposal. In the UK, the handling of SACT agents is subject to a series of laws, regulations and guidelines. However, there are still inconsistencies in practice and a lack of awareness of the risks involved and need for training. The necessary preventive measures are not always in place and some staff remain exposed to cytotoxic agents. Furthermore, the risk of occupational exposure to SACT agents has intensified in recent years due to a significant increase in their use. This article prompts nurses to reflect on the health risks associated with handling SACT agents and the preventive and protective measures required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lone working is increasing in the UK, as care delivery aims to keep people at home. This means that the relative safety of a hospital or clinic with colleagues present is increasingly being replaced by isolated workers in unfamiliar and potentially dangerous situations. Lone workers should be as safe and protected as colleagues who work in a shared base and employers have a legal responsibility to protect lone workers and minimize the risks which may have traditionally been viewed as occupational hazards. This article sets out a rapid risk assessment tool that employees can use to assess the risk of a lone visit on a case-by-case basis, and take precautions accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the health and safety responsibility issues in dental nursing in Great Britain. The author highlighted the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which obliged dental nurses of their health and safety responsibilities. These obligations include a risk assessment for any identified hazards in the dental practice.

Sam Foster, Chief Nurse, Oxford University Hospitals, describes the problems faced by trusts as they attempt to limit the risks faced by employees returning to the workplace as the coronavirus lockdown eases [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on key advices offered by dentistry for workplace hazards and risk assessment including evacuation procedures, dental treatment, and confidentiality protocols.

Accidents at work cost the NHS some billion pounds every year. Over half of these accidents are due to avoidable slips and falls-the most common cause of claim for compensation faced by the NHS. Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the NHS as an employer and nurses as employees have a legal obligation to manage health and safety and to ensure that others are not put at risk by work-related activities. The first of a series, this article on health and safety law sets out the duties imposed on NHS organisations and their employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the issuance of a revamped risk assessment guide to simplify risk assessments by Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in Great Britain. According to Jonathan Rees, HSE's deputy chief executive, good risk assessment is the way to save lives. Five Steps to Risk Assessment has been revised and simplified for the average business person. Advice and tips on five key elements to an effective risk assessment is provided in the 11-page booklet. The booklet can be downloaded at www.hse.gov.uk/risk.

The U.K. Engineering Council has proposed a new Code of Practice on risk issues for engineers, which is intended to ensure better risk assessment and risk management. Important considerations include the need to safeguard society and the environment; have a disciplined and comprehensive approach to risk issues and human safety; be aware of the legal framework within which an engineer works; and understand commercial reality in so far as it relates to safety. The Code also stresses the need to undertake systematic studies to identify potential hazards, to be aware of appropriate management disciplines for safeguarding society and to inform the public about technical aspects of risk issues.

The article focuses on the launching of Workstation Fact Pack from Waterlow Communication in Great Britain. The pack aims to educate managers and staff in complying with the Health and Safety Regulations 1992. It features a practical management guide which explains the regulations and provide users with helpful hints on how to make their work more comfortable and safe. It also contains a suite of essential forms which include risk assessment and eyesight test requests. Furthermore, the pack carries a set of staff leaflets featuring a handy personal risk assessment form.

Highlights the article `Measuring and minimizing risks,' by M. Heathcote and J. King in the October 1993 issue of the periodical `Personnel Management.' Case study of the company Baxi's incorporation of risk assessment into its workplace design in Great Britain; Government policy on corporate safety.