Related links

The following links may be useful for safety practitioners with healthcare responsibilities. By using these links, you will move to external sites. IOSH and its Healthcare SG are not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

British Institute of Occupational Hygienists
BIOH is the professional body for occupational hygiene in the UK.

CNORIS
CNORIS or the Clinical Negligence and Other Risks Indemnification Scheme for the NHS in Scotland is designed primarily for health professionals.

Department of Health Estates and Facilities Management
The Department of Health provides information and guidance on estates and facilities management issues. It also supports the delivery of a modern, patient – centred environment for healthcare services.

European agency for safety and health at work: healthcare
European information on health and safety at work in the health care sector, including hospitals, clinics and old peoples’ homes.

Health and safety responsibilities for directors and management board members
This report brings together the results of three surveys in 2001/02, 2003 and 2005 of the extent to which there is board level direction of health and safety in large private and public sector organisations.

Health Education Board for Scotland (HEBS)
HEBS have launched an online resource on their website called, Clear Directions. It offers information on how to create and manage successful health events and an interactive event planner enables organisers to collaborate with their team. Clear Directions guides you through the planning process step by step; from deciding the aims and objectives of your health event right through to evaluating its success.

HSE newsletter - subscription page

Low risk of exposure to asbestos containing textured coatings
New research, commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), on asbestos confirms that risks from asbestos containing textured coatings (TCs) are much lower than previously thought. The new research published recently supports the proposal that work with textured coatings will no longer require a licence. 

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) helps to safeguard public health by working with users, manufacturers and legislators to ensure that medical devices meet appropriate standards of safety, quality and performance and that they comply with relevant Directives of the European Union.

New guidance on managing shift work
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has produced a new book that aims to improve the understanding of shift work and its impact on health and safety. More than 3.5 million people are employed as shift workers in the UK. They work in a wide variety of industries including the emergency services, healthcare, the utilities, transport, manufacturing, entertainment and retail. Poorly designed shift-working arrangements and/or long working hours may put them at risk of fatigue, accidents, injuries and ill health.

Science and Research Outlook website

Scottish NHS
Scottish Health on the Web (SHOW)is website for the NHS in Scotland. As part of the Scottish Executive Health department's commitment to improving Public/Patient Focus and Quality this website has been developed. The site contains information on work taking place throughout Scotland, information on forthcoming training events and online access to the Building Strong Foundations toolkit. It also has links to Safety Action Notice Bulletins and other health, safety and risk information.

The development of a fatigue / risk index for shift workers
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has funded the further development of the Fatigue Index, a practical tool to help assess the relative levels of fatigue associated with different shift patterns. As well as a research report describing the development work, also available is a calculator tool and its associated user guide. These will be particularly useful for anyone concerned with assessing the risks of fatigue from shift work.

The Healthcare Standards Unit
The Health Care Standards Unit's(HCSU)incorporating the Controls Assurance Support Unit)was formed to assist the NHS improve risk management and quality in its services through the provision of standards and through acting as a facilitator for identifying and sharing good practice in risk management and control activities.

University of Wales College of Medicine Safety
This site contains many useful copies of safety policies which members are welcome to use as templates for their own policies. In addition it contains useful links for subjects including Latex, Stress, Radiation etc.

Violence and aggression in management training for trainers and managers
The delivery of workplace violence management training constitutes a central part of the Healthcare sectors strategy for combating work-related violence and aggression.