Database

Although hampered by a lack of evidence on effective secondary prevention, the conference concluded that a team approach to retention and rehabilitation was theoretically justifiable. This response seems to reinforce the idea of maintaining professional boundaries; the current evidence is that case managers are better at enabling rehabilitation than are teams of delineated professionals. Evidence from: M Feuerstein et al. J Occup Rehabil (2006) Vol. 16 p 401 – 409 “Secondary prevention of work-related upper extremity disorders: recommendations from the Annapolis conference” There is also a proposal that the apparent failure of ergonomic interventions could be due to the highly dynamic nature of work organisation and circumstances i.e. it would not be surprising to find that an intervention failed if the system of work it was designed to meet was changed a week later. Further detail:6#5-6 48  

The government have made a clear decision that compensation for loss arising out of the coexistence of GM and non-GM production should be borne by the GM sector. The paper outlines various options for financing that obligation. Private insurance is not considered a viable option at this time. There is no consideration of the situation where a GM crop is damaged by the presence of a non-GM contaminant. Evidence from: DEFRA July 2006. “Consultation on proposals for managing the coexistence of GM, conventional and organic crops” Whilst Defra remains open to the idea of an insurance market developing, it does not see this as a solution in the short-to-medium term. Therefore, the issues around a possible insurance market have not been explored in this paper. Further detail: 6#5-6 47

GM techniques offer the potential to increase the efficiency of biofuel production. Evidence from: C Schubert. Nature Biotechnology. July (2006) Vol.24#7 p 777-784 “Can biofuels finally take center stage?” Wood is well adapted to avoid bio-degradation into sugars. By modifying micro-organisms it may be possible to obtain sugars from cellulose. Further detail: 6#5-6 46

The report presents a very extensive analysis of evidence but seems to us to have jumped to precautionary conclusions e.g. that RCF could cause mesothelioma or lung cancer. Evidence from: CDC/ NIOSH May 2006-123 “Occupational Exposure to Refractory Ceramic Fibers” Much is made of the formation of pleural plaques in those with high exposures to RCF. By analogy with asbestos. Further detail: 6#5-6 45

It seems likely that having low influence at work and low support from a supervisor is predictive of new onset severe depression in women on a five year timescale. The risk is approximately double for each exposure variable. But is a failure to offer social support or, not to allow the worker to determine their own job, a breach of duty? Evidence from: R Rugulies et al. American Journal of Epidemiology (2006) Vol. 163#10 p 877 – 887 “Psychosocial Work Environment and Incidence of Severe Depressive Symptoms: Prospective Findings from a 5-Year Follow-up of the Danish Work Environment Cohort Study” A very high proportion of the cohort were not in work at the end of the 5 year period. Further detail: 6#5-6 44

Links between heart disease and psychosocial job characteristics were found to entirely explicable by teenage risk factors. Evidence from: T Hemmingsson et al. International Journal of Epidemiology (2006) Vol.35 p 616 to 622 “Is the association between low job control and coronary heart disease confounded by risk factors measured in childhood and adolescence among Swedish males 40–53 years of age?” Risk factors for heart disease were more common among those teenagers who later took jobs with low control. There was no independent association with low job control in middle age. Further detail: 6#5-6 43