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August Podcast now available

Our latest FREE podcast on revising for your NEBOSH exams is now available at www.rrc.co.uk/Podcasts.aspx

Tackling exams can be an unpleasant business. Even worse is the revision beforehand. Avoidance is always an option but here the team, together with Dee Arp of NEBOSH, give tips to students on getting through the process relatively unscathed.

Remember too that all of our past podcasts are also available on the RRC website.

NEBOSH News

NEBOSH Certificate in Environmental Management

RRC were one of a handful of course providers accredited to offer this new pilot course. The RRC e-learning course has proved to be a huge success with over 250 students now enrolled (and many more currently on a waiting list).

The pilot course is due to finish in mid-October 2008. NEBOSH will need to review the feedback on all the pilot programmes conducted but we hope a full launch will be available in early 2009.

NEBOSH International Diploma

Based on the NEBOSH National Diploma, this international qualification takes a risk management approach based on best practice and international standards instead of being guided specifically by a UK framework. RRC’s first NEBOSH International Diploma programme will commence next month, with Unit A available from 1 September 2008, and Units B, C and D available from 1 January 2009.

NEBOSH National Diploma in Environmental Management

A new syllabus has just been launched for this course which will take effect from the December 2008 examinations. This new syllabus has been updated to reflect changes in both legislative requirements and best practice within environmental management and it also now satisfies the requirements for membership of IEMA. RRC will be launching our new course later this month.

NEBOSH Level 2 Certificate

This short Level 2 course has been developed by NEBOSH to provide a basic introduction to the world of health and safety, as well as acting as an introduction to one of the NEBOSH Level 3 Certificates. RRC are well into the development of this new course and are just awaiting the formal launch by NEBOSH before making this available (subject to accreditation).

News In Brief

• Nine goldminers working at South Deep Mines near Randfontein in South Africa were killed at the beginning of May 2008. They plunged to their deaths when a cable snapped on the cage in which they were travelling.

• Human error caused a cruise ship to run aground on a sandbank in the Baltic Sea in early May. The navigator had steered the “Mona Lisa” the wrong side of a lighthouse. No-one was hurt but all the passengers had to be evacuated and the ship refloated.

• The International Press Institute reported in May that 93 reporters lost their lives in 2007, nearly half of them in Iraq. This was a slight fall compared with the 2006 figure of 100 but still the second-highest figure in a decade.

• A man walked into a police station in Ukraine, splashed petrol around and set fire to himself and eight police officers. His car had been seized in a drink-driving case. The man died of burns.

• A study by scientists in Lombardy, Italy, has found that air pollution can greatly raise the risk of fatal blood clots. Pollution from motor vehicles was particularly significant and high pollution levels could raise the risk of blood clots by more than ten times.

• Italy will begin building nuclear power stations again to reduce its dependence on oil and gas. It had previously renounced nuclear power and closed its four plants following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

• In May 2008, it was reported that energy consumption in the UAE is growing at an average rate of 10% a year, more than double the average global growth rate of 4%. In 2007, power consumption in Dubai rose 15% to 24,756 gigawatts (GW), while system energy requirement was 26,030 GW. The 2006 figures were 21,475 GW and 22,272 GW respectively. The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority said that average individual electricity usage is 20,000 kilowatt hours per annum. Energy usage growth in Abu Dhabi rose by 10% and in Sharjah by 7%.

• A fire on board the aircraft carrier, “USS George Washington”, in May caused $70 million worth of damage. The nuclear-powered vessel was en route from Chile to San Diego at the time. US Navy officials attributed the cause of the fire to a spark from smoking.

• An explosion during a high-school chemistry class in Göttingen, Germany, at the beginning of June injured 12 students and a teacher. Some of those hurt were reported to have been sprayed with nitric acid.

• At least six people died and four others were missing after fire broke out on a ship docked in the naval port of Baltiisk in the Baltic Sea in early June. The ship was undergoing repairs there. According to officials, a fuel tank on the vessel exploded.

