Adult non-smokers' exposure to second-hand smoke

This quantitative study was commissioned by the DHSSPS as part of their smoke-free monitoring and evaluation strategy after the introduction of smoke-free legislation in Northern Ireland in April 2007.The research was undertaken to determine the impact of smoke-free legislation on non-smoking adults who live with a smoker.Using research carried out both before and after the introduction of smoke-free legislation, this study details for the first time the attitudes and knowledge of non-smoking adults living with smokers in Northern Ireland, in relation to second-hand smoke.The study also reports non-smokers' exposure to second-hand smoke in a range of environments.

Ympäristötietämyksen hallintasovelluksen kehittäminen

Uudistunut ympäristölainsäädäntö vaatii energiantuotantolaitoksilta yhä enemmän järjestelmällistä ympäristötiedon hallintaa. LCP- ja jätteenpolttoasetuksen velvoitteet ovat asettaneet uusia vaatimuksia päästöjen valvontaan ja siihen käytettävien mittausjärjestelmien laadunvarmennukseen sekä päästötietojen raportointiin. Uudistukset ovat lisänneet huomattavasti laitoksilla ympäristötiedon käsittelyyn kuluvaa aikaa. Laitosten toimintaehdot määritellään ympäristöviranomaisen myöntämässä ympäristöluvassa, joka on tärkein yksittäinen laitoksen toimintaa ohjaava tekijä. Tämän lisäksi monet toimijat haluavat parantaa ympäristöasioiden tasoaan vapaaehtoisilla ympäristöjärjestelmillä. Tässä diplomityössä kuvataan energiantuotantolaitosten ympäristöasioiden tallentamiseen ja hallintaan kehitetty selainpohjainen Metso Automationin DNAecoDiary'sovellus. Työ on rajattu koskemaan Suomessa toimivia LCP- ja/tai jätteenpolttoasetuksen alaisia laitoksia. Sovelluksen avulla voidaan varmistaa energiantuotantolaitosten poikkeamien, häiriöilmoitusten, päästömittalaitteisiin liittyvien tapahtumien ja muun ympäristöasioiden valvontaan liittyvän informaation tehokas hallinta. Sovellukseen tallennetaan ympäristötapahtumiin liittyvät perustiedot sekä etenkin käyttäjien tapahtumiin liittyvä kokemustietämys. Valvontakirjaukseen voidaan liittää tapahtuman perustietojen lisäksi myös tiedostoja ja kuvia. Sovellusta ja sillä kerättyä tietoa voidaan hyödyntää laitoksella käsilläolevien ongelmien ratkaisuun, ympäristötapahtumien todentamiseen sekä ympäristöraporttien laadintaan. Kehitystyön tueksi järjestettiin asiakastarvekartoitus, jonka perusteella ideoitiin sovelluksen ominaisuuksia. Tässä työssä on esitetty ympäristötiedon hallinan perusteet, selvitetty DNAecoDiaryn toimintaperiaatteet ja annettu esimerkkejä sen hyödyntämisestä. Sovelluksen lopullinen sisältö määritellään kunkin asiakkaan ympäristöluvan ja oma-valvonnan tarpeiden mukaisesti. Sovellus toimii itsenäisesti tai osana laajempaa Metso Automationin päästöjenhallinta- ja raportointisovelluskokonaisuutta.

Legal Control of Industrial Pollution

Industries constitute the main spring of development. Without industrial development no country could reach a stage in which a decent living for its citizens would be achieved. Increasing production to meet the basic needs of society augmented scientific invention and machine oriented industrial order.Environmental pollution ls a burning global issue. It is more serious and dangerous than terrorism. Started with the discovery of fire and development of civilization. Pollution went unnoticed throughout the centuries of human growth until its adverse effects on human environment become explicit.National concern tor environment started in our country only atter the cause of protection of environment received global attention. At present legal control ot industrial pollution is in a scattered framework of piece meal processes with overlapping provisions and authorities.Environmental protection- should be an item not only in the concurrent list of schedule 7 to the Constitution but also in the list of matters entrusted to the panchayati institutions in the Schedule 11. It is heartening to note that so far as municipalities are concerned the Constitution of India lives up to the expectation. In the wake of New Industrial Policy based on liberalisation a long list of small scale industries fall outside the purview of environmental clearance. The Indian concept of environmental im»act assessment introduced under the Environment Act by notification excludes the entire gamut of small scale industries and r.elates only to scheduled industries covered by the notifica~ion. Most of them are subjected to ETA only it the investment goes above ~.50 crores. This provision dilutes the impact assessment considerably A mandatory impact assessment with public partiCipation and with provision for a review by specialized environmental courts will eliminate the possible evils of this judicial passiveness.

