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March/April 2023 issue

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News

Regular use of disinfectants linked to higher risk of fatal lung disease

Open-access content Monday 11th September 2017
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

Routine bleach use linked to higher risk of fatal lung disease

A 30-year study by scientists at Harvard University and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) looked at the incidence of the disease in more than 55,000 nurses in the US and identified a link between the use of bleach and other common disinfectants and a higher incidence of COPD. Certain tasks that involved frequent exposure to disinfectants, such as cleaning surfaces and specific chemicals in disinfectants, were associated with a 22% to 32% increased risk of developing COPD.

COPD, which affects an estimated 1.2 million people in the UK, is responsible for nearly 25,000 deaths in England each year, the third highest death rate in Europe, according to The Guardian.

Last week, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and other bodies published new data on the estimated global total for occupational accidents and work-related illness at the World Safety Congress in Singapore. The 19% increase on the 2014 report is partly due to the inclusion of data on the estimated number of respiratory cases caused by COPD and occupational asthma.

The report's authors said that COPD is a growing disease world-wide. "It has become an important work-related problem but is often not well-recognised and is thus under-diagnosed."

The fatal lung disease is associated with specific occupational exposure agents, including coal mine dust, asbestos, silica, welding and cutting gases and fumes, cement dust, diesel exhausts, spray painting, organic solvents and possibly man-made fibres.

Disinfectant use has previously been associated with an increased risk of respiratory problems such as asthma. However, the new study is thought to be the first to identify a link between COPD and specific cleaning chemicals known as quaternary ammonium compounds.

"The potential adverse effects of exposure to disinfectants on COPD have received much less attention, although two recent studies in European populations showed that working as a cleaner was associated with a higher risk of COPD," said Inserm researcher Orianne Dumas.

"To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to report a link between disinfectants and COPD among healthcare workers and to investigate specific chemicals that may underlie this association."

The researchers analysed data from a mass study of female nursing staff in the US, which was undertaken by Harvard University in 1989. In 2009, the researchers looked at those who were still working as nurses who had no history of COPD and tracked them until May 2017. During that period, 663 were diagnosed with the condition.

The nurses' exposure was evaluated via a questionnaire and subjects' age, body mass index and ethnicity, which could have distorted the results, were taken into account.

The everyday use of bleach has no specific health guidelines. Inserm says the report findings highlight the need for guidelines for cleaning and disinfection in healthcare settings such as hospitals to be updated and to take occupational health risks into account.

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©IStockphoto/bobiwankanobi. The latest report includes respiratory cases caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and work-related asthma, missing from the 2014 report.

 Global work deaths total 2.78 million a year

Friday 8th September 2017
The estimated global total for fatal occupational accidents and work-related illness is 19% higher than the 2.33 million estimated in 2014, reflecting the inclusion of respiratory cases caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and work-related asthma, which was missing from the 2014 report. Work diseases account for 2.4 million (86.3%) of the total estimated deaths in the latest report, which was compiled by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs in Finland and the Workplace Safety and Health Institute (WSH) in Singapore with the support of the ILO.
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 TUC charter to protect ill workers now covers half a million

Thursday 7th September 2017
The voluntary charter is part of a wider TUC campaign which calls for a terminal illness to be viewed as a “protected characteristic”. Charter signatories agree that terminally ill employees enter a “protected period” in which they cannot be dismissed because of their condition.Although the UK’s 2010 Equality Act does offer some protection for terminally ill employees, employers can dismiss them if they fail a capability assessment after “reasonable adjustments” have been made to their work arrangements, resulting in loss of income and loss of death in-service payments.
Open-access content
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 Workplace cancer death rate higher than estimated, says new global research

Tuesday 5th September 2017
This is up from the previous estimate of 666,000, and almost double the number of fatal workplace accidents.The research was carried out by the International Labour Organization, ministries in Finland and Singapore, the Workplace Safety and Health Institute (WSHI) in Singapore, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, the International Commission on Occupational Health and the European Occupational Safety and Health Agency.The updated figure is based on “better available data gathered and analysed by the research consortium”, they said.
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 Government support package aims to cut sickness absence

Thursday 14th September 2017
The new advice, developed jointly by Public Health England (PHE) and health and wellbeing services provider Healthy Working Futures (formerly the Fit For Work Team), aims to help employers promote good health. The guidance includes information on carrying out a workplace health needs assessment (HNA) – a series of questions that staff answer anonymously. Businesses can use the findings to tailor activities to improve health and wellbeing.
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 Irish work deaths fall but farming still ‘area of concern’

Friday 15th September 2017
The Health and Safety Authority’s (HSA) 2016 annual report shows that the three-year rolling fatality rate has remained relatively stable since 2009, following a downward trend between 1999 and 2009. The HSA said that last year it received reports of 45 workplace deaths, 43 of which involved workers while members of the public accounted for the rest.
Open-access content

 First global OSH campaign focuses on zero harm

Monday 4th September 2017
The initiative is supported by the World Health Organization, the US safety regulator OSHA and the International Association of Labour Inspection.ISSA, which represents social security institutions, government departments and agencies in more than 160 countries, is encouraging organisations to pledge to follow seven “golden rules”, including controlling risks, defining targets and developing programmes to meet them, improving worker competence and ensuring work equipment is safe.
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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.
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 Spring budget and occupational health

Friday 17th March 2023
Richard Jones CFIOSH, comments on the occupational health aspects of the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's first budget statement.
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 Life-changing one tonne load fall results in £95,000 fine

Monday 13th March 2023
We spoke to Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Andrew Johnson about a case where a one-tonne pallet of glass fell on a United Pallet Network (UK) Limited’s employee, causing life-changing injuries.
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 The critical role of healthcare workers

Wednesday 9th September 2020
The critical role played by health workers in protecting patients, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic – and action to better support this essential workforce – is brought to the fore on World Patient Safety Day.
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 Union launches guide to protect gig economy workers

Friday 13th September 2019
The public service union Unison has published a new guide for its health and safety representatives to explain how the gig economy has affected its members and what support they can provide.
Open-access content
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 Serious workplace injuries increase suicide risk, US study finds

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
People who have sustained serious workplace injuries are at increased risk of suicide or fatal overdose, according to a study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.
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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...
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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.
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 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.
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 Director was unfairly dismissed as H&S officer did not raise concerns over cryo-chamber installation

Wednesday 9th November 2022
A director who had installed a cryotherapy chamber was unfairly dismissed, a tribunal has ruled, because the technical director and principal health and safety officer at the business failed to raise concerns about the work undertaken.
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 HSE report highlights risks posed by hazardous atmospheres in freight containers at ports and distribution centres

Friday 4th November 2022
Research published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has identified some weaknesses in the control measures at a number of ports and distribution centres in relation to workers coming into contact with hazardous substances when examining or unloading freight containers.
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 £3m fine for Carlsberg after ‘entirely preventable’ fatality

Thursday 7th July 2022
Global brewing giant Carlsberg has been fined £3 million after a contractor died and another was seriously injured following an ammonia gas leak at one of its breweries. We speak to HSE Principal Inspector Samantha Wells about the case.
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