April 2008
Vol 16, No. 1

NEWSLETTER____________________________________________________________________________
Contents
1
2
3-5
5-7
7
7-8
8-9
9-15
15-18
18-21

Letter from the Editor
News from the IOHA Board
7th IOHA International Scientific ConferenceNews from Member Associations
News from ICOH
News from WHO
News from the European Union
Silicosis Prevention
International Actions
Contributions from Readers_______________________________________________

Letter from the Editor
Dear Colleagues,
I am very happy with the good news and the number ofcontributions from readers that were received for this issueof the Newsletter, which was never so long!
IOHA continues its valuable work throughout the world.
th
The 7 IOHA International Scientific Conference was agreat success and the organizers must be congratulated.
In February 2008, IOHA received a letter from the World
Health Organization informing that their Executive Board“decided to maintain IOHA in official relations with WHO”
and, at the same time, commended the efforts of ourassociation in support of WHO work in occupational health,and thanked its members for their continuing interest in
working with WHO.
Congratulations to our colleague and friend Kurt Leichnitz
for receiving the IOHA Lifetime Achievement Award, inTaipei, in February 2008. No one deserved this honour
better than Kurt, who has done so much over so many
years to promote our profession at a high level in Germany
and in many other countries; his long time work with IOHA
has also been outstanding.
“Félicitations” to our colleague and friend Guy Bourgeoisat,from France, for being honoured this year with theprestigious William P. Yant Award. This was so wellmerited; Guy has enthusiastically fought to promote our
profession at a high level in France and has been adedicated IOHA Board Member since 1995.

There were many contributions related to the prevention ofsilicosis, including on national and international initiatives
that together will hopefully eliminate this disabling, deadly
and preventable disease. Just to mention a few
contributions: from NIOSH we received information on theAmericas Silicosis Initiative; from Brazil, news about theirnational campaign and related studies; from theNetherlands, information on their work to fight silicosis in
the construction industry, among many others. If you aredealing with silica and dust problems, do not miss reading
about the Silica Exposure Webcommunity and “join theclub” by becoming a member - it is an excellent forum fordiscussions and exchanges of experiences on the subject.
Once more, I would like to quote Alice Hamilton, pioneer
occupational physician and hygienist: “...obviously, the way
to attack silicosis is to prevent the formation and escape of
dust...”; this statement, almost a century ago, was andshould continue to be a strong incentive for primaryprevention. It seems that, at last, there is hope for theelimination of silicosis; let’s fight together for this!
Still related to dust, we had a very motivating contribution
from Japan, concerning asbestos: the cross-check projectin relation to analyses of asbestos in construction
materials, which aims at ensuring quality in assessing thisserious occupational and environmental problem. It is so
important to ensure quality in all occupational hygienetasks; one should never forget the great difference
between “work done” and “work well done”.
One aspect of paramount importance for the continuity
and, in some places, for the very existence of occupational
hygiene is training. Knowledge and experience have to beeffectively passed on, so that quality in professional
practice can be developed and ensured. It is good to see
colleagues from different countries getting together toshare their expertise in preparing training modules andactivities.
There are many other very valuable contributions in thisNewsletter and I am sure that you will enjoy this issue.
I would like to thank all colleagues that sent contributions
for this Newsletter and, once more, ask for comments andsuggestions for its improvement. Your feedback isextremely important.
Best greetings to all
Berenice Goelzer
berenice@goelzer.net__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

Page 1 of 21

News from the IOHA Board
Report from the meeting of the IOHA Board – 17 February 2008
Sent by Pamela Blythe, Executive Secretary, pamela.blythe@ioha.net
1.

The meeting was chaired by Rob Ferrie (IOHA
President) and attended by representatives of
ACGIH, AIHA, the Australian, British, Canadian,
German, Hong Kong, Italian, JAWE, Malaysian,Norwegian, Polish, Southern African, Swedish,Swiss and Taiwanese organisations, with Pamela
Blythe from the Secretariat in attendance andDomenica Cavallo from Italy as an observer.
Apologies for absence had been received from theorganisations in Brazil, Colombia, Finland andFrance.
th

2.

IOHA Conference, 18-22 February 2008,
7
Taiwan:460 participants from 39 countries
registered for this conference. An extended reporton the conference will be included in a forthcoming
issue of the Newsletter.

3.

8 IOHA Conference, 28 September-2 October
2010, Rome, Italy: Planning is now becoming moredetailed and focussed. Reports progress will be
provided to each future meeting of the Board.

9.

The Board is currently reviewing the application formembership from the Korean Society ofOccupational & Environmental Hygiene.

10.

The regular report on activities of the National
Accreditation
Recognition
Committee
wasdiscussed. Noel Tresider is now Chair of thisCommittee. Under review at the moment by theCommittee are three applications for recognition
and two revisions to currently recognised
programmes.

11.

In response to the concerns of some member
organisations about the lack of validation of thecontrol banding concept and the possible perceptionthat IOHA has “endorsed” control banding (CB)without
qualification,adraft
reportwascommissioned from a small ad-hoc working group tobetter define IOHA’s position on the use of control
banding.

12.

The Board established a small working group to
develop a position paper on Occupational Hygiene
training (outside of Universities), which would
include the non-technical criteria essential for thedelivery of meaningful courses. This paper will be
discussed at the next Board meeting.

13.

From time to time, IOHA is contacted bypersons/organisations wishing to donate equipment
and/or publications to third parties. At the moment,
IOHA has no mechanism for brokering this service,
but is investigating whether it may be possible to do
so in future via its website.

14.

Registered Charity status has not yet beenachieved, but remains a major goal of the
Association. This is a governance issue that willallow IOHA to continue to operate in a “protected”
manner.

15.

The Board was very pleased to learn that throughour advocacy efforts the title “Environmental andOccupational Health and Hygiene Professional” hadbeen included in a resolution of experts to ISCO
2008. (ISCO is the International Standard
Classification of Occupations, under the auspices of
ILO, and conducts these reviews approximately
every 10 years). This is an important step in getting
recognition for the occupational hygiene profession.

16.

A draft statement is being prepared on theoccupational hygienist’s role within REACH. This
draft will be discussed at the next meeting of theBoard.

17.

The next meeting of the Board will be held in
September/October 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland.

th

th

4.

9 IOHA Conference, February 2012, Malaysia:
Planning is at an early stage, and reports on
progress will be provided to each future meeting of
the Board.

5.

The Board has committed to organisingsessions/delivering papers at the World Congress in
Safety & Health, Korea in July 2008 and ICOH 2009
in Cape Town.

6.

Some years ago, Memorandums of Understanding
had been signed with both ICOH and IEA(International Ergonomics Association), but had
been allowed to lapse by all parties. As the
Presidents of ICOH and IEA were both attending the
Taiwan conference, informal tripartite talks wereplanned to re-establish the relationships.

7.

The recommendations of a sub-group of theCommunications Committee regarding the re-designof the website were accepted. Work is to begin assoon as possible to make the website a more userfriendly and informative/timely resource for externalaudiences.

8.

The Board received a draft paper aiming to define
the interface of Occupational Hygiene with otherrelated professions. The draft will be discussed by
IOHA member organisations over the coming
months, feedback provided, and then discussed
again
at
the
next
Board
meeting(September/October 08).

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

Page 2 of 21

7th IOHA International Scientific Conference
Report on behalf of the Conference Organisers
Sent by Chih-Chieh Chen, IOHA Board Member, Taiwan, ccchen@ntu.edu.twth

The 7 International Occupational Hygiene Association
Scientific Conference was held from February 18-22, 2008,
at the Taipei International Convention Center in Taiwan.
After many months of preparation, the organizers werepleased with the result — and so were the participants.
A total of 498 delegates and 22 accompanying persons
from 34 countries attended the conference, and over 183
participants signed up for the pre-conference Professional
Development Courses (PDCs). The program consisted of
11 PDCs, various Parallel Sessions, five Mini-Symposiums;
eight Keynote Presentations and two Poster Sessions.
There were 120 abstracts accepted into the parallelsessions, and 109 abstracts allocated into 9 poster
categories.
The conference featured a number of high profile keynote
speakers who are lecturers and experts of occupational
hygiene from all over the world. The opening ceremony
was also a highlight of the conference as Shui-bian Chen,
president of Taiwan gave the welcoming address. The
president even stayed for a photograph with theconference’s invited guests. Finally, IOHA president,
Thomas Grumbles, presented the Lifetime Achievement
Award to Kurt Leichnitz of Germany.
In addition to the scientific program, the conference also
included an exhibition. Thirty four exhibitors fromgovernment departments, associations and corporations
displayed their products and services. A ribbon cutting
ceremony was arranged for the exhibition opening. A
special exhibit was organized which displayed Taiwan’s
history of occupational hygiene for the past 5 decades.

The President’s Reception was held on Sunday, 17
February, and 50 special guests including the IOHA board
were invited to dine on the top of the world on level 85 of
Taipei 101 Building.
On the first night of the conference, a Welcome Banquet
was held for all the participants. The delegates enjoyed thegreat food and traditional Chinese entertainment from theSong-Kuan lion dance group. On the following day, thePinshi sky lantern tour was also a hit, attracting over 70
attendees who experienced the Chinese traditional event
called "the light of hope". Sky lanterns were released topray for good fortune and health. In order to allow thedelegates to further understand the Taiwan culture, aconference Culture tour was arranged for Wednesday
afternoon (20 February). The delegates visited the worldclass National Palace Museum and took the express
elevator up to the observatory tower of Taipei 101 building.
On the evening of the last day, a Farewell Party wasorganized to celebrate the conclusion and success of
IOHA2008. The party commenced with the exciting
performance of “Bian Lian” (Face-Changing). Everyone
was amazed by the performance. Traditional craft stalls(such as paper-cut silhouettes, Dough figurines, andChinese knots) were set up for the participants to try the
Chinese art themselves.
A photo gallery with memories of the past few days of
IOHA2008 Conference was also displayed. After the
conference, many of the delegates either booked the postconference tours or joined the Technical visit and caught
the Taiwan High Speed Train to the south of Taiwan. All
delegates carried home new and memorable experiences.

There were several social events during the conference,
providing great networking opportunities for the delegatesto make new friends and meet old acquaintances.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

Page 3 of 21

2008 IOHA Life Achievement Award
This year, very appropriately, the IOHA Life Achievement
Award, was given to Kurt Leichnitz. Highlights of his Award
Lecture on “Occupational Hygiene and Cost Benefit” arehereby presented and the full text will be available on the

IOHA website. The photo below shows Kurt receiving theAward from IOHA President Tom Grumbles.

