Regulations
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Regulations Articles
Below is a list of articles that have been published on this topic.
Click on the title to view the whole article
Changing the Chemistry of Safety
When it comes to safety performance, chemical organisations deserve a lot of credit. Despite high-hazard processes and materials, these businesses have largely outpaced other industry organisations in safety performance and injury reduction.
Construction's Deadly Hazards
Teresa Budworth, Chief Executive of the health, safety and environmental examinations body NEBOSH, looks at three of the key hazards in construction - working at height, excavation work and the movement of vehicles.
Industrial Noise Exposure
Occupational noise exposure has been linked to a variety of negative health effects by various researchers around the world. Occupational noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) is the most prevalent irreversible industrial disease and noise is the biggest compensable occupational hazard in many countries according to a WHO report.
Challenges of PPE
In many workplaces, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is used, either as the only form of protection or as an additional line of protection to supplement other approaches. Few health and safety professionals would argue against using other precautions, aimed at preventing hazards or reducing risks at source, as first choice. Those professionals would, however, readily admit that such measures will seldom completely remove a risk and that PPE will continue to have a role to play in occupational safety and health.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Revolution and Evolution
This article aims to explore the general construction and safety standards relating to protective footwear utilised within industry. The intent of the author is that the reader will expand their knowledge of this subject and perhaps review their current collection of styles in terms of suitability against the tasks in which they are utilised.
Confined Spaces
Most industrial facilities have confined spaces. They often get overlooked because access to them is rare. Not surprisingly, many facility managers believe there is no particular reason for concern. The awakening could be a rude one, as several managers have faced criminal prosecution and substantial fines as a result of fatal accidents.
Head Protection
Prevention of head injuries is an important factor in every safety programme. A single injury can handicap an employee for life, or it can be fatal. In a survey of accidents and injuries by the American Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a division of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), it was noted that most workers who suffered impact injuries to the head were not wearing head protection. The majority of workers were injured while performing their normal jobs at their regular worksites.
Balancing On A Banana Skin
Statistics show that slips, trips and falls are still the most common cause of injuries globally in the workplace. And that they relate to more than a third of all major injuries reported makes you wonder why, when so much is written about it, do we have to ask ourselves: “What have we really done to eliminate it?” We must all look a little deeper into what is often a more deeply rooted - and never really reported or tackled - issue.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Face Fit Testing
This article reviews UK practices and improvements made by stakeholder bodies supported by the Health and Safety Executive - including a professionally recognised accreditation scheme which aims to ensure the competency of fit test providers.
While legislation to protect workers included in OSA’s demographics is emerging, consistent regulations have yet to be established. Citing the quite specific experience of UK health and safety practitioners will give Asian readers an idea not only of how lengthy the process of creating coherent safeguards for workers has been, but will also give them insights into the many nuances and subtle distinctions the various elements of legislation embrace, plus the support systems that have developed in terms of legislative enforcement.
CBRN PPE
This year and in early 2012 the Emergency response community will start to see products being introduced to the marketplace that comply with a new series of National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) product performance standards. These standards have one major goal in mind, and that is to protect emergency personnel as they respond to incidents involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear (CBRN) threat.
Environmental Laboratory Testing
The market for environmental testing laboratories has changed enormously over the last three years as a result of a seismic shift in the UK market and numerous changes in legislation. In order to survive, analytical companies have had to be adaptable, far-sighted and innovative in their provision of the comprehensive service that their clients require. The reduction in market size, particularly with respect to soil testing (as this is heavily dependent upon a thriving construction industry), has raised the level of competition in the market and laboratories need to focus on efficiency and excellent customer service.
Hearing Protection
David Whiting discusses how a strategic risk assessment approach can work best in noisy workplaces.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Footwear for Chemical Protection
SATRA’s Peter Doughty highlights some key requirements and latest developments for chemical protection footwear intended for supply into the EU.
Environmental Noise Pollution
Environmental noise pollution, what causes it, how it affects us, how we measure it and what is being done about it.
Industrial Noise - The Severity of Noise as an Industrial Hazard is Underestimated
Noise is probably the most widespread and underestimated of industrial hazards in the workplace and is a real risk to millions of people every day when they are at work.
