Testing time for health

摘要

INDUSTRIAL accidents grab the most lurid headlines, but in 2006-07 occupational ill health was respon-sible for five times as many lost days as workplace injury. Threats to our health are all around us, from the air we breathe to the pressures that we experience, and a major part of Expo 08 will be devoted to products and services that help maintain a healthy working environment. Recent years have brought many gains in occupational health through better technol-ogy and more exacting legislation. The HSE estimates, for example, that full compliance withh the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 would result in no new cases of noise-iduced hearing loss at work by 2030, and the annual toll of more than 2000 mesothelioma deaths will start to fall over the next few years as asbestos recedes further into our industrial past and the Control of Asbestos Regulations make accidental contamination by old materials less likely.