Nov 2008
Vol 16, No. 2

NEWSLETTER____________________________________________________________________________
Contents
1-2
4-10
5-7
11
11-12
12-13
13-14
14-22

Letter from the Editor
News from the IOHA Board
News from Member Associations
News from ICOH
News from WHO and WHO CCs for Occupational
HealthNews from the ILO
News from the European Union
Contributions from Readers_______________________________________________

Letter from the Editor
Dear Colleagues
It is rewarding to receive an increasing number ofcontributions; this issue has so many interesting topics.
Many member associations sent news and this is importantto promote our sharing of knowledge and experiences
throughout the world. Let’s learn from one another.
The contribution concerning prevention of work-related
stress is very timely; occupational psychosocial risk factors,
although so important, are not yet recognized in many
countries, perhaps because the boundaries between
occupational and non-occupational causes are evendimmer than for other factors, such as chemicals, dusts
and noise.
Health is one and all its determinants should be of concern
for those engaged in protecting it. The effects of exposure
to all types of occupational risk factors, from chemicals,
dusts and physical agents, to biohazards and vegetable
dusts, to ergonomic and psychosocial factors, areinterlinked and effective approaches to ensure healthy andsafe workplaces should include a broad overview of all ofthem and their relation to work process, workplaces,
workers and surroundings.
Although occupational
hygienists are not ergonomists or work psychologists, theyshould be able to identify the occurrence of all categories
of occupational risk factors and recognize situations when
advice from specialists should be sought. Alice Hamilton
already foresaw the importance of a comprehensive
approach to protect workers’ health, as she wrote(Hamilton, 1943): “Even if we reach a point at which all
poisons and harmful dusts have been brought undercontrol, we shall still have to deal with that much more
baffling and widespread industrial evil, fatigue of “mind,
body and soul”.

Remembering Hamilton’s wise words so long ago(concerning what is considered now as an “emerging risk”),
makes me think of how far behind we are in applying what
is already known. This “search for the new”, this constantneed for more evidence before acting, and similar attitudes
have very often hindered real prevention. It is appalling
how many times nothing is done because “more evidence
is required”. Why search for more evidence concerning theneed to control hazards known for centuries, such as lead,silica, noise or heat ? Have we applied all that is known interms of hazards and their prevention ? Is anything over 5
years old really as dated as it is so often said (hence
discarded) ? How about the following examples ?
Charles Turner Thackrah, in 1831, published a book that
contained guidelines for the prevention of certain diseases,
through for example, the elimination of lead as a glaze inthe pottery industry; the use of ventilation and respiratory
protection to protect grinders, and change in the work
practices of tailors and in the design of their work stations
to eliminate their cramped postures. How advanced are wein substitution in 2008 ? How often are work practices
thoroughly analyzed and studied as a possibility for source
control before jumping to an “end of pipe” measure ?
Florence Nightingale wrote in 1859: “How much sickness,
death and misery are produced by the present state ofmany factories, warehouses, workshops, and workrooms!
... And the time will come when it will be found cheaper tosupply shops, warehouses and workrooms with pure air
than with foul air. Work people should remember that theirhealth is their only capital, and they should come to anunderstanding among themselves to secure pure air in theirplaces of work, which is one of the prime agents of health.”
Is “securing pure air” always done before “jumping” to thesimplistic approach of giving respiratory protection ? Are
all decision makers, including workers, thoroughly
persuaded of the paramount importance of prevention ?
Let’s give a greater priority to actually applying what is
known into realistic and efficient interventions at theworkplace level. I really believe that it is essential andtimely to think in terms of “less fact finding, more problem
solving”. In this respect, I was particularly happy to see theemphasis on “jumping to prevention” in the new approachin the Netherlands (do not miss their two articles in thisissue). Readers’ views, agreement or disagreement, onthese views will be most welcome. Let’s have a section on“Comments from Readers”.
I must say that, obviously, there are new risk factors thathave to be studied, for example, nano particles. In fact, I
do hope that those involved with this issue will always keep
in mind the “precautionary principle” to avoid the health__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 1 of 22

catastrophe that occurred with another “miracle”
technological material - asbestos, which unfortunately
turned out to be also a killer. I do hope my worries are
unfounded.
Last but not least, I am very sad to communicate that twocolleagues unfortunately passed away recently; both highly
regarded professionals and wonderful human beings. One
was Pierre Droz, from Lausanne, who did so much foroccupational hygiene in Switzerland and abroad. The
other, Dr Bernardo Bedrikow, an eminent Brazilian
occupational physician, always gave great importance tooccupational hygiene, having started a pioneer
multidisciplinary service in Brazil more than 40 years ago.

As always, I would like to thank colleagues who sent
contributions, and ask for comments and suggestions forthe improvement of the Newsletter.
Since the end of the year is fast approaching, I take thisopportunity to wish to you all a very happy Holiday Season.

Best greetings to all
Berenice Goelzer
berenice@goelzer.net

News from the IOHA Board
IOHA Role in Collaborating with the XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in Seoul, July 2008
Sent by Tai Wa TSIN (twtsin@netvigator.com)
and David ZALK (zalk1@llnl.gov)
This summer, ILO had the XVIII World Congress organised
in Seoul together with the Korean Occupational Safety and
Health Agency (KOSHA) and International Social Security
Association (ISSA). There were over 4,000 participantsfrom more than 100 countries attending the functions. The
Congress provided a forum for the exchange of new
information and practices with the aim of promoting safety
and health at work.
IOHA had been invited toparticipate in organising
the mini-symposia. We
had the opportunity to
chair
two
of
the
sessions.
Tai Wachaired the first session
on ‘Management of risks
in work environments –
SY04”
that
was
scheduled on 30 June
2008. The main theme
on Control Banding, i.e.
the session SY20 on the
4th International Control
Banding
Workshop(4ICBW): “Efforts forInternational
Control
Banding Toolkits”, was chaired by David on 1 July. In bothoccasions, there was good attendance in the lecturerooms.
Dr. Kang of KOSHA andTai Wa Tsin chairing the
Symposium 4

In the afternoon of 30 June, there were eight speakers andabout 100 audiences in the class. The presentations
covered various aspects in occupational safety and health.
They included topics from risk management, safety culture
and the like to the discussions on implementation of
Globally Harmonised System (GHS) by the member state(Japan) as well as the databank for searching of toxicity
data of chemical substances that was a major concern inmany countries. Some of the impressive talks on specificissues were about the design of an air-conditioning unit forvehicle cabin drivers in waste disposal sites and the review
of toxicology study in asbestos fibres. The ideas andfindings were sparkling. The Congress provided theplatform for sharing of the valuable experience among the
speakers and audience. There were quite a number ofpeople giving responses over the discussions but
unfortunately the time was very tight and people had tomove on the next function.
The 4ICBW on 1 July featured atruly international programmewithdistinguished,globally
recognized speakers. As an
example, both the keynote
speaker,
MarilynFingerhut
presenting a path forward for
GlobalRisk
Management
activities, and the ergonomics
presentation, Kazutaka Kogi
presenting the IEA and ILO
Dave
Zalk
efforts behind the Ergonomic
presenting a paper
Checkpoints, are both current
at the 4ICBW in
Vice Presidents of ICOH.
Seoul
Additionalpresentations
included IOHA’s efforts forControl Banding (CB) globally, the Construction Toolbox
which uses a Barrier Banding approach for injury
prevention, and UNITAR’s global GHS capacity building
programme. The excellent national presentations from
Korea and India led the roundtable discussion’s underlying
principle that an appropriate subtitle to the 4ICBW could
have been “beyond COSHH Essentials”. Korea, Brazil,
Chile, China, Singapore, and India all have begun thecreation of their own control guidance sheets (CGSs).
Models have also utilised CB within simplified risk
management
strategies
that
includetraditional
occupational
hygienemonitoring,as
economic
circumstances allow, by stratifying risk as part of an initial
workplacerisk
assessment.
Dr.
Balakrishnan’s
presentation highlighted important opportunities andlimitations of CB implementation. The regional workshop
model that occurred in Chennai, India presented an
excellent example of how the sharing of national CB efforts
in this event built strong partnerships and enhanced
opportunities for the creation of improved models and risk
management strategies. She also presented national
limitations in India, which are mirrored in most countries
worldwide, which are derivative of both the national__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 2 of 22

regulations and symptomatic of the lack of professional
occupational hygiene expertise. With India’s industrial
factories regulations and an occupational safety and healthbill in the making, the growing demands to control
exposures for a workforce growing 10-fold will require
simplification. At the heart of this dilemma is that the criticalmass of specialists necessary to do this is absent, as is theexpert guidance necessary to assist in implementing CB.
She has been a part of building a tiered system toaccomplish this, but to implement it as quickly as possible,
the existing Safety Engineer population of about 10,000
needs to be engaged in this process.

Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA), I am
certain that you will join me in the hope that this will be theirfirst of many collaborations with the IOHA. If you areinterested, the published abstracts, full papers, andpresentations can be made available upon request.
Many thanks to Dr. Seong-Kyu KANG (KOSHA) and Dr.
Jae-Kil JANG (KSOEH) who extended this invitation andgave us an opportunity to work together in organising these
symposia on behalf of IOHA. IOHA is continuously looking
forward to collaborating activities with other organisationsin promotion of occupational hygiene.

Perhaps you are not all aware that IOHA has played acentral leadership role in the organising of the ICBWs andthe resulting partnerships and collaborations that haveresulted. The past three ICBWs have been held in England(2002), the US (2004), and in South Africa (2005).
Therefore, it may come as no surprise that the 4ICBW also
succeeded in working toward the culmination or completionof the vast majority of IOHA obligations as an active NGO
member in the WHO Collaborating Centres for
Occupational Health (WHOCC) 2006 - 2010 Global Work
Plan. Further, the 4ICBW also fulfilled IOHA commitmentswith the International Technical Group on CB (ITG). Finally,
toward the growth of IOHA and the development of our
profession globally, it was a wonderful moment when TaiWa announced at the World Congress, on their home soil,that KSOEH is now the 26th member of IOHA. With
KSOEH’s significant role assisting in the organisation of the
4ICBW, performed in partnership with the Korea

IOHA Board Meeting, Geneva, 25-26 September 2008
Sent by Pamela Blythe, Executive Secretary, pamela.blythe@ioha.net

1)

2)

The meeting was held in Geneva and chaired by
Tom Grumbles (IOHA President) and attended byrepresentatives of ACGIH, the Australian, British,
Canadian, Finnish, Hong Kong, Italian, JAWE,
Korean, Malaysian, Norwegian, Southern Africanand Swiss organisations, with Pamela Blythe fromthe Secretariat in attendance and Deon Jensen
van Vuuren (Southern Africa) as an observer.
Apologies for absence had been received fromthe organisations in Germany, Hong Kong,
Ireland, Malaysia and New Zealand.
This was the first meeting attended by arepresentative of the Korean Society for
Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, which

had only recently been admitted to membership.
A short article on the Society will be included in aforthcoming issue of the Newsletter.
3)

8th IOHA Conference, 28 September-2 October
2010, Rome, Italy: Planning is now becoming
more detailed and focussed. Reports progress
will be provided to each future meeting of theBoard. A renewed call for Associations toparticipate in both the Organising and ScientificCommittees for the conference was made by
Danilo Cottica.