Environmental Water Quality Testing
Water is critical to life, and water quality is critical to health. Not just human health, but all animals, plants and microbes - in fact, the whole global ecosystem. If water supplies, rivers and lakes become contaminated, then this impacts on the complete life cycle, often with devastating results, as demonstrated by the continuing health effects from the Bhopal incident 25 years ago, due to residual contamination in underground water sources. Less high profile, but more far reaching, is the issue of eutrophication of rivers or lakes - that’s the increase in nutrients due to agricultural run off. This is a common cause of algal blooms, leading to loss of oxygen, and the death of other species.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Industrial Workwear - New ISO Standard to qualify workwear products for use in the textile rental industry
For several decades the retail textile clothing sector has made use of a suite of ISO standards to test and label its garments with care instructions for the benefit of its customers. The scheme includes both domestic laundering and professional dry and wet cleaning processes and is based on the use of pre-programmed equipment.
Safety Flooring and Matting - Current European requirements and new regulations to be implemented in 2013 [Sep 2010]
Jackie Glasspool, of SATRA Technology Centre, looks at current and forthcoming European legislation and standards associated with safety flooring and matting. Co
Heavy Metals' Monitoring
Much of the focus on measuring heavy metals in the ambient atmosphere has been to establish monitoring sites at locations close to local sources of heavy metals in industrial and urban areas. However, there is also a specific legislative requirement to monitor heavy metals in rural areas where concentrations are considerably lower. The Rural Heavy Metals Monitoring and Deposition Network determines the concentrations of heavy metals in samples of ambient air and rainwater collected at remote rural sites across the UK, which are not unduly influenced by local sources of anthropogenic emissions. This article describes the operation of this monitoring network and how the data are used to determine background levels of heavy metals in the UK (and thereby demonstrate compliance of the UK with the relevant EU legislation for rural areas), and in the quantification of heavy metal deposition from the atmosphere.
Face Fit Testing
Although workplace legislation and Health and Safety practices vary from country to country, some technical aspects of respirator fitting are fairly consistent. This article highlights UK practices, which may also apply to other countries throughout the world.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Eye Protection - Practical advice to keep in sight
All eye injuries are preventable, however, each work day during 2008 about 110 U.S. workers had a job-related eye injury that results in Days Away From Work Cases. According to the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)[i], overall, there are approximately 2000 work-related eye injuries in the US every day. These injuries occur in all categories of industry but the highest frequencies occur in manufacturing, transportation and construction.
Industrial Safety Footwear - A Step In The Right Direction
The provision and use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has been subject of much debate over the years both in the UK and beyond. Up until recent times, employers would simply state that you must have your own safety boots and overall before starting work. This is no longer the case with changes in recent years to legislation ensuring that PPE is provided by the employer free of charge to the worker. This is obviously the case in the UK and most of Europe however the same may not go for all workers in areas of the world not so well regulated. For the purpose of this article we will focus on UK legislation as a guide to what is an acceptable level of provision of PPE and in particular safety Footwear. Before we discuss the various types of safety footwear available on the market it is important that we review the legislation that drives the provision of, training for and the maintenance of PPE in the workplace today.
Industrial Gas Detection
Two recent and successful prosecutions brought by the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) act as a stark reminder of the importance, among other systems and procedures, of having appropriate and functioning gas detection equipment to help protect employees from serious injury or even death.
Eye Protection
European legislation was revolutionised by the 'New Approach'; introduced in 1985 in order to create a European market by removing the remaining barriers to trade. The only condition to allow the free circulation of the goods is that the manufacturer guarantees that his products put on the EU market are in compliance with the corresponding EU regulation and provide a high level of protection to EU Citizens.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Confused or Confined?
In the 26 years I’ve been working in confined spaces, the practices we employ to ensure our safety have changed little. Attitudes and legislation, however, have changed dramatically and sometimes I wonder why.
Environmental Noise Monitoring
Noise pollution is a problem controlled and managed by numerous pieces of legislation, standards and documents providing guidance. In the UK, each piece of guidance or legislation varies sufficiently to cause a certain degree of conflict, which can lead to confusion and conflict amongst site operators, developers, regulators and the general public.
