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News and updates about health and safety from the Health and Safety Executive
  1. COSHH and your industry – How does it affect you?
    How does Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) affect you in your industry? Select your industry to view key messages and how COSHH affects you.
  2. Lung diseases: Susceptible trades and industries – Quarries
    Crystalline silica is one of the commonest minerals in the earths crust. When crushed during quarrying activities, materials containing silica create respirable crystalline silica (RCS) dust associated with the respiratory disease silicosis.
  3. COSHH – How does it affect you in your industry?
    How does Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health affect you in your industry? – From this page select your industry to view key messages and how COSHH affects you.
  4. Lung diseases – Causes of extrinsic allergic alveolitis
    Extrinsic allergic alveolitis (EAA) refers to a group of lung diseases that can develop after exposure to certain substances. The name describes the origin and the nature of these diseases, symptoms can include: fever, cough, worsening breathlessness and weight loss.
  5. What is a “substance hazardous to health”?
    COSHH covers substances that are hazardous to health. Substances can take many forms and include chemicals, products containing chemicals, fumes, dusts, vapours, mists, nanotechnology, gases and asphyxiating gases and biological agents.
  6. EH40/2005 Workplace exposure limits
    This edition of EH40 replaces the previous version, first published in 2005, and takes account of new substances and workplace exposure limits (WELs) introduced in 2007 and 2011.
  7. RR900 – Visualisation and control of solder fume exposure: A quantitative assessment of LEV effectiveness
    Colophony or Rosin Based Solder Flux Fume is a known cause of occupational asthma and as such exposure to it should be controlled. An effective method of engineering exposure control is to use local exhaust ventilation (LEV) to extract the fume at source.
  8. Next meeting of Hanson Cement Investigation Response Team (Public Health Wales release)
    The sixth meeting of the Hanson Cement Investigation Response Team is taking place on Tuesday 6 December 2011 when experts from Public Health Wales, the Health Protection Agency, and the Health and Safety Executive will present the final elements of the investigation’s work.
  9. Managing COSHH offshore – Paint spraying advice
    This Offshore Essentials sheet will help assess the risks from paint spraying and identify good control practice as well as reviewing existing control practice.
  10. South Tyneside manufacturer fined after workers exposed to hazardous fumes
    A South Tyneside company has been prosecuted for putting workers’ health at risk by exposing them to known hazardous fumes.
  11. COSHH – Your top questions answered
    Some of the most common Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) related health and safety questions.
  12. Farmers flock to attend safety event in East Yorkshire
    Farmers are queuing up to attend free safety events in Burton Constable to help them get to grips with health and safety in one of Britain’s most dangerous industries.
  13. Farmers encouraged to attend Lancaster safety event
    Farmers are being encouraged to attend a free training event in Lancaster to get to grips with health and safety in one of Britain’s most dangerous industries.
  14. Managing COSHH – offshore Painting by brush/roller (OCE2)
    Describing good practice for mixing and spraying solvent-based paint (but does not apply to water-based paint). Covers the key points you need to follow to help reduce exposure to an acceptable level, as part of your COSHH assessment.
  15. Practical application of PSPIs – Energy Institute, London, 13 September
    This conference run for the industry by the industry will address the practical application of process safety performance indicators (PSPIs) focusing on the expectations, what to measure, how to measure and what to do with the findings. September 13, 2011, Energy Institute, 61 New Cavendish Street, London.
  16. Norfolk firm prosecuted over burns to apprentice
    An engineering company in Great Yarmouth has been fined after an incident in which a teenage welder suffered burns to his face and one of his eyes.
  17. Managing COSHH offshore – Preparing surfaces for painting (OCE1)
    This sheet describes good practice for surface preparation by wet and dry blasting and the use of power tools such as needle guns, wire brushes etc. It covers the key points you need to control exposure to an acceptable level as part of your COSHH assessment.
  18. Burton brewery fined after three men burned by caustic soda
    A Burton-on-Trent brewery has been fined after three men suffered serious chemical burns when 6,000 litres of caustic soda erupted from a faulty valve.
  19. Occupational exposure limits Have your say – consultation ends 4 August
    This Consultative Document sets out the proposal from HSE to implement the European Commission’s 3rd Indicative Occupational Exposure Limit Values (IOELV) Directive (2001/161/EU) through the national system of Worker Exposure Limits (WELs). Consultation ends 4 August.
  20. Offshore COSHH essentials – Health surveillance, PPE, RPE…
    Offshore COSHH Essentials was prepared in partnership by an HSE/Industry/Unions working group and describes good control practice for controlling exposure to chemicals, for a range of common processes and tasks in the offshore industry.

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