4)

The Board received a report on the sessions
IOHA had organised and papers it had delivered__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 3 of 22

5)

6)

7)

at the World Congress in Safety & Health, Korea
in July 2008 and ICOH 2009 in Cape Town.
Plans for the new website are advancing and it ishoped that it will be launched in the very near
future. It is planned that this site will be moreuser-friendly, maintained in a more timely mannerand a place for member associations to provide
information on local activities.
The regular report on activities of the National
Accreditation
Recognition
Committee
wasdiscussed. The Board endorsed the Committee
recommendations that (a) the Italian scheme berecognised; and (b) that the amended schemes
from ABIH and AIOH continue to be recognised.
As the meeting was held in Geneva, the Board
took the opportunity to invite and hold discussions
with three members of WHO staff, Evelyn Kortum,
Leslie Nickels and Susan Wilburn in order to bothstrengthen its ties with WHO and to facilitate goodworking relations.
8)

WHO staff informed the Board of the changes
being made to convert the workplans of the WHO
Collaborating Centres into the newly adopted
Global Plan of Action, and highlighted issues ofparticular interest to IOHA, and the meeting went
on to discuss and agree how IOHA’s input could
be best achieved.

9)Susan Wilburn will be attending the ICOH
Conference in Cape Town in March 2009 (where
the next IOHA Board Meeting) is being held andaccepted the Board’s invitation to attend themeeting as an observer.

10) The next meeting of the Board will be held on 22
March 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa at the
ICOH 2009 meeting.

News from Member Associations
From ACGIH - USA
Successful Defense of the Lawsuit
Sent by Tony Rizzuto, ACGIH Executive Director
E-mail: trizzuto@acgih.org
On 12 May 2008, Lawrence M. Gibbs, ACGIH Chair, on
behalf of the ACGIH Board of Directors, informed membersof the successful defense of the lawsuit brought against
ACGIH by the International Brominated Solvents
Association (IBSA), the National Mining Association (NMA),
Aerosafe Products, Inc., and Anchor Glass Container
Products, Inc.
In a summary judgment ruling issued on 6 May 2008, afederal judge in the United States District Court in Macon,
Georgia, dismissed the last of four counts of the lawsuit
against ACGIH(r). Three counts had been previously
dismissed in March 2005. The remaining count against
ACGIH for violations of Georgia's Uniform Deceptive Trade
Practices Act (UDTPA), O.C.G.A. §10-1-372, wasdismissed by Judge Hugh Lawson in a ruling that
represents a major victory for ACGIH and, particularly, theoccupational and environmental health community. The
count sought to prevent ACGIH from publishing its
Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) on the basis that they are“false and deceptive because they are not supported bycredible science”, and that “they disparage the goods,
services or business of another by false or misleading
representation of fact”. Further details on the ruling can befound at:http://www.acgih.org/ACGIH_Order_Granting_Summary_J
udgment.pdf
In its ruling, the Court stated that “ACGIH, a non-profit
association comprised of a group of scientists that adopts
workplace safety exposure levels, is more like an entity
designed to promote ideas than one that engages in
deceptive advertising in an effort to derive a financial
benefit”. Further, the Court “remains unconvinced that thecause of action created in the UDTPA should be able tostifle ACGIH's dissemination of its opinions as to what

exposure levels of certain substances are in fact safe”. The
Court then granted ACGIH's Motion for Summary
Judgment and denied the Plaintiff's Motion for Summary
Judgment.
This ruling confirms our long-held position that ACGIH has
the right to publish its scientific opinions that help provide
for a safer workplace. Occupational and environmental
health professionals need to know they can rely on theinformation and guidance provided by ACGIH.
After almost four years of enormous expenditure of ACGIH
financial and human resources in defending against thislitigation, this can be viewed as great news for the
association's members, for the continued freedom of
expression of scientific opinion, and for the entire
occupational and environmental health profession.
Although this was a lawsuit directed against the TLVs and
ACGIH, it could be viewed as a form of attack on the wholeprofession of industrial (occupational) hygiene. It illustrates
an attempt to weaken the scientific underpinnings of theprofession in which we practice. We must continue to be
vigilant against such directed actions that can, ultimately,
decrease the health and safety protection of workers in theoccupational environment.
It should be acknowledged that many ACGIH members
and leaders were directly involved in defense of thelawsuit, and had to endure many depositions and hearings;
they should be thanked for their dedication andperseverance throughout this three and a half year
process.
As with any district court ruling, the plaintiffs could havepursued an appeal of the Court's order; however, this was
not the case since the deadline to file such an appeal is__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 4 of 22

past so this lawsuit is officially over; ACGIH's right toexpress its scientific opinions fortunately prevailed. Had
IBSA, NMA or any of the other plaintiffs filed an appeal,
ACGIH would have continued a vigorous and thoroughdefense of its position.

For more information, please contact Tony Rizzuto(trizzuto@acgih.org)

From AIHA - USA
Sent by Steven Davis, AIHA Executive Director
E-mail: sdavis@aiha.org
Value of the IH Profession Study. Years in the making,the joint AIHA-ABIH study, Strategy to Demonstrate theValue of Industrial Hygiene, found that many businessleaders do not fully understand the value that industrial(occupational) hygiene brings to the business, and thatmany industrial (occupational) hygienists and occupational
health professionals do not understand how they add value
to the company’s business. The study also identifies astrategy industrial hygienists can use to make a businesscase for the value of their work.
The results of the study are available at: www.ihvalue.org.
AIHA plans to offer fee-based education programs tomembers and nonmembers that will provide more
information about how industrial hygienists can implement
the strategy in their companies.
International committee formed. The AIHA Board of
Directors created an International Program Development
Committee. Part of the committee’s initial focus will be torecommend international activities for 2009; solicit, review
and prioritize proposed activities to achieve AIHA's
international objectives; and set targets for recruitment andretention of international members.
International Affiliate Membership. In 2007, the AIHA
Board of Directors and membership approved a new classof membership: International Affiliate member.
An International Affiliate member is an individual who
resides in, and is a citizen of, a country defined by theWorld Bank as a low-income, lower-middle-income, or
upper middle-income economy, and who is practicing
occupational and environmental health and safety. An
International Affiliate member may not vote in associationelections or be elected to the Board of Directors, but may
serve on AIHA committees.
International Affiliate member dues are $47.50 for 2009(one-quarter of the dues for full membership). International
Affiliate members receive the following benefits:•

Online access to the Journal of Occupational andEnvironmental Hygiene and The Synergist•

Member discounts on AIHA products, services, andeducational programs

DREAM Workshop. The U.S. National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will present the2008 Direct-Reading Exposure Assessment Methods
Workshop, Nov. 13–14, at the Hilton Crystal City hotel.
AIHA is one of the co-sponsors of this workshop. The
workshop will gather stakeholder input from academia,
labor, management, developers, government agencies andmanufacturers on the research needs of direct-reading
methods for assessing occupational exposures.
AIHA Receives Gold Circle Honorable Mention. AIHA
was recently honored with a 2008 Communication Gold
Circle Award (GCA) Honorable Mention, the American
Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and The Center
for Association Leadership’s award recognizing innovativeideas and achievement in association communication
campaigns. Selected from 373 entries, recipients werechosen for demonstrating excellence in communication in
the categories of print publishing, writing, electronic
publishing, media relations, and emerging communication
vehicles.
AIHA received an honorable mention in the media relations
project category for their mock methamphetamine lab
exhibit at their annual conference in 2007. AIHA
constructed a mock clandestine drug lab that displayed thehousehold implements and chemicals commonly used to
manufacture methamphetamine. Industrial hygienists who
test meth lab sites for contamination and recommend
cleanup procedures were on hand to educate otherindustrial hygienists on how to properly assess health andsafety risks from these labs.
Industrial Hygiene Future/Scouting Workshop. In April
2008, AIHA hosted a workshop of leaders from AIHA,ACGIH®, the Academy of Industrial Hygiene, and theAmerican Board of Industrial Hygiene to scout the future ofindustrial hygiene practice. The workshop participants
forecast that over the next 10 years industrial hygiene
practice will become more interdisciplinary and global, withnew opportunities for leadership in nanotechnology, biomonitoring, infectious disease, emergency response andmanagement, climate change, risk assessment andsustainability. The results were a key consideration at the
AIHA Board of Directors strategic planning meeting.

•Member rates to attend AIHce and PCIH

Workshop participants identified several strategic priorities
critical to positioning the profession for the future, including:•Access to the Member Center on the AIHA website

1.

•

Participation in e-mail discussion groups and Special
Interest Groups

Development and harmonization of global standards ofpractice

2.

•

Free shipping on product orders

Identification and harmonization of required skills andcompetencies for the professional practice of IH in the
global community•

Opportunities to serve on AIHA Committees and other
Volunteer Groups

3.

Increased participation to represent health in green
and sustainability initiatives•

Access to the online AIHA Member Directory__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 5 of 22

4.

5.

Creation of a more collective professional voice and amore unified approach among U.S.-based IH
organizations
Revitalized professional education, training andlifelong learning in addressing required newcompetencies, skills and areas of specialization

OEHS Library Central. AIHA recently launched OEHS
Library Central, a digital library containing downloadable
research, information and resources for the occupational
health and safety professional, at: www.oehsLibrary.org.
OEHS Library Central offers downloadable versions of all
AIHA print publications and links to abstracting andindexing databases for more than 150 science andtechnical journals.
A variety of subscription options are available, including
single and multiple downloads for members andnonmembers. Abstracts and tables of content are available
for viewing free of charge. Hard copies of publications arestillavailable
atthe AIHA
Marketplace(http://iweb.aiha.org/iweb/Purchase/SearchCatalog.aspx?T
oken=). For more information, visit www.oehslibrary.org or
contact AIHA Customer Service at (703) 849-8888.
Distance Learning Catalog. The Fall 2008/Spring 2009
AIHA catalog has arrived and is packed with DVDs, Self
Study Workbook Courses and more. Designed to meet theeducational needs of those looking to maintain theircertification or further their careers, these self paced
professional development courses offer everything from acomprehensive review, to exam prep, to topic specificcourses - without the cost of travel.