Occupational Hygiene and Cost Benefit
By Kurt Leichnitz, IOHA Board Member, Kurt.Leichnitz@t-online.de
Occupational hygiene activities are primarily targeted toprotecting workers health and to safeguarding thecommunity. For occupational hygienists it is clear that
better working conditions are profitable for their company.
Otherwise it is also clear that the current state of methodsof cost-benefit-analysis do not always allow for conclusive
answers to be made to the question whether occupational
hygiene is a benefit activity. Much development work still
has to be done to establish data sources which will allow toquantify the benefits. The issue of social and human values
has to be incorporated into the calculation.
Occupational hygienists are qualified to do an excellent job
in their discipline. But to communicate the benefits ofoccupational hygiene to decision-makers has not received,
overall, the level of professional attention. There arecompanies in which silence surrounds the working
conditions. Managers do fear that the recording of
unhealthy workplaces may stir up the workforce and cause
discussions. Here the management strategy is to
discourage the occupational hygienist from taking
the job too seriously.
Making enterprises aware of costs caused bypoor working conditions must become an
essential part of occupational hygiene
programmes. New ways are needed to get theattention of management. Occupational
hygienists need tailwind from government, from
WHO, from ILO etc. At least for chemicals,
support is already in the pipeline, such as theDubai declaration on “strategic approach tointernational chemicals management (SAICM)”.
The scope of SAICM includes environmental,
economic, social, health and labour aspects ofchemicals; risk reduction is a key element.
Referring to SAICM, the European parliament
and the council have adopted a regulation
concerning “registration, evaluation, authorisation
and restriction of chemicals (REACH)”. Occupational
hygiene experience is needed to fulfil SAICM and REACH.
On the Session of the ILO Governing Body in 2006 a
document on occupational safety and health was issued. It
discusses how improved occupational safety and health(OSH) contributes both to reducing human suffering andalso to increasing the quality and quantity of jobs. Several
activities are formulated, such as:•

Governments should commit themselves to theprinciple that “safety pays”.

•

Lawmakers in concert with public and private
insurers should strive to ensure that costs of workrelated injury and ill health are kept internal to theenterprises responsible.

•

A high priority needs to be given to OSH within
national educational curricula and awarenessraising programmes.

•

OSH professionals need to make better use of thebroadcast media to reach and influenceaudiences.

•

The national enforcing authorities should also be
adequately resourced, so that such legislation canbe effectively and consistently enforced.

•

Multinational enterprises do have a major
influence on working conditions in the factories of
their exporters in developing countries. Thatmeans corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an
important contribution to improve occupational
health and safety on global level.

To prepare my paper I had addressed several people;
managers, workers, union members,
occupational hygienists, physicians, safety
experts, and others. It was interesting toobserve the different attitudes. I had theopportunity to meet a whole range ofcharacters. I met many bosses who wereagainst any investment on occupational
hygiene, but I also met persons who werevery open to our discipline and especially tothe idea that not only the economic cost has
to be included into the cost benefit
calculation, but in addition the non-economic
cost such as cost of pain, fear and loss
suffered by the victims, and their families.
This is the point where I have to include into
my consideration the philanthropic aspect.
Philanthropy is the effort or inclination toincrease or at least maintain the well-being of
humankind. It is an altruistic activity which is intended topromote human quality of life. Philanthropy is locatedbetween the two poles of social value and economic value.
In the social value arena we deal with factors beyond
measurement. Some people do understand that thesefactors are of value; for other people they are not worth at
all to be considered.
Why are people acting so differently? What do people havein mind? Here I quote the US scientist Marc D. Hauser
who is expert in organismic biology. He states that our
biology sets up a range of possible behaviours and if abiological perspective on morality is true, then the moral
principles must be encoded in the DNA; some genes arefor harming, some genes are for helping. In addition moral
decisions are influenced by education, by training and by
the society which determines what is right or wrong.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

Page 4 of 21

I think we should consider the genetic aspect when we
have to deal with our bosses. It might at least help us a bit
to understand the behaviour of people when they are
confronted with economy and social value. But if they areborn without a moral compass and if their genetic code
does not have a place for social value, then one needs

more than the usual means to make the boss a friend of
better working conditions for the employees. It might bethat somebody has to determine what is right or wrong;these additional means are rules, are regulations, isenforcement and finally sanctions are neededNews from Member Associations
From Australia

Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists –25th Annual Conference
Sent by Noel Tresider, Secretary, 2007 Conference Committee, noelpetroch@msn.com.au
The Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists (AIOH)th
25 Annual Conference was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel,
Melbourne from December 1 to 5, 2007.
The first AIOH Conference
was in Melbourne in 1982,
and it had been some timesince the AIOH conference
graced this fabulous
cosmopolitan Australiancity.
The profession of occupational hygiene is constantly
striving for excellence both in science and in the protectionof people and the environment. It was on this theme that
the AIOH’s 2007 Conference was based – “Striving for
Excellence”.
The Conference was officially opened by the Hon. Tim
Holding, MP Victorian Minister for Finance (including
WorkCover/Transport Accident Commission), Minister for
Tourism Minister for Finance, and followed by a speechfrom Mr. John Merritt - WorkSafe Victoria Executive
Director.
Of particular interest at this Conference was the role of risk
assessment and management within occupational hygiene
and its allied fields. The Safety Equipment Australia
Keynote Speaker was Dr. Dennis Paustenbach (below)
CEO of ChemRisk, USA who is a world renowned expert
on chemical risk assessment. He also gave us insights into
the challenges ahead with his presentation “Reflections on
the Future Practice of Industrial Hygiene”
Other topics featured included: Risk Assessment - Risk
Communication by Ms Katherine
Teh-White (a highly regarded
communicator), and this included
an interactive panel segment inwhich a panel of specialists
comprising a toxicologist, ajournalist, an activist and an
industry representative teased out
some interesting challenges
confronting us and the profession in the future.
Familiar topics such as dermal exposure, ventilation, indoor
air quality, and nanotoxicity were also presented by experts
in the field such as Dr John Cherrie (IOM), Dr. Rosemary
Nixon, Prof. Yuguo Li (Hong Kong University), Dr. Steve
Brown, Prof. Brian Priestley.

Continuing education sessions (CES) for OH&S
practitioners once again provided the opportunity fordelegates to develop and maintain knowledge and skills ina variety of disciplines and fields of interest; and to gain
valuable maintenance points for the various certification
schemes such as COH and CIH (ABIH).
There were also the traditional social events – the AIOH
Welcome Cocktail Function, the 3M Function, and the
AIOH Conference Dinner. These functions offered a great
opportunity for networking and developing new contacts.
The Welcome Drinks Function on Sunday evening wassponsored by Active Environmental Solutions. This was arelaxed reception where delegates could catch up with oldfriends and meet new ones prior to the launch of theextensive scientific program that was to be held over thefollowing three days.
AIOH Conference Dinner (L-R above: Geza Benke (AIOH

President 2008), John Cherrie (BOHS President), Rob
Ferrie (IOHA President), Cathie Garner, Don Hart (AIHA
President), Cindy Hart, and Ian Firth (AIOH President2007).
On the Lighter side - 3M Australia Function always afeature of any AIOH Conference, was based on the theme“EXPERIMENT WITH 3M” where delegates came in fancy
dress as their favourite scientist.
Some new innovations at this conference were theintroduction of AIOH Conference Ambassadors whose role
was to assist new-comers to our conference, and the highvisibility vests worn by Conference Committee members toclearly identify them.
This conference set a new record for attendance andhopefully met the expectations of delegates, and achieved
the objective of “Striving for Excellence”.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

Page 5 of 21

From Japan

Joint Conference and Exhibition on Occupational Hygiene and Working Environment
Measurement, Nagoya, Japan, November 2007
Sent by Masayoshi Karasawa, Special Advisor, JAWE, director@jawe.or.jp
and Norihiko Kohyama, JOHA, kohyama@toyonet.toyo.ac.up

The Japan Association for Working Environment
Measurement (JAWE), whose Chairman is Mr. Kizoh,
Hirayama, Managing Director, General Manager,
Personnel & Labour Relations Division, Nippon SteelCorporation, and the Japan Occupational Hygiene
Association (JOHA), whose chairman is Dr. Haruhiko
Sakurai, Professor emeritus of Keio University, held their“Joint Conference and Exhibition on Occupational Hygieneand Working Environment Measurement 2007” in Nagoya”,
14-16 November 2007. Nagoya City is located in theCentral Region of Japan and also it is the biggest city in the
Region.

The Joint Conference and Exhibition 2007 in Nagoya
consisted of three parts, namely presentations, symposium
and exhibition.

There were 63 scientific presentations, as well as 9
manufacturers’ presentations. The scientific presentations
reported on research in occupational hygiene and working
environment measurement, and included topics such as:
•
•
•
•
•
•

•

Development of 1,3-butadiene Detector Tube for
Working Environment Measurement
Exposure to Dust, Aflatoxin, and Causal Fungi during
Discharging of Imported Corn
A Proposal for the Occupational Exposure Limit of
Ethylene Glycol Dimethyl Ether
An Evaluation Method of Multi-components Organic
Vapours using Real time Monitoring Equipments
Formaldehyde Contamination Level and Exposure
Prevention by Measuring Dissection Laboratories
Examination of the Quantitative Analysis of Asbestos
in Construction Material Products by X-ray Diffraction
MethodExamination of Pre-treatment Methods for UltraQuantitative Analysis in order to Analyze the Content
of Crystalline Silica down to 0.1% in Weight in•Construction Products by X-ray Diffraction Method
Practical Use of Graphic Indication of Dust
Concentrations for Exposure Management in Welding
Workplaces
The full list of the themes of the scientific presentations aswell as the manufacturers’ presentations is available
from the authors.

