OHSI 18th Annual Conference
Breathe Easy
Wednesday 18th & Thursday 19th February 2009

Photos From the Day

Pre-Conference LEV Workshop Presented by Niall Evans from HSE	Conference Presenters: Roseleen Murphy, Steve Bailey, Niall Evans, Margaret McCallig, Martin Axon, Caroline Walsh, Michael Perry, Chris Packham.
Conference delegates enjoying the meet and greet, speed networking session.	Conference delegates enjoying the meet and greet, speed networking session.
Winner of 2009 Student Poster Competition: Patricia McDonnell being presented with prize money from council member Richella Murray	Presenters participating in the Conference Open Forum.
OHSI Council 2009: Anne Moore, Paddy Wright, Colette Byrne, Darren Arkins, Frances Wright, Loretta Mathews, Edel Costello.

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

8.30	Registration
9.00	Conference opening Ms Loretta Mathews OHSI Hon. Pres.
9.05	An overview of the 'CLP' Regulation bringing the GHS global criteria into Europe. Caroline Walsh, H.S.A. This paper covers the adopted GHS criteria, which are now encompassed in the CLP Regulations.
9.50	Controlling Airborne Contaminants at Work. Niall Evans HSE. About 10% of businesses create contaminants that may result in respiratory disease and many rely on Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) for control. But many are poorly designed and most are not properly checked or maintained.HSE's new guidance, published in 2008, seeks to improve understanding of LEV and the different contributions necessary for effective control.
10.30	Tea/Coffee Break
11.00	Control Performance of Ventilated Safety Weighing Cabinets for Potent Pharmaceuticals. Michael Perry, SafeBridge Europe. The objective of this study was to conduct a detailed evaluation of the control performance capability of seven design variations of a ventilated safety weighing cabinet used in potent compound laboratories.
11.45	Dermatological Engineering. Chris Packham. Outlining an approach to risk assessment and exposure management for workplace skin exposure.
12.30	OPEN FORUM
12.45	Society Networking Session. Anne Moore Meet and greet other occupational hygiene professionals
13.00	Lunch
14.00	OHSI AGM - all members welcome.
14.20	The future of Occupational Hygiene. Steve Bailey, President BOHS. Update on the competency based model on international training modules with recognized accreditation.
14.30	MSc Project presentation: Exposure to Hand-Arm and Whole-Body Vibration in the Construction and Heavy Industry. Margaret McCallig, NUIG This project measured hand arm and whole body transmitted vibration for a range of activities and validated a management system for selecting ‘low risk’ equipment and scheduling work activities to minimise worker exposure.
14.45	Update on the REACH Regulation: Duties in relation to Registration, Downstream Users, Authorisation and Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC). Roseleen Murphy H.S.A.
15.30	Fogging and Misting Shower Performance in Reducing Exposure During Protective Clothing Removal. Martin Axon, SafeBridge Europe. Workers in pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries typically wear protective clothing. This study was designed to assess the performance of a fogging/misting shower for both decontamination of protective clothing and suppression of airborne pharmaceutical powder during removal of two types of protective clothing.
16.15	Conference Close. Ms Frances Wright OHSI Hon. Pres

SPEAKERS

Caroline Walsh, an inspector in the Chemicals Policy and Services Division of the H.S.A. and has spent many years working in the field of classification and labelling of chemicals. She was the Irish delegate during the EU negotiations of the 'CLP' Regulation introducing the UN GHS criteria in Europe; and is also part of the team of experts that developed ‘industry guidance’ on CLP.

Niall Evans is a Principal Specialist Inspector in Occupational Hygiene with HSE, UK. He has worked for HSE for twenty years and currently heads a team of eleven field occupational hygiene specialists. He was on the editorial team that produced HSG 258 "Controlling Airborne Contaminants at Work".

Michael Perry, SafeBridge Europe, Limited. Michael has extensive experience of occupational hygiene in workplaces as diverse as hospitals, food production, construction and tunnelling. He has worked in consultancy for a number of years and since joining SafeBridge in 2007 specialises in the assessment, containment and control of highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Chris Packham has 30 years experience with the prevention of damage to health from workplace skin exposure. He is instrumental in developing "dermatological engineering". Chris is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, a member of the European Society of Contact Dermatitis, the British Contact Dermatitis Society and the International Institute for Risk and Safety Management.

Steve Bailey works for GlaxoSmithKline as Vice President of Environment, Health and Safety. He has worldwide responsibility for development of corporate strategy and policy on emerging EHS issues. Steve is President of the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) and is a past president of the former Institute of Occupational Hygienists (now the Faculty of the BOHS).

Margaret McCallig, NUIG. Margaret has completed her primary degree in Health & Safety from NUI Galway. She has worked as a health and safety advisor for a large architectural practice. She is a graduate member of IOSH, and is currently undertaking a 2 year research Masters in Occupational Hygiene in NUI Galway.

Roseleen Murphy is an Inspector with the Health & Safety Authority within the Chemicals Policy and Services division. She has been working full time for 1 ½ years on the REACH Helpdesk. She is also a member of the Network of Member State Helpdesks which operates as a forum for the harmonisation of answers to REACH queries and also the preparation of FAQs.

Martin Axon, SafeBridge Europe, Limited. Martin has worked in the field of occupational hygiene in a range of industries from chemical production, pharmaceutical, foodstuffs, battery production and light engineering. He was also involved in developing and running a Masters course in Occupational Hygiene. Martin joined SafeBridge Europe when they opened their office in 2005 specialising in control of highly potent active pharmaceutical compounds.