WORKING TIME CONSULTATION

There will be a second consultation on the EU Working Time Directive this autumn. In 2009 there were unsuccessful attempts to revise the legislation. In March the European Commission began a major review of the Directive by consulting workers' and employers' representatives at European level on whether or not changes should be made.

The head of employment policy at manufacturers' body the EEF David Yeandle told ‘Personnel Today' there was likely to be pressure from MEPs to phase out the opt-out, currently in place in the UK, which allows employees to voluntarily work more than 48 hours a week.


BRAIN INJURY IMPACTS ON MULTIPLE ORGAN SYSTEMS
American research suggests that traumatic brain injury is the beginning of an ongoing process that impacts multiple organ systems and may cause or accelerate other diseases and disorders that can reduce life expectancy.

The researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston found extensive evidence that brain trauma initiates a disease process that severely affects cognitive function, physiological processes and quality of life. These effects can prevent patients from fully re-entering society post-injury and may ultimately contribute to death months or years later.

The researchers call for traumatic brain injury to be defined and managed as a chronic disease to ensure that patients receive appropriate care.

The research appears in ‘The Journal of Neurotrauma' and is a literature review examining 25 years of research on the effects of brain injury.

‘Traumatic Brain Injury: A Disease Process, Not an Event' Brent E. Masel, Douglas S. DeWitt. Journal of Neurotrauma. August 2010, 27(8): 1529-1540. doi:10.1089/neu.2010.1358. www.liebertonline.com/neu

More information available at: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/199225.php

‘TRIKE' REVALUATED
A research report published by the Canadian safety organisation IRRST looks at literature on trichloroethylene (TCE - more commonly known as ‘trike') since it was classified by the IARC as probably carcinogenic to humans in 1995 (Group 2A).

A review of literature since 1995 shows that overall the picture has changed little since the IARC evaluation. The research concludes that TCE has induced cancer in laboratory rodents. The evidence is strongest for liver tumours in mice (exposed by the oral or inhalation routes), lung tumours in mice (exposed by inhalation), but these are unlikely to be relevant to humans. Kidney tumours in rats (exposed orally or by inhalation) have also been found - there is greater uncertainty on their relevance to humans.

Epidemiological investigations with more reliable exposure assessment components provide some indications that TCE is potentially carcinogenic to humans. Excess risks are generally below a factor of 2 (i.e. the cancer risk among exposed workers is less than twice that of non-exposed) for cancer at any of the tissue sites that have been considered, and these excess risks may be mainly associated with the higher exposures that the workers would probably have experienced in the more distant past.

‘A review of selected literature (1995-2009) on the carcinogenicity of trichloroethylene (TCE)' is available from: www.irsst.qc.ca/en/_publicationirsst_100538.html

LONG HOURS ‘CONTRIBUTES TO HEART DISEASE'
Research published in the journal ‘Heart' suggests that unfit men who work long hours are more likely to die from heart disease than those who are fitter, or work shorter hours.

Men in general who work between 41 and 45 hours a week can increase their risk of dying from coronary heart disease by 59 per cent compared with those working less than 40 hours a week.

UPDATE ON CONSTRUCTION PRE-QUALIFICATION
After considerable Government inter-departmental wrangling, and last minute adjustments, the PAS 91 ‘pre-qualification in construction' document is expected to be published this month. PAS 91 aims to allow public and private procurers to pre-qualify construction contractors with reference to widely adopted question sets. Many observers believe it could be readily adapted to apply to supply chain activity beyond construction. These cover topics such as health and safety, environmental and quality management, and financial standing. In addition to BIS, the sponsoring Government Department, we understand that the document will be supported by the Office of Government Commerce (‘Government as client'),
the HSE and a variety of other stakeholder groups.

MAN BLINDED AT WORK WHEN STOCK FELL ON HIM
An employee at a convenience store lost the sight in his left eye and his sense of smell after a roll cage holding stock fell on him, Richmond Magistrates' Court was told last month.

Mahendra Dhoju and a colleague were hauling the roll cage over a defective metal ramp into the back of a Londis store, in Barnes, London in April 2009, when it got stuck on the ramp leading up to the door threshold and keeled over.

The council established that the roll cages had got stuck on the ramp many times in the past.
In mitigation, Mr Chandegra's solicitor said the entrance to the store where the accident happened had now been improved and the angle of the ramp lessened.

Kishor Chandegra, the co-owner of the store was fined a total of £17,000 under the HSWA in a prosecution brought by Richmond Council on 8 September 2010. He pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay £5,790 costs.

CONSULTANT ACCREDITATION SCHEME
A voluntary UK scheme to accredit safety consultants is expected to be announced soon. The scheme, likely to start next year, will be set up and initially chaired by the HSE.

Consultants on the scheme will have to pay an annual fee. A consortium of professional bodies will eventually run the register.

IOSH says the purpose of the scheme will be to help give clients confidence in the competence and professionalism of consultants offering health and safety services. Clients need to be assured they have the necessary expertise and insurance, and that there is recourse to a complaints procedure if necessary, it adds. The scheme will also help improve customer access by providing an online register of accredited consultants.

More information available from: www.iosh.co.uk/news_and_events/news/latest_member_news/new_accreditation_scheme.aspx

CDM DESIGNERS
The term ‘designer' for the purposes of the CDM Regulations has a wide meaning, the HSE points out. The term includes architects and consulting engineers, as well as quantity surveyors, building service engineers and temporary works engineers.

Designers have specific duties including:

• eliminating hazards where feasible;
• reducing risks from those hazards that cannot be eliminated;
• providing information on residual risks if they are significant and contributing to the provision of information that other designers (e.g. structural engineers) may require for development of the design;
• considering how the building will be cleaned, maintained and ultimately demolished; and
• ensuring that designs for workplaces meet the requirements of the Workplace Regulations.
  

In order to discharge these duties a competent designer will need sufficient knowledge and experience of the construction process.

The ‘Designer' section of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 Approved Code of Practice L144 provides a detailed explanation of the role of the designer.

See: www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm/dos-and-donts.htm?ebul=cons/aug10&cr=7 The Approved Code of Practice can also be downloaded from this page.

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