Regulating the Effects of Hazardous Materials
The long-term effects of land-filling and incinerating waste products are an ever increasing concern given the potential harm to human health and the long-term, detrimental environmental effects posed by hazardous materials.
Asbestos: The Hidden Killer
Every week 20 tradesmen die from asbestos related diseases - and the number is set to increase over the next few years. Steve Coldrick, Director of the Disease Reduction Programme with the Health and Safety Executive explains why a major campaign “Asbestos: The Hidden Killer” will be launched in October to raise awareness of the real risk that tradesmen face.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Can You Keep A Cool Head
In a previous HSI article (October 2006 - “If you want to keep your head, wear the right hat”) I wrote about head protection. The topics covered included causes of head injury, how and when helmets protect you, regulations and standards, types of helmet and SUCAM (Selection, Use, Care And Maintenance). This article provides a selection of some more useful and (hopefully) interesting points about head protection not covered in my previous article.
Don’t Turn a Deaf Ear
The requirements of the new European Noise Directive on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to noise [Directive 2003/10/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 February 2003] change the conditions of design and testing for some types of hearing protectors as well as the conditions for selection and use of all types of hearing protectors. Stakeholders responsible for health and safety in companies need to know details on changes which have to be considered within the selection of hearing protectors and their consideration within the risk assessment.
Heavy Metal Monitoring
The monitoring of heavy metals in our environment has increased significantly in importance over the last few years. The bio accumulative properties and resultant health effects have been well documented, with a monitoring requirement for regulatory compliance the result.
Inherent Safety
An introduction to the methodology of inherently safe practices
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Fall Arrest Equipment Selection
Of all the sectors of the safety market Fall Protection is one of the most complex, with every different scenario requiring a different solution. It is also one of the least understood and most often poorly addressed areas of personnel safety - while still remaining one of the few sectors where the result of a wrong decision will almost certainly result in the death of a worker should they fall.
Hearing Protection
Hearing protection is an urgent priority across Europe and the USA, where legislative changes have increased the need for simple measuring technology and consistent hearing protection products. This article looks at the Law, and the formula for staying on it’s right side.
Industrial Noise Measurement
Noise exposure legislation, designed to protect the hearing of employees and prevent noise nuisance, is becoming tougher and more widespread.
Continuous Emissions Monitoring
Air pollution is an important issue of concern to the general public as exposure to low levels of some toxic species emitted by industrial processes may be hazardous to human health or impact adversely on the environment. This article describes how the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), a National Measurement Institute (NMI) in the UK supported by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), has been involved in assisting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the development of the next generation of novel continuous emissions monitors (CEMs).
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Continuous Noise Monitoring
The increasing awareness of the public of environmental issues such as CO2 emissions, carbon footprints and waste recycling has brought the issue of environmental noise to the fore. Many of the demands of modern society result in the creation of noise sources such as larger airports, additional power stations and higher road traffic levels.
International Recognition of Health and Safety Qualifications
Despite the increasing global recognition of the importance of health and safety at work, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that approximately 2 million workers annually die of occupational injuries and illnesses, equivalent to over 5,000 workers dying worldwide every day.
Face Fit Testing RPE
UK Face Fit Testing Legislation is now nearly five years old. All UK employees who wear tight-fitting respiratory protective equipment (RPE) should, by now, have a certificate to prove that the protective equipment they wear during work not only fits them, but also affords them the effective protection necessary for the task being performed. However, research indicates that this is not the case.
Fall Arrest
Over the past five decades the Height Safety Industry has undergone a progressive change to deal with situations where personnel are required to work in areas once deemed safe, but now considered to need regulation. There have been a constant series of developments, from the use of waist belts with short rope lanyards and chain lanyards in the 1980's to the vast array of different shock absorbing devices and full body harnesses now available. Only a handful of key manufacturers have consistently provided the innovations that have led the Height Safety Industry to where is it today.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Fall Arrest Equipment
Of all the sectors of the safety market Fall Arrest is one of the most complex, with every different scenario requiring a different solution and a different level of understanding. It is also one of the least understood and most often poorly addressed areas of personnel safety, whilst remaining one of the few sectors where the result of a wrong product decision or poor working method will almost certainly result in the death of a worker should a fall occur.
