The September 2016 Edition of the RRC Middle East Newsletter is out! Download it now for the latest news and information from RRC, including: Hasan’s thoughts on Shifting Attitudes to Health and Safety in the Middle East The last few spaces available on Middle East courses this Autumn Our new Fire Safety Consultancy RRC Middle East in action, as well as celebrating recent student success Click here to download the latest RRC Middle East Newsletter.
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The Sun Has Arrived and It Is Great For Us, Isn’t It?
We wait for them during the entire winter and most of spring, but finally they have arrived, those nice, warm sunny days. They get us thinking about holidays and sunbathing; they boost our moral and make us feel happier. This is the time of the year where we start to envy those working outdoors such as construction workers, gardeners and postmen… We think they’re lucky because they get to enjoy all those benefits the sun brings all day long, but are they? Overexposure, as well as regular and prolonged exposure, to the sun can cause sunburns, skin ageing, eye damage and skin cancer. It may also affect the immune system.…
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Shall We Stay or Shall We Go? The Potential Implications of ‘Brexit’ on H&S Regulation in UK
Like many, I have felt somewhat battered and bemused by the recent torrent of information and argument about our future, or not, as members of the EU. Trying to make a well-informed decision about whether to stay or leave requires trawling through a huge amount of material and listening carefully to arguments on the economy, immigration, sovereignty and so on. Faced with this bewildering mass of information it’s no wonder that many people seem to be finding it hard to make up their minds. So, I thought to myself, what issue of personal importance can I focus on in an effort to see which way to leap on 23 June? …
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The ART of Assessing Repetitive Tasks
The HSE’s ART (Assessment of Repetitive Tasks of the upper limb) and MAC (Manual Handling Assessment Charts) are examples of ergonomic assessment tools, which form the basis of Diploma Unit B exam questions. The result is usually a cohort of panicked exam candidates! These tools look complicated at first sight, but like anything we do, the best way to learn what they are all about is to use them. Many of the tools are similar in approach, but this blog concentrates on the ART tool. The ART tool The purpose of the ART tool is to: Help risk assess repetitive tasks involving the upper limbs (arms and hands); and Assess…
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Finding Health and Safety Guidance and Trusted Information
When I was studying for my NEBOSH Diploma and as a consultant, I always wanted to find additional information on various Health and Safety topics. However finding good, relevant, reliable and trusted information is not always easy, especially if you are new to the health and safety world. In this article I’m going to share some of the sources I use. It won’t be an exhaustive list, (there’s always more to discover yourself!), but hopefully you’ll find something useful. If you work in The UK, with the UK or if you intend to do so, your main source of guidance is the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) (1). Even if…
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ISO 45001 Update
ISO 45001 is a safety management system standard that is meant to be a global replacement for similar standards such as the BS OHSAS 18001 and ILO-OSH 2001. It clearly takes some cues from the ISO 31000, guidelines on risk management. You may wonder why it’s needed given the popularity of OHSAS 18001. In the fast and furious world that is ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation), protocol is followed. An initial draft is produced and published, which is supposed to stimulate public debate. It’s called a DIS (Draft International Standard). And DIS ISO 45001 has been out for a while (since January 2016) and has stimulated debate. Whilst it was…
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Road Traffic Safety (RTS) Management Systems
These days, a lot of people drive for work (some are even driven by work). Some people always have done – like delivery drivers, sales representatives, repairmen, community nurses, traffic police and enforcement officers. But even if you aren’t one of these people, you probably do a little bit of driving – the odd client visit, usually in your own car (because it’s convenient) but sometimes a fleet vehicle or hire car. Because there’s such a lot of it, companies have sometimes tried to manage it. You may not know, but someone else has tried to manage it too – or rather to manage the management of it. In 2012,…
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NEBOSH and The Risk of Snake Bites
NEBOSH are now focusing hard on using more new questions in their exam papers to try to ensure that students learn the syllabus instead of just memorising set answers to frequently asked questions. This is because they want to ensure that students actually understand the topics and are able to analyse and discuss the issues involved. One of the new questions in the recent IDIP Unit B paper was about precautions to prevent being bitten by snakes and the first aid procedures to follow in the event of a snake bite. Most of the answers submitted showed that despite this being a part of the current syllabus, it is an…
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Finding Info about The Environment Where You Live or Work
NEBOSH Diploma in Environmental Management Element 7 In this blog post I take a look at the key sources of information that can be accessed to understand the environment in an area. As you might be aware, it is generally a legal requirement for environmental information collected by public bodies to be made available to the public. Pretty much all of this information can be accessed for free on the internet. First we’ll look at the Environment Agency, who operate a site known as ‘what’s in your backyard’. Here you can access a broad range of environment related information covering issues such as flooding, nitrate vulnerable zones, landfill sites and…
