Regulatory Enforcement of Animal Pathogens
On 28th April 2008, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) took responsibility for the inspection and regulation of work activities that involve animal pathogens in England. Negotiations in regard to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are on-going.
The transfer of duties from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to the HSE was made under the Specified Animal Pathogens Order 2008 and followed a review of unsatisfactory performance within the existing regulatory framework for handling animal pathogens, as demonstrated in connection with the foot and mouth disease outbreak at Pirbright in August 2007. The licensing of sites working with animal pathogens will remain with DEFRA.
Safety as an Employer’s Priority
The results of a YouGov survey commissioned by IOSH on employer attitudes to worker safety were published online at the end of April 2008. In March 2008, YouGov undertook two UK surveys in which they interviewed 4,140 adults, of whom 2,623 were employed and over 18. The survey found from responses that only 56% of employees felt health and safety was important to their employer, and 14% felt it was not.
Employees thought that their employer put other business concerns ahead of worker safety, with such issues as keeping customers and clients happy, getting work done on time and making money being greater priorities. Only 7% said that making sure employees are not injured or suffer ill-health at work was their boss's main priority.
IOSH said the findings suggested that most of the employees interviewed do not think that health and safety is about red tape, silly European laws or stopping people getting on with their lives. It also suggests there is still a significant number of employers who take risks with their workers’ welfare.
The survey results can be accessed online at:
http://www.iosh.co.uk/index.cfm?go=news.release&id=513.
Employment of Illegal Immigrants
At the end of February 2008, the law on the employment of illegal immigrants was changed, leading to a dramatic increase in the number of employers being prosecuted. In 2007 there were some 13 reported cases, but by mid-May 2008 the number had risen to 137. The maximum fine for each illegal immigrant employed is £10,000. In the March/April period, penalties of around £500,000 were imposed, with persistent offenders facing a jail sentence.
Investigation of such employment law breaches is carried out by the UK Border Agency and the local police force. The Border Agency was formed in April 2008 by merging elements of the Border and Immigration Agency, HM Revenue and Customs, and UK Visa Services from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
According to Government figures of unknown basis, there is estimated to be a total of more than 570,000 illegal immigrants in Britain.
Link between Herbicide Use and Brain Cancer
A research paper by Claudine M. Samanic, et al, entitled “Occupational Exposure to Pesticides and Risk of Adult Brain Tumours”, was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology 2008, 167(8):976-985; reference doi:10.1093/aje/kwm401. The abstract is available online.
The authors examined the incidence of brain cancer risk associated with occupational exposure to insecticides and herbicides, based on 1,400 American adult hospital cases, some with brain cancer and some without.
Their findings were that there was no overall link between the disease and on-the-job exposure to pesticides or herbicides, but closer analysis of the data revealed that women whose jobs regularly exposed them to weed killers may have a two-fold higher risk than normal of a particular form of brain cancer than women with no such exposure.
Of the 17 women with the highest herbicide exposure, most worked in restaurants or grocery stores, where they were probably exposed by the routine handling of produce contaminated with herbicides.
Some previous studies have linked both farming and heavy pesticide exposure to a higher risk of brain cancer, but the present research also calculated estimated exposure to pesticides and herbicides.
The elevated brain cancer risk for women exposed to herbicides did not apply to men. Why this is so is not known, but information on the exact identity of the chemical agents used by the patients was not available.
European Union’s Two-Year Campaign on Risk Assessment
This year the European Campaign for Safety and Health at Work, formerly known as Euroweek, has been transformed into a two-year campaign focusing on risk assessment.
The aim of the campaign is to promote an integrated management approach that takes into account the different steps of risk assessment, defined as a systematic examination of all aspects of the work undertaken to consider what can cause injury or harm, whether the hazards can be eliminated and, if not, what preventive or protective measures are, or should be, in place to control the risks.
The campaign also promotes the idea of a participatory approach to risk assessment, stressing that it is essential for the workforce to be consulted and involved in the risk assessment process to ensure that hazards are identified not only from principles of knowledge, but also by knowledge of working conditions and patterns of adverse effects upon workers.
Risk assessment with its component of worker involvement is one of the key elements in building a sustainable prevention culture.
More details are available online at:
http://osha.europa.eu/campaigns/hw2008/about.
Oil Companies Resist EU Climate Targets
The European Commission plans to revise its 1998 Fuel Quality Directive, which defines specifications for petrol, diesel and gas-oil used in transport, in order to reflect new developments in fuel and engine technology and reduce CO2 emissions. The proposed amendments would permit higher volumes of biofuels to be used in petrol and oblige fuel suppliers to ensure that greenhouse gases produced by their fuels throughout their life cycle are cut by 1% per year between 2011 and 2020.
The oil majors responded to this development by claiming that the target proposed by the Commission is unachievable. That claim was contested in a report entitled Extracting the truth: Oil industry attempts to undermine the Fuel Quality Directive published in May 2008 by the environmental organisation, Friends of the Earth Europe (FoE Europe).
The FoE Europe researchers used data published by the oil companies themselves to show that reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of between 10.5% and 15.5% are possible through such measures as reduced gas flaring and venting, energy efficiency improvements and fuel switching in refineries, and without the need for those harmful biofuels which can have negative environmental and socials impacts and have been proven not to reduce overall emissions.
The report claims that although currently making record profits, oil companies are not willing to bear the cost of reducing emissions because such investment is unprofitable, and they will not do so until compelled by a regulatory body. It also points out the inconsistency between promoting higher quality fuels and biofuels on the one hand and introducing a life-cycle approach on the other. Such an approach puts highly upgraded refineries, capable of more complex conversion techniques, at a disadvantage because they are often more energy-intensive. This ultimately creates a perverse incentive for the incomplete and inefficient conversion of crude oil.
Offshore Wind Power Runs onto the Rocks
In a press release dated 8th May 2008, the UK energy generator, Centrica, warned that the economic feasibility of offshore wind farms would become marginal due to rising costs. Centrica claimed that if manufacturing costs continue to increase, the UK Government target of 33 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2020 is under threat.
A week earlier, Shell withdrew from the proposed 1,000-megawatt London Array scheme in the Thames Estuary, intended to become the world's largest wind farm. In July 2008, Shell sold its one-third holding to its partners, E.ON and the Nordic group, Dong Energy. The economics of the project still remain marginal due to the escalating price of turbines and installation vessels, and shortage of skilled manpower.
Centrica, which opened its Lynn and Inner Dowsing project off the coast of Skegness in early May, is still planning to build three new wind farms in the UK with a total capacity of around 1,250 megawatts, but does not want to fund the projects alone. The cost of the Skegness wind farm doubled in 2006-2008 because of the rising price of steel and copper. In addition, there are only two companies that produce wind farms for the UK market - Vestas of Denmark and Siemens of Germany. Both have more work in hand than they can cope with. Turbine manufacturers point to the rising cost of raw materials and the difficulty they have in securing the parts they need.
UK Government sources said that Britain is due to overtake Denmark as the largest wind energy generator by the end of 2008.
Giant Biofuel Plants for Britain
On 12th May 2008, the UK company Ensus announced that by early next year its new bioethanol plant at Wilton in Teesside would be operational. It will be the largest biorefinery in the European Union and will use about half of what is at present the UK exportable wheat surplus as feedstock to make bioethanol and a protein-rich animal feed co-product.
The plant will be the first major bioethanol plant in Britain and will produce around 330,000 tonnes of biofuel and 350,000 tonnes of animal feed, far more than British Sugar whose existing facility at Wissington in eastern England has an annual capacity of around 55,000 tonnes, based on sugar beet. The Wilton plant is expected to supply one-third of UK demand for ethanol under Britain's Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation, which mandates that 5% of motor fuel should come from renewable resources by 2010.