• According to the Iranian state news agency, IRNA, an explosion and fire took place on 25th May 2008 in a chemical plant producing cosmetics and detergents near the town of Shazand in the industrial province of Markazi, about 320 kilometres south of Tehran. At least 30 people were killed and 38 injured by severe burns. The fire was reported to have followed an explosion during welding work on a 60,000-litre chemical reservoir.

• In the UAE in late May 2008, a ceiling of the Laguna Beach Hotel, under construction by Sidco General Contracting in Ajman, collapsed and killed six Sikh workers. The incident took place during a concrete pour on the ground floor, when the floor collapsed and fell into the basement and onto the workers. They should not have been in the basement at the time. In a second incident, a Chinese worker was crushed to death when an exterior cladding panel at the Burj Dubai skyscraper fell on him.

• The Krsko nuclear plant is located in south-western Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. On 5th June 2008, the Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration announced that the plant had been shut down for an indefinite period due to a water leakage. The Environment Ministry said that there was no environmental impact, although the reason for the problem was unknown.

• The advantages of undertaking a thorough risk assessment were demonstrated when a powerful tornado hit the Kansas State University campus in the USA on 11th June 2008 and destroyed the Wind Erosion laboratory. The storm also caused significant damage to the engineering complex. Damage to the campus was estimated at around $20 million. There were no reported injuries.

• On 12th June 2008, six people died and 28 were hospitalised when they inhaled a leakage of the toxic gas, hydrogen sulphide, at a fertiliser plant in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province in south-west China. The local authorities reported that the gas leakage had been contained and had not affected the surrounding environment.

• China View reported on 13th June 2008 that an explosion in the Anxin Coal Mining Co. Ltd in Xiaoyi City, Shanxi Province, had trapped 43 miners underground. Fifteen men were able to escape and a rescue operation was underway. The mine had valid licences and certificates and had passed a safety check earlier this year.

• A bus travelling in Zambia in mid-June burst a tyre, plunged into a ditch and overturned, killing 27 people and seriously injuring 55 others. It was designed to seat only 60 passengers and was clearly overloaded. The accident occurred in the small town of Luangwa, 125 miles east of Lusaka.

• For the second time in eight months, a bridge under construction in Dubai collapsed. The incident took place on 16th June 2008 and followed a similar accident in November 2007 when a bridge collapsed in Dubai Marina. On that occasion seven workers were killed. The June incident involved a bridge on the First Interchange on Sheikh Zayed Road, close to the Dubai metro line, when pillars and scaffolding supporting the bridge collapsed after a miscalculation by the project contractor. Five workers suffered relatively minor injuries.

• On 17th June 2008, a cave-in and gas release killed five workers at the Laojunmiao Colliery in Mulei County of Xinjiang, in north-west China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Another eight miners were trapped underground. The local authorities had ordered the colliery to suspend production for safety improvements six days earlier, and according to mine managers the workers were carrying out maintenance and clearing waste when the shaft suddenly collapsed. The cause of the accident is being investigated.

• A canoeing accident on the Sava river in Slovenia at the beginning of July led to the deaths of 13 people when they were sucked under water by a hydro-electric dam. Only two people survived the incident.

• At least 30 young people looking for jobs were killed in Enugu, Nigeria, in mid-July when crowds stampeded during a recruitment drive by the immigration service. Many more people were injured as they rushed at locked gates.

• The Nadu coal mine in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China was flooded on 21st July 2008, trapping 36 miners 2,000 metres underground. The state news agency, Xinhua, reported that rescuers had made contact with 12 of the men, but the rest are unaccounted for. A total shift of 56 men was working inside the mine when the floodwater poured in, and 20 managed to escape or were rescued. Mine officials said that safety standards there had been improved and the ventilation, drainage and lift facilities all complied with Government regulations.

