Documents risk assessment 1 746 results

"This guide is aimed at employers, trade union representatives and, of course, workers potentially exposed to electromagnetic fields. It is also designed as an aid to understanding the new EU Directive on occupational exposure to EMFs (2013/35 EU), which will enter into force in 2016. The Guide presents an overview of occupational exposure to electromagnetic field according to frequency: static fields, low, intermediate and radio frequencies. It focuses on certain occupations, on risk assessment and on the determination of exposure, which needs to be done according to the general provisions of EU Directive OSH “Framework Directive” 89/391/EEC. A specific chapter is dedicated to workers who face particular risks, e.g., persons with medical implants, pregnant women or persons taking certain medications. Last but no least, the guide also presents recommendations as to how a precautionary approach can help to reduce high exposure."

"Les confrontations à la violence, à la souffrance et à la mort s'inscrivent dans la réalité professionnelle presque quotidienne des sapeurs-pompiers. Chaque intervention est une expérience singulière tant dans la rencontre avec l'évènement, dans le déploiement d'un savoir faire, que dans la mise à l'épreuve des capacités adaptatives individuelles et collectives. Dans l'engagement direct de porter secours à autrui, le sapeur-pompier prend l'engagement indirect d'assurer sa propre survie physique et psychique : " sauver ou périr ". Préserver son équilibre psychique relève en amont d'une élaboration préventive relative aux risques d'expositions prolongées à ces situations au potentiel traumatogène certain et à l'intrusion douloureuse et bouleversante des scènes dont ils sont les témoin "

"This article provides a brief critical examination of a 2002 report jointly issued by the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization on WTO law and public health. The author argues that the report is in many respects misleading as to the content of WTO law, as interpreted by the Appellate Body of the WTO, its final court. In particular, the WHO/WTO report systematically understates or underestimates the margins of regulatory autonomy that WTO member states have to make regulations that protect public health."

"A nossa proposta metodológica é como um pano de fundo destinado, em princípio, a qualquer tipo de situação laboral. É evidente que esse pano de fundo terá de ser adaptado a situações específicas. De um modo geral, podem encarar-se dois tipos de desenvolvimento. Um refere-se a problemas já identificados como prioritários, por exemplo a prevenção das perturbações musculo-esqueléticas. O outro refere-se a sectores, actividades ou profissões específicas. É uma proposta ambiciosa, que exige um trabalho sindical intenso. Em regra geral, ela deveria reforçar a nossa capacidade de intervenção enquanto organizador colectivo. Mas há situações em que várias dificuldades não permitem implementar a abordagem aqui proposta. O que implica ter de adaptá-la ou recorrer a outros métodos. Nesse domínio, o essencial consiste em criar uma dinâmica de acumulação de forças. Ao atacar-se um problema específico, mesmo com objectivos limitados, é possível reforçar a confiança dos colectivos de trabalho e ir encontrando progressivamente uma estratégia baseada nas suas necessidades. Assim, numa empresa em que a organização sindical ainda não é muito experiente em mobilizações em torno da saúde no trabalho, pode ser escolhido um objectivo específico para levar a cabo acções prioritárias e depois, com base na experiência adquirida, outros temas serão abordados. O plano desta publicação é o seguinte. Numa primeira parte, tentaremos situar o papel da avaliação dos riscos na evolução das políticas de prevenção e propomos uma reflexão sobre o que ela representa de um ponto de vista sindical. A tónica é posta sobre a necessidade de uma intervenção sindical autónoma e sobre os objectivos dessa intervenção. Numa segunda parte, resumimos as características gerais do método proposto. Trata-se das grandes questões que ajudam a fazer da nossa proposta sobre a avaliação dos riscos um instrumento coerente, dentro da intervenção global da organização sindical. Numa terceira parte, situamos a nossa abordagem em relação às práticas correntes. Distinguimos cinco grandes tipos de avaliação dos riscos, e analisamos as vantagens e os inconvenientes de cada um. Numa quarta parte, explicamos como é que a intervenção sindical autónoma será confrontada com as propostas feitas pelos outros actores presentes na empresa (patrão, serviços de prevenção) por forma a chegar a decisões concretas no âmbito da avaliação dos riscos. Trata-se portanto de inscrever a nossa proposta no âmbito das relações industriais, dentro do local de trabalho. É evidente que esta quarta parte não pretende abranger adequadamente todas as situações. Ela fornece apenas orientações gerais, que deverão ser adaptadas à situação concreta de cada empresa. Numa quinta parte, propomos questionários e formulários que se destinam a ajudar a aplicar o método. Os formulários propostos não devem ser considerados como documentos «fechados», aplicáveis a qualquer tipo de situação. Haverá toda a utilidade em modificá-los e adaptá-los às necessidades concretas de cada caso. Gostaríamos muito de receber notícias da vossa experiência e beneficiar dos vossos contributos, sugestões e críticas enviados por todas e todos os que decidirem utilizar estes instrumentos."