Far REACHing Objectives
How do you objectively assess the risk of a chemical? Ever tried to compare safety data sheets on the same substance from different suppliers? What are the risk management measures you need when using a chemical in your factory? What should you do to minimise the environmental impact of a chemical when it leaves your site? Who really decides what constitutes an acceptable risk of using a chemical? Are chemical users across Europe playing on a level playing field and just where did those lists of banned chemicals come from?
Get a Foot Hold
The use of safety footwear in the workpace can often be seen as a tricky issue for employers, but it really doesn't need to be if risk assessments are carried out and applied.
Streamlining Regulations
Control of the use and disposal of chemicals. REACH is the EU Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals which entered into force on 1 June 2007. It places duties on all manufacturers, importers and users of chemicals in the European Union, and is aimed at ensuring adequate control of risks to humans and the environment from the manufacture, use and disposal of chemicals.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Duty to Manage
Regulation 4 'Duty to Manage' was introduced in the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 and has been law since May 2004.The regulations have recently been replaced by the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 effective from 13th November 2006.
LCPD Change with the Times
In the scramble to prepare for a new regulatory regime, the owners of large combustion plants should not forget the vital role that good monitoring can play in helping them meet both their production and their emissions targets.
Diffusion of Light
One of the most sensitive and complex measurements on protective eyewear is that of the diffusion of light through the lens. Diffusion must be tested for all eyewear certified to EN 166:2001. It occurs when light passing through a transparent ocular (lens) is scattered and spreads in all directions.
EN388 Standard
The development of standards to compare the performance of PPE products has significantly improved the ability of safety managers to select appropriate PPE. From chemical resistance to fire and flame resistance, the standards have helped us determine the appropriate product for a given application. However, the standards cannot be solely relied on when making a decision. An adequate assessment must be made of how the standard should apply to the specific use. In other words, we need to use common sense. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the blade cut and the puncture tests associated with EN388.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Keeping Your Head - Intact
The whole point of protective headwear is that it is just that - a protection, a safeguard, something that is designed to lessen the effect of certain incidents.
Gas Detection
Mines can be hazardous environments and the possibility of fire, flood, explosion, asphyxiation, toxic gas poisoning and collapse has the potential to simultaneously affect a large number of people.
Falls from Height
Although the total number of personnel being killed at work is on the decline, there are certain activities which are still of concern. Working at height, according to the HSE, remains the most common kind of accident in the workplace with falls from height accounting for nearly twenty five percent of deaths among workers across all industries.
CE Marking of PPE
Since the implementation of the European Personal Protective equipment (PPE) Directive in 1995, SATRA has become one of the leading Notified Bodies for CE marking of PPE intended for supply within Europe and has been influential in the development of PPE related test methods and safety standards. SATRA’s testing and certification services now extend across all areas of PPE - from head protection to safety footwear, and everything worn in between. This article is intended to provide a background to the PPE Directive.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Heavy Metals Monitoring
Monitoring heavy metals has never been more in the spotlight. Recent regulation and legislation are set to keep it that way. This article outlines the impact heavy metals can have on human health and the environment and goes on to provide an insight into the wide range of analytical techniques available to the analysts involved in monitoring heavy metals today.
Do You Know Your WEL?
Understanding the hazards from welding fumes
New Asbestos Regulations
The UK Government, through the Health and Safety Commission [HSC] and its executive arm, The Health and Safety Executive [HSE] have proposed a new set of asbestos regulations - The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 [CAR 2006] to comply with the requirements of EU membership and EU law.
Chemicals In Our Environment
Effective enforcement of chemical and environmental legislation is essential to achieve positive results from the risk-management strategies developed in the European Union. Within the European chemical and environmental sectors there is strong interaction and co-operation between the old and new EU Member States and EU Candidate Countries.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Eye Protection Devices
'Head down, straight on!' is seldom good advice
Legislative Driven Environmental Analysis
Continually developing analysis contributes to the provision of data
Hazardous Substances
Health and safety at work is important for humane, social and economic reasons, and is in the interests of both employer and employee. This is particularly true with regard to contact with hazardous substances; at international level the "Code of Practice on Safety in the Use of Chemicals at Work" (1993) set out by the ILO should be observed.
