- Email: [email protected]
Human factors in telecommunication
coatings and other sound-absorbing measures and evaluation of the effectiveness of these measures; acoustically isolated areas; remote control; work organisation; methods of measurement, evaluation and monitoring of noise in the working environment including through simplified methods); (3)
(4)
Occupationalhealth aspects (effects of impulse noise; combined effects; epidemiological studies; noise and fatigue; criteria for determining hearing impairment; establishment of exposure limits based on health criteria; health supervision; pre-employmerit and periodic medical examinations and tests; conditions under which audiometric testing is carried out); Noise prevention policies and programmes - legal, social and economic aspects (national and international approaches to legislation and standard setting; application of emission and exposure limits; hearing conservation programmes; workers' education; social and economic benefits of programme implementation).
The languages will be English, French, German and Russian. Further information from the International Labour Office, Occupational Safety and Health Branch, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, or Internationales Symposium "Schutz der Arbeiter yon "L~irm", Organisationsbiiro, Postschliessfach 105, DDR 8020 Dresden, DDR.
Access for the disabled A strengthening of the law to ensure that all new public buildings are designed so that they are fully accessible to disabled people was recommended in a report presented to Mr Alfred Morris, Minister for the Disabled, on 22 January. The report, Can disabled people go where y o u go? prepared by the Silver Jubilee Committee on Improving Access for Disabled People, under the charimanship of Mr Peter Large, also expresses concern about the amount of discrimination disabled people meet in their everyday lives. They recommend that this whole problem, including the need for legislation, should be examined in detail, and that this work should be undertaken by a new body which would also continue the "Access" campaign. On the need for stronger legislation, the report comments: "We believe that
a high proportion of new public buildings and other facilities are still being designed in a way which prevents disabled people from being completely free to get into them and move about inside t h e m . . . Existing law lacks teeth which is why buildings go up without proper access facilities. Developers can readily escape the requirements of the 1970 Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act and there is no way in which, under the present law, anyone can stop it happening." Sections 4 - 8 A of the Act require developers to provide facilities for disabled people "insofar as it is in the circumstances both practicable and reasonable." This condition, says the report, is all too often used as an excuse for not providing facilities. It recommends that legislation be introduced to make the Access sections of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 mandatory. This law should not apply only if developers can irrefutably demonstrate that it would be unreasonable or impracticable to incorporate access facilities - and the onus of proof that this is so should lie with the developers. (The report does not recommend any change in the law covering existing buildings, except when they are being adapted on a large scale. The Committee believe that if all new buildings were required to be totally accessible by law, this would bring more pressure on the owners of existing buildings to make improvements where possible.) It is suggested that a new body should be appointed to continue the work of the Silver Jubilee Committee with wider terms of reference, so that they can tackle the problem of discrimination against disabled people and examine the possible need for legislation. Other recommendations of the Committee include: A full review by the Home Office of the enforcement of fire precautions in respect of their effect on disabled people. Too often, says the report, fire and safety precautions are an excuse for barring disabled people. Every local authority should appoint an "access officer" to act as liaison officer and co-ordinator on questions involving access for disabled people. Every local authority should, at an early stage, seek advice on individual planning applications from a group including representatives of the main categories of disability, and an architect who is conversant with access problems. Local voluntary access groups should
be established in each area, with the help of groups representing the interests of disabled people "(such as Councils for the Disabled) or of the local authority. The group should be composed of disabled people themselves and also include architects, planners, a member of the local council and representatives of local business, commerse and trades councils. All local authority planning departments should issue guidance on the requirements of sections 4 - 8 A of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act to everyone intending to put up a building or a facility. Printed copies of the report may be obtained from: A.J. McKeon, Department of Health and Social Security, A419 Alexander Fleming House, Elephant and Castle, London SE1 6BY
Human Factors in telecommunication The 9th International Symposium on Human Factors in Telecommunications will be held in the USA in September 1980 with Bell Laboratories as the host. Papers are invited on all aspects of human factors related to person-to-person communication facilities. Anyone interested in attending should write to Patti Mets, Bell Laboratories, Room 2G225A, Holmdel, New Jersey 07733, USA. Those wishing to submit a paper should send an abstract of 300-500 words to the above address by 1 August 1979. Full manuscripts of accepted papers are required by 1 ApriJ 1980. Proceedings will be distributed in August 1980 and the symposium held at the Molly Pitcher Inn, Red Bank, New Jersey, USA, on 29 S e p t e m b e r - 3 October 1980. The registration fee for all participants is ~150.00. This symposium has been held every two or three years in different countries with attendance limited to 100 people from telephone administrations, manufacturers and related research organizations. The format consists of advance publication of contributions as proceedings with the actual symposium time spent in interactive discussion of papers, not the reading of papers. Participation is limited to those whose papers are accepted plus sense additional people who manage human factors activities or who are beginning human factors work.
