eNewsletter

Martina Hesse-Spötter, Chair
ISSA Special Commission on Prevention

On 6 October 2020, the International Media Festival for Prevention (IMFP) announced its Short List during the World Congress Digital Meeting. Martina Hesse-Spötter, President of the ISSA Electricity Section, and Holger Zingsheim, Head of the Communications Department of the BG ETEM, hosted the event. During the one-hour virtual session, viewers took a media journey around the world for an overview of the breadth of 2020 festival participation.

IMFP jury members introduced shortlisted media products by geographic region. Six Short List producers were featured in interviews during the program.

From the Short List, 18 entries have been nominated for prizes. These nominations will be announced in the next few months. Nominees have been divided into six groups of three entries each. The IMFP Jury will choose one winner per group. The six winning entries will be awarded in the Special Media Session at the XXII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in September 2021.

Follow IMFP on Twitter and Instagram: @imfp2021 to learn more about the Short List and for the latest news on the IMFP. To watch the Short List Announcement 2020, go to the IMFP website.

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For more information:

Cristina Portero, IMFP Office
Phone +49 221 3778-5005
imfp@bgetem.de

The Section for Electricity, Gas and Water has published a new leaflet and poster addressing COVID-19 prevention in the energy supply sector.

The leaflet entitled, Containment measures to limiting the COVID-19 pandemic in the energy supply sector, summarizes general hygiene, organizational and administrative measures as well as measures to ensure continued business operations during the pandemic. The poster shows the most important general safety measures.

Both products make effective use of pictograms and are available in English and Spanish.

Full Text and Download

For more information:

Eva-Maria Gass
gass.eva-maria@bgetem.de

In order to be able to work safely on electrical installations, they have to be completely disconnected for the duration of the repair or installation work. Especially during longer work assignments, however, there is an increased risk that other employees will reconnect an installation because they do not know that a colleague is working on it.

For this reason, Five Safety Rules have been developed to provide ongoing protection from the beginning to the end of the work.

A new entertaining video “The Five Safety Heroes” is to draw more attention to this working method and the sequence of the Five Safety Rules. The video is based on well-known comic superheroes. The Five Safety Rules help establish and maintain the de-energised state for the duration of work on electrical installations.

The five safety heroes: Lady Safety, Lock & Tag, Dr. Voltmeter, Earth and Cape explain in English and Spanish the working method and the correct sequence of steps to follow. And the electrically skilled person Lukas demonstrates how the Five Safety Rules work by giving examples.

The video is intended to minimise the risks and hazards of an electrical accident when working in a de-energised state.

Online Video

For more information:

Eva-Maria Gass
gass.eva-maria@bgetem.de

The International Vision Zero Conference in Construction, Health and Safety, Virtual Conference 2020 was a successful one-day event held on 24 November 2020. Originally planned as a live event in Lagos, conference leaders switched to an entirely virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference included four technical sessions dealing with various health and safety topics on construction sites:

• Vision Zero – a way to improve occupational safety and health
• Construction and COVID-19
• Ways to improve occupational safety and health

Conference speakers came from African countries and international speakers, including Board Members of the Section on Prevention in the Construction Industry. Presentations were given in English with French and Portuguese translation available to accommodate the diverse audience.

More than 500 participants including authorities, health and safety organizations and companies in Africa and from all over the world watched the presentations and exchanged views using the chat function. Feedback from attendees was very positive.

Organizers plan to build on the conference’s success with another event entitled, From Safety and Health Problems to Practical Solutions in Construction and Related Industries. The conference is planned for 23–24 November 2021 in Lagos, Nigeria. Organizers plan to cover a much wider range of topics with the support of the following ISSA sections: transportation, electricity, mining, chemical industry, and information.

Current conference information and registration

For more information:

Petra Jackisch
issa-c@bgbau.de

Factsheets on Explosion Protection are now available. Produced by the Sections on Prevention in the Chemical Industry and on Machine and System Safety, the factsheets convey the most critical information regarding explosion protection. Each factsheet is intended as an introduction for newcomers to the topic and as a first approach to the relevant health and safety issues for SMEs. A more in-depth presentation of the concept and strategy will be presented at the XXII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work.

Currently, two publications are available:

• Factsheets on Explosion Protection 001: Hydrogen production and use in fuel cells. Available in English, French and German.
• Factsheets on Explosion Protection 002: Biogas plants – Safe handling of biogas. Available in English, French, Italian and German.

Additional factsheets for the series are in production. Future topics include storage of wood pellets and tightness of installation parts and connections.

Download Factsheets

For more information:

Dr. Oswald Losert
Head of the Explosion Protection Working Group
Oswald.Losert@bgrci.de

On 11 January 2021, Jin Chan Ho became the Secretary General of the Section for a Culture of Prevention. Mr Ho succeeds Mr Kwon Jong Kyu.

Jin Chan Ho has a master’s degree in occupational hygiene and has held various positions with KOSHA since 1998. The section believes that Mr Jin’s extensive experience in occupational hygiene will be a great asset in advancing the vision and mission of the Section for a Culture of Prevention.

The section acknowledges with deep appreciation Mr Kyu’s service and leadership during his term.

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For more information:

Sook Shim
overseas@kosha.or.kr

The Section on Prevention in Transportation of the International Social Security Association (ISSA), together with its member BG Verkehr, has produced five additional fact sheets on Covid-19 protective measures for various subsectors in several languages. The fact sheets on infection prevention in ground handling services in the aviation industry, flight operations, bus services, telecommunication and furniture moving are and now available for free download on the BG Verkehr information page on the coronavirus. In the fact sheets, BG Verkehr's prevention experts have compiled industry-specific recommendations for infection protection.

The industry-specific recommendations specify the time-limited occupational safety standard of the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS). This occupational health and safety standard is the guideline for the protection against infection across all sectors. During work and in practical cases, company physicians and occupational safety specialists offer a competent point of reference.

Information on the coronavirus and the associated health protection is developing dynamically. Therefore, the fact sheets are regularly reviewed to ensure that they are up to date. In particular, the previously published fact sheets on infection prevention in road haulage, waste disposal, postal logistics/CEP, taxi and driving school operations have been recently updated. The latest versions of the fact sheets can always be found on the BG Verkehr information page on the coronavirus*.

Feel free to contact the General Secretariat (secretariat@issa-transportation.org) in case you have any questions.

Download new and latest versions

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For more information:

Nadja Schilling
secretariat@issa-transportation.org

The majority of deaths from occupational diseases in Finland have been caused by asbestos even though restrictions on the asbestos were imposed decades ago. The Finnish Workers' Compensation Center carried out a nation-wide study to gather all workers’ compensation statistics related to asbestos exposure. Despite Finnish restrictions imposed decades ago, the majority of deaths from occupational diseases in Finland have been caused by asbestos. This report presents the findings of that study including a view of asbestos related fatalities from both an historic and a predictive point of view.

Full Text

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For more information:

Mr. Janne Sysi-Aho,
janne.sysi-aho@tvk.fi