Decision Risk Management (DRM)
All organisations have to make decisions - and many organisations subscribe to a relatively fixed scheme of procedures to manage decisions from the initial consideration stage through to final agreement of required actions.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Climate Change Regulations and Standards
In today's globalised world, no country or even entity is free to play without complying with international and national rules of the game.
Regulations Will Affect You!
The Working at Height Regulations came into force in April 2005 and as an organisation with a special interest in work carried out at height, the Source Testing Association (STA) has been in consultation with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Attack of The Killer Spaces
Mise en scène - It's more like a scene from a Hammer Horror B-movie than reality, but it actually does happen, at least once a year. Someone goes into a harmless-looking opening, perhaps to retrieve something they have dropped, or just for a look, and they don't come out.
Better Treatment for Waterway Protection
Water companies adopt a more rigorous approach to sewage treatment.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Environmental Protection & Waste Management
The second half of the 20th century has brought increasing awareness about the ways in which the human environment is fragile and vulnerable to damage by pollution.
Cutting Down Noise at Work
Frequent exposure to loud noise can cause permanent, irreversible loss of hearing and tinnitus. Yet in most (if not all) cases this is entirely preventable.
Every day millions of workers all over Europe are exposed to dangerously high levels of noise. Statistics indicate that one in five European workers have to raise their voices to be heard for at least half of the time that they spend at work - suggesting that they are at real risk of noise-induced hearing loss - and that 7% suffer from work-related hearing difficulties.
Hand Protection
There is a great deal of confusion over the use of protective gloves throughout industry despite the efforts of glove manufacturers and COSHH legislation.
Field and Continuous Measurements
The specification and use of online/field instruments and test kits can be a complicated business. Making the wrong choice could prove expensive.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Head Protection Equipment
Every year many workers are killed or seriously injured in the construction industry as a result of head injuries. Wearing an appropriate safety helmet significantly reduces the risk of injury or even death. Protective headwear could save your life.
UK’s New Work at Height Regulations
When they come into force The Work at Height Regulations (WAHR) will implement the Temporary Work at Height Directive in the UK. The key elements of the development approach taken by HSE in the drafting of the Regulations are outlined and analysed in this report.
Hazardous Materials Management
Any facility or product manager should already have noticed it. We are facing some fundamental regulatory changes that will change the way in which one can or has to handle hazardous materials.
Confined Space Entry
When considering confined space entry procedure, employers integrate many factors into a plan to ensure the safety of all involved. In the UK under the Confined Spaces Regulations 19972, employers must first try to avoid the need for a confined space entry.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Deep Mining
Although figures are often hard to come by mining probably still kills over 10,000 people around the world each year, mainly through explosions, falls of rock, flooding and in shaft and transport accidents. For many workers mines remain dangerous places to work.
Do I Have to Carry Out Fit Testing?
Legislative background to the use of Qualitative Fit Testing in the UK
Fall Arrest
Fall arresting systems save many lives. Many tests and experiments are carried out in laboratory and on site to gain experience. This is a report from TÜV Austria, Notified Body under the European Directive for Personal Protective Equipment (89/686/EEC).
Common Sense and Competence
How to Manage Asbestos (or from 21st May 2004: Why not to panic!)
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Safe on Rail
Safety on railways is only achieved by a combined effort - the asset owner and employers provide the recognised safe systems for work with Rules for workers, signalmen and train drivers that are designed to protect the track worker.
Industrial Safety Helmets
Certification and testing
Gas Detection
When using or being exposed to hazardous substances at work people's health may be put at risk as a result of over exposure to these materials
Dont Let It Happen to You
The new European Union 'ATEX1' legislation provides a timely reminder of the dangers that lurk wherever flammable substances are present. There are too many grim pictures of the devastation that can be caused if the proper precautions are not taken.
Links to Products and Services
Search for Regulations related products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Fall Arrest Equipment
Wayne Ellis discusses ongoing training, the latest techniques and the importance of quality equipment for an area that claims the lives of far too many workers and injures hundreds more; working safely at heights.
Current Issues