Applied Ergonomics June 1979
127
(4)
Occupationalhealth aspects (effects of impulse noise; combined effects; epidemiological studies; noise and fatigue; criteria for determining hearing impairment; establishment of exposure limits based on health criteria; health supervision; pre-employmerit and periodic medical examinations and tests; conditions under which audiometric testing is carried out); Noise prevention policies and programmes - legal, social and economic aspects (national and international approaches to legislation and standard setting; application of emission and exposure limits; hearing conservation programmes; workers' education; social and economic benefits of programme implementation).
The languages will be English, French, German and Russian. Further information from the International Labour Office, Occupational Safety and Health Branch, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, or Internationales Symposium "Schutz der Arbeiter yon "L~irm", Organisationsbiiro, Postschliessfach 105, DDR 8020 Dresden, DDR.
Access for the disabled A strengthening of the law to ensure that all new public buildings are designed so that they are fully accessible to disabled people was recommended in a report presented to Mr Alfred Morris, Minister for the Disabled, on 22 January. The report, Can disabled people go where y o u go? prepared by the Silver Jubilee Committee on Improving Access for Disabled People, under the charimanship of Mr Peter Large, also expresses concern about the amount of discrimination disabled people meet in their everyday lives. They recommend that this whole problem, including the need for legislation, should be examined in detail, and that this work should be undertaken by a new body which would also continue the "Access" campaign. On the need for stronger legislation, the report comments: "We believe that
a high proportion of new public buildings and other facilities are still being designed in a way which prevents disabled people from being completely free to get into them and move about inside t h e m . . . Existing law lacks teeth which is why buildings go up without proper access facilities. Developers can readily escape the requirements of the 1970 Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act and there is no way in which, under the present law, anyone can stop it happening." Sections 4 - 8 A of the Act require developers to provide facilities for disabled people "insofar as it is in the circumstances both practicable and reasonable." This condition, says the report, is all too often used as an excuse for not providing facilities. It recommends that legislation be introduced to make the Access sections of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 mandatory. This law should not apply only if developers can irrefutably demonstrate that it would be unreasonable or impracticable to incorporate access facilities - and the onus of proof that this is so should lie with the developers. (The report does not recommend any change in the law covering existing buildings, except when they are being adapted on a large scale. The Committee believe that if all new buildings were required to be totally accessible by law, this would bring more pressure on the owners of existing buildings to make improvements where possible.) It is suggested that a new body should be appointed to continue the work of the Silver Jubilee Committee with wider terms of reference, so that they can tackle the problem of discrimination against disabled people and examine the possible need for legislation. Other recommendations of the Committee include: A full review by the Home Office of the enforcement of fire precautions in respect of their effect on disabled people. Too often, says the report, fire and safety precautions are an excuse for barring disabled people. Every local authority should appoint an "access officer" to act as liaison officer and co-ordinator on questions involving access for disabled people. Every local authority should, at an early stage, seek advice on individual planning applications from a group including representatives of the main categories of disability, and an architect who is conversant with access problems. Local voluntary access groups should
be established in each area, with the help of groups representing the interests of disabled people "(such as Councils for the Disabled) or of the local authority. The group should be composed of disabled people themselves and also include architects, planners, a member of the local council and representatives of local business, commerse and trades councils. All local authority planning departments should issue guidance on the requirements of sections 4 - 8 A of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act to everyone intending to put up a building or a facility. Printed copies of the report may be obtained from: A.J. McKeon, Department of Health and Social Security, A419 Alexander Fleming House, Elephant and Castle, London SE1 6BY
Human Factors in telecommunication The 9th International Symposium on Human Factors in Telecommunications will be held in the USA in September 1980 with Bell Laboratories as the host. Papers are invited on all aspects of human factors related to person-to-person communication facilities. Anyone interested in attending should write to Patti Mets, Bell Laboratories, Room 2G225A, Holmdel, New Jersey 07733, USA. Those wishing to submit a paper should send an abstract of 300-500 words to the above address by 1 August 1979. Full manuscripts of accepted papers are required by 1 ApriJ 1980. Proceedings will be distributed in August 1980 and the symposium held at the Molly Pitcher Inn, Red Bank, New Jersey, USA, on 29 S e p t e m b e r - 3 October 1980. The registration fee for all participants is ~150.00. This symposium has been held every two or three years in different countries with attendance limited to 100 people from telephone administrations, manufacturers and related research organizations. The format consists of advance publication of contributions as proceedings with the actual symposium time spent in interactive discussion of papers, not the reading of papers. Participation is limited to those whose papers are accepted plus sense additional people who manage human factors activities or who are beginning human factors work.
Applied Ergonomics June 1979
127