GETTING UNDER YOUR SKIN From hairdressers to chefs, builders to office workers; everyone at work has to take care to avoid chemicals, burns and allergies which have a devastating effect on the skin. Even a small burn can cause enough damage to cause loss of dexterity for life. Work related dermatitis (sometimes called eczema) is one of the major occupational skin diseases and is caused by a person coming into contact with a hazardous agent. It affects most industries and business sectors: · agriculture/horticulture · catering and food processing · chemicals · cleaning · construction · engineering · hairdressing/beauty care · health care · offshore · printing · rubber There are two types of contact dermatitis associated with skin exposure to chemicals: Irritant contact dermatitis (ICD) and allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). The signs include redness, swelling, blistering, flaking and cracking which can lead to itching, bleeding and puss formation. Irritant contact dermatitis (ICD) is a local inflammation of the skin. It can develop after a short heavy single exposure (acute) or be due to repeated and prolonged exposure (chronic) to hazardous agents, including chemicals. In some cases, more than one agent will be involved, for example water and detergents. The irritant action of a chemical depends on its ability to cause changes to the horny (outside) layer of the skin. Some substances can remove skin oils, fats and moisture from the surface. This action reduces the protective action of the skin and increases the ability of the irritant substance to enter or infiltrate the skin. Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) develops in stages. The reaction begins with a process called sensitisation which starts when an allergic substance (eg chromium in cement) penetrates the skin. This provokes a number of immunological responses with the process lasting from four days to three weeks. When a sensitised person is re-exposed to an allergenic substance, white blood cells recognise it and react to protect the body. But they also release chemicals called lymphokines which cause itching, pain, redness, swelling and blisters on the skin. Once sensitised, the allergic reaction is likely to remain with the individual for life but if further contact is prevented, the level of sensitivity may gradually decline. Prevention is better than cure, as they say and the best way to prevent dermatitis affecting your skin is to stop it coming into contact with hazardous substances. Risk assessment of working practices is important to determine where the danger lies and where risk cannot be avoided then it is vital to use gloves or creams as a barrier. And if you think it will not or can not happen to you, ask around. You will be surprised how many of your friends and colleagues suffer from some form of skin allergy and they will be only too happy to tell you what it is like – not much fun! Remember, look after your skin and your skin will look after the rest of your body. ******

THE HAPPY EVENT? More than one in four pregnant women experience a miscarriage, one in 200 babies are stillborn and 100 premature babies are born every day. To help reduce these figures it is important that employers carry out a proper risk assessment to identify potential hazards to expectant mothers and ensure pregnant women have a safe and healthy experience at work. For instance, they should avoid: · lifting heavy loads · working in confined spaces · working at unsuitable workstations · working in stressful or violent environments · working with lead Pregnancy is not an illness and pregnant women should not be signed off sick for work-related ill health problems. New and expectant mothers are entitled to a change in working conditions, should be offered suitable alternative work or if that is not possible, suspended from work at the same rate of pay if risks to her or the health and safety of her child have been identified. Employers have a legal and moral duty to protect women of childbearing age from hazards and risks in the workplace. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly the DTI) estimates that it costs employers around £3,500 per employee to recruit new staff after a new or expectant mother has left. Setting up a maternity policy is not difficult and gives greater benefits to employers and employees. A good source of general advice for employers is Business Link which offers an interactive tool to help manage new and expectant mothers in the workplace. Click on the link below for details. For specific advice, however, you should talk to your Health & Safety officer or call David Associates Ltd on 01908 370303. ****** Business Link

PLAY ON WORDS Our Tea for Two competition last month seems to have challenged you a little too much. Yes, the word we were looking for was CHALLENGE. Sadly our bottle of bubbly is still waiting for a new home as we received no correct answers. So hopefully you will find our latest competition a little easier. In fact, this time we are helping you by providing two sets of clues: easy and more challenging. You may pick which set of clues you want to use; the answers to both are the same. All the answers use ‘WORD’ as a prefix or suffix eg: Challenging: Does he fashion letters from metal? Easy: Common surname in the UK Answer: WordSMITH Answers should be sent to: competition by Tuesday 22 April 2008 to be in with a chance of winning a bottle of champagne. You can find the solutions in Chambers Dictionary. Good luck CHALLENGING: 1. Stunned to silence 2. Can’t see to read 3. No entry without this 4. Rallying cry for a navy shift? 5. Promised to keep quiet 6. Jargon 7. Length of text 8. Sounds like you’re in the lead 9. Short title 10. What you are doing now! 11. You’ll find lots of these in one of those 12. Hired from another language 13. Historical usage 14. They fit into the grid 15. Cue for the actor EASY: 1. Not more 2. Dyslexic 3. Don’t fail 4. Keep a look out 5. Tied 6. What a bee does 7. Get old 8. Golf shout 9. Top of the body 10. Drama 11. Dictionary 12. Borrowed money? 13. Wisdom 14. Annoyed 15. Don’t drop For those of you still trying to figure them out, here are the answers to our last competition: 1. Animal's footwear – HORSE SHOE 2. Where the post arrives – LETTER BOX 3. Colourful flyer – BLUE BIRD 4. Native vegetation of England – OAK TREE 5. He attacks the blaze - FIREFIGHTER 6. Freezing point is zero – DEGREES CENTIGRADE 7. Vegetable from EU headquarters? – BRUSSELS SPROUT 8. Wordsmith – COPY WRITER 9. Relative's timepiece – GRANDFATHER CLOCK 10. Small data holder – COMPACT DISC 11. For whittling the joint? - CARVING KNIFE 12. Gets you through security – PASSWORD 13. Where the poet meets the economist – MILTON KEYNES 14. Can't see through this for marks – STAINED GLASS 15. Tom Jones sings about this at home – GREEN GRASS 16. Place to sit and eat – DINING TABLE 17. Tiny greeting heats up food - MICROWAVE 18. Not against being in front - FORWARD 19. Reading material - NEWSPAPER 20. PC clothing for a fruit? No! – APPLE MAC ******