TeleWebs. These live two-and-a-half-hour continuing
education events enable participation via the Internet,
phone, or by CD after the event. Presenters guideattendees through presentations, discuss topics, andanswer questions directly. Certification maintenance points
may be earned through individual or group participation.
Registration is now open for:November 18: Color Coding of Respirator Air Purifying
Elements: NIOSH Requirements and Limitations
CIH Prep Course. AIHA’s 2009 face-to-face course
schedule is being updated daily with a variety of topics andlocations. AIHA’s Comprehensive Industrial Hygiene
Review Course, featuring expert instructors and up-to-date
information, aims at preparing candidates for the CIH
exam. The course will be held March 30–April 3, 2009, andSeptember 21–25, 2009. Classes fill early, so reservations
should be made as soon as possible. More details at:www.aiha.org/content/CE/road/CIHreview.htm.
AIHce Professional Development Courses. Preview the
PDCs that will be available to attendees at the American
Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, Toronto,
Ontario, May 30–June 4, 2009. PDC registration opens in
December
2008(www.aiha.org/aihce09/education/pdcs2009.htm).

From AIOH - Australia
Sent by Gerard Tiernan, AIOH Newsletter Editor
E-mail: Gerard.Tiernan@dme.qld.gov.au

26th Annual Conference
Occupational Health Forensics: Analysing theevidence to make a difference.
Venue: Burswood Entertainment Complex29th
November – 3rd December 2008
REGISTRATION out NOW!!!
National review into model Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Laws
The Australian government’s Department of Education,
Employment and Workplace Relations is conducting anational review into model Occupational Health and Safety(OHS) Laws. This legislation is aimed at delivering a newnational independent body to lead and improve
occupational health and safety (OHS) and workers’
compensation arrangements in Australia. The body will becalled Safe Work Australia and will be an independent

statutory authority. It will have an independent chair andwill comprise of representatives of the Commonwealth,each state and territory, employers and unions. The
Australian Government will provide 50 per cent of thebudget and the states and territories will provide the otherhalf. The contribution of each state and territory will be
proportional to its population. One of Safe Work Australia’s
key functions will be to develop model OHS legislation for__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 6 of 22

adoption by all jurisdictions, delivering on the
Government’s commitment to harmonise OHS laws inAustralia. Successive Australian governments have been
attempting to provide uniform OH&S legislation for over 30
years with limited success. Politics and parochialism havethwarted these attempts and it is hoped that the mostrecent initiative will meet with more success.

Global Occupational Hygiene Training Initiative
The Global Occupational Hygiene Training Initiative
involves BOHS, AIOH, IOHA, University of Wollongong(UOW) and industry groups.
The concept of aninternational training initiative originated within an industry
group based in the UK however the project moved to amore structured phase following a proposal put to the AIOH
and the BOHS by Brian Davies (UOW) and Roger Alesbury(BP) in December 2007. At present, six occupational
hygiene training modules have been developed by the
University of Wollongong (Australia), Gully Howard
Technical (UK) and Associates in Acoustic Inc (USA) andare in various stages of trials.
Pilot modules of
Measurement of Hazardous Substances and Thermal
Environment have already been run at different locations
around the world (Australia, Azerbaijan & China) with athird module (Control of Hazardous Substances) to betrialed in London in December 2008.
It is anticipated that in 2009 six courses will be held at the
University of Wollongong on the following topics:
•
•
•
•
•
•

Measurement of Hazardous Substances
Thermal Environment
Noise-Measurement and its effects
Control of Hazardous Substances
Asbestos and other Fibres
Ergonomic Essentials

Details of the Wollongong courses can be found at:
http://www.uow.edu.au/health/healthsciences/ohspgprogra
mme/UOW042365.html

AIOH Position Papers
The AIOH is in the process of preparing a number of
position papers on occupational hygiene topics. To datepapers have been prepared on Diesel Particulate,
Inorganic Lead, Asbestos and Respirable Crystalline Silica.
The purpose of these position papers is to provide the

AIOH membership with an outline of the AIOH position on
an issue and to provide the general public with information
about an issue, particularly if it becomes prominent in the
media, as these issues do from time to time.

Gerry Coles - William D. Wagner Award Recipient
Gerry Coles, FAIOH, is the 2007 recipient of the American
Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists(ACGIH®) William D. Wagner Award. The William D.
Wagner Award was established in 2003 and is presented
annually to honour a person in the field of national andinternational worker health and safety who has followed Mr.
Wagner's outstanding example of commitment anddedicationtothecreationanddissemination of occupational exposure
values (OEVs). Gerry has served on theThreshold Limit Values for Physical
Agents (TLV®–PA) Committee since
1969!!

Queensland Mining Health Improvement and Awareness Committee
Queensland is one the leading mining states in Australia.
A review of the Queensland Department of Mines andEnergy recommended that there was a need to upgrade
the management of health hazards in mining. An initiative
was therefore put in place to establish a tri-partite
Committee to combine efforts to reduce health risks inalways been dedicated to the pursuit and management ofsafety hazards needs to be devoted to managing healthhazards in mining.
The Committee will enable themining. The Queensland Mining Health Improvement andAwareness Committee (HIAC) was established to assist
industry anticipate, identify, evaluate and control healthhazards in the mining environment. Health and safety
management efforts in mining have traditionally focused onsafety aspects. The same vigour and effort that has
inspectorate, unions and industry to work in unison toprovide a greater emphasis on worker health and theprevention of illness and disease.

AIOH School Noise Training Program
Julia Norris MAIOH, has developed a school noise training
program. The package is aimed at 11-12 year old school
children and is designed to give them some understandingof what noise is and how excessive noise exposure canaffect their hearing (with particular reference to iPods andMP3 players). The AIOH sponsored the equipment used in
the training program and Julia has kindly donated thetraining package to the AIOH for members to use inproviding voluntary training to school age children. Julia
and Kelly Sutherland have presented the package to over
170 school children in Western Australia and have received
a very positive response. Further information may beobtained from Julia Norris at: julia.norris@swohs.com.au or
the AIOH office at: admin@aioh.org.au.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 7 of 22Vibration Seminar
The AIOH’s latest seminar series was on human vibration. The seminar was presented by Mr. Beno Groothof in Brisbane,
Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth throughout October.

From The Netherlands
Prevention specialist – present and future
Sent by Ton Spee
Chair, DOHS Foreign Affairs Committee
E-mail: spee@arbouw.nl
The councils of the three Dutch societies, aiming at
improving working conditions through prevention, namely
the Dutch Occupational Hygiene Society, Dutch Society for
Safety Science and Dutch Professional Society for Workand Organisation Specialists, have set the course for the
future of prevention specialists. Two important reasons
have prompted them to do so.
1. Working conditions legislation has changed
stfundamentally as from the 1 January, 2007. Briefly
speaking, the government sets the goals for working
conditions, and employers and employees decide how toachieve them. As the ultimate consequence, for example,
nearly all limit values for substances are withdrawn. The
goal, set by the government, is to prevent healthimpairment. Employers and employees together determine
how to achieve this goal. This creates great opportunities
for the occupational hygienist and other prevention

specialists, since working conditions policies should now
be more tailored in this situation.
2. On the other hand, unfortunately many employers still
consider that working conditions policies constitute aburden rather than a benefit. This is not new, but in asituation with more responsibility for the employer this canbe a serious threat to fair working conditions and to theposition of those who “sell” these principles. This has led tothe question of how the market response to prevention
specialists can be improved.
The report describes the common course for the threesocieties. An executive summary of the report is presented
in this issue of the Newsletter, under “Contributions from
Readers”. Reactions and comments from readers aremost welcome.

From JAWE – Japan
Japan Association for Working Environment Measurement (JAWE) - Ordinary General Meeting of the fiscal
year 2008
Sent by Masayoshi Karasawa
Special Adviser of JAW,
director@jawe.or.jp
The Japan Association for Working Environment
Measurement held the Ordinary General Meeting of the
fiscal year 2008, on 23 May 2008, in Tokyo , with theobjective of approving the business report and theaccounting report for the fiscal year 2007, the JAWE
programme and the budget for the fiscal year 2008, as well
as holding a new election of Directors of JAWE who
finished their term of two years. The Meeting was attended
by 685 full members of JAWE, including the ones who
entrusted the proxy vote to the Chairperson.

709 Licensed Industrial Hygienists inthe field of Working Environment
measurement or other competentanalytical specialists (about 8%
increase compared with last year),belonging to 438 analytical agencies,in theoretical training courses, and,227 ones (about 13% decrease
compared with last year), belonging
to 198 analytical agencies, inpractical training courses.

Mr. Kizoh
Hirayama
presenting the
opening
address

At the beginning of the Meeting, Mr. Kizoh Hirayama(Managing Director, General Manager, Personnel & Labour
Relations Division, Nippon Steel Corporation), Chairpersonof JAWE, presented the opening address and stated that
JAWE conducted successfully all projects that wereplanned for the fiscal year 2007, including the New General
Accuracy Control Project, and maintained a good balance
between income and expenditure2) JAWE conducted the Cross Check
Project concerning the Evaluation ofAsbestos in Bulk and Airborne
Samples (see article on this subject on the April 2008
issue of this Newsletter plus its continuation in this issue,
under Contributions from Readers)

Next, Mr. Hiroshi Ozoe, the Executive Director of JAWE,
explained the business report and the accounting report for
the fiscal year 2007 as well as the business programme
and the budget for the fiscal year 2008 of JAWE. He stated
that, in the fiscal year 2007:

3) Conducted a new course, namely the “Specialized
Continuing Education and Training Course on Risk
Assessment and Risk Management of Chemical
Substances and other Environmental Factors” (seespecific article on this subject in this issue of theNewsletter).

1) Under the trust of the Ministry of Health, Labour andWelfare, Japan, JAWE trained, with regard to asbestos,__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 8 of 22

Moreover, he explained that, in the business programme
for the fiscal year 2008, the following projects have been
incorporated:
A.

