Heart disease risk findings in women

The May 2010 edition of the  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine includes an important report about the increase of heart disease risk in young women.  There is often a lot of reports into the cardiovascular health of men so this report is very useful.

The basic findings of the report are:

“Nurses who indicated that their work pressures were a little too high were 25% more likely to have ischaemic heart disease as those who said their work pressures were manageable and appropriate.

But those who felt work pressures were much too high were almost 50% more likely to have ischaemic heart disease. After taking account of risk factors for heart disease, such as smoking and lifestyle, the risk fell to 35%, but still remained significant.” Continue reading “Heart disease risk findings in women”

BP oil rig explosion – lawyer video

The explosion of the BP oil rig raises a huge number of issues in a variety of safety and environmental disciplines.  In much of the media reportage, the plight of the workers on the rig has been given much less attention.

One media report has described BP as

“a London-based multinational oil giant with the worst safety record of any major oil company operating refineries in the United States.”

The oil rig, Deepwater horizon, was leased by BP  through Transocean.

On 3 May 2010 a maritime injury lawyer with Gordon, Ellias, and Seely, Jeff Seely, reportedly acting on behalf of the a family of one of the (presumed) dead workers from rig, Karl Kleppinger, released a Youtube video, produced by the World Socialist Web Site, in support of his legal action against BP and others claiming negligence.

Continue reading “BP oil rig explosion – lawyer video”

The struggle to achieve cultural change on OHS

In 2008, a New South Wales Parliamentary Committee reported to the Government on problems with that State’s Ambulance Services.  The problems included bullying, harassment and a dysfunctional management.  A review into the Ambulance Services progress on the recommendations two years later has found :

“…the general feedback received from ambulance officers is that despite the new initiatives, little has changed, and significant management and cultural problems remain within the Service. While awareness of the Service’s new policies and initiatives appears to be high, adherence to and application of the policies – particularly by Ambulance managers – appears to be low, or at best, varied.” Continue reading “The struggle to achieve cultural change on OHS”

Shift work research findings are grounds for big concern

A scientific symposium held in Canada in April 2010 has raised some serious concerns about the health impacts of shift work.  Some of the evidence has existed for a while but collecting it all together makes one wonder how companies can justify shift work in the face of such high risks to workers’ health.

From the evidence presented at the symposium, workers will be tired at work when working shift work and are more likely to be injured than those on day shift.  Some workers have an increased risk of breast cancer.  Foetal growth in some pregnant women may be impeded.  Circadian disruption may encourage the growth of tumours and an international agency is convinced sufficiently of the risks to determine that shift work itself is probably carcinogenic.

The Occupational Cancer Research Centre and the Institute for Work & Health should be applauded for making the evidence presented at the symposium publicly accessible.   Continue reading “Shift work research findings are grounds for big concern”

Mining Minister’s safety claims challenged

Two days ago, Ian Macdonald, the New South Wales Minister for Mineral Resources opened the annual conference of the NSW Minerals Council. It was  a dour presentation but delegates said that the Minister is not the most exciting public speaker.  Macdonald announced a new research program into safety culture, an announcement that did not get much response from the conference delegates, although the project is significant.

The day after opening the conference the Minister releases

“the State’s first Coal Mine Safety Audit Report of over 290 coal mining operations in NSW.”

Did he not think that such a report would have been important to launch at a conference of over 400 NSW mining delegates which included several CEOs of NSW mining corporations? Continue reading “Mining Minister’s safety claims challenged”

ACT OHS gains more resources

Change is good.  Change in occupational health and safety laws and regulatory strategies is usually good as well, but some action in Australia is curious.

On 29 April 2010, the Government of the Australian Capital Territory(ACT) established”   a new body called WorkSafe ACT,  according to a media statement from the Attorney General, Simon Corbell:

“The new WorkSafe ACT will perform a crucial function within the ORS [The Office of Regulatory Services part of the Department of Justice & Community Services], and will combine the educational and compliance roles under the Commissioner for Work Safety…. Continue reading “ACT OHS gains more resources”

NSW Premier surprise guest at mining safety conference dinner

In a closely guarded secret, New South Wales Premier, Kristina Keneally attended the safety conference of the New South Wales Minerals Council.  Keneally (pictured right) had previous attended NSWMC functions but in her capacity as the, then, Planning Minister.

Her speech contained a fair amount of politicking as one would expect from a politician in an election year but regrettably safety got less attention than one would expect.  The Premier spoke more generally about her government’s achievements under her leadership and how she was able to set, and enforce, clear performance benchmarks in the previous Planning portfolio.

Dr Nikki Williams NSWMC spoke very highly of the minister, as one would expect, but had to tread a fine line in complements so that she would not be seen as endorsing the Premier in an election year.  Williams instead praised the person and praised very highly.  Clearly there is a mutual respect between the two women that could proceed into a useful business/political relationship. Continue reading “NSW Premier surprise guest at mining safety conference dinner”