The manufactures’ exhibits presented new analytical
instruments, apparatus and personal computer softwares,
such as: new types of detector tube to analysis forformaldehyde, Washing and Regeneration Returnable
System of Filter Media for Dust Respirators, new type
Immersion Liquid Kit for Dispersion Staining to analyze
asbestos, and, phase-contrast and polarizing optical
microscopes for asbestos analysis equipped with the new
40-power dispersion object lens; particle size-selective
sampling apparatus; sampling pumps; detector tubes, and,new personal computer systems to assist in working
environment measurements, personal protective
equipment and clothing were also exhibited.
The joint symposium theme was “Past, Present and Futureof Occupational Health Management”. It was planned inorder to deepen the understanding as well as to cope
properly with the recent Occupational Safety and Healthproblems in Japan, especially regarding risk assessment
and risk management in work places,
In the Joint Symposium, there were four presentations,
namely:•Transition in Health Management, by Takata,
Tsutomu, Professor Emeritus , Medical Dept., Kitasato
University,•
Historical Transition in Working Environment
Management, by Koshi, Shigeji, former Director
General, National Institute of Industrial Health ( inbehalf of him, Mr. Yoshihito Konishi, Director,
Investigation & Research Department of JAWE,
presented Dr. Shigeji Koshi’s address.)•
Transition in Working Environment Viewed from
Industrial Standpoint by Tamura, Koichi, I Metal
Technology Co., Ltd., Historical•Transition in Working Environment Viewed fromWorking Environment Measurement Agency, by
OKAMOTO, Satoru, Kyoto Industrial Health
Association, a foundation
This was followed by a discussion on these topics,
conducted by Dr. Takayasu Kato (Good Life Design Co.,
Ltd., Japan) as well as Mr. Niiya, Yoshihide (Daido
Bunseki Research, Inc.)
In the Conference, Professor Emeritus Tsutomu Takata(Kitasato University), as the Vice Chairman of JAWE,
granted the Superior Award to Ms. Kumiko Arai et al. (TheOccupational Health Research and Development Centre,
Japan Industrial Safety & Health Association - JISHA) ), as__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

Page 6 of 21

th

the winner of the Best Scientific Presentation Award in 27
Conference and Exhibition of JAWE on Occupational
Hygiene and Working Environment Measurement 2006,
Sendai, regarding “A Method for Analyzing 2,3Epoxypropylphenyl Ether as a High Boiling Point
Compound” (presented by Ms. Arai).

In addition, the Best Manufacture’s Presentation Awardwas granted to Koken Ltd. Japan for consecutive twoyears and a best manufacturer’s exhibition award was
granted to GASTEC Corporation, Japan in the Conferencein Nagoya, respectively.
In addition, both Mr. Arimichi Handa, Director, Office ofWorking Environment Improvement, Ministry of Health,Labour and Welfare, Japan, and Mr. Hideo Ozawa,
Director General, Aichi Prefectural Labour Bureau,
addressed congratulatory messages.

speeches by Dr. Takayasu Kato, Chairman of theOrganizing Committee of JOHA and by Mr. Kitaura,
Masahiro (Director, Tokai Branch Office, and Japan
Association for Working Environment Measurement),
Chairman of the Organizing Committee of JAWE. Then,
Professor Emeritus Tsutomu Takata, as JAWE Vice
Chairman, addressed a greeting and proposed a toast.
The Joint Conference was attended by more than 300
participants, as well as guests including from the
Headquarters of the Ministry of Health, Labour andWelfare, as well as from Aichi Prefectural Labour Bureau.
Many Japanese Experts in occupational health participatedin this event and the full list is available from the authors.
The next Joint Conference on Occupational Hygiene andWorking Environment Measurement will be held in Kyoto
City, located in Kinki Region of Japan, from 12 to 14
November, 2008.

In the evening of the second day, the Reception for
Exchange was held; it was opened with welcoming
From AIHA - USA2008 William P Yant Award
Guy Bourgeoisat, from France, receives the 2008 YantAward; 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 wastwice president.
Guy Bourgeoisat studied chemistry and engineering inFrance, but did his graduate studies in occupational

hygiene in the USA, at the University of Michigan, in Ann
Arbor (“Go Blue, Guy”). After 25 years with 3M, the last
seven years being Industrial Hygiene Manager for 3M
France, Guy spent six years with L’Oréal group (France),
having very recently retired as Industrial Hygiene Manager.
For the next issue, we promise photos and a summary of
Guy’s Yant Lecture.

News from ICOH
29th International Congress on Occupational Healthth

The 29 triennial 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
Implementing the WHO Global Plan of Action on Workers' Health
Sent by Ivan D. Ivanov, MD, PhD, Occupational Health, WHO, E-mail: IvanovI@who.int
th

In May 2007 the 60 World Health Assembly unanimously
endorsed the WHO Global Plan of Action on Workers

Health 2008-2017. This Plan provides a political frameworkfor development of policies, infrastructure, technologies__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

Page 7 of 21

and partnerships for achieving a basic level of healthprotection in all workplaces throughout the world. The
Health Assembly also urged the 193 Member States of
WHO to develop national plans and strategies for
implementing the Global Plan of Action and to work
towards full coverage of all workers with essential
interventions and basic services for prevention ofoccupational diseases and injuries. The progress made in
implementing the WHO Global Plan of Action will be
reviewed by the World Health Assembly in 2013 and 2018.
Recognizing that occupational health is closely linked to
public health and health systems development, WHO is
addressing all determinants of workers' health, including
risks for disease and injury in the occupational
environment, social and individual factors, and access tohealth services. Furthermore, the workplace is being used
as a setting for protecting and promoting the health ofworkers and their families.
The objectives for WHO global action in the coming ten
years include policy instruments on workers' health,workplace health protection and promotion, occupational
health services, evidence for action and practice, andworkers' health in other policies. Thus, such action
contributes to the global health agenda with regards tohealth security, climate change and Millenium
Development Goals.
In implementing the Global Plan of Action WHO isorganizing regional meetings with experts from ministries ofhealth, labour and other stakeholders (African Region August 2007, Western Pacific and Soth East AsianRegions - November 2007, Eastern Mediterranea Region May 2008, European Regin - September 2008). The
priorities for WHO action encompass two global campaigns
on elimination of certain occupational diseases, such as
asbestos-related diseases, as well as immunization ofhealth care workers against Hepatitis B. WHO is also
developing packages for delivery of essential preventive
interventions by basic occupational health services and astrategy for strenghtening health systems in the area of
workers health. The establishment of national schemes fordevelopment of healthy workplaces is also given a priority.
Furthermore, WHO is organizing the work of the global
network of collaborating centres for occupational health toprovide direct support to achieving the objectives of the
Global Plan of Action at the national and the international
levels. WHO is also scaling up its colaborative efforts with
the International Labour Organization and is actively
engaging in dialogue with the international organizations oftrade unions and employers. The involvement of nongovernmental organizations, particularly those in official
relation with WHO, is important for implementing the global
plan of action. Currently, WHO is collaborating with theInternational Commission of Occupational Health, theInternational Occupational Hygiene Association and theInternational Ergonomics Association.
Global occupational hygiene community can contribute toimplementing the WHO global plan of action by developing
practical tools for assessment and management ofoccupational risks. It is also necessary to identify andpopularize cost-effective and evidence-based interventions
for primary prevention of occupational diseases andaccidents in settings with constrained resources. Leastdeveloped countries need particular support in building
adequate human and institutional capacities to manage
occupational risks, including technical expertise,laboratories, know how about planning, implementationand evaluation of preventive measures.
For further information on WHO activities in workers'
health, please contact workershealth@who.int

8th Meeting of the Global Network of WHO Collaborating Centres in Occupational Health,19 – 20 March 2009
Sent by Evelyn Kortum, WHO E-mail: kortume@who.int, and Marilyn Fingerhut, CDC/NIOSH E-mail: maf2@cdc.gov
The WHO Network of Collaborating Centres in
Occupational Health will hold a meeting, on 19-20 March
2009, in Stellenbosch, South Africa. This meeting, which
includes Directors of the 65 Collaborating Centres,
presidents of IOHA, IEA and ICOH, WHO Regional
Advisors in Occupational Health and representatives of theth
ILO, will precede the 29 International ICOH Congress,

taking place on 22-27 March 2009 in Cape Town. The
Network meeting will focus on plans and projects that will
intensively contribute to the implementation of the Global
Plan of Action on Workers' Health, endorsed by the World
Health Assembly in May 2007. The WHO Global Plan waspresented in the November 2007 issue of the IOHA
Newsletter.

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

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
was set up by the European Union to help meet the
information needs in the field of occupational safety andhealth. Based in Bilbao, Spain, the Agency aims to improve
the lives of people at work by stimulating the flow oftechnical, scientific and economic information between all
those involved in occupational safety and health issues.

Website: http://osha.europa.eu
European good practices to help cut workplace illness
for millions
Nine organisations have been honoured with a European
Good Practice Award for helping to prevent
musculoskeletal disorders, the most common form of work-__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

Page 8 of 21

related illness in Europe. Across the EU, 25% of workers
complain of backache and 23% report muscular pains. The
winners were announced in February at the closing eventof the ‘Lighten the Load’ campaign which promoted an
integrated approach to tackling musculoskeletal disorders,embracing prevention and retention, rehabilitation andreintegration of workers. More details are available at:
http://ew2007.osha.europa.eu/europeansummit/

this new model is intended to make the Agency’s
campaigns more effective in achieving the objectives of the
new Community Strategy.
The last in the Agency’s series of four flagship reports on
new and emerging risks will be published, focusing on
chemical risks. Furthermore, projects on carcinogens andoccupational cancer will give an overview of the topic andaddressing more specifically how occupational exposure
limits for these substances are being set in the EU.
Moreover, information and OSH programmes will be
provided for the road transport sector, targeting SMEs
especially. A report on insurance premiums and otherfinancial incentives for improving safety and healthperformance will be published. The Agency will begin
preparation of a report on how training in teaching risk
assessment is provided to teachers.
Latest EU-OSHA Publications
Expert forecast on emerging biological risks
http://riskobservatory.osha.europa.eu/risks/forecasts/biolog
ical_risks/
Expert forecast on emerging psychosocial risks
http://osha.europa.eu/publications/reports/7807118

At the conclusion of ‘Lighten the load’, EU-OSHA’s
campaign on musculoskeletal disorders; from left to right,
above: Jukka Takala, Director EU-OSHA; VladimírŠpidla, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs
and Equal Opportunities; Marjeta Cotman, Slovenian
Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs.
On this occasion the Commissioner emphasised that“tackling MSDs is a priority for the EU if we are to create
more and better jobs in Europe. It is essential if European
workers are to enjoy not only better quality jobs but a better
quality of life and a higher standard of living.”
Work programme 2008
This year will see a new approach to campaigning, moving
to a two-year cycle and involving a greater focus on
networks. Starting with the Risk Assessment campaign,

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders: prevention report
http://osha.europa.eu/publications/reports/TE8107132ENC
Report - Prevention of work-related musculoskeletal
disorders in practice
http://osha.europa.eu/publications/reports/TE7606536ENC
Literature Study on Migrant Workers
http://osha.europa.eu/priority_groups/migrant_workers/migr
antworkers.pdf
OSH in figures: Young workers - Facts and figures
http://osha.europa.eu/publications/reports/7606507

Silicosis Prevention
NIOSH and the Americas Silicosis Initiative
Sent by Maria Lioce-Mata (CDC/NIOSH/OD) cru6@cdc.gov, Faye Rice (CDC/NIOSH/EIDIV) flr2@cdc.gov,
Aaron Sussell (CDC/NIOSH/DSHF) als7@cdc.gov
When Chilean artisans worked in the past, they used handtools to artfully shape and cut stone. Today, craftsman
working in small open-air settings with two to four workers
use power tools for the same task. While efficient, thesecontemporary tools pose a major health risk by generating
dust with high levels of airborne crystalline silica. When
workers breathe in this dust, it can result in silicosis, aserious but preventable lung disease.
Occupational exposures to respirable crystalline silica arealso associated with lung cancer, pulmonary tuberculosis
and airways diseases, and may be related to thedevelopment of autoimmune disorders, chronic renal
disease, and other adverse health effects.