Ensus is owned by two US private equity funds, the Carlyle Group and Riverstone, and has contracted to sell all the bioethanol produced in Wilton to Royal Dutch Shell, while Glencore will supply grain and take the animal feed.
Two more giant bioethanol plants in Britain are at the planning stage. British Sugar, BP and DuPont propose to build a plant in Hull with an annual capacity of about 330,000 tonnes of bioethanol. The facility is due to be commissioned in late 2009. The Spanish energy and engineering group Abengoa has plans to build a plant in Immingham with a capacity of about 315,000 tonnes of bioethanol. That plant should be operational by June 2010. Both the British Sugar/BP/DuPont and Abengoa plants are also expected to rely on UK wheat as the main feedstock.
The UK Government is still undecided on its attitude to biofuels targets because of their impact on food prices and the environment.
Climate Change Committee Comes into Being
The UK Climate Change Committee will become a legal entity when the Climate Change Bill becomes law later this year. Among other duties it will have to decide what emissions cuts should be achieved by 2050, set five-year carbon budgets and monitor Government progress annually.
The Committee acknowledges that most of the progress made so far in reducing carbon dioxide emissions is down to industrial decline and a switch to gas rather than coal-burning power generation. Things now become much more difficult, as the Climate Change Bill sets a target of cutting British carbon dioxide emissions by 26-32% by 2020 and at least 60% by 2050.
The Committee has to decide by December 2008 whether the 60% end target should be raised to 80%, but remains confident that by 2050 the UK will have decarbonised electricity generation. There is less confidence over the medium-term target, but it is likely that the promotion of energy efficiency, renewable resources, nuclear power and carbon sequestration will figure prominently. Road and air transport remain problematic if not intractable.
DEFRA Interactive Noise Pollution Map
To meet the requirements of the Environmental Noise (England) Regulations 2006, a transposition into national law of Directive 2002/49/EC, the Environmental Noise Directive, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has put online a new website that allows public access to the levels of environmental noise measured from road and rail networks in 23 UK towns and cities, including London, Manchester and Sheffield. The noise pollution maps provide an overview of the ambient noise climate in cities and major transportation sources in England.
The website is interactive and enables individuals to search by postcode to monitor noise levels. It provides information covering 80,000 km of roads within urban areas, 28,000 km of major road networks and nearly 5,000 km of railways. It also includes information on the number of people exposed to the measured levels of noise. The worst noise pollution in urban areas is found in Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol and Southend.
The mapping process was carried out during 2006-07 to implement the EU Environmental Noise Directive and incorporated the noise maps produced for the 18 English airports that were published in December 2007. DEFRA said the maps will be used to draw up noise action plans for large urban areas, major transport sources and significant industrial sites in England to reduce unreasonable levels of noise, where practical.
The URL is:
http://noisemapping.defra.gov.uk/wps/portal/noise.
Pesticides, Productivity and Health Protection
The current registration process for pesticides is changing under EU proposals that will drastically restrict the number of such substances available to farmers. Directive 94/414 ceases in effect in 2008 and will be replaced by a new stricter regime for the registration and approval of pesticides, which includes a ban on the spraying of pesticides known to be carcinogenic, teratogenic or endocrine disruptors. However, the existing scheme has been so slow in operation that many pesticides are still not on the approved list under the current Directive and when it runs out they are likely to be lost.
A report by the UK Pesticides Safety Directorate pointed out that no impact assessment has been carried out on the effects of the new European Commission proposals, which could remove up to 15% of the substances assessed, some of which are particularly important in the UK for protection of minor crops such as carrots and parsnips. The proposed endocrine disruptor criteria could impact particularly on fungicide availability and might result in a significant loss in cereals production.
The EC proposals include a single approval period for candidates for substitution of five years, which could result in the loss of up to 85% of conventional chemical substances after that period.
The cause of the conflict is that EU thinking stresses the importance of bringing in measures to protect both the environment and human health, especially for workers who are regularly or repeatedly exposed to pesticides, even at a constant low level.
According to the European Commission, some 300,000 tonnes of pesticide substances were sold in Europe in 2003 with no sign of a decrease in use over the past decade.
Health and Safety Law Poster to be Amended
On 19th May 2008, the HSE published ConDoc CD218, Proposals for amendments to the Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations 1989. It sets out proposals for amending the Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations 1989, which require employers to provide information to their employees relating to health, safety and welfare at work, generally by display of a poster or by distributing leaflets.
A recent review of the current approved poster found that employees thought it was boring and seldom read it. The proposed amendments would allow the HSE to approve and publish new posters and leaflets which do not require the addition of updating information by employers displaying them, while maintaining or improving employees' access to useful information.
The existing posters may continue to be displayed under the proposals, provided they are readable and provide up-to-date information on contacting the enforcing authority and the Employment Medical Advisory Service (EMAS).
Royal Wind Power
The development of wind energy in the UK is much hindered by the planning process, but this is less of a problem for the Crown Estate, which owns most of the seabed off British shores and regularly leases out land to wind farm projects. It was announced on 21st May 2008 at an energy conference in Aberdeen that the largest wind turbine in the world would be built on Crown Estate property in north-east England.
The 7.5-megawatt-capacity turbine will be built by Clipper Windpower of London and be fully operational by 2010. All the power generated will be sold to the National Grid. Other projects are being considered for developing 100 MW or more of capacity on Crown land in Scottish waters.
Global Climate Crisis Map
An animated map of the Earth from space went online on 21st May 2008 to illustrate the potential impact of climate change over the next century. It can be accessed via Climate Change in Our World.
Based on Google Earth, which uses NASA satellite images, the project is the result of co-operation between Google, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Meteorological Office. It enables a user to run a time-lapse series to display the Earth warming under medium-case scenarios up to 2100, either from a planetary perspective or zeroing in on individual countries or cities.
Health Risks from Carbon Nanotubes
It has been established for over a century that inhaling asbestos fibres can cause debilitating lung disease and cancer. A study published on 20th May 2008 by K. Donaldson and colleagues at the University of Edinburgh reports that injecting carbon nanotube fibres into the abdominal cavity of laboratory mice can trigger toxic responses similar to asbestos fibres, causing a strong immune response with asbestos-like inflammation and lesions (granulomas) forming in the abdominal mesothelium. The researchers examined the potential for long and short carbon nanotubes, long and short asbestos fibres, and carbon black, to cause pathological responses known to be the precursors of mesothelioma. The journal reference is Nature Nanotechnology, DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2008.111.
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were developed in the early 1990s as electrical conductors and semiconductors of unusual strength, and were thought ideal for a range of applications including electronics, batteries, drug delivery and materials science. The global market in microscopic carbon nanotubes is expected to grow to around $2 billion by 2014. Although they look identical to asbestos fibres, it had been argued that they are not dangerous when inhaled, perhaps because they do not persist in the body as do asbestos fibres.
The physical characteristics that make asbestos fibres dangerous are well established. They include a needle-like shape with a length of around 20 micrometres, insolubility and the ability to persist in the body. Body cells called phagocytes normally scavenge and engulf small foreign particles, but since they cannot stretch beyond about 20 microns they become hyperactivated on encountering such particles, leading to inflammation, scarring and eventually cancer.
These features match those of CNTs as well. The new research proved that longer carbon nanotubes are pathogenic, but did not show whether they are able to persist in the body for long enough to reach the areas into which they were deliberately injected. For that to be proven it would be necessary to do inhalation studies.
HCFC Phase-Out Continues
Global regulations on the manufacture and use of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) were created under the Montreal Protocol of 1998 to reduce ozone depletion. The phase-out schedule is complex and will not be completed until 2030. In the European Union, legislation requires a 100% ban on consumption by 1st January 2010 and a 100% ban on production by 1st January 2026.
The January 2010 prohibition on the use of virgin HCFC gases includes use in the maintenance and servicing of refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment. Although such systems are in wide use, only older units manufactured before 1996 are likely to require complete replacement to achieve compliance.