B.
C.

Disease Prevention Plan, based on the Occupational
Safety and Health Law, from the fiscal year 2008 to 2012,
in order to cope effectively with the recent occupationalsafety and health problems in Japan. Its targets include:

A new Continuing Education Training Course,
using the “Handbook for Risk Assessment andRisk Management of Chemical Substances andother Environmental Factors” consisting of 41hours/points, as the part of total 80 hours/points
for the second year of the said Training Course,

1)

To have the number of fatalities due to occupational
accidents or diseases decreased by 20 % or more, ascompared with 2007.

2)

To have the number of occupational injuries
decreased by 15 % or more, as compared with 2007.

A new General Accuracy Control Project
conducted independently by JAWE, as before.

3)

To reverse the present tendency of increase in theprevalence of occupational health impairment, as
disclosed by periodical medical examinations, thus
improving Workers’ Health, through the promotion of
measures foreseen in the Prevention Plan.

An advanced training course on the Evaluation ofAsbestos in Bulk Materials, as well as an accuracy
control project, by cross-check of bulk blindsamples (e.g., construction materials containing
asbestos) and airborne blind samples.

At the end of the General Meeting, the new election of
Directors of JAWE was held; Mr. Kizoh Hirayama wasreelected as the Chairperson of JAWE and Mr. Hiroshi
Ozoe was reelected as the Executive Director of JAWE.
Last March, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare,thJapan, announced the 11 Occupational Accident and

JAWE, as an association, would like to contribute as muchth
as possible to the success of the 11 Occupational
Accident and Disease Prevention Plan.

.

Japan Association for Working Environment Measurement (JAWE): New Specialized Continuing Education
Training Course
The Japan Association for Working Environment
Measurement (JAWE), whose Chairperson is Mr. Kizoh
Hirayama, Managing Director, General Manager,
Personnel & Labour Relations Division, Nippon SteelCorporation, according to its business programme for the
fiscal year 2007, conducted for the first time the“Specialized Continuing Education and Training Course on
Risk Assessment and Risk Management of Chemical
Substances and other Environmental Factors”, using the“Handbook for Risk Assessment and Risk Management ofChemical Substances and other Environmental Factors”,
which JAWE published last May. The participants werelicensed Occupational/Industrial Hygienists in the field of
Working Environment Measurement and other equally or
more competent persons. The course took place at the
Quality and Precision Control Centre of JAWE.
This New Specialized Education and Training Course will
be developed, in the future, into a new certification system
by JAWE having as a tentative title: “Professional
Occupational/Industrial Hygienist, specialized in the field ofrisk assessment and risk management of chemical
substances and other environmental factors”. The objectiveof launching this new certification system will be to have it
eventually approved as a “Recognized National
Occupational/Industrial Hygiene Accreditation Scheme” by
the National Accreditation Recognition Committee of theInternational Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA),
provided that the necessary conditions are satisfied.
The first trial of the “Specialized Continuing Education andTraining Course on Risk Assessment and Risk
Management of Chemical Substances and otherthEnvironmental Factors” was conducted by JAWE from 12th
to 14 March 2008; it consisted of 22 hours/points, as partof a total of 80 hours/points for the whole course, andincluded subjects such as the following:•

Background, concept and principles of soundcontrol and management of chemical substances,
biological factors and other environmental factors
Occupational Safety and Health Management
System and the sound control of chemical
substances and other environmental Factors
Related international conventions, protocols,
Directives,
standards,
recommendations,guidelines
International and domestic sources of information
regarding chemical safety data as well as
biological agents safety data
State and practice of management system forsound control of chemical substances andbiological agents in establishments
Evaluation of hazards in work environment

•

•

•

•

•

The complete and detailed Curriculum of this course canbe obtained from the author of this article (Mr. Karasawa,
Special Adviser of JAWE).
The qualifications of the 42 participants in this Course (41of whom completed the 22 hours) were the following:•••

36 licensed Industrial Hygienists in the field of
Working Environment Measurement (8 licensed
Occupational Hygiene Consultants, 12 licensed
Health Supervisors, 2 Chemical Substances
supervisors);
3 licensed health supervisors;
1 occupational physician, and 2 others.

At the beginning of the first day of the course, Mr. Hiroshi
Ozoe, the Executive Director of JAWE, in his opening
address, welcomed all the participants and then stated that
this “Specialized Continuing Education and Training
Course” was a first trial, and did not mean the launching ofa new certification system by JAWE, at the present time.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 9 of 22

Nevertheless, JAWE is considering the development ofsuch a certification system in future.
The first lecture was presented by Dr. Haruhiko Sakurai,
Chairperson of the “JAWE Expert Committee on Risk
Assessment and Risk Management of Chemical
Substances and other environmental factors”, Director of
Occupational Health and Research Centre, Japan
Industrial Safety and Health Association (JISHA), Professor
Emeritus of Keio University. He explained the importanceof this Course, introduced related articles previously posted
on IOHA Newsletters, and mentioned the circulation of
relevant information to the IOHA Board Members andMembers of the IOHA National Accreditation Recognition
Committee. In addition, Professor Emeritus Haruhiko
Sakurai lectured on the background, concept and principles

of sound control and management of chemical substances,
biological factors
and
other
environmental
factors.
JAWE Course
JAWE will continue
this course in thenext fiscal year
2008, including additional subjects and topics, which were
not in the curriculum of this first Course.

2008 William P. Yant Award
Our colleague from France, Guy Bourgeoisat, an IOHA
Board Member, received the prestigious 2008 Yant Award;
this was so well deserved. Guy has promoted Occupational
Hygiene in France with great enthusiasm andperseverance; he is a founding member of SOFHYT(French Occupational Hygiene Society), of which he waspresident, three times in a row.

hereby presented; thefull lecture will be
published in the AIHA
Journal, or can beobtainedfromtheauthor.

An abstract of his Yant Lecture, entitled “Occupational
Health in France… Is a paradigm change coming?” is

Occupational Health in France… Is a paradigm change coming?
Abstract
Sent by Guy Bourgeoisat
E-mail: guy.bourgeoisat@orange.fr
In 1900, an industrial hygiene committee is created by the
Ministry of Labor and, in 1905, the first educational
programme was developed at CNAM in Paris for the
improvement of hygienic conditions in workshops. In 1908,an industrial hygiene institute was founded, dedicated tosanitation and prevention of occupational diseases. Since
then, under the influence of unions, employers andgovernment, the situation worsened with time and thesystem turned from technical and medical to purely
medical, with the introduction of occupational medicine in1946.
Later on and despite two major sanitary catastrophes (e.g.,
exposure to silica in the mining industry and exposure toasbestos) and the issue of European directives pushing forthe introduction of occupational hygiene, occupational
medicine continued to prevail in the Ministry of Labour; weare not yet ready for a change of paradigm. In 1989, theissue of the European Framework Directive 89/391 was the
beginning of a change in Europe.
Two independent events occurred in France. Firstly, agroup of hygienists - mainly from industry, associations andgovernmental institutes, believed that this directive was a
new start for primary prevention and the introduction ofoccupational hygiene in France. In 1991, SOFHYT, theFrench Occupational Hygiene Society was founded. André
Joly, SOFHYT first president, was a leader in making theSociety known in France, through activities such as theannual SOFHYT Forum, occupational hygiene training andworking groups.

Secondly, afterwards, in 1992, the CNAM opened the first
IHIE (Institute for Industrial Hygiene and Environment) in
Lyon. In 1996, with the support of a number of professors,
CNAM IHIE accepted that occupational hygienists from
SOFHYT participated in the elaboration of a new
educational programme. Taking advantage of the two-year
education program in industrial health in the USA and his
experience in the field, Guy Bourgeoisat could share a lot
with CNAM-IHIE about education, methods and work
practices in industry.
Since then, the association
SOFHYT-IHIE has further developed; the educational
programme is now registered in the National Register ofProfessional Certification - Level 1, and an International
Professional Certification programme according to the
IOHA format is under development. SOFHYT has recently
participated in numerous committees and work groups at
the national level.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 10 of 22

News from ICOHth

29 ICOH International Congress on Occupational Healthth

The 29triennial Congress of the International
Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH2009) will beheld in Cape Town, South Africa from 22-27 March, 2009.
The Scientific Program has been posted on the website(www.icoh2009.co.za), and the Call for Abstracts has been
issued, with an end date of 21 July 2008 for receipt of
Abstracts.
Early bird registration ends 30 April, 2008. Grants areavailable for some presenters from developing nations. A

student prize will be awarded. Please quickly send in your
Abstract and alert your colleagues. Two page brochurescontaining the scientific sessions and other key details canbe downloaded from the website for printing anddistribution.
Please, note that the CALL FOR ABSTRACTS is from now
through 31 July 2008;
Details on the site: www.icoh2009.co.za

News from WHO and WHO CCs for Occupational
HealthMeeting of the Planning Committee of the Global Network of WHO Collaborating Centres in Occupational
HealthSent by Evelyn Kortum, WHO
E-mail: kortume@who.int
The Planning Committee Meeting, which took place on 15–
16 September 2008, was hosted by the Institute andOutpatient Clinic for Occupational and Environmental
Medicine in Munich, Germany. The 18 meeting participants
discussed the WHO priorities of the Global Plan of Action
on Workers' health 2008-2017. The priorities until 2012were discussed and proposed for the Global Network ofCollaborating Centres in Occupational Health. Draft plans

were established and CC Directors will be invited torespond with the contributions from their Centres in the
coming weeks.
It was announced that the next Global WHO CC meeting
will be held at HQ in September 2009 instead of in Cape
Town in March 2009 as initially planned.

Collaboration between IOHA and WHO
Sent byLeslie Nickels, Chicago School of Public Health, University of Illinois
Great Lakes Center of Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health (WHO CC)
E-mail: lnickels@uic.edu
For many years IOHA has been an NGO in official relations
with WHO. As the professional organization of occupational
hygienists worldwide IOHA collaborates with WHO for
improving working conditions, particularly by primaryprevention of occupational diseases and accidents, byintroducing innovative methods for assessing andmanaging occupational risks, and by training of experts,
workers and employers.
On 25 September 2008 members of the Board of IOHA
met with experts from the WHO Global Occupational
Health Programme to discuss future collaboration in thecontext of the WHO Global Plan of Action on Workers'
Health that was endorsed by the World Health Assembly in2007. This plan places a renewed emphasis on primaryprevention of occupational diseases and injuries in theactivities to protect and promote workers' health. Therefore,
the expertise of IOHA in occupational hygiene is an
important asset to WHO's activities in implementing thisplan of action.

