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March/April 2023 issue

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Wellbeing
News

E-cigarettes have role in employers’ smoking cessation policies, says Public Health England

Open-access content Friday 8th July 2016
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

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PHE said its framework, Use of e-cigarettes in public places and workplaces. Advice to inform evidence-based policy making, is designed to help employers support smokers quitting, while managing any risks specific to their setting.

The framework includes five principles for organisations to consider when creating a vaping policy. It acknowledges that workplace environments vary and "there is no one-size-fits-all approach".

The principles are: 1. Make clear the distinction between vaping and smoking; 2. Ensure policies are informed by the evidence on health risks to bystanders; 3. Identify and manage risks of vapour uptake by children and young people; 4. Support smokers to stop smoking and stay smoke-free; and 5. Support compliance with smoke-free law and policies.

The first principle advises organisations to avoid using smoking terminology when referring to e-cigarettes. E-cigarette use is known as "vaping" and e-cigarette users are often known as "vapers", it says.

Principle two recommends that e-cigarette use is not routinely included in the requirements of an organisation's smoke-free policy; however reasons other than the health risk to those nearby may exist for prohibiting e-cigarette use. These include commercial considerations and professional etiquette.

The third principle deals with smoking and vaping in front of children and supporting young people not to smoke, while the fourth one states that recognising the benefits of e-cigarettes "should be at the centre of policies on e-cigarette use in public places and workplaces". Vapers must not share the same outdoor space with smokers, it says.

Principle five advises organisations to clearly communicate their e-cigarette policies so everybody in the workplace understands where vaping is and is not allowed. This involves using signs where possible.

Professor Kevin Fenton, national director of health and wellbeing at PHE, said: "The evidence is clear that vaping is much less harmful that smoking and that e-cigarettes are helping many smokers quit.

"The new framework will encourage organisations to consider both the benefits and the risks when developing their own policies on e-cigarettes. Different approaches will be appropriate in different places, but policies should take account of the evidence and clearly distinguish vaping from smoking."

The framework advice was created following extensive stakeholder consultation and has been published to coincide with a national stakeholder symposium on e-cigarettes and their role in tobacco harm reduction, held jointly with Cancer Research UK.

Welcoming the new framework, Dr Sally Coomber, president of the Society of Occupational Medicine, said: "Occupational health practitioners have an important role in shaping non-smoking policies in their organisations. They should be aware of the new PHE guidance and decide how best this should be reflected in their local policy depending on the particular employment setting.

"The five principles in the PHE guidance articulate the need to distinguish clearly between smoking and vaping, and to strike a balance between enabling e-cigarette use to help existing smokers to cut down and stop, whilst avoiding any encouragement of uptake of e-cigarettes among non-smokers (especially young people). Employers may also be interested to consider other factors associated with e-cigarettes, such as their reduced fire risk or security issues for electronic devices in certain work environments.

"We believe workplaces should review their policies in light of this guidance, with the support of occupational health professionals, and that e-cigarettes do have a role to play in stopping people smoking -- but it must be approached in the right way."

Sentencing guidelines and a new era of penalties webinar:

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 Mortality risk of prolonged sitting offset by hour of exercise, study finds

Friday 29th July 2016
At least an hour's moderate intensity exercise a day is needed to reverse the health risks of a sedentary lifestyle, the research suggests.The study, published in doctor's journal The Lancet, was conducted by a team of international researchers who analysed 16 studies with data on time spent sitting and in physical activity and mortality from more than one million men and women.
Open-access content
Image credit: ©iStock/saiyood

 Ramadan observance boosts workplace morale, poll finds

Monday 11th July 2016
Data for the poll, Ramadan in the Middle East and North Africa Workplace, was gathered online between 17 and 29 May 2016 and involved more than 3,660 respondents.The survey found that 63.5% of observant Muslims  believe that Ramadan lifts overall morale at work, while 56.3% noticed an increase in charitable activities in their firms during the month, during which they may not eat or drink between dawn and sunset. Some 53.7% socialised more with their co-workers.
Open-access content
Image credit: ©iStock/DragonImages

 French study finds possible night work and obesity link

Friday 22nd July 2016
Researchers concluded that there is a probable link between night work and weight gain. ANSES says that eating sweeter food could be a “compensatory homeostatic response to sleep deprivation” – which shift and night workers are known to suffer.
Open-access content
© LH Images/ Alamy Stock Photo