Concerned about these threats, the Chilean National
Institute for Public Health (ISP) invited three industrial
hygienists from the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH) to examine work conditions
among the ornamental stone carvers in the small historical
town of Pelequén, Chile. A NIOSH industrial hygienist
Aaron Sussell said “the silica dust levels were some of thehighest I’ve seen anywhere in the world – and there were
no controls to prevent silicosis”; the following photos show
some of the conditions he encountered.
NIOSH plans to assist ISP in implementing an intervention
to introduce dust control measures in these small shops.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

Page 9 of 21

NIOSH has expertise in all aspects of silica measurement,
control of exposure, and diagnosis, treatment, and medical
surveillance of silica-related disease. This expertise issought by international and national organizations toaddress the problems in developed and developing
countries, where occupational silicosis is believed to be
widespread. For many exposed workers, prevention
measures are non-existent. China recorded more than
500,000 cases of silicosis from 1991- 1995. In Brazil, morethan 4,500 workers with silicosis have been cumulatively
reported in the state of Minas Gerais alone. In India,
millions of workers are at risk.

countries. Substantial work was accomplished in Chile in2006 and was underway in 2007 in Chile, Brazil, and Peru,
including:
•
•

•

•
•

Training of physicians from Chile, Brazil, and Peru
by US, Chilean and Brazilian experts
Development of a silica laboratory at the ISP in
Santiago (including training for laboratory
technicians from Chile, Brazil, Peru and Uruguay)
Training of workshop participants from Chile,Peru, Brazil and Uruguay in methods of dust
control
Development of simple guidance for employers to
put controls in place
Conducting of field visits to small quarries andstone crushing and stone craft worksites todevelop customized guidance sheets

The impact of NIOSH’s technical assistance was seen in
July 2007 when Chilean Ministries of Health and Labor
jointly hosted representatives of the Ministries of Brazil,
Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico and Peru in a regional
planning meeting that has brought these countries into theAmericas partnership.
The Americas Silicosis Initiative includes a cost-effective,
novel educational approach called “Control Banding” toassess and control exposure to the hazardous crystalline
silica dust.
In 1995, the World Health Organization (WHO) and theInternational Labour Organization (ILO) began a campaign
to eliminate silicosis from the world by 2030.

NIOSH technical assistance to partners in Brazil, Chile,and Peru enables these countries to develop their own
capacity to implement National Plans to eliminate silicosis.
This kind of partnership is a model for other countries andis helping to meet the ILO/WHO goal to eliminate silicosisby 2030.
Global collaboration in silicosis prevention benefits NIOSH
in its effort to reach small business in the United States
through experience and lessons learned in applying simple
guidance to control silica exposures in small enterprises
with partner countries in the Americas. At least 1.7 million
United States’ workers are potentially exposed torespirable crystalline silica in a variety of industries andoccupations, including mining and construction, and manyare exposed to concentrations that exceed limits defined bycurrent regulations and standards. OSHA is currently
working on new regulations and NIOSH is working on newforms of simple guidance for employers and workers.

In 2005, WHO and its Regional Office, the Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO), the ILO and the Chilean
Ministry of Health (MOH) requested that NIOSH provide
technical assistance to these organizations andcooperating countries to build adequate capacity toeliminate silicosis in the Americas. In response to thisrequest, NIOSH (a WHO Collaborating Center for
Occupational Health) initiated a program called “Americas
Silicosis Initiative” in partnership with WHO, PAHO and the
ILO. It is the first regional approach to silicosis and isbased upon the sharing of expertise to benefit many

In October 2007, a NIOSH technical expert visited Chile topresent the United States’ experience in controlling silicosis
with the use of respirators in the workplace at the “Breathe
Safely” seminar. He met with the Chilean ISP on silica
control topics related to respiratory protection, andproposed a joint project on developing respiratory
protection programs for small and medium businessenterprises. Prevention activities with the cooperationof government, labor and industry are ongoing, and are
the keys to silicosis elimination.
NIOSH Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this report arethose of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the viewsof the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

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The National Programme for the Elimination of Silicosis in Brazil
Sent by Eduardo Algranti, Pulmonary Medicine, FUNDACENTRO, Brazil, eduardo@fundacentro.gov.br
The National Program for the Elimination of Silicosis, Brazil(NPES-B) started in mid 2002, with the following
objectives, in conformity with the goals of the Joint
ILO/WHO Programme for the Global Elimination of
Silicosis:••

To reach a significant reduction in the incidence ofsilicosis by 2015
To eliminate silicosis as a public health problem by
2030

The NPES-B has developed a series of actions under thedesignations of Policy and Legislation, Information,
Education and Research tailored for application in thefollowing four groups, also taking into account parameterssuch as risk magnitude, sector awareness and priorities:••••

Mining: mineral extraction and processing
Construction industry
Metallurgy
Ceramic and Glass

The first 18 months were devoted to consolidating aframework of institutions that would sustain the
programme. Three important goals have been reached so
far:1.

The signature of bilateral Memoranda ofUnderstanding for technical cooperation between
FUNDACENTRO and the Ministries of Labour and
Employment, Health, Social Welfare and PublicCounsel, and also with the ILO/Brazil

2.

An estimation of the potentially exposed populationby economic sectors through a job exposure matrix
method3.

A ban on the use of sand as a blasting agent in theBrazilian territory

Prior to launching of NPES-B, a specific Website wasdeveloped, under the FUNDACENTRO site (link:
http://www.fundacentro.gov.br/index.asp?D=SES) andmade available, in order to disseminate scientific andtechnical information on silica, silicosis and its prevention,
as well as news and other relevant information on the
programme. This site also aims at acting as acommunication channel with the community, particularly all
stake holders somehow associated to this problem.
Recently, the group dealing with mining attained an
important goal concerning the elimination of dry finishing in
the ornamental stones industry.
Further details can be obtained from Dr Eduardo Algranti(eduardo@fundacentro.gov.br).

Examples of studies related to silicosis prevention,
carried out at FUNDACENTRO
As an example of an ongoing research project under
NPES-B (PNES), it is relevant to mention the “Study ofoccupational exposure to silica in the manufacture ofceramic tiles”, which has been carried out since 2005, by a
FUNDACENTRO-São Paulo team that includes
occupational physicians, occupational hygienists, analyticallaboratory staff and statisticians, namely: Alcinéa Santos,
Amarildo Pereira, Ana Maria Bon, Eduardo Algranti, Elayne
Maçaira, Elizabete Mendonça, Leila Cristina Lima, LuizAlberto Corrêa, Marco Antonio Bussacos, Maria Margarida
T. Moreira Lima. Further details can be obtained throughthe team coordinator: Maria Margarida T. Moreira Lima, Email: maria.lima@fundacentro.gov.br.
The occupational health teams of FUNDACENTRO, both inSão Paulo and in other Brazilian states, have carried out
many other studies on the assessment and prevention of
exposure to silica containing dusts; a few examples (farfrom exhaustive) are hereby mentioned:
Exposure to silica and silicosis in the National
Programme for the Elimination of Silicosis in Brazil PNES (Exposición a sílice y silicosis en el Programa
Nacional de Eliminación de Silicosis en Brasil - PNES),
Algranti, E., Handar, Z., Ribeiro F.S.N., Bon, A. M. T.,
Santos, A. M. A., Bedrikow, B. (Ciencia&Trabajo, v.6, p.1 13, 2004)
Respiratory impairment in Brazilian foundry workers
exposed to sand, Mendonça E.M.C., Silva R.C.C.,
Bussacos M.A., Algranti E. (Am J Ind Med 2007; 50:83-91)
Occupational exposure to silica and silicosis among
workers in the stonecutting industry in São Paulo(Exposição ocupacional à sílica e silicose entre
trabalhadores de marmorarias, no município de São
Paulo), 2006, p. Bon, A. M. T. (Doctoral Thesis, School of
Públic Health, University of São Paulo, Brazil)
Occupational exposure to dust in stone cutting:characteristic particle sizes (Exposição ocupacional a
poeiras em marmorarias: tamanhos de partículas
característicos), 2005, Santos, A. M. A. Tese (Doctoral
Thesis, School of Engineering, Federal University of Minas
Gerais, Brazil)
Method for the determination of crystalline silica in the
dust resulting from processes in the manufacture ofceramic tiles (Método de determinação da sílica cristalinana poeira dos processos de fabricação de revestimentos
cerâmicos) Moreira Lima, M. M. T.; Camarini, G. (Cerâmica
Industrial, v. 11, n. 4, p. 21-27, 2006)
Further information can be obtained from the authors.

New Silicosis Prevention Campaign at the University of Washington, USA:
Silica: It’s More Than Dust
Sent by Mary Ellen Flanagan, mflanaga@u.washington.edu
The University of Washington, in partnership with trade andindustry groups, is launching a silicosis prevention
campaign. Construction workers are clearly at risk ofdeveloping silicosis and other lung diseases if they breathehigh levels of concrete and rock dust. One study showedsilicosis deaths in the construction industry are higher than__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

Page 11 of 21

any other industry in the United States. However, silica
levels fluctuate because of the nature of construction work.
This also makes air monitoring challenging on construction
sites.
The University of Washington’s Field Research andConsultation Group has developed an extensive databaseof air quality samples collected for a wide range of
construction activities. This information was pooled from
U.S. regulatory agencies, universities and other researchgroups, and several construction contractors.
These results are available on the website
http://depts.washington.edu/silica. The site shows silica
dust averages and ranges for common dust-producing

construction tools. There is also information on how welldust controls work and an interactive web page called “TheRight Respirator for the Job” to recommend the best
respirator when working with a specific tool in an open,
enclosed, or confined environment.
This website was designed to help those in theconstruction industry anticipate and control silica
exposures. In addition to the interactive tool, it has
information for online reading or downloading.
An information campaign – including posters and hard-hat
stickers – will direct workers and managers to the website.
Posters and hard hat stickers are also available fordownloading.