It was agreed that over the next three years IOHA's
collaboration with WHO would concentrate on developing
practical tools for assessment and control (control banding)of occupational risks, including silica and asbestos
essentials, on reviewing the methods of work for basic
occupational health services, and on building humanresource capacities in occupational hygiene throughnetworking and reaching of to developing countries. In
addition, IOHA was invited to participate in reviewing
guidelines on “Natural Ventilation for TB” and “General
Respiratory Protection for TB”, as well as in incorporatingthoccupational causes of diseases in the 11 revision of theInternational Classification of Diseases (ICD 11). IOHA willcontinue to play an active role in the work of the WHO
Global Network of Collaborating Centers, which work
together to address the objectives of the Global Plan of
Action.
Further information on these initiatives or on the Global
Plan of Action for Workers’ Health may be obtained fromochmail@who.int or workershealth@who.int.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 11 of 22

Indian academics visit the NIOH in South Africa – an activity of the WHO CC in OH Global Network Plan
(2006-2010)
Sent by Claudina Nogueira
Section of Communication and International Liaison
National Institute for Occupational Health, NIOH (WHO CC), South Africa
E-mail: claudina.nogueira@nioh.nhls.ac.za
As part of Activity Area 4: Education, Training andTechnical Materials (NIOH Project CE3a - Developing
capacity in biological monitoring in occupational andenvironmental health) of the WHO CC Global Network
Plan, the Analytical Services Section of the National
Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH) in Johannesburg
hosted three academic visitors from India during the monthof May 2008. Dr Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay, Mr Ayyappam
Ramalingam and Mr Venkatesan Dhaas from the
Department of Environmental Health Engineering (headedby Prof Kalpana Balakrishnan) of Sri Ramachandra
University (a WHO CC in OH and an ILO-CIS Information
Centre), Chennai, India, spent three weeks at the NIOH.
During their stay, the academic visitors received practicaltraining in laboratory techniques to measure chemical
exposures in biological and environmental samples, foroccupational and environmental health assessments, andDr Mukhopadhyay and Mr Ramalingam gave twopresentations at a special NIOH Research Forum session,
titled “An overview of occupational health status in India”
and “Development of simple guidance (risk management
toolkit) for controlling occupational exposure – an Indian
occupational perspective”, respectively.
The visiting academics received most of their training in thespecialized laboratories of the Analytical Services Section,
but also visited other sections of the NIOH to become

familiar with the research and routine work of the Institute.
While in South Africa, they visited the refinery ofRustenburg Base Metals Mine in the North West Province.
This collaboration with Sri Ramachandra University was
initiated in 2007 with the main objective of establishing thefirst biological monitoring laboratory in India, and is part ofa proposed long-term collaborative programme with India,
for capacity-building in occupational health. The NIOH (adesignated WHO CC in OH since 2005) is actively involvedin supporting occupational health development and building
networks globally, and the collaboration with India is agood example of this commitment and core function.
Training programmes are planned for late 2008 and 2009;
these will be joint efforts between various WHO CC in OH(HSL-UK, NIOH-SA and Sri Ramachandra UniversityIndia), and will incorporate seminars and workshops on“Biological monitoring of chemical exposures in theworkplace”, which will be partly sponsored by the British
Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS).

News from the ILO
Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health adopted at the Safety and Health Summit (Seoul, 29 June)
Sent by Seiji Machida, ILO
E-mail: machida@ilo.org
The
First
Safetyand
Health Summit
was held on 29
June 2008, on
the occasion of
the XVIII World
Congresson
Safety and Health at Work, jointly organized by theInternational Labour Office, the International Social
Security Association (ISSA) and the Korea Occupational
Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA), with the participationof senior professionals, employers' and workers'
representatives, social security representatives, policymakers and administrators.
The discussions at the Summit and the Seoul Declaration
adopted by the Summit reflected the latest developments
particularly the Global Strategy on Safety and Healthadopted by the 2003 International Labour Conference. The
importance of promoting OSH as the responsibility ofsociety as a whole relates to the creation of national
preventative safety and health culture which is emphasized

by the Global Strategy on OSH and the Convention
No.187. The promotion of systems approach to OSH isunderlined. The recent ILO Governing Body debates also
called for the promotion of ILO Guidelines on OSH
management systems (ILO-OSH 2001). These all follows
the concept of continuous improvement and participation of
all concerned.
The Declaration calls for the ratification of ILO OSH
Conventions particularly Convention No.187 as a means toimprove OSH in a systematic way. The importance ofenforcement system is highlighted as the regulatory
requirements and their implementation are the basis ofgood workplace action for prevention. As all the practicalaction has to be taken at the level of workplace as acollaborative effort of employers and workers, theDeclaration specifies the actions to be taken by social
partners.
It is significant that 46 world leaders gathered anddiscussed on occupational safety and health.
Theyreconfirmed that the right to safe and healthy working
environment should be recognized as a fundamental__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 12 of 22human right. In the Seoul Declaration, they expressed thecommitment to take the lead in promoting a preventative
safety and health culture and placing OSH high on national
agendas.

The full text of the Seoul Declaration is available online, in
10 languages, at:
http://www.issa.int/aiss/Resources/ConferenceReports/Seoul-Declaration-on-Safety-and-Health-at-Work

News from the European Union
Sent by Birgit Müller, EU-OSHA
E-mail: muller@osha.europa.eu

European Week aims at cutting workplace accidents and diseases
Organised by the European Agency for Safety and Healthat Work (EU-OSHA), the European Week for Safety and
Health at Work took place from 20-24 October 2008, aspart of the Healthy Workplaces campaign on risk
assessment. During this week, hundreds of campaign
events were staged across all EU Members States,
including conferences and exhibitions, training sessions
and other activities where both large and small companies
worked together. The common theme linking all these
events was the promotion of the importance of assessing
health and safety risks, with a view to reducing the numberof work-related accidents and illnesses in every workplace.
EU-OSHA has also produced a new report on “Risk
Assessment” to showcase practical ways in which
workplace risks can be managed and reduced.
Jukka Takala, Director of EU-OSHA, says: “Every threeand-a-half minutes somebody in the EU dies from workrelated causes and every four-and-a-half seconds an EU
worker is involved in an accident that forces them to stay athome for at least three working days*. This is
unacceptable! We need a change, and this change starts
with assessing workplace risks. We have to makeemployers, workers, safety representatives and policy
makers aware that proper risk assessment is the key togood workplace safety and health management.”

The success of the Healthy Workplaces campaign and its
European Week is largely due to the support of the EUOSHA network of focal points in the 27 EU Member States
and accession countries. The contribution of many local
and regional initiatives carried out by trade unions,enterprises, NGOs and government administrations also
play an important role. All these activities show thatworkplace accident and illness prevention is a top priority inEurope.
The newly published Risk Assessment Magazine is one ofmany initiatives to increase awareness about theimportance of proper risk management. It shows examplesof good practice by government ministries, employers’organisations and trade unionists from across Europe to
improve workplace risk management.
More details can be found in the Press Release at:
http://osha.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/eu-healthand-safety-week-launched-to-reduce-workplace-accidentsand-diseases
Moredetailsonthecampaign
at:http://osha.europa.eu/en/campaigns/hw2008/

Healthy Workplaces: Get involved with new campaign material!
For the promotion of the risk assessment campaign new
sector posters are available for download in 22 languages:
agriculture, education and construction.

Posters on risk assessment are available at:
http://osha.europa.eu/en/campaigns/hw2008/campaign/ew
08_sectorial_posters

A new video explains the main objectives of the Risk
assessment campaign and includes EU statistics on
workplace accidents and good practice examples fromdifferent Member States. The video is available in English
and French.

Videos (and other useful material) are available at:
http://www.tvlink.org/vnr.cfm?vidID=289

The practical prevention of risks from dangerous substances at work
The EU-OSHA publication “The practical prevention of risks
from dangerous substances at work” is highly
recommended; it contains a series of very useful casestudies on practical solutions. It is available, free of chargeat:http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/reports/106__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 13 of 22

EU-OSHA Annual report 2007: bringing safety and health closer to European workers
As a key player in the implementation of the newCommunity Strategy for Health and Safety at Work (20072012), EU-OSHA’s annual report provides a concise
overview of its activities in 2007. Highlights of the year
include the extension of its European and global networks,
the ‘Lighten the load campaign’ and the Healthy Workplace
Initiative, as well as research into new and emerging
workplace risks.

A summary of the Annual Report 2007 is available at:
http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/annual_report/issue_
annual_report_2007
The full Report is available at:
http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/annual_report/2007fu
ll/view

Report - Protecting workers in hotels, restaurants and catering
The hotel, restaurant and catering sector (HORECA) plays
an important role in the service industry and in the EU
economy as a whole. Employing more than 7.8 million
people, mostly young and low skilled people in theEuropean Union, it is important to manage the risks andprevent the causes of accidents and ill health among theseworkers. The report gives information relating to
occupational safety and health in HORECA, highlights key

risk prevention measures and provides an overview ofgood practices at policy and workplace level.
The Report is available at:
http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/reports/TE7007132E
NC_horeca
The
factsheetisavailableat:
http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/factsheets/79/view

New document of the European Commission on “Improving quality and productivity at work”
Sent by Kurt Leichnitz, IOHA Board Member
E-mail: Kurt.Leichnitz@t-online.de
This document, which appeared in the Official Journal of
the European Union (C 224, 30.8.2008), states thefollowing:
Health and safety at work should be seen as a key factor
for economic growth and productivity. It involves
considerable costs and the losers are not just businesses
and workers but society as a whole. These costs need tobe better analysed. This is important in that it would show
how much insufficient safety at work and a bad working
environment cost all the parties concerned and thus reduce
productivity.
By means of coordinating EU-Community policies todevelop a culture of risk prevention, training programmes
must be launched and stepped up, building on local,
regional and national experience, while taking risk
prevention into account in educational programmes —starting from nursery education, and including basic andvocational training — and ensuring coordination with publichealth policies.
Promoting health and safety at work and ensuring it on apermanent basis is one of the conditions for protecting andpreserving employees' health. It is also cost-effective.
Prevention is one of the main means of achieving this.
Prevention — as the approach which offers the best returnon investment –, together with proper standards ofprotection in all workplaces, yields significant long-term
returns or savings, including for major
healthcare and welfare systems and accident insurance
premiums for companies or other costs directly or indirectly
related to the effects of accidents at work.
Scientific methods must be used to assess new workrelated risks, such as occupational stress or new arduous
conditions. The psychosocial and physical repercussions of
new fields of work and conditions on employees must be
examined using scientific methods; to this end, newindicators must be developed.
In
international
policies,
adoptionofILO
measures/recommendations must be encouraged together
with EU achievements such as REACH. Policies andlegislation on reducing hazards and illnesses caused byasbestos, carcinogenic materials, and silicon must be
developed.

