A bizarre accident on a moving walkway in a British shopping centre has almost killed a four-year-old boy and left his face temporarily discoloured.
Darren Webb said his son Stevie Webb looks "like an extra out of that new Avatar film" after his head became trapped between two travelators at the Sainsbury's Savacentre in Colliers Wood, south London.
Stevie was playing near the walkways when his jacket became snagged — violently snapping his head backwards.
He was not breathing when his mother hit the emergency stop button but later regained consciousness.
While Stevie is expected to make a full recovery, burst blood vessels in his head have left his face and eyes a strange shade of purple.
"The doctors [said] it's only because he's so young and supple that his neck didn't break," the Croydon Guardian reported Darren Webb as saying.
"He doesn’t have any white left in his eyes and it could be months until the colour in his face goes back to normal."
The family said they will take legal action against the shopping centre after mall management refused to accept blame for the bizarre accident.
"There needs to be something there to stop this from happening again," the BBC reported Mr Webb as saying.
"[My son] died, stopped breathing under a 20-foot Sainsbury's sign. You tell me whose responsibility it is."
Source.
© 1997-2009 ninemsn Pty Ltd - All rights reserved
Thursday, 17 December 2009
European Network of Safety and Health Professional Organisations (ENSHPO)
Occupational safety and health is seen as a stand-alone area with no active co-ordination between OSH practitioners at either a national or European level. This inevitably leads to a lack of influence on the decisions being taken by social partners and governments.
In order to address some of these issues, the idea of bringing together occupational safety and health professional organisations across Europe was seen as a means of providing a collective voice, and the mechanism for doing this was achieved by creating the network.
The main objectives of ENSHPO are:
* to ensure participation from all of the professional organisations across Europe, including current Member States, new Member States, applicant countries and other European countries. - represents the views, opinions and concerns of this group
* to operate as a dialogue partner with relevant national and international authorities
* to co-operate with other organisations, institutions, and federations within Europe and beyond
* primarily to act as a forum where practitioners can exchange information, experiences and good practice on a wide variety of pertinent topics
* to develop a European-wide recognition of OSH practitioner qualifications and training
ENSHPO is an exciting forum which gives a voice to OSH professionals throughout the whole of Europe.
Find out more...
Case study: Ensuring occupational safety and health at Sauer Danfos a.s.
Name of the organisation:
Sauer Danfoss a.s.
Country:
Slovakia (Slovak Republic)
The issue
Work at a machinery and equipment production plant involves a large number of hazards that can put workers’ health and safety at risk. The primarily established risk assessment system in the company Sauer Danfoss a.s. was not effective enough so the company decided to upgrade it with the main aim to improve working conditions of employees by eliminating unfavourable aspects of working environment.
The action
The staff in the enterprise developed a new risk assessment procedure which was adjusted to specific needs of the company and a document called “OHS Risk Identification, Assessment and Control” was issued. The safety-technical service (BTS), the occupational health service (PZS) and employees on all levels were (and are) involved in the process of assessing risks and searching for solutions. Effective measures for the elimination of risks were found. For example a press with faulty handling was replaced by a press with two-handed handling, the cleaning and abrasion product technology by “rehashing” with steel taws has been replaced by isothermal cleaning and abrasion, the operator has been replaced by a robot and the operator is not endangered by burns anymore. The level of risks is regularly reviewed.
The results
The effective system of risk management with active employee participation is now in use. Effective measures for the elimination of risks are constantly being adopted and are regularly reviewed. Practice has shown that the costs invested in employee care are recovered in the form of increased performance and job satisfaction, and a reduction in the rate of injury and incapacity of employees.
Furthermore, the worker accident rate has been visibly reduced after implementing the measures. There were 3 serious working injuries and several injuries requiring the medical treatment reported in 2008. The company had still no working injury and just 2 cases of medical treatment in 2009.
Workers have the possibility through the representatives for safety to express their suggestions and comments, which are re-evaluated by the management and subsequently turned into effective measures to eliminate risks or a better quality of the working environment.
Source.
Sauer Danfoss a.s.
Country:
Slovakia (Slovak Republic)
The issue
Work at a machinery and equipment production plant involves a large number of hazards that can put workers’ health and safety at risk. The primarily established risk assessment system in the company Sauer Danfoss a.s. was not effective enough so the company decided to upgrade it with the main aim to improve working conditions of employees by eliminating unfavourable aspects of working environment.
The action
The staff in the enterprise developed a new risk assessment procedure which was adjusted to specific needs of the company and a document called “OHS Risk Identification, Assessment and Control” was issued. The safety-technical service (BTS), the occupational health service (PZS) and employees on all levels were (and are) involved in the process of assessing risks and searching for solutions. Effective measures for the elimination of risks were found. For example a press with faulty handling was replaced by a press with two-handed handling, the cleaning and abrasion product technology by “rehashing” with steel taws has been replaced by isothermal cleaning and abrasion, the operator has been replaced by a robot and the operator is not endangered by burns anymore. The level of risks is regularly reviewed.
The results
The effective system of risk management with active employee participation is now in use. Effective measures for the elimination of risks are constantly being adopted and are regularly reviewed. Practice has shown that the costs invested in employee care are recovered in the form of increased performance and job satisfaction, and a reduction in the rate of injury and incapacity of employees.
Furthermore, the worker accident rate has been visibly reduced after implementing the measures. There were 3 serious working injuries and several injuries requiring the medical treatment reported in 2008. The company had still no working injury and just 2 cases of medical treatment in 2009.
Workers have the possibility through the representatives for safety to express their suggestions and comments, which are re-evaluated by the management and subsequently turned into effective measures to eliminate risks or a better quality of the working environment.
Source.
Risk assessment tools database
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has developed a risk assessment tools database with tools from all over Europe. The database is regularly updated.
The most common risk assessment tools are checklists, which are a useful tool to help identify hazards. Other kinds of risk assessment tools include: guides, guidance documents, handbooks, brochures, questionnaires, and 'interactive tools' (free interactive software, including downloadable applications which are usually sector-specific). These tools can be either generic or branch/risk-specific.
Risk Assessment Tools Database
The most common risk assessment tools are checklists, which are a useful tool to help identify hazards. Other kinds of risk assessment tools include: guides, guidance documents, handbooks, brochures, questionnaires, and 'interactive tools' (free interactive software, including downloadable applications which are usually sector-specific). These tools can be either generic or branch/risk-specific.
Risk Assessment Tools Database
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
MP3 players face noise limits recommended by EU
The commission wants all MP3 players sold in the EU, including iPods, to share the same volume limits.
This follows a report last year warning that up to 10m people in the EU face permanent hearing loss from listening to loud music for prolonged periods.
EU experts want the default maximum setting to be 85 decibels, according to BBC One's Politics Show.
Users would be able to override this setting to reach a top limit of 100 decibels.
In January, a two-month consultation of all EU standardisation bodies will begin on these proposals, with a final agreement expected in the spring.
Read more...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