Silica Exposure Webcommunity
Sent by Andy Phillips, HSE UK, andy.phillips@hse.gsi.gov.uk
The Silica Exposure Webcommunity is hosted by the UK
Health and Safety Executive and is one of a number ofcollaborative websites that allow its members to interact
within their community and discuss issues of importance tothem. Membership is open to all, though intended primarily
for those who have a role to play in understanding andcontrolling exposures to respirable crystalline silica in theworking environment. The community extends beyond
national boundaries.
This Webcommunity aims at:•
helping people communicate with each other on areasof common interest;•
providing a centralised place to capture and share
information about members' activities;•
sharing information about publicly available reports,
documents and links, and,•uploading documents of common interest to members.
The Silica Exposure web community can be found at:
http://webcommunities.hse.gov.uk/inovem/inovem.ti/silica/g
roupHome

If you have an interest in controlling exposure to silica andthe risks this presents, please consider joining the groupand sharing what you have with others. It is hoped thisgroup will become self sustaining and that members will
see it as their resource and a means to share informationand insights with like-minded colleagues around the world.
Members can start discussions, share documents,
presentations and photos (but keep file sizes downplease!), add web links and see who the other members
are. Oh, and once in “web communities” and through the“Find another group” link on the Silica Homepage have alook around to see the wide variety of other health andsafety related networking sites that have been created.
If you have any views about the use of collaborative tools
in bringing together those in the wider world of hygiene
please contact Andy Phillips at the Health and Safety
Executive in the UK who, along with Colin Davy, manages
this community. Andy has a keen interest in managing
hygiene knowledge and can be contacted atandy.phillips@hse.gsi.gov.uk.

Reminder of the WHO GOHNET Newsletter on the Elimination of Silicosis
In view of the many contributions related to silicosis
prevention in this issue, it is timely to remind you of thevery good issue of the GOHNET Newsletter on this subject(No. 12, Winter 2007), always available online at:

http://www.who.int/occupational_health/publications/newsle
tter/gohnet12e.pdf

Silicosis in the Construction Industry – Studies in the Netherlands
Much work on silicosis in the construction industry has
been carried out in the Netherlands. This is particularly
important because in many places, it is still difficult toconvince decision makers that silica containing dust is athreat in this occupational branch. For example, Evelyn
Tjoe Nij from The Netherlands presented a thesis in 2003
about risk assessment for silica and silicosis prevention.
Her work includes five studies about silica in theconstruction industry; some examples are mentioned
below.

Dust Control Measures in the Construction Industry
Evelyn Tjoe Nij, Simone Hilhorst, Ton Spee, Judith
Spierings, Friso Steffens, Mieke Lumens and Dick
Heederik (Ann.Occup. Hyg., 2003, Vol. 47, No. 3, pp. 211–
218)
Quartz is a human carcinogen and a causative agent ofsilicosis. Exposure levels often exceed exposure limits inthe construction industry. The need for effective control
measures is high, but the complex structure of theconstruction industry, the variability in sources of exposure__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

Page 12 of 21

and the frequent changes of worksite makes it difficult toimplement even simple and potentially effective control
measures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact
of control measures for reducing quartz dust exposure andto assess the extent of their use. Full-shift respirable dust
measurements (n = 61) and short-term measurements
among construction workers were performed and results ofa questionnaire study among 1335 construction workers
were analyzed. Full-shift measurements showed respirable
quartz exposure levels up to 63 times the maximum
allowable concentration (MAC) value (0.075 mg/m3). Morethan half of the measurements were above the MAC value.
Determinants of full-shift exposure levels were not strongly
associated with use of control measures however the
short-term measurements showed large reduction factors(>70%) when wet dust suppression or local exhaust
ventilation was used.
The effectiveness of control measures is potentially high,and a significant part of the construction worker population
is indeed using them on a regular basis. Still, both theexposure study and questionnaire survey demonstrated
that the use of respiratory protection is the most widelyused preventive measure in the construction industry.
Respiratory protection might not always reduce exposuresufficiently. Only the combined use of more than one
control measure can reduce exposures to acceptablelevels.
Risk assessment of silicosis and lung cancer among
construction workers exposed to respirable quartz,
Evelyn Tjoe Nij and Dick Heederik (Scand J Work Environ
Health 2005; 31 suppl 2:49–56)
The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude of thesilicosis and cancer risk among construction workers. In
1998, 1335 of 4173 invited construction workers withexpected high cumulative exposure to quartz were studied
for early signs. All available data indicated that construction
workers exposed to quartz levels above occupational
exposure limits are clearly at elevated risk of silicosis andother respiratory diseases.
Lung function decrease in relation to pneumoconiosis
and exposure to quartz-containing dust in construction
workers, Evelyn Tjoe-Nij, Gea de Meer, Jet Smit and Dick
Heederik (Am. J. Ind. Med., 2003, Jun; 43(6):574-83)
This cross-sectional study was carried out, in view of theneed for more knowledge on the prevalence of exposure
related respiratory symptoms and decreases in lungfunction among quartz dust exposed construction workers.
The occurrence of respiratory symptoms was recorded andspirometric lung function was measured. Results wereassociated with exposure data and presence ofradiographic abnormalities and compared with a reference
population. Pneumoconiosis (profusion category 1/1 orgreater) was associated with increased risks of FEV1 andFVC values in the lowest 5% group, and with group-based

decreases of 270 ml/s and 180 ml, respectively. Averagelung function of construction workers was somewhat lower
compared to a Dutch reference population. Lung function
was not associated with exposure, except for a reduction in
FVC of 5 ml per year for those with higher exposure.
The conclusion was that, in quartz dust exposedconstruction workers, obstructive and restrictive lungfunction loss was detected.
Radiographic abnormalities among construction
workers exposed to quartz containing dust, E Tjoe Nij,
A Burdorf, J Parker, M Attfield, C van Duivenbooden, D
Heederik (Occup. Environ. Med., 2003, 60:410–417)
Construction workers are exposed to quartz containing
respirable dust, at levels that may cause fibrosis in thelungs. Studies so far have not established a dose-response
relation for radiographic abnormalities for this occupationalgroup.
The aim of the study was to evaluate the extent ofradiographic abnormalities among construction workers
primarily exposed to quartz containing respirable dust.
Therefore, a cross sectional study on radiographic
abnormalities indicative of pneumoconiosis was conductedamong 1339 construction workers involved mainly in
grinding, (jack)-hammering, drilling, cutting, sawing, andpolishing. Radiological abnormalities were determined bymedian results of the 1980 International Labour
Organisation system of three certified “B” readers.
Questionnaires were used for assessment of occupational
history, presence of respiratory diseases, and symptoms
and smoking habits.
The results showed the following: An abnormality of ILO
profusion category 1/0 and greater was observed on 10.2%of the chest radiographs, and profusion category of 1/1 orgreater on 2.9% of the radiographs. The average durationof exposure of this group was 19 years and the average
age was 42. The predominant type of small opacities(irregularly shaped) is presumably indicative of mixed dust
pneumoconiosis. The prevalence of early signs of nodular
silicosis (small rounded opacities of category 1/0 or
greater) was low (0.8%).
This study suggests an elevated risk of radiographic
abnormalities among those workers with expected highexposure. An association between radiographic
abnormalities and cumulative exposure to quartz
containing dust from construction sites was observed, after
correction for potentially confounding variables.
Ton Spee, from ARBOUW, has also carried out much workand has a wealth of information on this topic. Thoseinterested in this subject may get in touch with Evelyn TjoeNij (evelyn.tjoenij@tno.nl) and Ton Spee
(spee@arbouw.nl).

Characteristics of dust from the manufacturing process of ceramic materials for tiles
Sent by Maria Margarida T. Moreira Lima, FUNDACENTRO, Brazil, maria.lima@fundacentro.gov.br
This study is part of a FUNDACENTRO's project as acontribution to the PNES (the Brazilian National
Programme for the Elimination of Silicosis). The full text willsoon be available at the FUNDACENTRO website.

In the ceramic tiles industry, data on the characteristics ofdust generated in their processes is not sufficient to define
the magnitude of the risk of occupational exposure to silica
in this industrial branch in Brazil. This study was conductedwith an exploratory and descriptive nature through__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

Page 13 of 21

systematic observation of the industrial process steps withdust generation, the collection and analysis of air samples
from the work environment and the mineralogical analysisof raw materials for ceramic tiles in order to identify theircomposition, as well as the mass concentration and the
crystalline silica content of airborne particulate material inindustries of glazed ceramic tiles for floors and walls.
Dust samples were analyzed with gravimetric and X-ray
diffraction techniques. The dust samples indicatedconcentrations of respirable α-quartz between 0.01 mg/m³
and 0.16 mg/m³ in the main stages of the process. The
mean concentration of respirable α-quartz in the sectors ofclay grinding was 0.06 mg/m³; in the pressing sectors: 0.03
mg/m³; in the glazing lines: 0.02 mg/m³, and in the
preparation of enamels and engobe sectors: 0.09 mg/m³.
Raw ceramic bulk samples were analyzed by X-ray
diffraction to identify the presence of other compounds that
could be present in the dust generated by the processes.
Minerals of the group of the micas, feldspars and smectite
have been identified in the composition of all the ceramicmasses, together with hematite and quartz, as the
predominant mineral.
Nine plants in Santa Gertrudes Municipality, São Paulo
State, with dry manufacturing processes, where the main
raw material is red clay, were selected to this study.