Other uses already banned include the production of all foams, including polyurethane spray and block foams. Derogations exist in several cases, such as permitted use as fire-fighting agents in existing systems to replace halons in critical use applications.
Buncefield Civil Action Commences
At a preliminary hearing in May 2008, a High Court summary judgment was made against Total UK and Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd (HOSL), ruling that the Buncefield depot fire, which engulfed 20 large fuel storage tanks and injured 43 people, was the result of negligence. The civil action was brought by victims of the 2005 explosion and fire. HOSL is a joint venture between Total and Chevron, and the companies had conceded earlier that negligence by a supervisor was responsible for the fire, but refused to admit either civil or criminal liability for the incident.
The negligence ruling means that the issue will not have to be argued when the case goes to a full hearing in October 2008. Total UK intends to argue that it should not be liable for damages because it could not reasonably have foreseen that the incident would cause the destruction it did. The seat of the fire was in the HOSL compound at Buncefield and subsequent investigations found that faulty safety equipment and human error were responsible.
The claimants seeking damages asked the Court for permission to amend their case, adding an allegation of public nuisance to the existing charge of private nuisance. This was granted by the judge, giving the claimants an additional chance of securing compensation. If no settlement is reached prior to the hearing date, the judge will rule on liability and the size of any damages.
Occupational Airborne Exposures at Buncefield
A paper by Oliver Morgan, et al, “Exposures and reported symptoms associated with occupational deployment to the Buncefield fuel depot fire, England 2005”, was published in the BMJ journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2008, 65:404-411, reference doi:10.1136/oem.2007.035303, abstract online.
It reports the findings of a retrospective cohort study of airborne exposures and health status for workers deployed during the Buncefield oil terminal fire in 2005. The prevalence of health symptoms in workers was compared to symptoms in local residents not under the smoke plume.
During the fire, respiratory protection was used by 39% of those working inside the inner fire cordon. Symptoms were reported by 41% of individuals during the burn phase, compared with 26% in the post-burn phase.
Compared with the general public, eye irritation, coughing and headaches were more common in workers deployed during the burn phase, but not the post-burn phase.
The researchers conclude that increased reporting of symptoms close to the fire during the burn phase was consistent with increased exposure to products of combustion, although no major acute illness was reported. They also raise the issue that only a minority of individuals deployed used facemasks, which were not protective for symptoms, posing questions about the availability of adequate respiratory protection for dealing with such incidents.
Rail Companies Fined for Safety Lapses
At a sentencing hearing at Coventry Crown Court in May 2008, three rail companies were criticised by a judge for their “careless and neglectful” approach to safety on part of a project to upgrade the West Coast Main Line, and were fined £200,000 each as a result.
Balfour Beatty Rail Projects Ltd and GT Railway Maintenance Ltd, who were carrying out work on the line near Birmingham as a joint venture, together with Elec-Track Installations Ltd, were prosecuted at Warwick Crown Court in April 2008 by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) over an incident in July 2003, when three rail workers in an SRS vehicle fitted with a hydraulic basket were involved in contact with live overhead lines carrying 25,000 volts.
According to the ORR, the overhead line remained live because the three companies had not ensured a safe system of work. There was no documented system for confirming lines had been isolated, and there was a practice of dispatching teams to the work site under live wires before isolation had been confirmed. Communication between the joint-venture parties and Elec-Track on the method of work to be followed was inadequate, as was training and information provision for the workers.
Balfour Beatty and GT Railway Maintenance pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 (HSWA) for failing to safeguard non-employees, and Elec-Track Installations (now known as Hythe Realisations Ltd) pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of HSWA for failing to safeguard its employees. As well as the £600,000 in fines, the parties had to pay £42,000 in prosecution costs.
Giant Offshore Wind Farm at Greater Gabbard
In April 2008, the utility company, Scottish and Southern Energy plc (SSE), confirmed that it would be proceeding with its £900 million investment in the 504 MW Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm. Construction work is due to begin in the summer of 2009 and is scheduled for completion in 2011. The project covers two offshore areas, Inner Gabbard and The Galloper, which are located around 25 kilometres off the Suffolk coast in the outer Thames Estuary. It will comprise 140 wind turbines of 3.6 megawatts, providing enough renewable electricity for more than 415,000 homes.
Fluor International Limited of Texas will design and construct the wind farm, using turbines supplied by Siemens Wind Power A/S. The turbines will be mounted on steel monopiles and transition pieces in water depths between 24 and 34 metres. Three 132 kV sub-sea cables will bring the power ashore to a new substation to be built near Sizewell. The wind farm is expected to have a load factor of over 40%, based on site-specific met mast data collected since 2005.
New Guidance on Statistical Process Control (SPC) Charts
The BSI has published two new guides on statistical process control:
- BS 5702-2:2008, Guide to statistical process control (SPC) charts for variables. Charts for individual value, gives guidance on the application of control charts to individual observations and demonstrates the benefits, versatility and usefulness of a simple but powerful pictorial method for monitoring, audit and surveillance with the objectives to control and improve many types of processes. Such processes can be used in industry, commerce, public service, health care, environment, food, information technology or finance. Case studies are included.
- BS 5702-3:2008, Guide to statistical process control (SPC) charts for variables. Charting techniques for short runs and small mixed batches, describes ways of applying measured data statistical process control (SPC) charts to short runs and small mixed batches where the sample size for monitoring is restricted to one. It provides a set of tools to facilitate the understanding of sources of variation in such processes so that the processes can be better managed.
Bridge Construction Incident Closes Liverpool Street Station
During the evening rush hour of 28th May 2008, contractors working on the new GE19 bridge just outside Liverpool Street station were involved in an incident in which a temporary jack under one of the bridge supports collapsed, allowing the bridge to drop eight inches and knocking scaffolding and concrete slabs down onto the rail tracks below. A National Express East Anglia train hit the debris but no-one was hurt. The station was immediately closed, causing chaos for commuters.
The 1,300-tonne bridge was being worked on by Balfour Beatty and Carillion on behalf of Transport for London (TfL). It is part of the new East London line extension into Shoreditch which will open in 2010. The bridge was constructed a month earlier and work was in progress using hydraulic rams to move it into its final position. Both Balfour Beatty and Carillion have extensive records of court appearances for non-compliance with health and safety legislation.
Global Atmospheric Methane Increase
Methane is 25 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, although it is chemically degraded rapidly in the atmosphere. In April 2008, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a preliminary analysis of readings taken at monitoring stations worldwide, which revealed that methane levels are rising after almost a decade of stability. The NOAA findings suggest that in 2007 global atmospheric methane rose by 0.5%.
The phenomenon is probably related to emissions from Arctic wetlands and there are indications that the extra amounts of the gas in the Arctic region are of biological origin, suggested by the presence of the lighter carbon isotope C-12, which is produced by bacteria. It implies that some of the methane sequestered in permafrost is being released, which would have major climatic implications. A sustained release of methane in Arctic regions, or from tropical wetlands, could drive a feedback mechanism, whereby higher temperatures liberate more of the greenhouse gas, which in turn forces temperatures still higher.
The drastic reduction in summer sea ice around the Arctic between 2006 and 2007 could also have increased the release of methane from seawater into the atmosphere. A crucial question is whether methane is also being released from frozen hydrates trapped in sediments on the ocean floor. The amount of the methane held in oceanic hydrates is thought to be larger than the Earth's remaining reserves of natural gas.
HSE Safety Alert on Hand-Fed Platens
The HSE has issued a safety alert on risks from the use of the dwell facility on hand-fed platen (die-cutting) machines in the printing and cardboard packaging industries. The alert followed two fatalities in 13 months where operators have been crushed between the platens as they made an intervention during normal production. In both cases the machine was being used in the dwell mode, the power to the platen was not isolated before the intervention and the safety devices fitted to the machine did not prevent the platens closing.
