The UK approach

Despite the rapid development of the technology, in particular the techniques of genetic modification, the fundamental role of the legislation has been and will remain unchanged, that is to  

Reassure the public that the appropriate controls are in place. 

In the last decade the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), its advisory committees and indeed the UK as a whole has gained a reputation for the balance which has been achieved in dealing with the potential hazards from laboratory and industrial applications of biotechnology. We are now at a particularly important and interesting stage and are on the brink of a new regulatory structure which will introduce harmonised systems of control throughout the European Community for such work. 

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Hydrocarbon based solvents have a valuable role in many industrial processes. However, a well-known hazard of many hydrocarbon solvents is their flammability, but they can also have damaging effects on the environment and harm human health. Emphasis is placed on the latter. Some of the ill health effects are described together with how solvents users can get information on these the UK approach to control, including the role of occupational exposure limits a comparison of UK limits with those in other EU Member States and finally a new approach taken by the UK Health Safety Executive to help companies control health risks. 6 refs. 

P. Hinchcliffe, The Role of Precaution in Chemicals Policy - The UK Approach, The Role of Precaution in Chemicals Policy, Eds., E. Freytag, T. Jackl, G. Loibl and M. Wittmann, Diplomatische Akademie, Vienna, Austria, 2001, p.70. 

This brief review has shown that there are some differences in the way dietary risk assessment is practiced between the US and the EU. Many of the differences have to do in the types of input data that are available, or in some of the methods used to collect the data. Regarding the food consun tion data, the US surveys use a dietary recall method, whereas the UK approach is a diary method that weighs and measures the amount of food consumed. In the US, data are collected for two non-consecutive days, whereas in the UK surveys, data are collected for either 4 or 7 consecutive days. The US survey is conducted as an integrated whole and includes all segments of the population. In contrast, the UK surveys are conducted for specific population groups. Finally, the US survey collects data at the household level, whereas the UK survey targets demographic characteristics, based upon census information. 

Long-term options for the UK approach to the management of spent fuel Plant termination... 

WOMEN IN ENGINEERING IN THE UK APPROACHES TO INCLUSION AND ENGINEERING CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT... 

The Agency supports the UK approach for dealing with risks to health and the environment, which takes into account the actual or intended future use of the site. This approach allows for the finite resources available to be concentrated where they are most needed and supports the principle of sustainable development by encouraging the remediation of contaminated land and the return to beneficial use. 

As a last example we turn to the world of medicine. Osteo-arthritis is an illness that affects many people as they get older. The disease affects the joints between different bones in the body and makes it hard - and painful - to move them. The problem is caused by small lumps of bone which grow on the rubbing surfaces of the joints and which prevent them sliding properly. The problem can only be cured by removing the bad joints and putting artificial joints in their place. The first recorded hip-joint replacement was done as far back as 1897 - when it must have been a pretty hazardous business - but the operation is now a routine piece of orthopaedic surgery. In fact 30,000 hip joints are replaced in the UK every year world-wide the number must approach half a million. 

Tin occurs mainly as cassiterite, Sn02, and this has been the only important source of the element from earliest times. Julius Caesar recorded the presence of tin in Britain, and Cornwall remained the predominant supplier for European needs until the present century (apart from a minor flourish from Bohemia between 1400 and 1550). Today (1990s) world production approaches 200 000 tonnes per annum (see next section), of which the UK contributes less than... 

World production expressed as 100% H2O2 approached 1.9 million tonnes in 1994 of which half was in Europe and one-fifth in the USA. The earliest and still the largest industrial use for H2O2 is as a bleach for textiles, paper pulp, straw, leather, oils and fats, etc. Domestic use as a hair bleach and a mild disinfectant has diminished somewhat. Hydrogen peroxide is also extensively used to manufacture chemicals, notably sodium perborate (p. 206) and percarbonate, which are major constituents of most domestic detergents at least in the UK and Europe. Normal formulations include 15-25% of such peroxoacid salts, though the practice is much less widespread in the USA, and the concentrations, when included at all, are usually less than 10%. 

On the other hand, the Hoar Committee s estimate for the UK did not include some significant factors, and some costs that were considered have increased in real terms since the estimates were made. Larger plants and structures are more common, and even when there is no increase in size more intensive use of equipment is demanded. As a result, the real cost of downtime or unavailability, and of dislocation to users of, for example, motorway viaducts while repairs are made, have increased appreciably. Moreover, maintenance and rectification are labour intensive activities, and hence particularly susceptible to the effects of inflation. The increases probably outweigh the savings mentioned, and the current cost of corrosion in the UK is probably around 4% of GNP. As future savings depend on the improvement being maintained despite pressures to reduce first costs, a sound economic approach to corrosion is no less important than it was in 1970. 

The common-sense approach to the use of eye protection, e.g. under the UK Protection of Eyes Regulations, includes ... 

No medical or therapeutic procedure comes without some risk to the patient. All possible steps are taken to ensure safely, quahty and efficacy of vaccines and immunological products (Chapter 15). The risks associated with immunization procedures must be constantly reviewed and balanced against the risks of, and associated with, contracting the disease, hi this respect, smallpox vaccination in the UK was abandoned in the mid 1970s as the risks associated with vaccination then exceeded the predicted number of deaths that would follow importation of the disease. Shortly after this, in 1980, The World Health Assembly pronounced the world to be free of smallpox. Similarly, the incidence of paralytic poliomyelitis in the USA and UK in 1996 was low but the majority of cases related to vaccine use. As the worldwide elimination of poliomyelitis approaches, there is much debate as to the value of the vaccine outside of an endemic area. 

In the UK the Environmental Protection Act 1990 established an interlocking framework for pollution control. Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) introduced a new approach with waste minimization at its centre and a commitment to higher environmental standards. The latter is based upon selection of the Best Practical Environmental Option (BPEO), i.e. ... 

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