Extrativismo em área de reserva da biosfera da Mata Atlântica no Rio Grande do Sul : um estudo etnobiológico em Maquiné

As frondes de Rumohra adiantiformis (G.Forest.) Ching, conhecida como “leatherleaf”, “seven-weeks-fern” ou samambaia-preta, são usadas mundialmente em arranjos florais. Na África do Sul e Brasil o comércio da espécie é baseado no extrativismo. No Brasil a coleta é realizada em áreas de Mata Atlântica, sendo que 50% da produção provém das áreas de capoeira das encostas da Serra Geral no Rio Grande do Sul (RS). Atualmente, cerca de 2.000 famílias de agricultores familiares vivem nestas áreas, tendo no extrativismo sua principal fonte de renda. No entanto no RS a coleta, o comércio e o transporte de plantas ornamentais nativas são proibidos, já que nesta zona de transição da Reserva da Biosfera da Mata Atlântica (Maquiné, RS) há grandes restrições quanto à exploração dos recursos naturais. O êxodo rural e o próprio extrativismo estabelecido a partir da década de 70, permitiram a regeneração da Floresta Ombrófila Densa. Como a espécie é característica de estágios sucessionais iniciais, a regeneração florestal está levando à diminuição dos estoques naturais. Este trabalho se propôs a identificar alternativas econômicas para diversificação da economia de famílias de extrativistas, no intuito de minimizar a tensão associada à diminuição dos estoques naturais de samambaia-preta, às dificuldades no manejo da terra e à legislação ambiental. Junto à comunidade extrativista do distrito de Solidão (Maquiné) foram coletados dados etnobiológicos sobre plantas medicinais e plantas relacionadas ao artesanato. As principais espécies identificadas foram: Bambusa tuldoides (taquareira, colmo), Clytostoma sciuripabulum (cipó-branco, caule), Cyperus prolixus (tiririca, partes aéreas), Musa acuminata (bananeira, palha), Scirpus californicus (junco, partes aéreas), Typha dominguensis (taboa, partes aéreas), sendo que Macfadyena dentata (cipó-unha-de-gato, caule), Roupala brasiliensis (carvalho-brasileiro, folhas) e Tillandsia usneoides (barbade- pau, planta inteira) são as espécies prioritárias para a avaliação da sustentabilidade do extrativismo. Os dados etnobiológicos e ecológicos mostram que é possível estabelecer o manejo sustentável da R. adiantiformis. Os maiores entraves para o estabelecimento do manejo sustentado para as espécies identificadas incluem: a) estabelecer as bases de manejo sustentável destas espécies; b) compatibilizar esta atividade extrativista com o atual Código Florestal Estadual. Plantas medicinais não parecem ser uma alternativa viável a curto prazo, enquanto o artesanato requer a adequação da atividade artesanal no meio rural com os direitos à aposentadoria rural.

Is the environmental policies procedures a barrier to development of inland navigation and port management? A case of study in Brazil

The main objective of this article is to discuss the Brazilian environmental legislation and policies towards the development of navigation and port management. The research illustrated some difficulties faced by the country and make suggestions to overcome it. The construction of the environmental legal framework began in the early 1960s and resulted in a very complex system, as a consequence of policies adopted by the country. Nowadays Brazilian environmental policies are developed in democratic and participative way, although with elevated degree of bureaucracy and lack of integration among the several governmental agencies, which makes the approval of environmental certifications demand several years for new port projects or improvements, which delays the economic development of the country. Efforts have been made to simplify the licensing process. As result of this research two flowchart for environmental licenses of ports installation are shown: The first shows the process until 2009 and the second shows the process nowadays. This become an important issue due the fact that inland navigation is one of the less pollutant modes of transportation, and although, the process of environmental certification was simplified, if compare with 2009, it is still complex and time-consuming, delaying the development of the infrastructure. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Percepción de la erosión agraria

Esta investigación analiza mediante la metodología Delphi varios indicadores de calidad del suelo del olivar español, en particular, la textura, la fertilidad, el color, la profundidad, la compactación, la aireación, la materia orgánica y la infiltración del agua. El objetivo consiste en describir la percepción de los olivicultores acerca del grado de erosión en la zona de estudio, teniendo en cuenta su propia autovaloración referida a su nivel de adopción de innovaciones y a su actitud frente al riesgo de aplicar nuevas tecnologías. El panel de expertos seleccionados está formado por 63 olivicultores de la cuenca granadina del Alto Genil en el año 2005; esta zona se caracteriza por el cultivo del olivar en ladera y sus consiguientes niveles de erosión medio-altos, por lo que la actividad agraria se encuentra fuertemente condicionada por el grado de implementación de prácticas de conservación del suelo, específicamente por el laboreo según curvas de nivel, el no laboreo con herbicidas y el mantenimiento de restos de poda sobre la capa edáfica (según una encuesta preliminar del año 2004), así como por su promoción a través de la reciente legislación europea en materia agroambiental.