The medical surveillance will be carried out this year. The
data on the prevalence of silicosis in the ceramic tiles
sector is not sufficient to define the magnitude of thesilicosis risk in this industrial branch in our country.
For the author, the importance of this research is the actual
discussion about others possible compounds (such as ironand aluminium) in the clay dust (especially red clay) that
could modify the effects of quartz (Miller and Soutar, 2004).
The question is: Why, in a situation of exposure to quartz
containing dust, there are not silicosis cases as expected ?
”Available evidence suggested that these risks might below (in the heavy clay industry), possibly because thepresence in the dust of other minerals, such illite andkaolinite, which may reduce the harmful effects of quartz”(LOVE et al, 1999).
Miller, B. G. and Soutar, C. A. (2004) “Comparison ofobserved radiological abnormalities in the heavy clay
industry with risks predicted by exposure-response
relationships from high-potency quartz exposures at a
Scottish colliery”, Institute of Occupational Medicine,
Edinburgh (Research Report TM/04/02). Available at:www.iom-world.org/pubs/IOM_TM0402.pdf
Love, R. G. et al. (1999) “Risks of respiratory disease in theheavy clay industry”, Occup. Environ. Med., 56, N. 2, pp.
124-133

Occupational hygiene and silicosis prevention initiative in MozambiqueSent by Custodio V. Muianga and Carol Rice, Department of Environmental Health, College of Medicine University ofCincinnati, muiangcv@email.uc.edu or alerdilr@ucmail.uc.edu
Since 2004 the Center for Industrial Studies, Safety andEnvironment (CEISA) at Eduardo Mondlane University(UEM) has been seeking low-cost, simple and innovative
ways to reduce worker exposures to chemical airborne
contaminants. In that context, control banding toolkits, suchas the COSHH Essentials, the ILO Chemical Control
Toolkit and the GTZ chemical management guide, werereviewed to evaluate the potentiality to be used in
Mozambique. As a result, a tailored train-the-trainer
program in Portuguese on chemical risk management inresearch and teaching laboratories was designed fordelivery at the Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique.

and literacy. For silica dust controls, the use of task-based,
good work practice principles was identified as a valuable
concept to address both primary prevention of diseases
through exposure reduction and eliminating the “knowledge
application gap” regarding silicosis in Mozambique andother developing countries. Based on the Silica Essentials
and the EU-NEPSI Good practice guide, task-based goodwork practice control guidance sheets for four demolition
tasks were developed - one page for workers and multiple
pages for supervisors. The exposure reduction strategy inthese task-based control guidance sheets is based ongood work practices, such as the use of:As part of a PhD dissertation research at the University ofCincinnati, Department of Environmental Health, OH – US,various silica dust exposure control strategies werereviewed including the UK HSE Silica Essentials, theEuropean Union Negotiation Platform on Silica – Good
Practice Guide, and the US Blue Print Project: Guides forManaging Silica Control Programs in Construction. The
usability of each of these toolkits in small-scale concreteand masonry demolition activities was evaluated, and the
Silica Essentials Construction Series was translated toPortuguese with support and collaboration from NIOSH
and are currently under external review.

•

The results include constraints of language differences(English to Portuguese), the availability of modern
technologies (Internet access) and access to exposure
controls (local exhaust ventilation, water suppression
systems, and respiratory protection). Control guidance
sheets include extensive text and technical information on
both hazard and controls that may limit their usability forworkers and some supervisors as a result of lack of time•••

wet methods to suppress dust (spray, sprinkle or
mapping);
HEPA filtered vacuum cleaner to remove dust;
natural ventilation by working at an upstream positionof the silica dust generating source and allowing free
air circulation through opening doors and windows
when appropriate; basic personal protective
equipment, and,basic hygiene and sanitation practice.

These task-based control guidance sheets are to beevaluated through a pre-and-post action-focused, hands-on
worker and supervisor training intervention in small-scaleconcrete and masonry demolition operations inMozambique. If the approach proves to reduce exposure,the approach may be replicated in other developing anddeveloped countries as well as be expanded to other silicagenerating activities and trades.
Websites for the above-mentioned Toolkits and guides:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

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COSHH Essentials: http://www.coshh-essentials.org.uk/
ILO Chemical Control Toolkit:
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/ctrl_ba
nding/toolkit/icct/index.htm
GTZ chemical management guide:
http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/en-chemicalmanagement-guide-2006.pdf
UK HSE Silica Essentials:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/
European Union Negotiation Platform on Silica – Good
Practice Guide: http://www.nepsi.eu/good-practiceguide.aspx

US Blue Print Project: Guides for Managing Silica Control
Programs in Construction:
http://www.blueprintproject.org/silica.html
Acknowledgments: To the University of Cincinnati Graduate
Assistantship, to the National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences (for the Grant), the Eduardo Mondlane University,
Mozambique, and my advisors at UC and NIOSH. The content issolely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily
represent the official views of any institution mentioned above.
Custodio Muianga, now in the USA, is also from the Center for
Industrial Studies, Safety and Environment. Eduardo Mondlane
University. Maputo – Mozambique.

Translation into Portuguese of the WHO document on prevention and control of
exposure to airborne dust
By Berenice Goelzer,berenice@goelzer.net
This information is very relevant for readers who areinterested in occupational health documents and guidelines
in Portuguese. Moreover, this initiative is an example of theusefulness of having some key materials translated into
national languages, as this not only provides wider reachfor existing knowledge but also triggers ideas for its
application.
The 1999 WHO document: “Prevention And Control
Exchange: PACE, Hazard Prevention and Control in theWork Environment: Airborne Dust” was translated into
Portuguese by a Brazilian institution (Senac São Paulo), a
candidate to become a WHO Collaborating Center, under acollaborative project with WHO.
The WHO document in question dates back to 1999; sincethen many studies on dust and its control have been
carried out, but the mechanics of dust generation anddissemination, the recognition of dust problems and thebasic prevention and control principles have not changed.
What is urgently needed is the application of suchprinciples in the development of efficient preventive
interventions. Silicosis has been known for centuries andhas been proved to be preventable for many and many
decades; however, it continues to incapacitate and kill
workers today. Therefore, projects aiming at the promotionof primary prevention in this field are of fundamental
importance.

This project, within the activity area on “Education, Training
and Technical Materials” of the Global Network of WHO
Collaborating Centres in Occupational Health, involves not
only the translation but also the dissemination of the
document. In this connection, a workshop was held at
Senac São Paulo, in São Paulo, in December 2007, andconsisted of:•Presentations on the document and its “history”,
linking it with the usual obstacles to prevention, as wellas to the ILO/WHO International Programme on the
Global Elimination of Silicosis, the 2008-2017 WHO
Global Plan of Action on Workers’ Health and the Planof Work of the WHO Network of Collaborating Centers.
•
A brainstorming session with the participants on how
to best promote prevention and, particularly, on how tobest use and disseminate the document, and promote
its practical application.
The discussions were very fruitful and a number of usefulsuggestions emerged; the participants were enthusiastic
and agreed on becoming “multipliers” in the disseminationof relevant information.
The document was distributed on a CD to the participantsof the workshop and to a number of occupational healthprofessionals, and has been posted online, free of charge,
within the Senac Website; the direct link to this documentis:www1.sp.senac.br/hotsites/oms/documentos/pace.pdf

International Actions
International Training Modules
Sent by Roger Alesbury, roger.alesbury@uk.bp.com, Steve Bailey,Steve.R.Bailey@gsk.com,
Brian Davies, bdavies@uow.edu.au, Noel Tresider, noelpetroch@msn.com.au
Background
Over the last two years, there have been meetings andworkshops on global industrial (occupational) hygiene

training at occupational hygiene conferences in the USA,
Australia and Europe in addition to numerous discussions
between interested parties across the world. At the recent__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

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IOHA Conference in Taipei, a workshop heard latest
developments and progress with this work. This note
provides the background on these activities, and an updateon progress in developing a series of International training
modules.
Occupational Hygiene Training Modules
Globally, demand for industrial hygienists is increasing.
There is also evidence from a survey of multi national
employers that ability to recruit in many parts of the world,
and the lack of suitable training courses, are barriers to thedevelopment of the profession.
Following extensive consultation over the last two years,
funding has been secured to develop a number of quality
industrial hygiene training modules. These are aimed at
bridging the gap between the traditional ‘Principles’ courseand Masters level programmes, as a means of developing
capability in parts of the world where demand growth isgreatest.
The modules have been designed to provide a steppingstone for developing professionals in their early career,focussing on practical ‘hands on’ aspects of Industrial
Hygiene. The focus is on teaching the practicalities
involved with the initial identification, assessment,
monitoring and control of hazards in practical situations.

questions and mock examination. The intent is that
following each course, students can sit an international‘assessment/examination’ developed along the lines of theprocess currently used by BOHS for their national modules.
Working with AIOH, the intent is that this will be available
online and take into account the issues of language andculture. This will provide training that will contribute to thelearning objectives required to sit examinations for IOHA
recognised national Occupational Hygiene Accreditation
Schemes. Although the course assessments will provide a
record of achievement and building blocks toward
professional development – they are not a replacement or
substitute for the IOHA qualifications recognised under
NAR. They are though a means of delivering aspects of the
training required to prepare for those qualifications.
Although at a very early stage, there are also discussions
about the possibility that these modules could in turn feedin, or form part of, other structured learning programmes
toward a recognised academic qualification, such as an
MSc.
Current Status
The status of development of the modules is shown below:
Chemical monitoring
Thermal environment

The intent is to provide a comprehensive, quality teachingpackage that can be used by a variety of institutions acrossthe world and is suitable for translation into local
languages. As such they should be accessible andaffordable. One-week modular courses are routinely used
for teaching people in employment and the concept isfound to be generally acceptable to employers, who are
more willing to release employees for one week at a timerather than for prolonged periods. Each module is part of aseries but can be taken in isolation and so there is no
ongoing or long term commitment necessary in enrolling on
one course. Attendance at courses on specific topics canalso be tailored to local priorities.
The syllabi for the modules have been developed inpartnership with BOHS and in consultation with AIOH andother IOHA member organisations. The content builds onan established format used by BOHS but updated to reflectcurrent developments and to remove all reference to
National or local legislation. There is also a greater focus
on the need for practical ‘hands on’ experience during theteaching sessions.
Course materials are being developed by experienced
professionals (the first two have been prepared byProfessor Brian Davies and colleagues at the University of
Wollongong). Following preparation of the material, this ispeer reviewed and piloted prior to publication. The intent isthat student manuals will be available free on the internet
for download. The AIOH have also agreed to publish thestudent manuals and make them available at modest cost.
Teaching materials will be made available to reputablecourse providers at no cost. In order to maintain quality andconsistency, the intent is that courses should only be run
by organisations with at least one professionally qualified
hygienist and those that have the ability to provide quality
teaching.
Each training pack includes: student manual, course
programme, learning objectives, teaching slide
packs/notes, practical workshops, self assessment

Noise

Asbestos
Control of Chemicals
Ergonomics

complete (peer reviewed andpiloted) – available now
complete (peer reviewed andpiloted) – available now
final drafting, pilot course
January 2008, publication Q1
2008
final drafting, pilot course Q1
2008
drafting Q1 2008, target
availability Q2 2008
drafting Q1 2008, target
availability Q2 2008

Courses on Chemical Monitoring have been run inAustralia and Azerbaijan, and plans are in place for acourse in China in August 2008. The material is beingtranslated into Spanish and will run in South America in2008. Translation into German is also being arranged.
Courses on the Thermal Environment have been run in
Azerbaijan and Australia and a course on Noise took placein China during January 2008. There are ongoing
discussions about planning for other courses around theworld.
Summary
These modules provide a means for delivering consistent,
quality training on core aspects of occupational hygienethat complement and enhance existing training offers. They
have been designed for early career trainees to bridge thegap between the principles level courses and masters level
programmes. The focus is on practical, hands on aspects
related to assessment, monitoring and control of theworking environment.
The method of development, peer review and piloting isleading to a quality of material that is suitable to betranslated and to be run locally to suit demand. As such, it
is hoped it will increase the take up of Industrial Hygiene
training and increase the number of people around theworld preparing for IOHA recognised accreditation.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

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Discussions are being held within IOHA member
organisations to look at the next steps to manage andmaintain this material.