Hand-fed platens are known dangerous machines, but they have become progressively larger in size, resulting in a situation where whole body operator exposure may become necessary during intervention into the platen area, due to misfeed, waste retrieval or re-securing feed stops. Access onto the platens is frequently necessary during setting. If a safe system of work is not followed, including machine isolation, the platen may continue to cycle if it is being used in the dwell mode and the protective devices will not be automatically triggered.
Employers must ensure that robust safe intervention procedures exist to prevent the platen from stroking while the operator is between the platens. Suitable procedures may include isolation and lock-off of the power supply or other equally effective measures before the operator attempts to gain access onto the bed of the platen. Employers must also ensure that their safe intervention procedures are fully understood and followed by operators by providing suitable operator training; and there should be adequate supervision to ensure staff follow the safe intervention procedures.
Global Biofuel Output to Soar
A report was published in Paris on 29th May 2008 by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, in which it was argued that global production of biofuels will rise rapidly over the next ten years, stimulated by high government blending targets and subsidies. The foreseeable effect will be to boost the already soaring prices of world agricultural commodities and reduce their availability for food and feed. Food prices will remain high over the next decade even if they fall from current records.
Global ethanol production is projected to reach about 125 billion litres in 2017, twice the quantity produced in 2007, with biodiesel production forecast at around 24 billion litres by 2017, up from nearly 11 billion at the end of 2007 and less than one billion in 2000. The report suggests that although biofuels can increase farmers' revenue both in developing and wealthier economies, distortive policies in some large producing countries encouraged production of fuel-destined crops on land previously devoted to food. A sharp rise in biofuels output will influence food prices and keep the issue high on the international political agenda.
The international ethanol trade was expected to grow rapidly to reach six billion litres in 2010 and almost ten billion litres by 2017. Most of this trade would originate in Brazil and would be destined for markets in the EU and the United States.
The report was issued ahead of a June 3rd-5th world food summit in Rome, the headquarters of the FAO.
European Campaign for Greater Corporate Accountability
The European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) is a network of over 250 civil organisations around Europe, including trade unions, charities, academic institutions and campaign groups. At an international conference held recently at the European Parliament in Brussels it published policy proposals which, if adopted by the European Union, would guarantee the legal responsibility of companies based in Europe and their directors for human rights or environmental violations committed by their subsidiaries or subcontractors anywhere in the world.
The ECCJ argues that the legal structure of companies and weak accountability mechanisms all too often result in ethical mismanagement. It calls on the European Union to accept three proposals: extending the direct liability of parent companies of multinational enterprises operating in Europe; establishing a mandatory duty of care on parent companies in Europe to prevent human rights abuses by persons under their economic influence throughout the supply chain; and a mandatory system for large companies to report on their social and environmental risks and impacts.
The ECCJ suggests that these proposals would lead to a coherent and harmonised approach to business regulation, putting an end to the unfair competition caused by companies which profit from human rights and environmental abuses.
Giant Underground Gas Storage Project
An interesting permutation relevant to the economics and practicability of carbon dioxide sequestration comes from a project by the UK energy company, Egdon Resources. The UK is running out of indigenous gas supplies and by 2015 will be importing 80% of its gas needs, but at present there is nowhere to store it. Current UK gas storage capacity is around 3%, which has not been an issue given access to North Sea supplies. As gas production declines, large capacity gas storage will be necessary to cope with seasonal demand spikes and security of supply.
Egdon Resources investigated the technical feasibility of underground gas storage beneath the Isle of Portland in Dorset. Following a report by a German engineering consultant based on an analysis of data acquired from the Portland-1 well-drilling operation in 2006, Egdon sought relevant planning approvals with a view to starting construction as soon as possible on the site of the former HMS Osprey Royal Navy base.
The proposal by Portland Gas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Egdon, is to develop a gas storage facility involving 14 subterranean salt caverns capable of storing 1,000 million cubic metres (35 billion cubic feet) of natural gas. The caverns will be 100 metres high and around 90 metres diameter, created by pumping seawater 2,300 metres underground to dissolve Triassic salt deposits. The facility will enable the injection and withdrawal of gas at a rate of 20 million cubic metres per day (0.7 bcf), thus the entire storage volume could be filled or emptied in 50 days. Portland Gas has also filed a patent on a system for displacing cushion gas from a storage cavern with seawater in times of high demand or national emergency. Cushion gas is a volume retained to maintain gas pressure above an acceptable minimum threshold level.
The cost of the project is estimated at £500 million and construction work would begin this year, with the project operational by 2011 and complete by 2015, by which stage the Portland facility could provide up to 5% of the national gas demand on a winter day.
The issue of planning permission was complex. Portland Gas submitted a total of seven applications, one to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR, formerly the DTI) for the necessary pipeline and a further six to Dorset County Council (DCC) for the permanent facilities and temporary storage areas for the pipeline during construction. The six applications received individual approval by the DCC planning committee in May 2008 and a separate application for a Hazardous Substances Consent was also granted. BERR is expected to announce its decision in the near future. Other agencies involved included Natural England, the Environment Agency and English Heritage.
Several other gas storage developments are taking place in the UK and when they are all on stream, gas storage capacity could reach approximately 9% of annual consumption by 2015.
Severn Tidal Barrage Proposal Founders
An independent report commissioned by ten environmental groups was published in early June 2008. The study by economics consultancy Frontier (Europe) examined the justification for public funding of a large hydroelectricity barrage across the River Severn in the UK. It demonstrated that the barrage was expensive compared to other renewables and the Government could use cheaper green technologies in its attempt to meet its renewables targets. The non-governmental organisations that commissioned the analysis included the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the National Trust and WWF-UK. The report, entitled Analysis of a Severn Barrage, is available online.
Last October, a report was issued by the Sustainable Development Commission, which stated that if a barrage was built between Cardiff and Weston-super-Mare, it should be State-funded and State-run. The Frontier analysis concludes that the proposal to use taxpayers’ money to build a £15 billion dam across the estuary would not, under existing Treasury rules, warrant special Government subsidies or any other form of public investment.
There is no justification for the public sector to build or operate such a barrage which would not be equally applicable to many other projects and assets that Government policy places firmly in the private sector. Even on the most conservative estimates of costs, the barrage is one of the most expensive options for clean energy generation yet devised. The proposal is exorbitantly expensive, environmentally very damaging, and cannot be justified on economic grounds. There are simply too many cheaper options for clean energy generation.
Another feasibility study into the barrage by the Welsh Assembly Government and the UK Government has been under way since January this year.
RIDDOR Guidance Updated
The HSE has published a new edition of A Guide to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. It contains the same Regulations (with minor changes to Regulation 2) but brings the associated guidance up to date, particularly in relation to the changes in reporting arrangements and the need to use the Incident Contact Centre. Other amendments have been made to reflect changes in legislation, such as the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2007, and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, among several others. Schedule 2 has been revised to take into account the Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005.
The new guidance is available from HSE Books.
British Standards on Heat Pumps
The BSI has published three new parts to BS EN 378:2008, dealing with refrigerating systems and heat pumps:
- BS EN 378-2:2008, Refrigerating systems and heat pumps. Safety and environmental requirements. Design, construction, testing, marking and documentation.
- BS EN 378-3:2008, Refrigerating systems and heat pumps. Safety and environmental requirements. Installation site and personal protection.
- BS EN 378-4:2008, Refrigerating systems and heat pumps. Safety and environmental requirements. Operation, maintenance, repair and recovery.
European Court of Justice Asserts Sea Pollution Laws
On 4th June 2008, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) decided that the European Union is entitled to set tougher standards and criminal penalties on sea pollution than measures included in international conventions. The Court dismissed a challenge to EU marine pollution laws by an international coalition of ship operators.
The shipping interests, which included the tanker-owning group Intertanko, had argued that the EU Directive on ship-source pollution contravened two sets of international maritime laws. Ship owners said the Directive sought to criminalise accidental spillages and questioned whether the EU had the right to impose criminal liability on foreign-flagged ships.
