PI Brief Update

Complying with the COSHH Regulations - Martin Stear, Chartered Occupational Hygienist

02/07/15. One hundred and thirty three; that was the number of reported safety-related deaths at work in 2013/14. Each and every one of these deaths was a tragedy and should not have happened but more alarming are the numbers of annual deaths from work-related ill-health and disease. Eight thousand deaths from workplace carcinogens, nearly 5,000 of which were from asbestos, and 4,000 deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); the list goes on. As with safety-related deaths; each one a tragedy and each one preventable.

Deaths from ill-health and disease are typically from historical exposures to hazardous substances but such deaths will continue to occur if exposure to hazardous substances is not properly controlled. HSE publication, “Health and safety statistics, Annual Report for Great Britain 2013/14”, states that,

“1.2 million people who worked during the last year were suffering from an illness (long-standing as well as new cases) they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work. 0.5 million of these were new conditions which started during the year”.

The recognition of workplace risks from hazardous substances and the principles by which control should be achieved, have been known for centuries. Bernardino Ramazzini (1633 to 1714) was an Italian physician who outlined the health hazards of chemicals, dust, metals, repetitive or violent motions, odd postures, and other disease-causative agents encountered by workers. Percivall Potts, an English surgeon, was one of the first to recognise that cancer could be caused by an occupational carcinogen; in this case scrotal cancer amongst...

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