Safety and Society

Unfortunately, within the UK, safety is something that is readily derided, dismissed and pretty much despised. The quotation introducing this chapter is from the book In the Interests of Safety The Absurd Rules That Blight Our Lives and How We Can Change Them and describes the combination of factors that led to one particular historic safety scare in the UK. Whilst this particulate quote is actually a relatively fair assessment of the situation being discussed. 

Unpacking Construction Site Safety, First Edition. Dr Fred Sherratt. 

In fact, the very existence of Brown and Hanlon s book, and its title, also provides a clear indication of how and where safety ranks in UK society. And it s certainly worth noting that this is not one of the sensationalist, intentionally derogatory books about this particular subject - an internet search will quickly find you plenty of those - but instead it raises some very good points about how safety works in the world we currently live in. 

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Yet there is also one further consideration to be made to provide a fully holistic picture of safety on sites the wider social context of safety will also have influence. Alongside the pressures of construction work and the immediate hazards within the working environment, what people read in the papers on their way into work, the jokes they tell in the pub, and the stream of posts popping up on their smartphone feeds will also contribute to and shape how people think about safety, and the wider ideas of safety and society should therefore also be acknowledged. 

A thread that runs throughout government reports and the more rational contemporary critiques of safety and society is that the perception people have about safety is critical. Both Lord Young and Professor Lofstedt agree on this, and Lofstedt (2011 87) specifically highlights the media as a driving force in the creation and perpetuation of the common misunderstandings around safety. 

Stapp Car Crash Conference series (aimual, 1956 on). Society of Automotive Engineers, Warrendale, Pa. for safety and constmction of automotive glass. 

ASME. 1988. Peiformance Test Code PTC-25, Safety and Relief Valves. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New York. 

C. Vega, M.Delgado, Treatment of waste-water/oil emulsions using microwave radiation. Conference Society of Petroleum Engineers SPE international Conference on Health, Safety and environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production, Kuala Eumpur, Malazija, 20-22 march, 2002, SPE 74167. 

The business quality dimension. This is the extent to which the business services the needs of society. Customers are not only interested in the quality of particular products and services but judge suppliers by the general level of quality products they provide and continuity of supply, their care of the environment, and their adherence to health, safety, and legal regulations. 

Nimmo, S. R. Nunns, and B. W. Eddershaw, Lessons Learned from the Failure of a Computer System Controlling a Nylon Polymer Plant, Paper presented at Safety and Reliability Society Symposium, Altrincham, UK, Nov. 1987. 

Professional society of persons conducting research in occupational safety and health or responsible for implementing industrial hygiene programs in governmental and industrial organizations. Establishes exposure limits for toxic chemicals used in the workplace. 

The rights, safety, and well-being of the trial subjects should prevail over the interests of science or society Prior assessment should indicate that the anticipated benefits would outweigh any foreseeable risks or inconveniences The medical care given to, and medical decisions made on behalf of subjects should always be the responsibility of qualified medical personnel... 

In general, for smokers with cardiac disease, the benefits of nicotine replacement therapy outweigh the potential risks. In a safety and efficacy study that included veterans with cardiac disease, smoking concurrently with the nicotine patch was not associated with an increase in adverse events (Joseph et al. 1996). Although bupropion SR is generally well tolerated by smokers, it has not been adequately studied in persons with cardiac disease, and definitive conclusions regarding its safety in this patient population cannot currently be made (Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco 2003). 

Worldwide traffic fatahties have increased due to the motorization juggernaut sweeping the Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) economies and other countries. Traffic accidents can only be reduced by the concerted efforts of people, cars, and society as a whole. The introduction of seat belts had a positive impact on lowering passenger fatalities and the introduction of air bags among other safety developments in motor cars is expected to reduce this further. 

The developments in the treatment of RA are tempered by the lack of evidence describing the long-term safety and efficacy of the BRMs. In addition, the cost associated with the medications can be a deterrent to use. Long-term data are needed to determine if patients receiving BRM therapy early in the course of disease have reduced disease activity, reduced joint deformities and disability, improved quality of life, and continued function as productive members of society. Cost analyses of long-term data may indicate that the increased expenses associated with BRMs are offset by the costs avoided for the treatment of advanced RA. 

Balestreri R, Fontana L and Astengo F (1987). A double-blind placebo controlled evaluation of the safety and efficacy of vinpocetine in the treatment of patients with chronic vascular senile cerebral dysfunction. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 35, 425—430. 

Mr. Nolan has received numerous of safety awards and is a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers, National Fire Protection Association, Society of Petroleum Engineers, and Society of Fire Protection Engineers. He is the author of the book "Application of HAZOP and What-If Safety Reviews to the Petroleum, Petrochemical and Chemical Industries," which is widely referred to within the petroleum and chemical industries. Mr. Nolan has also been listed in "Who s Who in California" for the last ten years and has been elected to appear in the 1996 International Edition of "Who s Who of Science and Engineering."... 

To understand how product safety and toxicity data are used and how the data generation process might be changed to better meet the safety assessment needs of both industry and society, it is essential to understand that different commercial and... 

Cavero, I. and Crumb, W. (2006) Safety Pharmacology Society 5th Annual Meeting. Expert Opinion on Drug Safety, 5, 181-185. 

William R. Rhyne received a B.S. in nuclear engineering from the University of Tennessee and M.S. and D.Sc. degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of Virginia. Dr. Rhyne is currently an independent consultant and earlier cofounded H R Technical Associates, Inc., where he remains a member of the board of directors. He has extensive experience in risk and safety analyses associated with nuclear and chemical processes and with the transport of hazardous nuclear materials and chemicals. From 1984 to 1987, he was the project manager and principal investigator for a probabilistic accident analysis of transporting obsolete chemical munitions. Dr. Rhyne has authored or coauthored numerous publications and reports in nuclear and chemical safety and risk analysis areas and is author of the book Hazardous Materials Transportation Risk Analysis Quantitative Approaches for Truck and Train. He is a former member of the NRC Transportation Research Board Hazardous Materials Committee, the Society for Risk Assessment, the American Nuclear... 

The rights of chemists, employers, and professional societies are discussed in relation to layoffs and other grievances where the Labor Management Relations Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1954, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 apply. Instances of political discrimination, blacklisting, employee entrapment and dismissal, and no-switching agreements are also included in the discussion. 

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