The Court concluded that the validity of the Directive could not be assessed in the light of either the MARPOL Convention or the Convention on the Law of the Sea. EU maritime laws seek to protect coastal tourism and fisheries from minor discharges from shipping, as well as catastrophic oil spills such as that from the “Prestige” offshore from Spain in 2002 and the “Erika” offshore from France in 1999.
Global CO2 Emissions to Double by 2050
In a report entitled Energy Technology Perspectives published on 7th June 2008, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that global emissions of carbon will rise 130% and oil demand will rise 70% by 2050 under current government policies.
The IEA called on governments around the world to bring about a global energy technology revolution to reduce CO2 emissions. The total investment required to halve emissions by 2050 would amount to US $45 trillion, and require a massive research and development effort in the next 15 years costing between $10 billion and $100 billion per year to develop emissions control technology. Some 215 million square metres of solar panels would be required globally and 32 new nuclear power stations would have to be built each year for 40 years.
The report was issued in Aomori, Japan, ahead of a meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) energy ministers, with representatives from China, India and South Korea. Aomori lies in a region where the Japanese have invested heavily in a nuclear fuel rod reprocessing facility.
Disproportionate Decisions in Safety Management
The mass media take a constant delight in absurd decisions made by people who should know better on the application of health and safety legislation. IOSH seems to spend much of its time writing letters to the editors of newspapers in an attempt to counteract the unfavourable image projected to the public.
In June 2008, the HSE published online its research report RR536, Evidence Based Evaluation of the Scale of Disproportionate Decisions on Risk Assessment and Management, which summarises a study into the prevalence and causes of disproportionate health and safety management in the UK. It confines itself to decisions that are disproportionate in terms of excessive caution, excluding reckless decisions.
ConDoc on REACH
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published a consultative document entitled Consultation on the Enforcement of REACH in the UK. It sets out the legislative framework within which the enforcement authorities will operate to enforce the provisions of the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical Substances Regulation (REACH).
The ConDoc can be downloaded from:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/reach-enforce/consultation.pdf.
Prosecution Follows Firework Factory Fire
On 3rd December 2006, two fire-fighters died while tackling a blaze at the Festival Fireworks premises near Ringmer in East Sussex. Twelve other people were injured in the explosions and fire, including nine fire-fighters and a police officer. The owner of the company and his son have now been charged with manslaughter. The company, now known as Alpha Fireworks Ltd, has been summonsed for breaches of the Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005. It has a previous conviction for a breach of explosives regulations.
UK Working Time Directive Opt-Out to Continue
In June 2008, the UK Government reached an agreement with the EU Employment Council to continue its opt-out from the Working Time Directive (WTD) and the Agency Workers’ Directive, despite opposition from the TUC who claim that progress on excessive working hours has been slow following the implementation of the WTD in 1998. More than 3.3 million people now work for more than 48 hours per week. The UK has the longest average hours in Western Europe, without any noticeable increase in productivity.
An agreement on agency workers was reached by a joint CBI and TUC declaration in May 2008, to the effect that subject to a 12-week qualifying period, agency workers will be given equal treatment in their employment.
Workplace Deaths Outnumber Murders
A report by Professor Steve Tombs of Liverpool John Moores University and Dr David Whyte of the University of Liverpool entitled A crisis of enforcement: The decriminalisation of death and injury at work was published on 17th June 2008 by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies.
The report, launched in a committee room at the House of Commons, finds that twice as many people die from fatal injuries at work than are victims of homicide. At least 1,300 people died as a result of fatal occupational injuries in 2005/06 in England and Wales, compared with 765 victims of murder. Non-fatal workplace injuries requiring hospitalisation were also likely to be greater that year than those needing such treatment following the violent offences formally recorded as crimes.
The authors argue that the recent trend towards ‘light touch' regulation of business has in effect decriminalised death and injury at work. Serious incidents are significantly under-reported, and a reduction in the capacity of such bodies as the Health and Safety Executive to inspect business and take appropriate action has led to a situation where the most serious injuries, as well as many deaths, are not subject to any form of investigation. HSE enforcement notices fell by 40% and prosecutions fell by 49% between 2001/02 and 2005/06.
The writers claim that the current policy preoccupation with conventional crimes such as homicide, street violence and theft should be complemented by a much greater focus on workplace crimes and injuries. Violent street crime consumes enormous political, media and academic energy, but as hundreds of thousands of workers and their families know, it is the violence associated with working for a living that is most likely to kill and hospitalise.
The report can be downloaded from:
http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/acrisisofenforcement.html.
UK to Miss Renewable Energy Targets
A parliamentary report published on 19th June 2008 by the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Select Committee stated that Britain is set to miss its self-imposed renewable energy target and will also fail to meet European Union requirements unless it steps up action substantially.
The UK Government is committed to generating 10% of electricity from renewable sources by 2010, and under an EU deal last year it will have to quadruple that a decade later. At present, the UK obtains less than 5% of its electricity from renewables, mainly wind. The combination of planning restrictions and rising material prices makes it unlikely that the numbers can be doubled in just two years.
EU environment ministers agreed in March last year that the 27-nation bloc should obtain 20% of its energy from renewables such as wind, solar, wave power and biomass by 2020. In January 2008, national targets were allocated to achieve this general objective. The UK Government negotiated its share downwards, as a result of which it was told to obtain 15% of energy from renewables. Even so, the EU British target is equivalent to generating 40% of electricity from renewables by 2020.
Industrial sources maintain that the target is difficult, although possible and expensive. Onshore wind is at or close to capacity and any major future expansion must be offshore, where costs are double. In addition, global demand for wind turbines is booming and there are questions of availability through supply bottlenecks, as the UK will have to construct and connect another 5,000 wind turbines over the next 12 years. The wind industry complains that it can still take a decade for a windfarm to get permission to link up to the National Grid, due to a poorly conceived transmission access regime.
The all-party committee also said that the Government, which has voiced strong support for new nuclear power to cut carbon emissions and increase energy security, must ensure it does not drain resources from renewables.
CoRGI to be Replaced by Capita
In mid-June 2008, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) announced that Capita will replace CoRGI to run a new gas installer registration scheme in the UK, effective from April 2009. The Council for Registered Gas Installers (CoRGI) was originally established in 1970 but is now a trust. Since 1991, CoRGI has had the remit of the HSE to register gas operatives and businesses as being approved under the law. At present it is not clear how the transition will work to ensure continuity of operations. Capita will have to establish and promote a new independent brand.
Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 anybody undertaking work on gas fittings or appliances by way of business must be a "member of a class of persons approved ... by the Health and Safety Executive". The HSE has the authority to appoint CoRGI and/or other agencies to operate the Register of Gas Installers.
The business process outsourcing group, Capita, has a poor record on many of the Government projects or services it has taken on, including the Criminal Records Bureau, the Individual Learning Account (ILA) scheme and the congestion charging scheme for Transport for London. The Executive Chairman of Capita resigned in March 2006 in the aftermath of claims that contracts awarded to the group were influenced by his loan of £1 million to the Labour Party. A subsidiary, Capita Financial Administrators (CFA), was fined £300,000 for having poor anti-fraud controls by the Financial Services Authority.
New Carbon Benchmark Scheme
In 2007, UK ministers expressed concern over the lack of consistency between private carbon emissions offset trading schemes. The problem lies with the credibility of companies that do nothing to reduce their own carbon footprint, but claim to be doing so by offsetting their emissions by paying a third party to invest in distant clean energy projects or tree planting programmes, most of which deliver 30% less than they promise according to a report published on 25th June 2008. The Government announced that it would establish a voluntary code of best practice in an attempt to improve confidence in the offsetting sector.
