Guidance Notes and Best Practice Guides
DfT: New safety ratings for motorcycle helmets were published recently by Road Safety Minister, Mike Penning, ahead of the Motorcycle Show in Birmingham. An extra 16 motorcycle helmets have been rated by SHARP - the Department for Transport's Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme - taking the total number of ratings published to 218.a
CRUK: A powerful new cancer drug discovery database has been launched to speed up the process of bringing drugs from ‘bench to bedside’. The Cancer Research UK-funded database – known as ‘canSAR’ – has been set up by researchers at CRUK’s Centre for Cancer Therapeutics at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) to create a one-stop-shop for scientists worldwide.
The freely available database allows scientists & clinicians to search through cancer-related data and information across the spectrum of research – from genomics to clinical trials – in a fraction of the time it would previously have taken them to gather this information.
The freely available database allows scientists & clinicians to search through cancer-related data and information across the spectrum of research – from genomics to clinical trials – in a fraction of the time it would previously have taken them to gather this information.
Press release ~ Drug discovery & development ~ Clinical and translational research ~ Cancer Research UK’s Centre for Cancer Therapeutics ~ The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR)
NICE: In its latest draft guidance, NICE has been unable to recommend everolimus (Afinitor, Novartis) for the second line treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma because it ‘does not provide enough benefit to patients to justify its high cost’.
Press release ~ Renal cell carcinoma (second line metastatic) - everolimus: second final appraisal determination ~ Renal cell carcinoma (second line metastatic) - everolimus page ~ First Final Appraisal Determination
FSA: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has launched a national food hygiene rating scheme that will help you choose where to eat out or shop for food by giving you information about the hygiene standards in restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways, hotels, supermarkets, and other places you eat out and buy food.
The bright green & black food hygiene stickers showing a rating from zero to five will soon be a feature of shopping centres and high streets, as the FSA, in partnership with local authorities, rolls out its Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The aim is to reduce the one million cases of food poisoning suffered by people each year.
CLG: Anyone looking to make their home more environmentally friendly can go to the new EPC Adviser, look up their Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and then click on the options available. These can range from low-energy lighting, which can cost as little as £2.50 for new bulbs, to larger measures such as installing wind turbines and solar panels.
A new report, Focus on Behaviour Change, has also been published that gives advice to councils and other organisations looking to offer help & support to homeowners looking to go green.
Newswire – RoSPA: As the big freeze continues across much of the UK, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents is reminding people - particularly dog walkers - to be aware of the dangers of frozen rivers & lakes.
A RoSPA analysis of 20 frozen water deaths from recent years found that the victim had been attempting to rescue another person or a dog in more than half of the incidents. When a dog was involved, it was common for the pet to scramble out to safety when the owner did not. Other incidents involved children who had been playing on the ice.
NICE: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued its first medical technology guidance, which supports the use of a device used in coronary artery surgery. The positive final guidance confirms the case for adopting SeQuent Please balloon catheter for patients with restenosis following insertion of bare metal coronary artery stents. A stent is a small mesh tube that is used to prop open or treat narrowed or weakened blood vessels. Restenosis is where the blood vessel becomes blocked again after previous treatment with a stent.
Press release ~ SeQuent Please balloon catheter for in-stent coronary restenosis ~ Evaluation Pathway Programme for Medical Technologies
TUC: With large parts of the UK under snow & ice, the TUC is urging employers to adopt a flexible attitude to staff attendance and, where possible, allow employees to work from home. Communication between employers & their staff, and between workers & their managers is key when the weather takes a turn for the worse, says the TUC.
Good employers will already have 'bad weather' policies in place and will have told their workforce what is expected of them when snow & ice close the workplace or make the usual commute difficult or hazardous. Any 'snow' policy should also cover what parents should do if their local schools close and they have no alternative means of childcare.
HSE: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is supporting the European Chemical Agency's (ECHA) campaign to remind companies that new rules on classification, labelling, packaging & notification of chemical substances that came into force on 1 December 2010.
ECHA has published a Practical Guide which explains the role of the Inventory, the information needed in a notification involves, and how to submit it. To ensure companies do not miss the first deadline for notification, 3 January 2011, the ECHA recommends that notifications are submitted well before 24 December 2010. There is a helpline for queries: UK CLP Helpdesk - ukreachca@hse.gsi.gov.uk
Press release ~ How to notify substances in the Classification and Labelling Inventory ~ ECHA website ~ HSE: REACH
AgeUK: Age UK is urging older people to take extra precautions to stay warm & well and for everyone to check in with older friends, neighbours & relatives. The adverse weather may leave some older people facing difficulties to get out & buy essentials, while others will struggle to stay warm.
LLUK: The Forum has identified 12 steps to outline the aspects of tackling discrimination & promoting equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff and students in post-school education.
