Agence européenne nouveautés

This guide provides practical information on managing the risk of injury from manual handling activities in the healthcare sector.

The range of applications for hand-held laser processing devices (HLDs) is increasing rapidly. Today, hand-held laser processing devices are available amongst others for welding, cutting, cladding, hardening and cleaning. The devices are used in the automotive, engineering and tool making industry, and recently also in shipbuilding. Also, hand-held laser systems are applied for art restoration and conservation.

The NanoTrust project of the Institute of Technology Assessment of the Austrian Academy of Sciences is sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Transport, Technology and Innovation. These pages set out information on possible health and environmental risks and on societal aspects of nanotechnologies.
The dossiers are a brief summary. NanoTrust also organises workshops.

Agriculture is one of the most hazardous sectors in both developing and developed countries.

The result of long-term collaboration between the ILO and the International Ergonomics Association is a manual compiling 100 illustrated examples of practical ergonomic improvements that can be achieved at low or no cost. The checkpoints each describe an action, indicate why it is necessary and how to carry it out, and provide further hints and points to remember.

The presence of unions in workplaces could be saving employers in the private and public sectors as much £701m a year or £2m a day, as well as making them safer, according to a new report from the TUC in the UK.

This manual includes easy-to-apply checkpoints for identifying stressors in working life and mitigating their harmful effects. It also provides guidance on linking workplace risk assessment with the process of stress prevention.

To mark and  promote the 2012 European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations, EuroHealthNet has just launched its new website.

By showcasing practical examples of health promotion interventions, identifying initiatives in the European Union and key resources about healthy ageing, the website expects to build awareness of the steps required to make healthy ageing a reality and contribute towards a successful EY 2012.

The event will take place on 9th and 10th of February in Guimarães, Portugal. It is organized by the Portuguese Society of Occupational Safety and Hygiene (SPOSHO) and the University of Minho and has the support of the School of Engineering of the University of Porto, the Faculty of Human Kinetics of the Technical University of Lisbon and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work is looking for qualified and motivated candidates to fill the following vacancies:

EU-OSHA/CA/12/01 - Campaigns Manager (FG IV) Six month contract (March – September 2012 – non-renewable)

Project Manager (AD 6)

This WHO document provides employers and worker representatives with tools to build healthy and equitable workplaces for women and men while bringing needed attention to issues predominantly affecting women.

Workplace age discrimination is the most widespread form of age discrimination with one in five citizens having personally experienced or witnessed it. This is a finding of a new Eurobarometer survey presented by the Commission to mark the start of the 2012 European Year of Active Ageing and Solidarity of Generations.

In 2005, the Scientific Committee on Occupational Exposure Limits (SCOEL), an advisory committee of the European Committee, published an evaluation on the toxicity of methyl methacrylate. At request of the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, the Dutch Expert Committee on Occupational Safety (DECOS) of the Health Council, reconsidered the former health-based occupational exposure limit for methyl methacrylate, based on the SCOEL assessment, and additional studies published since 2005, and up to October 2011.

The European trade union committee for education - ETUCE - has made available a study report containing the full overview of the results of its stress survey as well as the ETUCE project brochure on Teachers' work-related stress: European-wide Survey - Assessment, Comparison and Evaluation of the Impact of Psychosocial Hazards on Teachers at their Workplace in the EU.

A multidisciplinary study led to better identification of the aspects of the mental load related to MSDs and the mental health problems of 9-1-1 emergency call centre dispatchers, a profession that has not been extensively studied by researchers up to now.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has published two booklets on gender issues and working conditions.
One booklet provides an overview of the differences and inequalities in work and health between women and men, and highlights issues of particular importance to women. Advice for action is provided at different levels: government, employers, workers and researchers.

A new report titled: Driving for Work Managing Speed is published as part of the ETSC PRAISE project, Preventing Road Accidents and Injuries for the Safety of Employees.
The 8th Thematic Report aims to offer employers insight into managing speed. Speeding is the main cause of road traffic collisions, deaths and serious injury. It examines the impact that speeding can have and presents levels of compliance with speed limits for different road user types.

A free-to-download, web-friendly version of EH40 (Second edition, published 2011) has been updated to include new and revised workplace exposure limits (WELS) introduced by the 2nd and 3rd Indicative Occupational Exposure Limit Values (IOELV) Directives.

A guide to good organizational practices aimed at improving the quality of home care and home support services (HCS) jobs has just been published by the Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST). Developed by members of two research teams, the IRSST in Québec and the Service de psychologie du travail of the Université de Mons in Belgium, this project was funded by the 5th permanent joint board on cooperation between Québec – Wallonia-Brussels.

In the present report, at the request of the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, the Health Council of the Netherlands has investigated whether at the present time there are any new scientific insights concerning health-based or safety-based limit values for work performed while standing, kneeling or squatting.

The annual report 2010 has been published late December 2011. The incidence of fatal and serious work accidents is on the rise (1.045.816 serious accidents , a 7,3 % increase) probably due to higher work intensity, speed and pressure, and linked to economic growth and a rise in employment (0.5% in 2010). The report also highlights a significant increase in commuting accidents, with a peak in logistics, transport, and courier services.