 Food waste disposal plant fined after workers overcome by toxic gases

Monday 20th June 2016
On 23 April 2014, William James was tipping animal carcasses from a compartment of the twin-hinged-door trailer covered with a tarpaulin. He climbed onto a gantry to roll back the tarpaulin with the intention of tipping out a second load, unware that a pig carcass had become stuck between the compartments.James mounted the trailer and attempted to dislodge the blockage with a shovel. He was quickly overcome by the toxic gases, which contained hydrogen sulphide and by the reduced oxygen atmosphere.
Open-access content
©iStock/C_FOR

 Attacks on prison officers reach record high

Monday 1st August 2016
There were 5,423 attacks on prison officers between March 2015 and March 2016, up 40% from 3,887 on the previous 12-month period. This equates to a rate of 63 assault-on-staff incidents per 1,000 prisoners compared with 46 the previous year.
Open-access content
©iStock/Askold Romanov

 ‘Largest ever’ UK wellbeing survey aims to improve mental health at work

Friday 10th June 2016
The National Employee Mental Wellbeing Survey has been launched by Business in the Community (BITC) and will be conducted by YouGov every year for the next three years. BITC aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of the UK workforce’s mental wellbeing, and identify solutions to improve mental health at work.
Open-access content

Latest from News

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  Morrisons’ £3.5m fine is ‘a warning to all employers’, says council

Friday 24th March 2023
Morrisons supermarket has been fined £3.5 million for failing to ensure the health and safety of an epileptic employee who died after falling from a shop stairway.
Open-access content
jfc

 IOSH launches new five-year strategy

Tuesday 21st March 2023
IOSH launches its new five-year strategy this spring. It will build and act on the reshaped purpose and ambition gained during WORK 2022, which ran from 2017 to 2022.
Open-access content
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 Risk & Compliance software provider collaborates with HSE and Costain to improve risk management on worksites

Friday 17th March 2023
A Belfast-based Risk & Compliance software provider has been collaborating with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and construction giant Costain as part of an ongoing project to unlock artificial intelligence’s (AI) potential in improving the management of risks on worksites.
Open-access content

Latest from Drugs and alcohol

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 Majority of workers accept alcohol and drug testing, survey finds

Tuesday 15th November 2022
Most workers would comply with a corporate alcohol and drug testing policy, according to the findings of a survey that informs the Dräger UK Safety at Work Report 2022.
Open-access content
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 How employers can stay on top of the use of drugs and alcohol at work

Monday 22nd August 2022
The Covid-19 pandemic is behind the rise in reports of drugs and alcohol use in the workplace – and with the rise of homeworking, the problem is only set to get worse. This video explores what safety professionals can do to keep on top of drug and alcohol use at work.

Open-access content
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 Pandemic pressure: the drugs don't work

Friday 1st July 2022
The pandemic has increased the number of employees misusing drugs and alcohol. We explore what this means for safety at work, and what IOSH members can do to keep on top of the problem.
Open-access content

Latest from Hazardous substances

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 In stats: A global view of cancer

Wednesday 31st August 2022
The WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer’s recent Biennial report 2020-2021 reveals some interesting data on global incidence of the disease...
Open-access content
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 SCUBA supplier fined £9.3k in schoolboy coma case

Friday 6th August 2021
A SCUBA equipment supply company has been fined £9,300 and ordered to pay £11,000 costs after providing a diving school with contaminated air that led to children being taken so ill during a training session that one ended up in an induced coma.
Open-access content
web_workers-using-PPE_credit_iStock-1220452150

 WorkSafe New Zealand launches Life Shavers campaign

Thursday 3rd June 2021
WorkSafe’s Life Shavers campaign will raise awareness of the need for workers who wear respiratory protective equipment (RPE) for work to be clean shaven.
Open-access content

Latest from Wellbeing

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 The impact of burnout

Thursday 2nd March 2023
Burnout, moral injury and moral distress are bubbling up in the workplace. But how are these concepts connected?
Open-access content
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 Standing desks contribute to small improvements in workers’ stress and wellbeing, study finds

Thursday 18th August 2022
A randomised control trial has found that office workers who use a standing desk alongside other interventions that encourage them to sit less and move around reduced their sitting time by an hour a day over one year.
Open-access content
web_man-marking-out-6-feet-distance_credit_iStock-1262291587.jpg

 EU-OSHA analysis of new and emerging risks: stronger OSH protections needed

Thursday 4th August 2022
A new report from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has underlined the need for stronger OSH protections in response to the growing focus on psychosocial work to support wellbeing and productivity, changes to working practices brought about by COVID-19 and technological advances in the economy.
Open-access content
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