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Introduction
Interests in public health impact assessments, policy on occupational and environmental health and OHS in electronics, agriculture and aquaculture
Skills and Expertise
Publications
Publications (173)
Abstract
In the last eighteen months neither GB Governments across all three nations, local councils nor sports organisations who are ‘upstream’ have moved significantly forward on addressing the public health, sustainability, pollution and circular economy threats presented by artificial turf and pitch and playground crumb rubber infills. Industr...
An under-recognised aspect of the current humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is the impact of the war on the environment and the associated risks for human health. This commentary contextualises these impacts against the background of human suffering produced by the overwhelming violence associated with the use of military force against the general p...
The report explores (1) what is known about crumb rubber infill hazards and used by science, policy makers and regulators internationally and nationally (2) what informs decision-making and policies on crumb rubber by Scottish politicians, central government agencies, three local councils, sports bodies and governments (3) the extent of crumb rubbe...
The paper Looks at why professional ethics surrounding proposed new oil and gas industry development matter in the struggle to control climate change. It further begs the questions ‘will the fossil fuel industry be guilty of ‘corporate social murder’ and will the UK governments be guilty of ‘social murder’ if they now support that development will...
The paper reviews a range of global aquaculture health and safety literature to inform and contribute to the development of a socio-economic profile of Indian shrimp farm workers including the occupational hazards and injuries they face. In addition, 60 shrimp farm workers were interviewed from each of the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Guj...
Introduction
Mass mortality events (MMEs) involve the sudden death of thousands to millions of fish. MMEs are a serious problem in marine finfish aquaculture globally and may become more common with climate change. They can entail significant asset losses; pose compliance threats to environmental and animal health, and occupational health and safet...
Although several countries have experienced large-scale privatization initiatives, relatively little is known about the impact of these initiatives on the health and safety of workers and resident populations. Examining data on technical (as compared to natural) multi-fatality disasters collected in the WHO’s Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) for...
Although several countries have experienced large-scale privatization initiatives, relatively little is known about the impact of these initiatives on the health and safety of workers and resident populations. Examining data on technical (as compared to natural) multi-fatality disasters collected in the WHO’s Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) for...
Smart regulation, better regulation, responsive regulation, business-friendly regulation and voluntary ‘self-regulation’ have their origins deeply embedded in UK policies in the 20th century. Their aim generally is to reduce workplace regulatory obligations on employers. This can overtly or covertly undermine efforts to improve working conditions....
Background
Although artificial turf fields are utilized widely around the world, sufficient research has not yet been conducted to assess the potential human and environmental health risks posed by the chemicals contained in the fields’ fibers, backing, and often-used crumb rubber infill. Consequently, there is wide variation in governmental polici...
The Review and case study explore :-
(1) Possible broad impacts of pollution on public health from chemical site operations in Scotland & nearby landfill
(2) Recorded health impacts and monitoring linked to the site by SEPA, NHS Fife & Fife Council (3) The role of citizens science in the past, now and in the future in helping to fill any evidence...
Latin America and the Caribbean have an important role in the world production of aquatic animals. The region is among the most productive of regions, and apart from Asia and China, it occupies major position in terms of volume, with growth prospects of 33% in the next 10 years. Chile, with Brazil and Ecuador, accounted for 77% of the South America...
Aims and Objectives
The aim of this study was to assess, for the first time in a hard‐to‐reach population, the risk factors for leg ulceration among PWID, with the objective of making improvements to prevention and care.
Background
An estimated 4.8 million people globally inject drugs with potential for injecting related harm. Skin and vein damage...
The report explores in the UK context, and especially in the Scottish context, why toxics use reduction policies (TURPP) and practices could and should be adopted at governmental level and actioned by a range of existing occupational health and safety and public health bodies. With successful examples of TURPP already available from around the worl...
Lançado em fevereiro de 2019, o AquaSafe é um aplicativo gratuito, disponibilizado para a plataforma Android desenvolvido com o principal objetivo de educar e treinar o profissional que trabalha na aquicultura sobre os riscos aos quais ele está mais vulnerável em seu ambiente de trabalho por meio de smartphones. Com o agravamento da situação da pan...
The paper provides a short overview of Brazilian aquaculture production and some of the influences affecting its development. Data on total and species‐specific production are provided along with the locations, numbers of producers, their market contributions and influences. The focus is on some of the key groups, not all, especially tilapia, tamba...