Certification and integration of environment with quality and safety – a path to sustained success

According to Wright [1] certification of products and processes began during the 1960’s in the manufacturing industry, as a tool to control and assure the quality/conformity of products and services provided by suppliers to customers/consumers. Thus, the series of ISO 9000 was published first time, in 1987 and it was been created with a flexible character, to be reviewed periodically. Later, were published others normative references, which highlight the ISO 14001 in 1996 and OHSAS 18001 in 1999. This was also, the natural sequence of the certification processes in the organizations, i.e., began with the certification of quality management systems (QMS) followed by the environmental management systems (EMS) and after for the Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS). Hence, a high percentage of organizations with an EMS, in accordance with the ISO 14001, had also implemented, a certified QMS, in accordance with ISO 9001. At first the implementation of a QMS was particularly relevant in high demanding activity sectors, like the automotive and aeronautical industries, but it has rapidly extended to every activity sector, becoming a common requisite of any company worldwide and a factor of competitiveness and survival. Due to the increasingly demanding environmental legislation in developed countries, companies nowadays are required to seriously take into consideration not only environmental aspects associated to the production chain itself, but also to the life cycle of their products.

Environment, health and safety policy in small construction sites: an analysis of the situation in Brazil

This paper analyzes the safety, environmental and occupational health of workers in the small construction industry in Brazil. In this sector there are still many unsafe practices, which are very common in small work sites. We used a qualitative approach to understand these problems by long interviews with people who work directly in small construction sites, including occupational physicians, civil engineers, safety engineers, safety technicians, general foremen, construction workers, labor unionists and auditors. This paper aims to demonstrate that the "invisibility" of the small sites workers makes them less safe and therefore more prone to accidents, also weakening their health. The results show that small constructions workers are less visible to society and supervision because of their short periods of work. Therefore, they are also uncovered to the rigorous applicability of principles of safety and accident prevention. Thus, it has been seen in this field of work a precarious application of NR - 18, which was specifically made for the construction sites and it needs simplification to meet normative characteristics of small construction sites. In the State of Rio de Janeiro, some laws on small sites were recently created and implemented. This study concludes that the rules to work are not being taken as seriously as the legislation determinates, remaining practically unknown by many professionals, from the plot command, supervisors, engineers, architects and technicians who work on construction sites. This ignorance creates space for the lack of safety and consequently to accidents, leading to by weakness in the workers health. Therefore, the work process needs to be modified, the safety regulation must be disseminated through safer practices, promoting employee health and ensure that the work of small sites can be visible, especially ensuring the construction workers health and safety.

Smokefree legislation consultation response (UK)

The Institute of Public Health was established in 1999 to promote co-operation for Public Health on the island of Ireland. It aims to improve health across the island of Ireland by working to combat health inequalities and influence public policies in favour of health. The remit includes; providing public health information and surveillance; strengthening public health capacity; and advising on policy. The Institute of Public Health welcomes the consultation on the Smokefree Elements of the Health Improvement and Protection Bill. The Institute strongly supports a total ban on smoking in all enclosed workplaces and public places.  A total ban on smoking in all enclosed public places and workplaces is the only way to adequately protect the health of all workers and contribute to reducing the prevalence of smoking within the population. The exemptions within the proposed Health Improvement and Protection Bill will fail to protect many workers particularly in the hospitality industry. These workers are often at greatest risk from Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) due to the extent of their exposure.

Convergence withEU environmental legislation in Russia and Kyoto Protocol effects on certain power plants in Russia

Venäjällä uudistetaan sähkömarkkinoita. Uudistamisella pyritään vapauttamaan sähkömarkkinat ja lisäämään kilpailua energiasektorilla. Sähkömarkkinoiden vapauttamisen tarkoitus on energiasektorin hyötysuhteen nostaminen ja investointien houkutteleminen sektorille. Venäjä on ratifioinut Kioton protokollan, mikä energiasektorin kannalta on tärkeää, koska protokollan yhteistoteutusmekanismin kautta saadaan houkuteltua investointeja sektorille. Venäjän sähkömarkkinoiden vapauttamisen pitkäaikainen tähtäin on Venäjän ja Euroopan sähkömarkkinoiden integroituminen, joka tarkoittaa myös ympäristölainsäädännönyhtenäistämistä. Tämä tutkimus on osa Fortum Oyj:n tarjoamaa teknistä katselmusta Venäjällä toimivalle sähköyhtiölle, TGC-9:lle. Tässä työssä keskitytään TGC-9:n omistamien energiatuotantolaitoksien happamoitumista aiheuttaviin ilmapäästöihin ja pölypäästöihin. Tutkimuksessa pyritään myös löytämään Kioton protokollan yhteistoteutusmekanismi hyödyntämiskohteita. NOx -päästöt tulevat olemaan suurin haaste TGC-9:lle, jos ympäristöstandardit yhdenmukaistetaan. Yhteistoteutusmekanismin hyödyntämiskohteita löydettiin neljä: koksaamokaasun hyödyntäminen, maakaasun korvaaminen kuoren poltolla ja kaksi tapausta liittyen laitoksien hyötysuhteen nostamiseen.