SOHSA e-Bulletin February 2010

Welcome to the latest health and safety bulletin from the Sheffield Occupational Health and Safety Association!

In this bulletin you find information about our very latest health and safety news, downloads and other online resources available to you.

Recent news you should be aware of include:

• SOHSA Annual General Meeting - to be held on Tuesday, 9 March 2010. Please click here for further information - a call-notice will be circulated to all members before the meeting.
• Statement of Fitness for Work – the Social Security (Medical Evidence) and the Statutory Sick Pay (Medical Evidence) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 have been laid before parliament and are due to come into effect on 6 April 2010. From this point GPs in England, Scotland and Wales will be required to issue the new Statement of Fitness for Work, “fit-notes”, rather than the current sick note form to those suffering from ill-health. For further information about these changes or to post your views please see the online discussion.
• Control of Artificial Optical Radiation at Work Regulations - these new regulations introduce a specific duty on employers to control the risks associated with sources of artificial optical radiation such as intense light, lasers, UV and IR sources. For further information, to discuss these changes or raise your views please see the online discussion here.
• HSE Shattered Lives Campaign – Slips, trips and falls from height can all have serious consequences. The third phase of the HSE’s Shattered Lives campaign focuses on actions to prevent slips, trips and falls at work – providing tools, guidance and support materials to raise awareness of risks and how to control them. For further information or to discuss the campaign click here.
• Asbestos: the survey guide - this heavily illustrated publication replaces and expands on MDHS100, Surveying, sampling and assessment of asbestos-containing materials. It is aimed at people carrying out asbestos surveys and people with specific responsibilities for managing asbestos in non-domestic premises under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006. Click here to access the document.
• Load Safety Campaign - spot checks on hundreds of vehicles will take place in the coming weeks in support of the HSE’s new load safety campaign, which is focused on reducing the number of death and injuries linked to workplace transport. Unsafe loads on vehicles injure more than 1,200 people a year and cost UK businesses millions of pounds in damaged goods. The HSE Load Safety Website provides information and guidance for safe loading. Guidance from the building products association working group, Eliminating Risk and Mitigating Falls from Height - Transport Industry Guidelines, is also available.
• Work At Height Access Information Tool - a user friendly toolkit of advice, guidance and many other useful resources, to help people who occasionally work at height, understand how to do so safely and be aware of some types of access equipment that are available. Since 2001, an average of 50 people in Great Britain have died each year as a result of a fall from height and a further 8,702 are seriously injured. Don't let a fall shatter your life! If you don't work at height very often or are unsure about which type of access equipment to use, it's important that you assess the risks and select the right equipment for the job. WAIT - (Work at height Access equipment Information Toolkit) shows you some possible solutions.
• Free LEV HSE Road Shows - HSE will be running a further five free Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) events across the country, in Cambridge, Whitburn, Bristol, Gateshead and Manchester. http://www.hse.gov.uk/lev/events.htm

Please remember to check the association website regularly for the latest news, but you can also syndicate our newsfeed to receive the very latest news direct to your desktop or newsreader.

You will need to log-into the website in order to access some of the restricted content, if you are still unable to access certain resources it may be that you have not yet paid your 2010 membership subscription. To arrange payment or for further information, please contact Pat Howard, Hon. Treasurer, by email on treasurer@sohsa.org.uk

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