Focus on Occupational Health and Safety in Southern Africa
Sent by Claudina Nogueira, National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH), South Africa,
claudina.nogueira@nioh.nhls.ac.za
Two international programmes in occupational andenvironmental health are well established in the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) Region: theFogarty International Center/University of Michigan
Southern African Programme in Occupational andEnvironmental Health Training, and the SIDA (Swedish
International Development Cooperation Agency)sponsored Work and Health in Southern Africa (WAHSA)
Programme. Both programmes held their annual meetings
recently in Maputo, Mozambique, 11-15 February 2008.
The meetings were attended by representatives from theUnited States, Sweden, Mozambique, South Africa,
Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Lesotho;
directors, managers, coordinators and administrators fromboth programmes were present, as well as official SADC
representatives. A short summary of each programme ishereby presented; further information may be obtained
from the author.
The Fogarty/University of Michigan Programme
The Fogarty/University of Michigan Programme is currently
in its third five-year cycle, and its main objectives are thepromotion of occupational and environmental healthcapacity building and training for the SADC Region, with astrong focus on academic development. The first ten years(two funding cycles) of the programme focused on
developing academic and human resources foroccupational health and safety capacity, initially in South
Africa, and then in other SADC member states.
Additionally, support was given for research projects ofjunior scientists in the SADC Region. The main goal of thethird and current funding cycle is to further strengthen anddevelop the Resource Complexes that were established inprevious cycles, in Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. At
the recent Program Review Committee Meeting,Mozambique was welcomed as a newcomer to the Fogarty
Programme, and initial plans were put in place forcollaborative work to begin officially.

The WAHSA Programme
The WAHSA Programme is currently reaching the end of
the first four years (Phase I) of a twelve year programme;
its primary goal is to contribute to poverty reduction and thepromotion of human rights in the SADC Region, throughimprovements to health, safety and working conditions, bymeans of designing and implementing interventions inworkplaces.
The WAHSA Programme has a total of 10 projects and thepriority issues identified to date include the following actionoriented projects: action on silica, silicosis andtuberculosis; action on the health impact of pesticides;
action on health and safety in the informal sector; healthand environment of healthcare workers; and accident
prevention in the transport sector. The recent meeting washeld as an evaluation of what has been achieved during
Phase I of WAHSA, and proposals were made for theplanning and implementation of Phase II and the way
forward, which will focus on action-oriented proposals from
Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique. A number of products
have resulted from work carried out in the various WAHSA
projects during Phase I – these products are available forgeneral use in the SADC Region.
Various stakeholders in the SADC Region are involved inboth programmes; these include regional occupational
health and safety agencies, academic institutions,occupational health experts and practitioners, government
departments and ministries, employer and employee
representatives. The recent meeting also aimed atdeveloping closer synergy and partnership between the
Fogarty and WAHSA Programmes, to achieve the ultimate
long-term goal of both programmes – health and safety forall.

The “Maquiladora Health & Safety Support Network”
Sent by Garrett Brown, AIHA and ACGIH, gdbrown@igc.org
The “Maquiladora Health & Safety Support Network”(MHSSN) is a volunteer network founded in 1993 by 400
occupational health and safety professionals who haveplaced their names on a resource list to provide
information, technical assistance and on-site instruction
regarding workplace hazards in the 3,000 “maquiladora”(foreign-owned assembly) plants along the U.S.-Mexico
border. Network members, including industrial hygienists,
toxicologists, epidemiologists, occupational physicians andnurses, and health educators among others, are donating
their time and expertise to create safer and healthierworking conditions for the one million maquiladora workers
employed by primarily U.S.-owned transnational
corporations along Mexico's northern border fromMatamoros to Tijuana. Since 2000, the MHSN has also
conducted projects in Central America, Indonesia andChina.

One recent example of action by the MHSSN was a healthand safety project in October 2007 at an open-pit coppermine in northern Mexico, at the request of a Mexican
Miners union for an independent evaluation of the working
conditions and the health status of the mine workers. This
project demonstrated how workplace safety and health in
the global economy can and should be improved throughinternational collaboration, as well as highlighting a growing
labor internationalism as unions from both side of the USMexico border participated.
In just two weeks, the MHSSN pulled together a volunteer
team of eight occupational professionals to travel tonorthern Mexico, including three Mexicans (twooccupational physicians and an industrial hygienist), four
US citizens (an occupational physician, a registered nurse,__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

Page 17 of 21

an industrial hygienist, and a Mexican-American pulmonary
technician) and an industrial hygienist from Colombia.
Over four days, the OHS survey team interviewed andtested 70 miners, performed lung function tests(spirometry), and also spent four hours driving through thegiant open-pit mine and walking through the multiple ore
crushing and processing plants. A preliminary report wasissued in November 2007 in Mexico City, where two
members of the OHS Survey Team met with officials of the
Mexican workplace health and safety agency.
In January 2008, the multi-national OHS survey teamissued its final report, documenting numerous serious,
uncontrolled hazardous exposures and safety hazards.
One of the observed problems was that the dust collectors
in the multi-building concentrator department had been
disassembled and the duct work piled on the ground next
to the enclosed buildings processing the copper comingfrom the open-pit mine. Serious health hazards fromairborne dust started to occur three years ago, as thesebuildings were filled with dense clouds of rock dust, forming
snowdrift-sized piles of settled dust two to three feet highthrough the plants. A bulk sample of the accumulated dust

was taken in October 2007 and sent to three U.S., AIHAaccredited laboratories, which found the dust was 23%
crystalline silica with 50% of particles in the respirable
range of less than 10 microns in diameter.
In this one small example, occupational healthprofessionals from three countries volunteered their timeand expertise to identify and evaluate occupational risk
factors in an effort to prevent “a race to the bottom” inworking conditions and workers’ health throughout the
global economy. The OHS professionals’ efforts were
supported by both the Mexican Miners union and theUnited Steel Workers union in the United States as theunions built bridges of “cross border solidarity.”
Information on the MHSSN activities, as well as reports
and photographs from many projects, are available online
at: http://mhssn.igc.org . A full report on the copper mine
project was published by Occupational Hazards magazine
at:www.occupationalhazards.com/zone/334/OHIndustrial_Hy
giene/Article/78362/International_OHS_Through_the_Looki
ng_Glass_of_the_Global_Economy.aspx

Contributions from Readers
Japan Association for Working Environment Measurement (JAWE) released the resultsof the Cross Check Project concerning the Evaluation of Asbestos in Bulk Samples andin Airborne Samples, conducted by JAWE in the fiscal year 2006
Sent by Masayoshi Karasawa, Special Adviser, JAWE, 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, conductedindependently, 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.
As already mentioned on the IOHA Newsletters of July andDecember 2005, in Japan, the Ministry of Health, Labourand Welfare has enforced, since July 2005, a new
regulation, namely the “Ordinance on Prevention ofHazards due to Asbestos”. According to this regulation:•prior studies must be carried out by concerned
employers to establish whether asbestos was used or
not in buildings or structures, which are planned to bepulled down;•when it is not clear whether asbestos was used or notin such buildings or structures, analysis for thepresence of asbestos shall be carried out by theemployers concerned, otherwise adequate measures
to prevent workers' exposure to asbestos should betaken as if asbestos had been used.

The purpose of this project is to improve the accuracy ofanalyses of contents in weight of bulk samples, such as

construction materials, as well as airborne samples,collected according to these provisions.
The total plan of this project includes:•

the preparation of three kinds of blind samples withregard to both bulk samples (blind bulk sample A, B orC),and airborne samples (also A, B or C), according to
the degrees of difficulty of the analyses of asbestos inweight, and,•

their distribution to the participants of the project.

The participants who applied to join this project conduct
analysis of one kind or more of these blind samples. The
most difficult samples are ranked as A, intermediately
difficult samples are ranked as B, and moderately easy
samples are ranked as C.
The target group for this project are Industrial Hygienists inthe field of Working Environment Measurement who belong
to Working Environment Measurement Agencies or
independent ones, as well as other analytical technicians
who have the experience to analyze asbestos contents
with regard to airborne samples or bulk samples.
In the fiscal year 2006, JAWE prepared only one kind ofblind samples of both bulk and airborne samples, namely
moderately easy samples ranked as C, and distributed thebulk samples or airborne samples, or both samples to the__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

Page 18 of 21

participants according to their own applications. Then, theparticipants conducted analyses of contents in weight ofasbestos by an X-ray diffraction (XRD) method or acounting method utilizing Light Phase Contrast Microscopy,
and sent these results to JAWE. From the fiscal year 2007
on, JAWE will prepare three kinds of samples ranked A, B
or C with regard to bulk samples and airborne samples,
respectively.
In response to these results, the Experts Committee of
Cross Check of Asbestos Analyses (Chairperson,
Professor Toshio Nagoya, Waseda University) organized

by JAWE, evaluated the individual results and certified theability of the only participants in the cross check project,
who succeeded in the evaluation by the Experts
Committee.
As bulk blind samples of construction materials, JAWE
prepared independently four kinds of samples as listed in
the following Table 1. Two kinds of bulk samples,consisting of a combination of Construction material
samples and Sprayed material samples, were distributed toeach participant, at random.

Table 1
Type of blindbulk samples

Construction material
sample, labelled red,containing chrysotile

Construction material
sample, labelled white,
containing amosite

As to airborne samples, in order to keep the contents ofasbestos in weight of each blind sample secret, JAWE
prepared independently the membrane filters where
airborne asbestos (in this case, chrysotile) had beencollected, in a sealed chamber where the fibers had
been previously dispersed. Each membrane filter
was di vi ded i nt o 4 pieces, and these membrane filters
were pre-treated with acetone and triacetin (glycerol
triacetate), made transparent, sealed, thus being preparedfor microscopic observation; then specimens were
distributed to the participants by JAWE.
The number of participants, with regard to the bulk
samples, was 257 (from 197 analytical agencies) and thenumber of participants, with regard to airborne samples,was 348 (from 253 analytical agencies).
According to the first evaluation by the Experts Committeeof Cross Check of Asbestos Analyses:•

concerning the results of the analyses of asbestos
contents in weight in bulk samples, it was evaluated asa success if the data resulting from the analyses was

Sprayed material
sample, labelled blue,
containing chrysotile

Sprayed material
sample, labelled green,containing amosite

within ± 30% of each standard content in weight ofeach blind sample. The percentage of success in thefirst evaluation ranged from 60.6 to 68.8 % according
to each blind bulk sample.
•

concerning the results of the analyses of asbestos
contents in weight in airborne blind samples, it wasevaluated as a success if the data from the analyses
was within ±20% of the result of the standard analysis
by counting method conducted by the Experts
Committee. The percentage of success in the firstevaluation was 51.1%.

