WHO report underlines need for air pollution awareness

A new white book by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Respiratory Society (ERS) states that one in eight deaths in the European Union are due to inhaling air pollutants.

The report defines indoor air pollution as an issue as serious and as widespread as the effects of pesticides and global warming on the environment.

The UK has one of the highest death rates from respiratory diseases, according to the report, with an age-standardised mortality rate of 111.7.

The white book identifies common occupational risk factors in the development of respiratory diseases, and states that occupational agents are responsible for 15 per cent of respiratory cancers in men and 5 per cent in women. It is also responsible for 17 per cent of all adult asthma cases, 15-20 per cent of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cases and 10 per cent of interstitial lung disease cases.

“The term ‘nuisance dust’ is frequently used to characterise exposures generally thought to be without adverse health effects,” the report states. “There is, however, abundant evidence that this is an inappropriate term.

“Although, a priori, there is no biological reason why a similar response to inhaled workplace irritants should not occur, it has until recently been somewhat more difficult to demonstrate an association between occupational exposures and COPD in epidemiological studies. For COPD, a population-attributable risk (PAR) of approximately 15—20 per cent has been estimated to be due to occupational factors.”

The key points of the report with regards to occupational health include:

• a detailed history is key when assessing a worker’s occupational exposure risk and establishing a diagnosis. The latency of occupational respiratory diseases can range from a few hours to 50 years.
• national and international bodies set maximum allowable workplace concentrations for a wide range of substances. However, these limits are not usually set at a level designed to avoid sensitisation.
• the effects of workplace respiratory exposures can be life-changing, ranging from acute inhalation injuries to lung cancer, and running the full spectrum of pleural, interstitial and inflammatory respiratory disease.

Approaches to managing the risks associated Musculoskeletal disorders

In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we hear from Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics Consultant at HSE’s Science and Research Centre, about the different approaches to managing the risks associated with Musculoskeletal disorders.

Matt, an ergonomics and human factors expert, shares his thoughts on why MSDs are important, the various prevalent rates across the UK, what you can do within your own organisation and the Risk Management process surrounding MSD’s.

Listen now!