Contributions from Readers
FROM CANADANew Guidance Documents by IRSST, Canada
Sent by Maura Tomi, Communications Division, IRSST
E-mail : mautom@irsst.qc.ca
The prevention of work-related stress
The Quebec Occupational Health and Safety ResearchInstitute (IRSST) has just published a research report on
the strategic approach to preventing occupational stress,

an important issue since 30.8% of Canadians workers
declare that most of their working days are considerably or
extremely stressful.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 14 of 22

The stress at work is related to several problems ofworkers’ health, low job satisfaction and a reduced
productivity. These negative consequences for employees
affect the success of organisations and their competitiveedge in the marketplace. Even if the employer cannot
protect employees from the sources of stress arising intheir private lives, he can protect them from sources ofstress emerging in the workplace. Given the scale of the
problem and the costs associated with stress in theworkplace, a number of organisations would like toimplement measures with a view to either training
individuals to cope better with stress or reducing thesources of stress in the work environment.
This research project has two main objectives:••

Assisting organisations in order to document thedevelopment and implementation process ofinterventions to prevent work-related stress;
Evaluatingtheeffectivenessofstressinterventions aiming at reducing the exposure to
psychosocial risks in the workplace, and in
improving psychological health and wellbeing.

The study published by the IRSST demonstrates that theinterventions targeting the reduction of the risks to thesource tend to decrease the constraints of the working
environment.
The report is available for free download at:
http://www.irsst.qc.ca/files/documents/PubIRSST/R-577.pdf
Prevention Guide - Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs
This guide sets out a Committee’s recommendations
regarding how to safely handle hazardous drugs. The

committee included professionals and stakeholders fromthe health care network. While this guide is primarily
intended for health care workers, some recommendations
apply to users of the health care network and their families.
The use of hazardous drugs, particularly antineoplastic
drugs used in oncology, is increasing because there has
been an increase in the number of cancer cases. On theother hand, the hazardous drugs used are more potent andare more often used in combination and at higher doses. In
hospitals, antineoplastic drugs are most often used in thepharmacy, oncology units, some outpatient clinics, theoperating room and care units. In the United States it isestimated that during the course of their work 5.5 million
workers are exposed to hazardous drugs or their wastes.
Exposure is possible throughout the medication circuit in
the hospital or at home. The medication circuit includes allof the steps through which drugs travel – from receiving
dock to the storage facility – as well as its preparation,
administration, elimination in the excreta and in its waste. A
number of individuals may be exposed throughout thiscircuit: the transport and receiving workers, pharmacists,
physicians, nurses and patient service associates involvedin patient care following the administration of hazardous
drugs.
To download, visit:
http://www.irsst.qc.ca/files/documents/PubIRSST/CG572.pdf
Contact details:
Communications Division, IRSST
http://www.irsst.qc.ca/en/home.html

FROM INDIA

Safety and Work Discipline
Sent by Prof C G Pandya
Ahmedabad, India
E-mail: cgpandya@yahoo.com
While almost all modern equipment in industrializedcountries are now being designed to take care of safetysystems, a very large number of factories and construction
sites in the developing countries, especially in the small
and medium sector, are still operating with limited
understanding about occupational safety standards. Again,
the manual operations involved in most of these small andmedium scale enterprises do not have adequate safety
training for workers.

trained workers all through the operations, has helped me
to ensure safety at work. Younger workers have atendency to work fast and skip a few points during checks
and cross-checks designed to ensure safe operations. In
respect to a lot of older workers, there is that problem offorgetting. A full check, ticking off each point against theitems involved as per the work schedule and a working
discipline that does not permit any lapses in the system will
help appreciably.

The only way one can ensure safety at work is to develop
and train these workers with a system that involves both
work documentation and discipline. My experience ofworking on the aircraft systems has shown me the correct
way to work. A very systematic schedule of operations
involved, coupled with working discipline in respect ofThere are many things that need improvement in work
operations. Starting with work discipline and a foolproof
documentation, one can keep on improving systems sothat, in the ultimate analysis, the desired levels of safety
can be actually reached.

Results of the Cross Check Project concerning the Evaluation of Asbestos in Bulk Samples and in
Airborne Samples, conducted by JAWE in the fiscal year 2007
Sent by Masayoshi Karasawa, Special Adviser,
The Japan Association for Working Environment Measurement (JAWE)
e-mail: director@jawe.or.jp
According to the business programme of the fiscal year
2006, JAWE, whose Chairman is Mr. Kizoh Hirayama,

Managing Director, General Manager, Personnel & Labour
Relations Division, Nippon Steel Corporation, conducted__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 15 of 22

(Chairman, Professor Toshio Nagoya, Waseda University)organized by JAWE. As previously explained, the mostdifficult samples are ranked as A, intermediately difficult
samples are ranked as B, and moderately easy samples
are ranked as C.

independently, for the first time in Japan, a nationwide“Accuracy Control Project by Cross-check of Blind Samples
for the Evaluation of Asbestos Contents in weight”, in Bulk
Samples and Airborne Samples. This study was presented
on the IOHA Newsletter of April 2008 and was continued in
the fiscal year 2007, this time using both blind bulk
samples and blind airborne samples in the three categories
A, B and C. This kind of Cross Check Project is foundrarely in the international community.
The purpose as well as the target group for this project
were as the same as for the first one.

In the fiscal year 2007, JAWE prepared the kinds of blindsamples of both bulk and airborne samples, ranked as A, B
and C and distributed the bulk samples or airborne
samples, or both, to the participants according to thescheme instructed by JAWE and their own applicants.
Then, the participants conducted analyses of contents inweight of asbestos by X-ray absorption correction
employing a metal plate substrate standard, utilizing an Xray diffraction (XRD) method (including the identification of
the type of the asbestos contained) or counting method
utilizing Light Phase Contrast Microscope, and sent theseresults to JAWE.

As before, the plan of this project includes:••

the preparation of three kinds of blind samples
with regard to both bulk samples (blind bulk
sample A, B or C), and airborne samples (blindairborne sample A, B or C), according to thedegrees of difficulties of analyses of asbestos inweight (including the identification of the type ofasbestos with regard to each bulk sample), or
counting of such asbestos fibres as mentioned
above, and,
their distribution to the participants of thisproject.

The Experts Committee of Cross Check of Asbestos
Analyses evaluated the results obtained by the participantsin the cross check project and certificated the ability of
those who succeeded in the evaluation under the
standards, according to the difficulties of analyses ofsamples ranked as A, ranked as B or ranked as C, asdecided by the Experts Committee.

The participants who applied to join this project, conductedanalysis of one kind or more of these blind samples(including the identification of the type of asbestos withregard to bulk samples) under the General Plan for the
Cross Check Project concerning the Evaluation ofAsbestos in Bulk Samples and in Airborne Samples, which
JAWE elaborated, according to the advice of the Experts
Committee of Cross Check of Asbestos Analyses

As blind bulk samples of construction materials or sprayedmaterials, JAWE prepared, secretly and independently, ten
kinds of samples (whereas for the 2006 project there were
only four kinds) as listed in the following Table 1.

Table 1 List of blind bulk samples
Type of blindbulk samples
A-1
A-2

The
colour oflabel
Purple
Green

B-1
B-2
B-3
B-4
C-1
C-2
C-3
C-4

Red
Green
Yellow
Blue
Red
Green
White
Blue

With regard to blind bulk sample A, two types, A-1 and A-2,
were distributed to the participants. With regard to blindbulk sample B or C, two kinds of blind bulk samples,consisting of a combination of samples from construction
materials and from sprayed materials, were distributed tothe participants, at random.

•

The kind of asbestos contained and therange of the content of asbestos in weight••

Chrysotile or amosite
The content of asbestos in weight is lessthan the one of the blind bulk sample B or C••

Chrysotile or amosite
The content of asbestos in weight is lessthan the one of the blind sample C, morethan the one of the blind sample A
Chrysotile or amosite
The content of asbestos in weight is morethan the one of the blind bulk sample B••

As to airborne samples, JAWE prepared, secretly andindependently, three kinds of blind samples, as listed in thefollowing Table 2.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 16 of 22

Table 2
Type of blind airborne samples
A

B

Specification of blind airborne samples•
JAWE had prepared such chrysotile fibres as consisted of mainly
the ones having less and/or more length of 5µm, and,•had dispersed these fibres in a sealed chamber and prepared themembrane filters where these airborne asbestos were collected,•
then, each membrane filter was pre-treated with acetone andtriacetin (glycerol triacetate), made transparent, sealed, thus
being prepared for microscopic observation.
•
JAWE had prepared the mixture of two kinds of asbestos fibres (inthis case, chrysotile and amosite), having different shapes, and,•had dispersed these fibres in a sealed chamber and prepared themembrane filters where these airborne asbestos were collected,•
then, each membrane filter was pre-treated with acetone andtriacetin (glycerol triacetate), made transparent, sealed, thus
being prepared for microscopic observation

From The Netherlands
Executive summary: Prevention specialists – present and future1

Prepared by:
Harry Tweehuysen, President, Professional Society for Work and Organisation Specialists
Huib Arts, President, Dutch Occupational Hygiene Society
Victor Roggeveen, President, Dutch Society for Safety Science
1. Introduction
This report deals with the position of the Work andOrganisation Specialist, the Occupational Hygienist and the
Occupational Safety Professional. The title of “Prevention
Specialist” was tentatively chosen for these three
specialists together. The three professions perform a wide
variety of tasks that require both wide and deep
knowledge; there is also overlapping of many tasks among
them. In the past, legislation required expertise of thesethree professional to be included into occupational healthservices. This legislation is withdrawn, creating a need fora new reflection on their position in the market. Two studies
and an invitational conference have led to the conclusionthat the position of the prevention specialists in the market
is currently unclear and that their field of activity is notalways correctly understood. The scope of their specialty
is not always clear, even for the specialists themselves.
From November 2005 until March 2007, a working groupfrom the Professional Society for Work and Organisation
Specialists, the Dutch Occupational Hygiene Society andthe Dutch Society for Safety Science published the resultsof a study on “The future of the prevention specialist”.
The first phase was a survey of developments in the field ofworking conditions, as seen by key stakeholders, namely:
representatives from employers, workers, the governmentand occupational health services. This study resulted in thereport “Modernisation of work quality” (Janssen, 2006). The
report shows the fundamental change in relationships in
the field of working conditions. The government iswithdrawing as the legislator and transferring the
responsibility for good working conditions to employers andworkers. Within these new relationships, the governmentprescribes the goals and moves away from their former
descriptive
approach.
Employers’
andworkers’organisations should translate the goals into goodpractices, which in many cases are sector specific. The
good practices can be laid down in the so-called “working
conditions catalogues”.