The paper addresses 3 themes:
• The challenges to worker health and safety in Scotland during the pandemic;
• How those challenges relate to past failures and missed opportunities in the UK and Scotland on worker health and safety prior to 2020; and
• The future for worker health and safety in a devolved or independent Scotland.
The paper advocates...
Looks at the science and policy reasons fin the UK for keeping the 2m social distance when dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and how relaxing it will expose workers and the public at this stage to greater risks. In the light of workplace clusters across the globe, the need to maintain a range of control measures is more pressing than before.
The science on the effects of global climate change and air pollution on morbidity and mortality is clear and debate now centres around the scale and precise contributions of particular pollutants. Sufficient data existed in recent decades to support the adoption of precautionary public health policies relating to fossil fuels including shale explo...
This paper examines the occupational health and safety issues faced by all workers in a pandemic; the state of knowledge about coronavirus in the context of the health and safety responses from international agencies; and how UK politicians, government bodies, health professional bodies, employers, non-governmental organisations & trade unions resp...
The main objective of this study was to develop a freely available mobile software application and education platform in health and safety for aquaculture workers and managers. The application, called AquaSafe, was created in Portuguese and English for the Android system using the Java 8 programming language and the Android Studio development envir...
KEYWORDS crew health, organophosphate, regulations, cabin air, memorandum of understanding ABBREVIATIONS CAA Civil Aviation Authority OP Organophosphate MOU Memorandum of understanding ABSTRACT The paper explores a number of obstacles to and key approaches on the recognition and management of occupational health problems, relevant interactions and...
KEYWORDS occupational exposure limit, expose standards, hypoxic environment, bleed air ABBREVIATIONS TCP Tricresyl phosphate OEL Occupational exposure limit TLV Threshold limit value ABSTRACT The use of occupational exposure limits and threshold limit values in the aircraft environment is examined in relation to aircraft air supplies contaminated b...
Explores use and problems with exposure standards in aviation linked to cabin air quality and bleed air the value and validity of current occupational exposure limits and expose standards, and hypoxic environments.
The paper explores a number of obstacles to and key approaches on the recognition and management of occupational health problems, relevant inter-actions and possible multi-causality in the context of aircraft crew health and safety. The dominant approach has all too often been – ‘don’t look, don’t find, where is the problem?’ Control and removal of...
AquaSafe: aplicação de dispositivos móveis na promoção de segurança e saúde ocupacional na aquicultura Introdução
Profissionais que trabalham na aquicultura são bastante vulneráveis a lesões relacionadas ao trabalho, tornando importante a educação e treinamento profissional. Uma das formas de se fazer isto é através da aprendizagem móvel, utilizan...
A scoping project was funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization in 2017 on the health and safety of aquaculture workers. This project developed a template covering basic types of aquaculture production, health and safety hazards and risks, and related data on injuries and occupational ill health, regulations, social welfare conditions, and la...
Health, safety and injury prevention actions should be prioritized in aquaculture, where workers are exposed to a wide range of risks. This paper is based on a scoping report by a group of international experts, funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and administered by Fisheries and Aquaculture Workers Network of the International U...
This document addresses information that is available on occupational safety and health (OSH) in aquaculture in LAC countries. It is based on a report from a group of international experts, funded by FAO and managed by the IUF, which reviewed the relevant literature and drew on an international workshop to develop models and correlates for regional...
The review adds to our knowledge of the school site, offers helpful solutions to some identified problems but raises new questions about trust and transparency and still leaves unnecessary and significant knowledge and process gaps. These will continue to affect some staff, pupils and parents unless resolved quickly. This analysis examines the revi...
Objectives: In 2017 the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Committee on Fisheries committed to prioritize occupational safety and health issues in aquaculture (AOSH). An international team was established to synthesize OSH knowledge concerning more than 19 million, often vulnerable, aquaculture workers found globally.
Methods: The study was co...
This review outlines the available data on aquaculture injuries and diseases in Brazil along with the deficiencies in some official data. The information was obtained from the official statistical sources of Brazil, and in part, complemented by some of the few scientific studies in the area. Between 2013 and 2017, the number of injuries and work di...
Information on occupational health and safety practices in Brazilian aquaculture is limited. This paper reports preliminary results from an online survey based on research questions to identify occupational hazards, risk assessment practices, and prevention measures adopted in Brazilian aquaculture. Data were collected through an online questionnai...