"This report aims to contribute to the debate on how best to address the risks of emerging nanotechnologies and how to promote coordinated and convergent approaches in the EU and US. It presents the main findings of a project that was carried out by a consortium of research institutions: Chatham House, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the United States."

"Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) are a major occupational health problem in Europe, affecting over 40 million workers. Current EU legislation includes some ergonomic provisions related to MSD prevention, but does not adequately address specifically Upper Limb Disorder-related MSD risks. In neither case - equipment use or design - have any specific common methodologies to estimate or evaluate risks for MSD been framed at European level. The TUTB has always argued that ergonomic aspects cannot be divorced from product design and use. Ergonomics is one thing that cannot be tacked on after a machine has been built - it must be designed in right from the start. This guide offers a collection of estimation methods selected from a range of sources that we believe may prove helpful in estimating MSD risk factors in machinery design. It does not claim to be a "quick-fix" problem solver for evaluating every risk factor. With this guide, we aim to feed knowledge from the actual use of machines back to designers' and manufacturers' drawing boards. We mean to factor the end users' perspectives into the design process by showing how workplace knowledge can be channelled into the conceptual of machinery design."

"Hazards from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, should be addressed in line with the EU Biological Agents Directive and by means of a strengthened centralised capacity of the European Union for the monitoring of and response to health emergencies.
Mitigating and preventing the impact of the illness, COVID-19, should be done by classifying it as an occupational disease, ensuring the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing for health workers, and engaging workers in all aspects of ‘work organisation'.
The coronavirus crisis, which is the result of the impact of the nexus of austerity/virus/illness on society at large, should trigger a transformative change in the care economy, leading to the valuing of care work, pay transparency, full acknowledgement of psychosocial risks such as violence and harassment in the world of work, measures to promote occupational health equity, sustainable health workforce planning and the inclusion of the currently absent gender aspect in EU legislation on occupational safety and health."

"The COVID-19 pandemic poses mankind again facing an ancient challenge, while this time in a scenario of unprecedented interconnectedness among people, businesses, and ecosystems. This distinctive feature of the 21st century is framed in this paper in terms of complexity, which has played a role in the rise, unfolding, and the hopeful end of the crisis. An exploratory analysis of the multifaceted influence of complexity across these three major stages of the pandemic is carried out, shedding light on emerging patterns that help to make sense of the crisis. The analysis of the unfolding crisis and the corresponding mitigation measures is based on five guidelines for coping with complexity developed on a previous study, namely: diversity of perspectives in decision-making, providing slack, giving visibility to processes and outcomes, understanding and monitoring the gap between work-as-imagined and work-as-done, and understanding and monitoring unintended consequences. Sources of data for that analysis encompass recent literature on the pandemic, complexity thinking applied to human factors and safety science, as well as general information on the pandemic publicly available from respected sources. For each of the three major pandemic stages, and for each guideline, a proposition for theory testing in future studies is set out."