The key persons have concluded that working conditions
professionals have a problem with their image, and that
this problem is even greater for occupational healthservices. These persons and organisations are held
responsible for a proliferation of useless regulations.
Prevention specialists can deal with this image problem bya better market orientation. There is a need for a multiform
development of the professional’s contribution to the qualityof working conditions in the Netherlands. The basis is theprofessional’s own expertise and professionalism. But the“social attitude” towards employers’ and workers’organisations, as well as towards individual employers andworkers, will determine the success of their advice.
Professionals are expected to propose and to help
implement “working” solutions. Solutions should be
multidisciplinary, evidence based, cost effective and, mostof all, suitable for the company in question. Therefore,
thorough knowledge of the sector for which theprofessional works is indispensable. Evidence based
solutions will become more and more important. Service
providers should always keep in mind the differences insizes of companies and sectors.
The working group of the three professional societies forprevention specialists has circulated a questionnaire about
the current (working) situation of their members and about
the members’ vision of the future. The respondents see theneed, from the market, for multidisciplinary advice. Looking
at the future, the respondents consider knowledge more
important than legislation, consider cooperation with otherprofessional societies and with the social partners very
important, attach value to the development of scientifically
based state of the art guidelines, and would welcome
encouragement for working conditions innovations.
A summary of the two reports was presented at an
invitational conference with representatives of employers
and workers organisations, sector organisations, individual
employers and educational institutions for working__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 17 of 22

conditions. Representatives of employers, workers and thegovernment have presented their vision on the future
developments.

specialisation in a specific sector or a specific type of risk
may be desirable.
2. Implementing

The conclusions from the discussion were:
•

•

•
•

•
•

to ensure healthy and safe working conditions is afield of work, which is too diverse to be dealt withby the three prevention domains in isolation;
innovations should focus on control measures thatare both effective (reduce risks) and efficient (atreasonable costs): the so-called “smart solutions”;
also, contribution to better working conditions
should be proven (“evidence based”);
knowledge of the sector is an important dimensionof adequate preventive interventions;professional societies should further improve
communication and entrepreneurship skills of theirmembers;
effectiveness of professional advice should bepart of the certification systems;
instruments meant for do-it-yourself risk surveys
are often too extensive and complex for a lay
person; moreover, they are unsuitable to analysecomplex situations.

2. The vision of the Professional societies
New legislation provides a key role for employers andworkers, concerning working conditions. Gradually but
certainly, knowledge about hazards, risks and preventive
solutions will take over the role of former legislation. The
focus is shifting from risk surveys to implementation of“smart solutions”. Not “must”, but “can” and “want” are the
new “buzz” words.
This creates new roles for the prevention professional.
Besides the traditional role of surveying and inspecting,and that of a research scientist (for evidence baseknowledge), these professionals must also act as
developers of “smart solutions” and specialists on theirimplementation, including the required risk communicationand training.
Scientific research will remain important, but it mustencompass new models to translate its results into
practice. A role for inspection and surveillance will also
remain, including checking the effectiveness of preventive
measures and supervising their proper functioning overtime. In the new setting, this role will require a broadening
and deepening of knowledge and experience.
In the new legal setting, the social partners manage
working conditions. It is not assured that they will involve
the prevention specialists who should, however, become
more active in offering services to develop sector specificregulations, e.g., working conditions catalogues. This willraise the profile of prevention specialists as THE experts
for their interdisciplinary, field of work.
Roles of the prevention specialist
1. Inspecting and surveying
This professional will work within the framework set by thecompany, will survey the implementation of measures andwill make risk surveys with standard instruments. The roleof inspecting and surveying is a broad one, but

Implementation is a task for a more specialised
professional, who must be able to apply knowledge
developed by researchers and analyse the advantages anddisadvantages of various implementation techniques. The
employer should be advised about the consequences ofeach choice. There are two ways to specialise: in one
specific sector or in one specific risk factor.
3. Solution oriented research
One additional role is in solution oriented research. This
professional will conduct scientific research, investigate
known and new risks, analyse complex situations withincompanies, or find new solutions for new conditions within
a company. These solutions should be based on soundscientific research and focus on applying their results to
new situations. Professionals should look for both goodand economically achievable solutions. These so-called“smart solutions” should be published.
The future
The professional societies realise that the field of working
conditions cannot be easily split up. Several domains workin this field, and a form of specialisation will be
indispensable to develop more in-depth knowledge.
Developing proper solutions will require specialist
knowledge for the majority of the current problems. It is notpossible for one professional to have a thorough commandof this matter, to work with it and subsequently translate it
into an understandable advice.
The fact that professional societies have formally agreed tostimulate and guarantee cooperation is a very encouraging
step. Multidisciplinary guidelines are already a positive
result. But, of course, there is a need to move on. If
members of societies know how to communicate andcollaborate with each other, solutions reaching far beyond
the mono-disciplinary level can and will be elaborated. This
will lead to better, more practical and more applicable
solutions. The professional societies intend to be theplatform where knowledge meets and cooperation is
guaranteed.
A large part of prevention specialists feels the need todevelop entrepreneurship and communication skills, sincelack of these limits their operational capabilities in businessnetworks as well as in internal consultations. The
development of these skills will contribute to the quality of
their professional performance. Prevention specialists work
beyond the borders of their domain, but are insufficiently
educated in adjacent domains; professional societies cancope with this unwanted situation, for example, bydeveloping educational modules to help them overcome
these gaps. There is not such a thing as one market; there
are various areas of work that require a number of different
skills, hence there is room for a multidisciplinaryintermediate (vocational trained) technician, just as there
are already medium level safety technicians.
Especially small and medium sized enterprises need such
experts. Integrated skills for working conditions, theenvironment and quality would be welcome.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 18 of 22

The level of advice for management differs from that for theshop floor. Professional experts ask for scientifically based
advice. For others, the “proof of the pudding” is by eating.
Advice must be tailored to the audience, the subject andthe relevance. Advisers should be more thoroughly
instructed in this aspect and professional societies want to
put this on the agenda of the educational institutes.
Concluding remarks
After years of development, the field of working conditions
has matured to a field of qualified professionals.
Professional societies are focussing on clarifying thepositions of the various professionals. Different levels anddifferent fields of interest will be made more explicit. The
market will be able to make more and better use of theskills of working conditions professionals.
The working conditions field is still developing. Knowledge
and skills will, to a large extent, replace legislation;
therefore the demand for professionals will increase.
Professionals must and will develop themselves, and theprofessional societies will offer the platform. In summary, awonderful future can be foreseen for a wonderfulprofession.
3. The agenda for the professional societies
Based on this report, the professional societies forprevention will deal with the following items in the near
future:Strengthening and expanding cooperation. The
professional societies cooperate at several levels, notonly in developing and intensifying knowledge, butalso in keeping in touch with the market and in1

positioning their knowledge among employers’ andworkers’ organisations.
Developing
multidisciplinary
evidence-based
guidelines. The societies will apply for grants todevelop these guidelines.
Promoting innovation in the field of working
conditions. The professional societies will designate
topics for innovation and apply for grants to support
their investigation.
Upgrading competences. This is the core business ofprofessional societies. For the individual professionals
the key question is: “are work and training in balance?”
In the near future this will lead to changes of several
training curricula.
Developing curricula for additional training
modules. Whenever professionals work beyond theirown education and competence, the need for
additional training will be emphasized and continuing
education opportunities provided.
Expanding and improving access to knowledge.
Professional societies are establishing a professional
knowledge network that can be linked to platforms of
multidisciplinary skills. Knowledge is to be gathered by
and for members.
Certification. The certification systems of theprofessional societies will be harmonised, and will be
expanded in order to also assess the extent to which
advice to clients is effective and efficient.

Where the male form is used, the female form can be read as well

FROM SWEDEN
Attractive Work
Sent by: Ing-Marie Andersson and Gunnar Rosén
Professors at Dalarna University, Sweden
ima@du.se and grs@du.se
Even in developed countries, difficulties have beenencountered in the establishment of manufacturingindustry; in fact, this has been an increasing problem dueto the lack of properly trained workers. This is particularly
true for small-scale enterprises. The problem will probably
increase in 5 to 10 years because a large proportion of theworkforce will be retiring. According to a study carried out
2by Manpower , 30% of European companies typicallyreport difficulties in filing positions. Another study also
showed that around 30% of companies in Sweden, which
had possibilities to develop, mentioned “lack of staff” as the3most important obstacle for growth .

interest among young people to work in the manufacturingindustry. The results indicate that the work environment,
both in its traditional meaning and in its broader sense, is
important when young people make decisions concerning
their professional career. Even after the closing down of
the national research institute (NIWL) in Sweden, thisresearch has continued and has, in fact, been further
developed at Dalarna University. The authors of this text,
former staff of the NIWL, had already moved to the
University, before the close down and this was important
for the continuation and further development of thisresearch area.

Since 2000, in Sweden, Dalarna University, in collaboration
with the National Institute for Working Life, has conducted
research on the topic of “attractive work” in the
manufacturing industry. The projects have been usually
carried out jointly with companies, local organisations for
trade and industry, educational institutions and otherrelevant stakeholders.