A scoping review of aspects of aquaculture OHS in UK
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES ON GLOBAL AQUACULTURE/FISH FARMING OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH FOR THE FAO AOSH PROJECT December 2nd 2018 v2
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=br.gov.rs.ddpa_seapi.aquasaude.aquasafe
Aquasafe é uma plataforma de atenção à saúde do trabalhador na aquicultura, com ações dirigidas aos trabalhadores e produtores da aquicultura, estudantes e profissionais.
São abordados os principais riscos, fontes e perigos nas atividades de trabalho. Informações...
Abstract The response of the World Health Organization (WHO) to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2015 demonstrated that the global health system is unprepared to address what should be its primary mission, control of disease epidemics while protecting health workers. Critics blamed WHO politics and its rigid culture for the poor response to the...
Scoping report of aspects of European Aquaculture OSH
Unconventional oil and gas extraction (UOGE) including fracking for shale gas is underway in North America on a large scale, and in Australia and some other countries. It is viewed as a major source of global energy needs by proponents. Critics consider fracking and UOGE an immediate and long-term threat to global, national, and regional public hea...
In-flight incidents called “Fume Events” are associated with a range of symptoms among those exposed, mostly among susceptible airline crew members. Despite currently ongoing ambient monitoring studies, there are no systematic investigations using clinical or human biomonitoring data to evaluate the direct impact of possible harmful substances on h...
Millions of adults, children and teenagers use artificial sports pitches and playgrounds globally. Pitches are artificial grass and bases may be made up of crumb rubber from recycled tires or new rubber and sand. Player injury on pitches was a major concern. Now, debates about health focus on possible exposure and uptake of chemicals within pitch a...
From the 1950’s, aircraft were redesigned to provide pressurized cabin air directly from the compressor stage of the engine, known as bleed air. This allowed for the fuel consuming turbo compressors used prior to that date to be dispensed with. However, it also led to the exposure of aircrew and passengers to fugitive emissions from aircraft engine...
The evidence on public health regulation of the unconventional gas extraction (fracking) industry was examined using a rapid evidence assessment of fifteen case studies from multiple countries. They included scientific and academic papers, professional reports, government agency reports, industry and industry-funded reports, and a nongovernment org...
The inter-relationship between safety, health and the ‘environment’ is a complex and at times a relatively neglected topic. In this issue, ‘safety’ is often viewed by contributors as ‘health and safety’ and includes occupationally‐related ill health as well as injury or harm to employees and the wider public. ‘Environment’ is also interpreted in th...
This report presents the results of the 2015 survey to determine the habits and consumption patterns of people living and undertaking recreational activities in the vicinity of the Babcock Rosyth Site (BRS). The site is authorised to discharge gaseous radioactive waste in addition to the discharge of liquid radioactive waste through an outfall into...
The Health and Safety Executive’s response to Raynal neither deals with her key arguments nor contests her statistics on occupational medicine’s demise within the HSE.1 2 It mentions the good occupational health work under way in the HSE, but it glosses over the big picture failures—it is difficult to defend …
Health impact assessments (HIAs) across the globe may be used by governments and industries to secure approval for unconventional gas extraction (UGE) developments. HIA is an umbrella term that covers an array of health review and assessment practices, ranging from the very general to quite specific and technical health studies. Our concern in this...
Large-scale unconventional gas extraction (UGE) includes coal bed methane, shale gas and coal gas. It may involve fracking or fracturing of shale and other seams via wells. Fracking is planned or underway in North America, Africa, Europe, Australia and Asia. Frackers make great profits and assure those to be fracked that the activity, product and a...
In the last ten years, the UK has witnessed a series of 15 firefighter/fire technician fatalities at fires in what is a relatively small national workforce - Bethnal Green in London 2004 (2); Cardiff Ely 2004 (1);Harrow Court in Hertfordshire 2005 (2); Marlie Farm in East Sussex 2006 (2); Atherstone in Warwickshire 2007 (4); Dalry Rd in Edinburgh 2...
Background:
Drug users suffer harm from the injecting process, and clinical services are reporting increasing numbers presenting with skin-related problems such as abscesses and leg ulcers. Skin breakdown can lead to long-term health problems and increased service costs and is often the first indication of serious systemic ill health. The extent o...