• Sitting on their sofas has caused thousands of people to suffer symptoms ranging from skin cancer to severe eczema. A study by Malmö University in Sweden found that they were victims of a toxic gas emitted by an anti-mould agent.

• Four members of a US Air Force crew fell asleep while in charge of a device containing a nuclear missile launch code. According to official sources the device was locked away and the codes were unusable but the crew face disciplinary action.

• An explosion caused by a gas leak killed at least 17 people and injured 27 others when a school dormitory collapsed in the village of Balcilar in central Turkey at the beginning of August. A loose gas pipe had been seen in the kitchen of the three-storey building before the explosion.

Nostalgia

By Alan Bessell

Do you ever get those introspective moments when you reflect back and wonder if it has all been worthwhile? I’d expect many readers to be new to H&S as a career, so I thought a view from my rear window might be of interest. As the flecks of grey in my hair increase and I read some of the more crazy stories and cases, these moments seem to come ever more frequently.

As a young graduate looking for work in 1975 the HSE appealed. Variety, freedom to roam and socially worthwhile thought I. Lord Robens had just ridden to the rescue and a brand new HSWA promised so much. 33 years later, a short time as an HSE Inspector, the remaining time as a poacher – including 15 years as a consultant – how do I feel? Read on dear colleague.

Successful Health and Safety in the Construction Industry Roundtable Event

At a time when the construction industry is arguably facing more changes and challenges than ever before in terms of health and safety (with stiffer penalties for non-compliance, an influx of migrant workers and the increasing need for drug and alcohol testing of workers), we thought it would be valuable to invite a number of health and safety managers and directors from some of the UK’s top construction companies to get together, face-to-face, to discuss the issues affecting the industry today.

The debate, held at RRC’s offices in London on 1 July, was lively and informative and covered such topics as whether the proposed Health and Safety (Offences) Bill would make a difference to the construction sector, whether high accident rates in construction are inevitable and how migrant workers can be trained to work safely.

Many thanks to all those who contributed. A full copy of the report will be available to download on the RRC website in September.

Noticeboard

The Importance of Low-Level Health and Safety Training

By Mark Dennis

Background

It is a contention of many employers today that their responsibilities for health and safety are either ‘new’ or ‘from Europe’ or both. However, for certain fundamental requirements, both statements are untrue. This is certainly the position so far as low-level health and safety training is concerned. There is a widespread lack of awareness of the importance of providing health and safety training for all workers. This article considers some reasons why the subject deserves more attention.

The legal obligation to give workers health and safety training is certainly not new. In England, case law has established the employers’ duty of care as common law for many years.

NEBOSH Best Candidate Award

Earlier this year, Paul Moore, an RRC student, was awarded the NEBOSH Best Candidate Award for the NEBOSH Part 2 Diploma. Unfortunately, Paul wasn’t able to attend the NEBOSH Graduation Ceremony which was held at the University of Warwick so RRC’s Director of Training, Dr David Towlson, collected the award on his behalf.

Congratulations again to Paul who was also awarded the NEBOSH Best Candidate Award for his NEBOSH Diploma Part 1 studies.

From left to right: Tony Cheeseman (WATA, sponsors of the NEBOSH Diploma Part 2 Best Candidate Award), Dr David Towlson, Colin Goodwin (Paul Moore’s colleague)

Exciting New Partnership with Industrial Care Alliance Training, India

RRC are pleased to announce an exciting partnership with Industrial Care Alliance Training (ICAT), based in Gujarat, India, to offer the NEBOSH International General Certificate and NEBOSH International Diploma by e-learning.

Following a successful pilot, RRC are pleased to have signed an agreement with ICAT to promote and help deliver RRC’s successful NEBOSH international programmes in India. We look forward to a successful relationship with ICAT over the coming years.

More information on Industrial Care Alliance Training can be found at http://www.ihs.co.in/.

RRC Middle East Course Dates 2008

Please click the following link to access RRC Middle East course dates and fees for 2008.

RRC ME Course Dates 2008