Two doctoral theses have already focused on “attractive
work”. One thesis had its starting point in small
manufacturing companies that, during more than five
years, had been engaged in the process of developing
more attractive work. The purpose of this thesis was todevelop knowledge and understanding concerning theprocesses aimed at creating more attractive work. The
results of the analysis are being applied both to actual
development processes in the five manufacturing
companies and to the elaboration of local training
programmes for the development of more attractive

The research has been highly interactive and has focusedon the concept of attractiveness, that is, determining whichfeatures in a company should be developed to increase__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 19 of 22

4industrial work . The other thesis had its starting point inproblems of recruiting and retaining personnel inwoodworking
companies.
Companies
andotherstakeholders, as well as researchers aimed at the goal of
creating work that people, especially young ones, would
like to have and where they would want to stay. The
primary purpose was to create deeper understanding of thecharacteristics of attractive work. A distinction has been
made between “what makes work attractive” and “changes
5of attractiveness” .
Two studies, which were common for both theses, dealt
respectively with young people’s perception of work inindustry, and, a deeper understanding of the characteristics
of attractive work for an individual.
The primary purpose of the first study provided data, which
can be discussed and used in a development project aimed
at increasing work attractiveness. Opinions of young
people and of employees, respectively on ideal work andon actual industrial work were collected. All youths in the
ninth grade in two municipalities and employees in small
engineering workshops and in log house firms participatedin the study. The results demonstrated that the work
environment, as well as the treatment that youths
experience when in contact with industrial enterprises (e.g.
by practical occupational experience, educational visits6etc.) has great importance for their opinion .
The purpose of the second study was to generate deeper
knowledge and understanding of what makes work
attractive, to create a model and to test the possibility togeneralize the model. Three different categories have been
identified, namely:•

attractive work characteristics, which include
factors related to what and how the workers do
while performing their job and carrying out specificwork tasks, for example, working speed, freedomof action and diversity;•

work satisfaction, which depends on factors
related to what the workers think when they are
not doing the job, for example, acknowledgement,
status and stimulation;•

attractive working conditions, which include
factors that are common for every employee
within a company or organization, and which are
not dependent on the other two, for example,
working hours, physical work environment andleadership.

The model of attractive work represents an overall pictureof what makes work attractive and it can constitute a basis
7
for continued research or development work .
There is no simple answer to the question “what acompany with problems to recruit properly trained staffs
has to do”. To begin with is it important to understandwhere the problem mainly stems from. Usual commentsfrom managers were that schools and media gave a wrong
picture of work in industry; they did not acknowledge theirown responsibility in giving a non attractive image. It waspossible to influence managers’ opinion by facing themwith young people’s and the society view on industrial
work. By starting an internal process through aquestionnaire based on the model of attractive work, it waspossible to identify areas for urgent improvement. Those
areas have very much in common with the main focus ofoccupational hygiene, that is, to create a safe workplace. In
both above-mentioned theses it was clear that measuresthat aim at reducing hazards also increase the staff opinion
on the attractiveness of their work.

2

Talent Shortage Survey 2007, Global Results, Manpower
Företagsbarometern, April 2008, Sweden
4
Activities and learning for attractive work. Development processes in engineering companies. Mattias Åteg (2006), KTH, Sweden (In Swedish)5
The dynamics of attractiveness – studies of changes in the attractiveness of work. Ann Hedlund (2007), KTH, Sweden (In Swedish)6
Hedlund A, Åteg M, Sconfienza C, Andersson I-M & Rosén G (2003) A study of youths and employees opinions on work in two municipalities
in Dalarna. Arbete och Hälsa 2003:2. (In Swedish)7Åteg M, Hedlund A & Pontén B (2004) Attractive work. From employees’ statements to the making of a model. Worklife in Transition 2004:1,
Sweden (In Swedish)
3

FROM VENEZUELANews on Occupational Hygiene from Venezuela
Sent by Eric Omaña
Chief of Occupational Hygiene of PDVSA
E-mail: omanaee@pdvsa.com
The State Petroleum Venezuelan Company Develops an Intensive Plan for the Education of Occupational Hygienists
The Presidency of the Republic Bolivariana of Venezuela
issued directives in the sense of turning the StatePetroleum Venezuelan Company (PDVSA) into one of thecompanies of major productivity of the world, as well aswith more safety and health for its workers, and a minor
impact on the environment. In agreement with thisdirective, the company has started a training programme;
since 2007, 98 engineers have followed graduate studies in
occupational hygiene (about 50 % of the students), inindustrial safety and in environmental protection.
At present, PDVSA produces three million barrels of oil a
day and has three refineries, one of them being the largest

refinery in the world. Moreover, the plans are to produce,by the year 2012, five millions of barrels a day, and to havethree additional refineries. The plan consists of duplicating
the number of workers by the year 2012, therefore it will benecessary for PDVSA to have professionals in the field ofoccupational and environmental health in sufficientnumbers and with high academic education (including on
primary prevention). We are working towards the creationof a Master’s Degree programme in occupational hygiene.
Our goal has been to change the inadequate situation,
which prevailed until 2002, when PDVSA had only 3 people
working in occupational hygiene in order to support more__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 20 of 22

than 75,000 workers, to a situation when PDVSA will have
52 occupational hygienists (meaning a rise of 1,000 %), by
December 2008. This was a difficult goal, which however,is being gradually attained.
Among many experiences that we would like to share withcolleagues worldwide, we would like to mention that wehave achieved changes that had a positive impact on thehealth, safety and well being of our workers, for example,
less accidents, better water quality, more pesticides control
than in the past and, for the first time in PDVSA, workers

are receiving information about their occupational
exposures. Pesticides control is relevant in view of theneed to combat mosquitoes, which are vectors of diseases,
such as malaria, yellow fever and dengue, endemic insome oil field areas.
For additional information on this communication, please,contact to Eric Omaña, Occupational Hygienist, E-mail:omanaee@pdvsa.com

Obituaries
Pierre-Olivier DROZ, Occupational Hygienist – CIH, Institute for Work and Health, Lausanne, Switzerland
Sent by Michel Guillemin
E-mail: Michel.Guillemin@hospvd.ch
Pierre-Olivier DROZ passed
away on 13 October 2008 after along and difficult period related
to cardiac problems. He was 57
years old and had 4 children,
two of whom were very young (a3 year old girl and a 6 year oldboy). His family, friends andcolleagues were shocked andsaddened by his sudden death.
At the professional level PierreOlivier was a great figure and hemadeaconsiderable
contribution to the promotion of
Occupational Hygiene, at boththe national and international levels.
After a MS in chemistry at the University of Neuchâtel(Switzerland) he obtained a PhD with a thesis on PB-PK(physiologically based pharmacokinetic) modelling. He
came to Lausanne to join, at the University, the team who
were developing occupational hygiene in conjunction withoccupational medicine. From there he was sent to the
NIOSH (USA) for a year to be trained and educated in
Occupational Hygiene, passing the ABIH examination to
become a Certified Industrial Hygienist. Back at Lausanne
he developed research and services, and participated in
the development of Occupational Health and the creationof the Institute for Work and Health.
The high scientific quality of his research rapidly gained
him an international reputation, illustrated by invitations tojoin renowned committees, such as the BEI (Biological
Exposure Indices) Committee of the ACGIH (American
Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists). Verycreative and hard working he ran many research projects

not only on toxico-kinetics modelling but also on biologicalmonitoring,strategiesofoccupational
exposure
assessment, skin absorption, variability of exposures andbiomarkers, etc. He was very successful in obtaining
research grants. He was also a very good teacher and hecontributed to a large extent to the success of the Master ofAdvanced Studies run by the Institute in Lausanne and theInstitute for Hygiene and Work Physiology of the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (now the Centre
for Work Organization). He gave courses at the Universityof Lausanne and at the Swiss Federal Institute ofTechnology in Lausanne and lead several PhD theses.
Although he was mainly involved in research he kept close
contacts in the field for services and expertise with a
special emphasis during the last few years on therelationship between the working conditions and the healtheffects observed by the occupational physicians of theInstitute. He was aware of the importance of the crossfertilization between services in the field and research.
Pierre-Olivier made also considerable efforts to help some
French speaking countries under development in Africa,
where his contributions to the promotion of Occupational
Hygiene by training and education were highly appreciated.
A founding member of the Swiss Society for Occupational
Hygiene, he was President for two years and took
responsibility to begin the process for a recognition of the
Swiss system of education for Occupational Hygienists by
the IOHA (International Occupational Hygiene Association)
where he became a member of the its NAR (National
Accreditation Recognition) Committee.
He was charming, unaffected and friendly, and he will begreatly missed.

Dr. Bernardo Bedrikow (Brazil)
Sent by René Mendes
Past President of the Brazilian Association of Occupational Medicine
ICOH Board member
E-mail: rene.mendes@uol.com.br
Brazil, Latin America and the World have lost a pioneer
and leader in the field of Occupational Safety and Health –Dr. Bernardo Bedrikow – who passed away on 6 October
2008, just five weeks before turning 85 years. Bernardo

Bedrikow is considered, respected and loved – along with
Diogo Pupo Nogueira and Oswaldo Paulino – as one of themost outstanding professionals who pushed forward thedevelopment of Occupational Safety and Health, in Brazil,__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

Page 21 of 22

in the Region of the Americas, and in other parts of theworld. A Medical Doctor graduated in 1947, he got his
Master Degree in Public Health at Harvard School of Public
Health, in the early 50´s, and then, attended a
training program at the Institute ofOccupational Health in Lima, Peru. Back in
Brazil, he dedicated his career to thedevelopment of an Outpatient Clinic on
Occupational Diseases of the Social Service ofIndustry (SESI), in São Paulo, which became alocal, regional and national reference forresearch and training in Occupational
Pathology, Toxicology and Industrial Hygienein this country. Also, he served the School of
Public Health of the University of São Pauloand the School of Medical Sciences of “Santa
Casa” of São Paulo, as Professor of
Occupational Medicine. In 1977, he was hiredby the International Labor Office - ILO, as Regional Adviserof Occupational Safety and Health for Latin America andthe Caribbean, based in Lima, Peru. In 1981, he wastransferred to the ILO Headquarters, in Geneva, where heserved in the Section of Occupational Medicine, until his
compulsory retirement in 1985. Back in Brazil again, hespent 23 more years as Consultant and invited Professor,
with and for several institutions, mainly the Social Service
of Industry (SESI), the ILO´s Office in Brasília, the Ministryof Labor, the Ministry of Health, the Fundacentro

Headquarters in São Paulo, the State Secretary of Health(São Paulo), the School of Medicine of the University ofSão Paulo, and the School of Medical Sciences of “Santa
Casa”. Within a broad scope of interests and acomprehensive area of scientific knowledge anderudition, he was active in the ICOH family and inseveral ICOH events. Always committed toWorkers´ Health values, Dr. Bernardo Bedrikow
played a long-term role as a reference of goodpractice and a permanent availability and interestin advising young generations of healthprofessionals. We will miss him a lot.

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Disclaimer:
While great care is taken with the compilation of this Newsletter, IOHA, its Directors, the Editor and the authors ofarticles accept no responsibility for opinions, errors and omissions that may be made in this Newsletter. The
responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles rests solely with their authors and does not constitute an
endorsement by the IOHA.

International Occupational Hygiene Association
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A Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England No. 06327692__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, November 2008

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