Background:
It is suggested the declining male birth proportion in some industrialized countries is linked to ubiquitous endocrine disruptor exposure. Stress and advanced parental age are determinants which frequently present positive findings. Multi-factorial influences on population sex ratio are rarely explored or tested in research.
Objective...
Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group (contact aew1@stir.ac.uk) Summary This paper explores what is wrong with occupational health and safety in Scotland now, a subject reserved solely to Westminster, and the laws, policies and practices that could provide a better work environment in an independent Scotland in the future. Employers...
Background and Objectives: Endocrine disrupting chemicals and carcinogens in occupational environments may cause observable, excess breast cancer. This study examined breast cancer risk and occupation particularly in farming and manufacturing in SW Ontario. Methods: Detailed occupational, reproductive and demographic histories were obtained from 10...
In the February 2013 issue of Current Oncology, Dr. Steven Narod1 critiqued the 2012 study by Brophy et al. [...]
Medicine prescribing by community nurses commenced in the UK in 1996. By 2001, nurse prescribing was extended to include more nurses and to cover a wider formulary. This research project provides an evaluation of the extension of prescribing powers to nurses in Scotland, following the introduction of legislation in 2001. It aimed to evaluate the im...
Despite concern about the harmful effects of substances contained in various plastic consumer products, little attention has focused on the more heavily exposed women working in the plastics industry. Through a review of the toxicology, industrial hygiene, and epidemiology literatures in conjunction with qualitative research, this article explores...
Background:
Endocrine disrupting chemicals and carcinogens, some of which may not yet have been classified as such, are present in many occupational environments and could increase breast cancer risk. Prior research has identified associations with breast cancer and work in agricultural and industrial settings. The purpose of this study was to fur...
Background: Ambient air pollution is suspected to cause lung cancer. We studied associations between long-term residential exposure to air pollution and lung cancer incidence in European populations. Methods: We used individual data for 17 European cohorts. Baseline addresses were geocoded and air pollution was assessed by land-use regression model...
. The paper explores shaping public health impact assessment tools for tilapia, a novel emergent aquaculture sector in the UK. This Research Council’s UK Rural Economy and Land Use project embraces technical, public health, and marketing perspectives scoping tools to assess possible impacts of the activity. Globally, aquaculture produced over 65 mi...
Objectives
. We have investigated the Australian public's perceived risks on human reproductive health from a number of identified environmental hazards.
Methods
. A sample of 1261 subjects was interviewed. This interview included specific questions related to perceived risks of certain environmental hazards to human reproductive health.
Results
....
Socioeconomically deprived women are at greater risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Research tends to focus on access of services. Yet access may not equate with the equity of services for women from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
To determine whether pregnant women's perceptions of antenatal provision differed in relation to their socioecono...
A literature review was undertaken to identify and explore international
approaches that combine actions to address health and environmental
sustainability considerations in the context of food and drink. The approaches
examined came from governments, international organisations, industry, and
a range of other bodies. The review’s aim was to draw o...
All forms of asbestos are now banned in 52 countries. Safer products have replaced many materials that once were made with it. Nonetheless, many countries still use, import, and export asbestos and asbestos-containing products, and in those that have banned other forms of asbestos, the so-called "controlled use" of chrysotile asbestos is often exem...
As scientists from twenty-eight countries, dedicated to protecting public health, we appeal to you to respect the overwhelmingly consistent body of scientific evidence and the considered judgment of the World Health Organization(WHO) that all forms of asbestos have been shown to be deadly andthat safe use of any form of asbestos has proven impossib...
This paper is focused upon the emergent emphasis of environmentally friendly (ENVF) attributes in fish with particular regard to tilapia in the UK. The focus is upon the technical production issues, marketing implications, public health and adoption responses from a 3-year multi-disciplinary Research Councils UK project, which examined the prospect...
A full list of CHEM Trust's reports can be found on the back cover. All are available from the CHEM Trust website. www.chemtrust.org.uk about the authors Cover photos clockwise from top left, include Children running in field [Credit: iStockphoto/Maica], Spraying orange trees [Credit: iStockphoto/Ricardo Azoury]. Woman spraying red bush [Credit: iS...
The case of the expulsion of Dr Joshi from the Indian Association of Occupational Health is reported. The Indian Association of Occupational Health (IAOH) announced the expulsion of Dr Joshi from the organization. This followed Dr Joshi's letter, published in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, suggesting that since...