In June 2008, the Carbon Trust launched a new standards scheme to rebuild public confidence in the green claims made by companies, but it does not include offsetting as part of the benchmark. The scheme highlights businesses that have made genuine cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, and renders ineligible those that pay someone else to offset their emissions. The new standard will be issued only to UK organisations that show real reductions year-on-year, whereas companies that pay a third party to offset emissions on their behalf will not qualify. The idea is that businesses will focus on taking in-house action themselves and reduce their own emissions.
The new standard is underpinned by three rules: measurement, management and reduction of the carbon footprint. Those who wish to participate must demonstrate with numerical and quantified data, and a measurable reduction over time.
Twelve organisations have been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard to date, including the London Fire Brigade, which is subject to a Greater London Authority Climate Change Action Plan requiring it to reduce its emissions by 60% by 2025; B&Q; King's College, London; Morrisons; and Thames Water. Accredited holders of the standard have to deliver year-on-year reductions in carbon emissions.
Call for Tighter Biosecurity in UK Laboratories
Following last year’s report by the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee into the foot-and-mouth-disease outbreak at Pirbright in Surrey, a parliamentary committee report published in June 2008 warned that British laboratories handling dangerous diseases have been neglected and biosecurity threatened by funding uncertainty.
The MPs' report sought to identify generic lessons from the outbreak and said that while some UK facilities are of world class, others such as the Pirbright and the Health Protection Agency (HPA) Porton Down laboratories are in need of significant investment and dependable funding by the Government. How the £121 million redevelopment cost of the Institute of Animal Health at Pirbright is to be shared between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills has yet to be settled.
The report described the HPA Porton Down site as an aging facility in need of urgent redevelopment, as some laboratories handling the most dangerous pathogens did not have sufficient funding for on-going maintenance. The MPs also said they were struck by the lack of co-ordination between those funding and those running high containment facilities, and the fact that no one minister had responsibility for biosecurity.
The MPs recommend that long-term funding should be in place to ensure the best biosecurity across all sites, and the Government should report to Parliament every two years on the readiness of the UK to deal with an infectious disease outbreak. There should be tougher vetting and training for staff at the highest risk facilities.
Asbestos Compensation Issues
On 25th June 2008, a Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament designed to enable workers with asbestos-related pleural plaques to claim compensation. The Damages (Asbestos-Related Conditions) (Scotland) Bill provides that asbestos-related pleural plaques amount to a material personal injury capable of founding a claim in damages; clarifies that asymptomatic asbestos-related pleural thickening and asymptomatic asbestosis continue to be actionable; and has retrospective effect. The action by the Scottish Government was decided upon because the situation is part of the “unintended and unwelcome consequences” of Scotland’s industrial heritage.
The UK Government has only announced plans to consult on the topic of pleural plaques.
EU Small Business Act
On 25th June 2008, the European Union passed its Small Business Act, which contains several measures to limit the impact of the regulatory burden. Wherever practicable, the European Commission (EC) will use common commencement dates for regulations and decisions affecting companies, and will publish an annual statement of forthcoming legislation. The EC will undertake impact assessments of new legislative and administrative initiatives on small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), and take the results into account when designing proposals. There may be exemptions for small businesses from reporting requirements.
Fatal Injury Figures Show Small Reduction
Provisional figures for work-related fatal injuries in Great Britain were issued by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on 1st July 2008. Some 228 workers lost their lives as a result of accidents and/or incidents at work in 2007/08, compared to 247 workers in 2006/07; a slight reduction which may not be of statistical significance.
There was a slight increase in the number of workers killed in the agriculture sector (from 36 in 2006/07 to 39 in 2007/08) and a slight decrease in the construction sector (from 79 in 2006/07 to 72 in 2007/08). The figures do not include incidences of road traffic accidents related to work which resulted in deaths, or deaths from industrial diseases.
The HSE suggests that the headline fatality numbers indicate a performance plateau in an overall five-year trend.
French Toxic Hulk to be Dismantled on Teesside
The obsolete French aircraft carrier, “Clemenceau”, decommissioned in 1997 and now known as hull Q790, will be towed from a north-western French port to the Able Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling Centre (TERRC) on Teesside by the end of this summer. According to a Defence Ministry statement issued on 1st July 2008, the ship will be brought to the UK to be broken up once Britain and France have drawn up a cross-border transfer authorisation. Able UK won planning permission and obtained a waste management licence from the Environment Agency to allow it to undertake such work. The consent of the Health and Safety Executive was also necessary for the dangerous work with the 700 tonnes of asbestos still contained in the hulk.
The “Clemenceau” is currently docked in Brest, to where it returned a year ago after a long distance saga in which it was towed from Spain to Turkey and then to the world's largest ship-breaking yard at Alang on the west coast of India, in a bid to find a company to dismantle it safely. In February 2006, the Indian High Court banned the “Clemenceau” from entering the country's territorial waters and the infamous vessel was towed back home.
Able UK said that the contract to dismantle the “Clemenceau” would bring in up to €4 million and the work would take about ten months. The company plans to dismantle three British ships and four retired US navy ships at the same time.
HSE Prosecution of Bulmer and Nalco
Following an outbreak of legionnaires’ disease in 2003, the Health and Safety Executive prosecuted HP Bulmer Ltd and Nalco Ltd for contraventions of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 (HSWA). Both were fined at Hereford Crown Court on 1st July 2008. HP Bulmer Ltd had employed Nalco Ltd, trading at the time as Ondeo Nalco Ltd, a water treatment company, as part of the strategy to manage risk from legionella bacteria that could occur as a result of the use of evaporative cooling towers.
At inquests the Coroner’s court had directly related the deaths of two people to the outbreak and the Health Protection Agency had originally attributed 28 cases of legionnaires’ disease, although this figure was later revised to 26.
HP Bulmer Ltd was fined £300,000 with costs of £50,000 after pleading guilty to a breach of Section 3(1) of HSWA. Nalco Ltd was also fined £300,000 with costs of £50,000 after pleading guilty to a breach of Section 3(1) of HSWA.
Warnings Ignored on Ocean Fertilisation
In the 1970s, oceanographers speculated on what nutrient chemical elements triggered phytoplankton growth in the open marine environment. Following several small-scale experiments it was concluded that iron, Fe, was a key ingredient. Later it was suggested that ocean iron fertilisation (OIF) could function as a conduit for sequestering carbon, the hypothesis being that after a plankton bloom the algae would die and sink to the seabed, taking carbon with them.
Some scientists advocate the artificial seeding of ocean waters with large volumes of iron as a means of sequestering carbon, but in a special report the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) described the idea as speculative and unproven, with the risk of unknown side effects and unintended consequences. At the end of May 2008, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity called for a moratorium on the practice of adding nutrients to the oceans. In June the matter was referred for guidance to the London Convention, part of the International Maritime Organisation. That body also expressed caution and urged more research before ocean iron fertilisation is practised on a larger scale.
The two main protagonists are a company in San Francisco called Climos, which has ignored international warnings and announced its intention to proceed with plans to test and develop OIF commercially; and Ocean Nourishment, an Australian company that is trying to sequester carbon dioxide in offshore trials by using urea instead of iron.
European Parliament Agrees New Landfill Targets
On 17th June 2008, the European Parliament in Strasbourg approved new targets for recycling waste, aimed at curbing greenhouse emissions from landfill sites. The agreement still has to be approved by member states before becoming law. The EU has become increasingly concerned by the accumulating mountains of calorific waste, as typified by the situation in Naples where waste disposal is under the control of the Camorra, the local mafia. Over 1.8 billion tonnes of waste are generated each year in Europe, equating to 3.5 tonnes per person, of which less than a third is recycled.
The EU Parliament voted for the goal of recycling or reusing 50% of the main types of household waste by 2020 and 70% of all waste from building and demolition. The agreement promotes incineration as a means of disposal, but fails to address the issue of setting limits on the amount of waste produced. The agreement lays down a hierarchy of priorities that member states should use for dealing with waste: first, do not create waste; second, reuse materials wherever practicable; third, recycle as much as possible; fourth, recover the energy contained in the waste; and finally, dump to landfill.
