BOHS attempts to clear the construction air

摘要

The British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) has begun a new initiative to prevent lung diseases in the construction industry. "Breathe freely" provides advice on controlling exposures, a Health in Industry Management Standard, 20 fact sheets, a manager's toolbox (which will be available from November), a business case and a website. The BOHS launched "Breathe freely" before an invited audience of 140 guests at the Merchant Taylors' Hall in London on International Workers' Memorial Day on 28 April. Internationally, trade unions used the day to focus attention on hazardous substances at the workplace (see below). The BOHS described the situation in the UK construction sector as "particularly shocking", with an annual toll of 5,500 new occupational cancer cases, 5,000 asbestos-related deaths and 500 deaths from exposure to silicosis. This, it pointed out, is a "considerably bigger tragedy" than the 42 fatal injuries in the sector in 2013/14, although it adds that each of those was "an individual tragedy".