In view of these results, the Experts Committee proposed
to JAWE to conduct advanced training courses for theparticipants who did not pass the first evaluation, withregard to bulk samples and/or airborne samples.
JAWE planned and conducted two kinds of advanced
training courses for one and a half day according to the
proposal of the Experts Committee. The curriculums ofthese advanced courses were as the following Table 2.

Table 2
Subject
X-ray diffraction(XRD) method
for bulk samples

Counting
method utilizing
Light Phase
Contrast
Microscope for
air borne
samplesSpecific Items- additional lecture on the principle and the operation of XRD- practice of analyses with regard to the same blind samples distributed in the cross check project utilizing
XRD installed in the Accuracy Control Centre of JAWE, under the guidance of a member of the Experts
Committee or an analytical staff of JAWE
- personal interview with the participants by a member of the Experts Committee or an analytical staff of
JAWE- additional lecture on the principle, the operation and the procedure of counting method utilizing Light
Phase Contrast Microscope- practice of counting six visual fields with regard to the pre-treated filter which consists of the same blindsample distributed in the cross check project, by each pair among the participants- training of counting method with regard to the pre-treated filter, under the guidance of an analytical staff of
JAWE, utilizing Light Phase Contrast Microscope equipped with five eyepieces for one trainer as well asfour trainees, for the purpose of training of counting method- counting with regard to twenty five visual fields, under the guidance by an analytical staff of JAWE

There were 70 participants to the advanced course of X-ray
diffraction (XRD) method and 67 of them participated again
in the same cross check with regard to blind bulk samples.

In the secondary evaluation by the Experts Committee, 63participants were evaluated as success in the cross check.
Therefore the total ratio of success in the cross check with__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

Page 19 of 21

regard to bulk samples reached 190 participants (among
257 total participants), namely 73.9 %.
On the other hand, there were 84 participants in theadvanced course on the counting method, and all of them
participated again the same cross check project withregard to airborne samples. In the secondary evaluation by
the Experts Committee, 54 participants were evaluated as
success in the cross check. Therefore the total ratio of
success in this cross check reached 232 participants(among 348 total participants), namely 66.7 %.

stOn 1 November 2007, JAWE released the names and theaffiliation of the participants who succeeded in the crosscheck project and were certificated by JAWE as Rank C,
namely 177 participants with regard to asbestos analyses
by XRD method, and 217 participants with regard to
Counting Method; this information also was released
through the Website of JAWE..
JAWE is going to conduct “the Accuracy Control Project by
Cross-check of Blind Samples for the Evaluation ofAsbestos Contents in weight”, with regard to all kinds ofblind samples ranked as A, B and C of both bulk samples
and airborne samples, in the fiscal year 2007.

Health effects and burden of disease due to exposure to chemicals at the workplace
Sent by Ton Spee, Chair, DOHS Foreign Affairs Committee, spee@arbouw.nl
It is important to disseminate information about a study
performed by the Dutch National Institute for Public Healthand the environment (RIVM), entitled: “Health effects andburden of disease due to exposure to chemicals at theworkplace – an exploratory study”. This report contains
relevant figures on a very important and timely topic. In
fact, one of the topics at the IOHA scientific conference inFebruary 2008 was “occupational hygiene and costbenefit”. The authors of the RIVM report estimate that in
the Netherlands 1,900 people annually die prematurely due
to occupational exposure to chemicals. This includes 600
deaths from occupational exposure to asbestos in the past,
bur nevertheless this is a very high figure. The Dutch
working population is about 7.5 million people, meaningthat every year about 1 out of 4,000 workers die
prematurely due to occupational exposure to chemicals.
For comparison: the annual number of deaths due to traffic
accidents in the Netherlands is about 700. So the numberof victims from occupational exposure to chemicals is
about 2.5 times the number of traffic victims in the
Netherlands.
Although the report is already several years old, it is timely
to mention it and the English summary is posted below.
The report is only available in Dutch, but can be
downloaded free of charge from:http://www.rivm.nl/bibliotheek/rapporten/320100001.pdf(331 Kb). RIVM has made several follow-up studies,pointing in the same direction.

English abstract of the report
Health effects and burden of disease due to exposure
to chemicals at the workplace - an exploratory study(Gezondheidseffecten en ziektelast door blootstelling
aan stoffen op de werkplek - een verkennend
onderzoek), Baars AJ, Pelgrom SMGJ, Hoeymans N,
Raaij MTM van 85 p in Dutch, 2005, RIVM rapport
320100001
The RIVM investigated the probable contribution of
exposure to chemicals at the workplace as the cause ofsome ten diseases. This exploratory study was requestedby the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, andpresents for the first time an integrated estimation of theburden of disease due to occupational exposure tochemicals. For nine investigated diseases the study
resulted in a burden of disease of approximately 47,000
DALY’s, including about 1,900 deaths, due to exposure tochemicals at the workplace. DALY stands for ‘Disability
Adjusted Life Years’, in which premature deaths and years
with diseases are weighted counted up. The largest
contributions are formed by mesothelioma, lung cancer,
asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The
margin of uncertainty in the results is very large, mainly
caused by the scarce and incomplete data, and amounts
about a factor 5. It was not possible to estimate the burdenof disease due to reproductive disorders following
occupational exposure to chemicals. However, results ofrecent research in this area indicate concern.

New Guidance Documents by IRSST, Canada
Sent by Maura Tomi, Communications Division, IRSST, mautom@irsst.qc.ca
A prevention guide for material handlers and sales
clerksEveryone goes to superstores, but did you know that theemployees working in them have a good chance ofsuffering from back pain? For this growing sector, aprevention guide "Handling work and customer service inwarehouse superstores" has just been published by theQuebec Occupational Health and Safety Research Institute(IRSST) and Groupe-conseil AON. In addition to offering
different practical advice, this document proposes solution
scenarios that are easy to implement for better preventionof handling-related accidents and the associated back pain.

Target public and risk factors
Aimed at people who want to do prevention, the guide
proposes a 5-part action process ranging from theidentification of problems to the implementation ofsolutions. Several aspects have an impact on handling
activities: the volume, weight and packaging of containers,
the physical layouts in the sales area (height andaccessibility of shelves), the equipment (mobile ladder,aerial platform, stepladder, etc.) and inventory control. The
characteristics of each of these aspects can lead to injury
or accident risks. This guide is designed to improve thework performance conditions of all employees that handle
merchandise, from stockers to sales clerks.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IOHA Newsletter, Vol 16 No. 1, April 2008

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Presentation
The result of five years of research and based on two
scientific studies, this guide contains a checklist to identify
problems, six solution fact sheets, as well as a grid toevaluate the solutions. It includes illustrations, relevant
examples, a glossary, and a summary table of thereferences. Written in simple language, this prevention
guide emphasizes the important things to know and thesteps to be taken to make our warehouse superstoressafer workplaces.
The guide and the fact sheets can be downloaded freefrom:
http://www.irsst.qc.ca/files/documents/PubIRSST/RG546.pdf
IRSST - Loading Docks: Safety First - Tools to makesafety management easier
The Quebec Occupational Health and Safety ResearchInstitute (IRSST) developed a simple and user-friendly
software program to evaluate measures for restraining
trucks on loading docks. This Doc-Quais computer-based
tool allows you to evaluate the initial safety level of yourcompany's loading docks for the three main risks(unscheduled departure, slippage, tipping), and then toevaluate the effectiveness of different measures (physicalor procedural) for restraining trucks on docks. The software
generates a report and a follow-up plan that enables you tosave the information and to follow the modifications
proposed for improving the safety of your docks. DocQuais is accompanied by a user's guide to make it easier
to use, as well as a questionnaire. A simplified and writtenversion of the software is available in the form of atechnical fact sheet:
http://www.irsst.qc.ca/files/documents/PubIRSST/RF530.pdf
The Doc-Quais computer-based tool can be downloaded
free of charge at the following address:www.irsst.qc.ca/fr/_outils_par_categorie.html#Utilitaires
The documents can be downloaded free:
http://www.irsst.qc.ca/files/documents/PubIRSST/RG530.pdf
http://www.irsst.qc.ca/files/documents/PubIRSST/R-530.pdf
Estimation of the alternate work/rest regimen®
according to the 2007 recommendations of the ACGIHThe Quebec Occupational Health and Safety ResearchInstitute (IRSST) and the Université du Québec à TroisRivières (UQTR) conceived a computer-based tool, whichallows estimating the alternate work/rest regimen during
work in a hot environment. This tool is intended to support
occupational health and safety practitioners in managing
hot periods in the work environment.
The computer-based tool calculates the alternate work/rest
regimen during work in a hot environment using thefollowing parameters: metabolic rate, Wet Bulb Globe
Temperature (WBGT) values, at the workstation and at therest location, as well as the clothing worn by the worker.
The bilingual computer-based tool is available and can be
downloaded from:http://www.irsst.qc.ca/en/_outil_100042.html

Exposure to cleaning products
Sent by: Elayne de Fátima Maçãira, Fundacentro, Brazil, elayne@fundacentro.gov.br
Exposure to cleaning products has frequently beenreported as a symptom trigger in workers with work-related
asthma, diagnosed in workers’ health clinics in the city ofSão Paulo. A study was conducted in order to estimate theprevalence of rhinitis and asthma symptoms and to analyse
associated risk factors.
The methodology was to apply two questionnaires, namely:a respiratory symptoms questionnaire (MRC 1976) and theInternational Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood(ISAAC) questionnaire, to 341 cleaners working in the cityof São Paulo, along with obtaining full occupational
histories, and performing skin prick tests and spirometry.
By timing the onset of their symptoms in relation to theiroccupational history allowed the estimation of work-related
asthma and/or rhinitis. Risk factors related to selected
outcomes were analysed by logistic regression.

The results demonstrated that: 11% and 35% of thecleaners had asthma and rhinitis, respectively; the risk ofwork-related asthma/rhinitis increased with years of
employment in non-domestic cleaning, and, atopy was
associated with asthma and rhinitis. There was a higher
risk of rhinitis in women. Detailed results and statisticaltreatment of the data may be obtained from the author.
The conclusion was that cleaning workers are at risk ofcontracting work-related asthma and/or rhinitis, and the riskincreases with years of employment in non-domestic
cleaning. Women present higher risk of rhinitis than men.
This study was published: Maçãira EF, Algranti E,
Mendonça EMC, Bussacos MA. Rhinitis and asthma
symptoms in non-domestic cleaners from the São Paulo
Metropolitan area, Brazil. Occup. Env. Med., 64:446-453,
2007.

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