The move is unlikely to be popular in the UK, where levels of recycling are well below the EU average.
EU Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Transport Increase
The EU Environment Commission published data on carbon dioxide emissions by the European Union for the year 2006 on 18th June 2008. The figures show that emissions from transport have continued to grow, despite a slight reduction from overall sources. Much of the increase took place among the 12 newer EU states in Eastern Europe, a reversal of the dramatic fall in those countries during the 1990s when their economies suffered after the collapse of communism.
Emissions from road transport rose 0.7% in 2006, while overall emissions within the bloc fell 0.3%. Emissions of greenhouse gases from international aviation and shipping continued to rise sharply in 2006. The EU Environment Commission notes that transport-related emissions are increasing constantly and are of particular concern. Emissions from energy industries have stabilised in the last few years, while those from manufacturing industries declined slightly.
The 15 EU countries which signed the Kyoto Protocol cut their CO2 emissions by 0.8% in 2006, taking their total reduction below the base year of 1990 to 2.7%, which puts them on track collectively to meet the Kyoto Protocol target of keeping average emissions between 2008 and 2012 at least 8% below base year levels.
However, the data is far from reassuring as the older member states are still unlikely to meet their Kyoto targets. The small overall emissions decreases achieved so far are not the result of political action, but are due to industrial decline, warmer weather conditions, and lower consumption of gas and oil in households and services due to higher prices, particularly in Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Britain.
Downside of the Global PC Boom
According to a report published on 23rd June 2008 by the research company Gartner, Forecast: PC Installed Base, Worldwide, 2004-2012, the number of personal computers in use around the world, as opposed to the number shipped over a given period, has surpassed one billion, with around 58% of the total located in the USA and Western Europe (those regions accounting for 15% of the human population). However, the perception that computers are indispensable for economic advancement is likely to result in this figure falling to about 30% with the addition of the next billion machines. Rapid growth in India and Brazil will double the number of PCs to two billion by 2014.
Rapid growth also translates into multiplying quantities of old or obsolete equipment. Gartner estimates that more than 180 million PCs will be replaced in 2008, a few for use elsewhere or for recycling, but many will go to landfill. Some 35 million PCs are dumped annually to landfill with little regard for their toxic content, a problem that will increase in the emerging markets. Of the computers sent for recycling, around 70% are exported to China, where environmental conditions around e-waste recycling centres have become toxic to levels that would be illegal in the Western countries supplying the waste.
Continuing Debate in the EU on Pesticides Law
European health and safety and environmental laws tend to be prescriptive in nature and adopt an approach based on hazard rather than risk. That does not suit some industries, especially pesticides, as products which have been available on the market for some time may be removed without an adequate substitute being available. The industry argues that because a product or substance has hazardous properties it does not mean it is dangerous.
Proposed changes to the 1991 pesticides legislation will be debated by the European Parliament in Autumn 2008, and on 23rd June 2008 the EU agriculture ministers reached a compromise deal, from which the UK abstained, to revise pesticide authorisation laws in a fashion that will reduce the number of crop chemicals that can be sold in EU markets; but it will allow groups of countries with similar geography and climate to decide whether farmers may use specific products. Individual countries may apply for exceptions, under certain strict conditions, for particular substances to gain bloc-wide authorisation.
The new arrangements totally prohibit the marketing and use of substances proven to be carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic for reproduction, but it was not resolved how to establish cut-off criteria for approving substances that had possible hazardous properties. Substances considered hazardous could be used if available products did not offer sufficiently effective plant protection, an exception to the general rule subject to strict conditions, with a transitional period of not more than five years. It will no longer be possible to grant provisional authorisation to products still in the process of registration unless the EU-level assessment lasts longer than two and a half years. The EU countries would be divided into three zones, allowing approval by region rather than by individual country.
The UK complained that the revised law would lead to the withdrawal of certain fungicides, likely to cause sharp reductions in the national wheat yield.
EU Plan to Phase Out Incandescent Light Bulbs
On 25th June 2008, it was announced that the European Commission is preparing a plan to phase out the use of incandescent light bulbs from 2009 as part of its climate protection policy. The new rules would place progressive bans on incandescent bulbs based on the number of watts of electricity they consume and their energy efficiency class. The Commission estimates savings for European consumers of €5 billion to €8 billion, as compact fluorescent bulbs use one-fifth of the energy required by conventional incandescent bulbs, as well as lasting ten times longer. The higher purchase price of an energy-saving bulb delivers a return in terms of working life and energy saved.
The estimated outcome is a reduction in CO2 emissions over the entire European Union of 23 million tonnes per year. Incandescent light bulbs will disappear from Europe over a ten-year span, provided manufacturers are able to produce the two billion bulbs required to meet EU demand.
Australia introduced an incandescent light bulb phase-out in 2007, with a total ban on their use to be effective in 2010. New Zealand will introduce a similar plan next year.
Shell Calls for Refiners to be Exempt from EU Carbon Limits
The Chief Executive of Royal Dutch Shell Plc told the World Petroleum Congress in Madrid that the crude refining, chemicals and paper industries should be exempt from proposals to charge businesses for emitting CO2, on the grounds that they would otherwise be at a disadvantage against rivals in the USA and Asia. He wants oil refiners to be given free CO2 emission permits in the next phase of the European Union CO2 emissions trading scheme, but he supports the idea of other sectors being charged for them as a means to fight climate change. He also voiced scepticism of the EU proposal to raise its target for cutting CO2 emissions to 30% by 2020, from the current target of 20% by that date.
UK Malaria Incidence Increasing
In July 2008, the British Medical Journal reported on a study by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) that identified 6,753 cases of falciparum malaria diagnosed in the UK between 2002 and 2006, representing a 30% increase over 15 years. Malaria is spread by mosquitoes carrying the Plasmodium parasite, and weeks or months can pass after an infected bite before symptoms appear.
Travel to areas where malaria is endemic has increased sharply over the past 20 years, from just under 600,000 visits in 1987 to 2.6 million in 2004. The HPA examined the origins of 39,300 cases of malaria diagnosed in the UK between 1987 and 2006, finding that 20,488 were in UK residents coming back from trips abroad, rather than travellers from other countries falling ill during a UK visit.
The incidence of the most dangerous form of malaria caused by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite accounted for nearly 25,000 of the 39,000 cases. The total number of deaths was 183. Plasmodium falciparum is most likely to be contracted in sub-Saharan and West African countries, such as Nigeria and Ghana.
Although travel medicine advice is freely available at GP surgeries and specialist travel medicine clinics, only 40% of the infected UK travellers had made any effort to prevent the disease by taking prophylactic drugs before or during their trip to a malaria-endemic area.
Arson Burns the Northern Ireland Fire Budget
Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where the Department of Health has responsibility for fire and rescue services. On 7th July 2008, it was reported that in a written Assembly answer, the Northern Ireland Health Minister revealed that malicious fires are costing the Fire and Rescue Service around 40% of its annual budget. Call-outs to deliberately-started fires have cost the Service almost £150 million over the past five years. In the last financial year, the Fire and Rescue Service spent more than £30 million to tackle 14,114 malicious blazes.
Public Cost of Poor Procedures
Figures revealed under the Freedom of Information Act show that the Government has paid out almost £7.5 million from public funds to persons infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile while undergoing health-care treatment in NHS hospitals. The average payout was £70,000 per case. There is a backlog of several hundred more claims that still await settlement. The NHS Litigation Authority has set aside nearly £42 million to cover the expected bill.
These hospital-acquired bacterial infections are spread by failure or negligence in following proper sanitary procedures, poor hygiene and poor housekeeping. Since such issues should be addressed automatically in every hospital (NHS trusts have a duty under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations to put in place robust infection control policies), the cost of dealing with the cause would be a fraction of the cost of compensation for the effect.
However, the number of recorded cases in England and Wales has increased every year since 1997. The official death toll of patients in British hospitals dying from ‘superbug’ infections is 8,000 per year.
Noise at Work in the Music and Entertainment Sectors
The Health and Safety Executive has launched a webpage devoted to controlling noise in the music and entertainment industry at:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/noise/musicsound.htm.
It also provides a link to the independent Sound Advice website which offers guidance on the noise at work legislation at:
The two sites give practical examples to help employers control the risks from noise at work, including those working in concert halls and theatres, rock and pop venues, pubs and clubs and studios.
Buncefield Investigation Board Publishes 8th Report
On 15th July 2008, the Health and Safety Executive published online the Buncefield Investigation Board’s 8th report, entitled Recommendations on land use planning and the control of societal risk around major hazard sites.
The report sets out the third set of recommendations by the Buncefield Major Incident Investigation Board, this time dealing with the subject of land use planning and societal risk around major hazard sites. The report can be downloaded from:
http://www.buncefieldinvestigation.gov.uk/reports/comahreport3.pdf.
Mandatory Information for Employees
Legislative changes will affect what appears on workplace noticeboards over the next year. The current Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Regulations 1998 require an employer to retain a copy of the employers’ liability insurance certificate for 40 years and to display one or more copies, reasonably protected from being defaced or damaged, at each place of business.
From 1st October 2008, the rules requiring an employer to display the certificate will change, so that the requirement will be satisfied if the certificate is made available in electronic format and is reasonably accessible to employees. The requirement for employers to retain the certificate for 40 years will also be abandoned, as the Government believes the cost of retaining insurance policies is a burden on businesses and is not effectively enforced by the HSE. Retaining such information will become voluntary for employers.
There are also moves afoot to allow amendments to the Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations 1989, permitting the HSE to approve and publish new mandatory posters and leaflets on health and safety law which do not need to be updated or added to by employers, but would still provide employees with the information they need.
Clyde Wind Farm Plan Approved
A plan by Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) to build Europe's largest onshore wind farm near Abington in South Lanarkshire was approved by Scottish ministers on 20th July 2008. The £600-million, 152-turbine Clyde wind farm will be capable of powering up to 320,000 homes. Construction is due to begin within the next year, with final completion in 2011. The turbines will be erected in clusters on either side of the M74 motorway. When fully operational, the wind farm will have a total capacity of 548 megawatts (MW).
At present, the largest wind farm in Scotland with a total capacity of 322 MW is under construction on Eaglesham Moor to the south of Glasgow.
The Scottish Government proposes to generate 31% of Scotland's electricity demand from renewable sources by 2011 and 50% by 2020, putting it ahead of the English Government.
Deadline for Closing Polluting Power Plants
Due to a combination of age and EU emission laws, Britain will be forced to close up to one-third of its coal-fired power plants within the next 15 years. A UK parliamentary report published on 22nd July 2008 by the Environmental Audit Committee warned that the British Government must set a deadline for closing all coal-fired power stations whose smokestack emissions have not been slashed by carbon capture technology, and against allowing coal-fired power plants to be built that are described as capable of being retrofitted with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, once it is commercially proven and available.
The report states that while carbon capture and storage has undoubted potential, there is a real question about when it will become technologically and commercially viable. The UK cannot afford to develop new coal-fired power stations when there is no guarantee about when they will be fitted with CCS, if at all.
The Committee insist that the Government must tell the industry that CCS will be required for all new coal-burning plant, and coal-fired power stations will not be permitted to operate unabated.
The European Union wants to see CCS technology commercially viable by 2020, but so far the UK is the only country that is actively pursuing the technology, with a competition for companies to come up with the whole process from smokestack to sequestration.
Transposition of Biocidal Products Directive
From time to time the EU Biocidal Products Directive is amended, as when a new or existing active substance is included in Annex I of the Directive. Such amendments are then automatically transposed or implemented into UK law. On 22nd July 2008, the HSE announced a transposition via the Biocidal Products (Amendment) Regulations 2007 of Directives amending the Biocidal Products Directive 98/8/EC.
Details of this and other recent changes can be read or downloaded at:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/biocides/bpd/transposition.htm.
Reasonable Practicability Off the Menu
The topic of what “reasonably practicable” means in terms of health and safety law is a perennial chestnut. A certain category of employer has always objected to the way in which the courts interpret reasonable practicability, and it has even been challenged in the European courts.
The Health and Safety Offences Bill is winding its way through the parliamentary process, and together with the introduction of the offence of corporate manslaughter, the stimulus was provided for a committee of MPs to claim in April 2008 that the requirement on UK employers to ensure the safety and health of workers "so far as is reasonably practicable" introduces "…a lack of clarity that can increase the burden on employers in meeting their health and safety obligations".
In July 2008, the Government responded by categorically ruling out a review of 'reasonable practicability' and how it applies to health and safety law.
Illegal Timber Imports into the European Union
According to a report, Illegal Wood for the European Market, published in Belgium on 22nd July 2008 by the environmental organisation WWF, nearly 20% of the 30 million cubic metres of wood and timber imported into the European Union in 2006 was harvested illegally or came from suspect sources in Russia, Indonesia and China.
Around 40% of wood-based products from South-East Asia, 30% from Latin America and 37% from Africa originated from illegal or suspect sources. The major EU importers were Finland, Britain, Germany and Italy. The main exporter was Russia, with 10.4 million cubic metres of illegal or suspicious wood transferred to EU countries, mostly via processing plants in Finland.
Illegal logging destroys the protective function of hill-slope forests and increases the risk of such natural disasters as floods and landslides. In addition, deforestation is a major causative agent of climate change.
The existing EU scheme to deal with illegal logging is the Forest and Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Licensing Scheme, which is voluntary and demonstrably ineffective. The EU executive body is expected to adopt proposals in September aimed at curbing the trade by demanding certificates proving timber imported into the EU is legally harvested.
New European Court of Justice Ruling on Air Pollution
Dieter Janecek, a German environmental activist and Green Party member who lives in the city of Munich, complained to the city authorities that the level of particulates in the air linked to car exhaust had breached the legal limit on more than the 35 days allowed in a year. His request to the local authority to draw up an action plan with short-term measures, such as traffic bans, to curb pollution was turned down. He took his case to the German courts, where it was found that there was no obligation under German law for a local authority to draw up an anti-pollution action plan.
Janecek then took his case to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. On 26th July 2008, the ECJ ruled that EU environmental rules did allow for such measures, and where there is a risk that the limit values for particulate matter may be exceeded, persons directly concerned can require the competent authorities to draw up an action plan. However, EU states would be obliged only to take short-term measures capable of reducing to a minimum the risk that pollution thresholds may be exceeded and of ensuring a gradual return to a level below that threshold.
The reference is Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-237/07, Dieter Janecek v. Freistaat Bayern. The ECJ press release and information can be downloaded from:
http://curia.europa.eu/en/actu/communiques/cp08/aff/cp080058en.pdf.
The significance of the case is that ECJ rulings are applicable across the EU.
HSE Must Provide Details of Workplace Deaths
In a decision notice, ICO reference FS50104541, 21st July 2008, the Information Commissioner ruled that the HSE must provide the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) with the names of those who have died in work-related incidents. The decision was made under Section 50(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and followed an appeal by the CCA in February 2006, when the HSE refused to provide the information originally requested in February 2005.
The CCA had sought the information in order to publicise the circumstances of the deaths and to track how they are dealt with by the investigation and prosecution authorities. The CCA claimed it could not do so because of difficulties in identifying the deceased. The HSE argued that providing names of those who had died would be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights, in that families could be badly affected by the disclosure. The CCA counter-argued successfully that the information was already in the public domain once an inquest had opened.
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