Domestic hazards

There are numerous potential electrical hazards in your home. We have listed some of them along with some simple suggestions to keep your home a safer place.
Flexible leads – what condition are they in? Damaged insulation increases the risk of the cable overheating and catching fire. It also increases the risk of electric shock. If the cable is damaged, replace it.
Hanging pictures on walls or partitions – without hitting pipes or cables. Hitting a live cable with a drill or nail is dangerous and could cause an electric shock, a fire or burns.
Do not drill holes or fix nails in walls or partitions where you are unsure what is behind the plaster. A cable and pipe detector can help you identify where cables and metal pipes lie in the wall.
Making electrical equipment safe – always unplug for peace of mind. Simple maintenance, like changing a belt on the vacuum cleaner, should only be attempted when it’s unplugged. This prevents the risk of injury from electric shock, hot or rotating parts. If parts have become hot while running, let them cool before you touch them.

Child safety

After a bath or shower, you should make sure your children are dried off thoroughly before they go anywhere near electrical things like games consoles – water and electricity can be deadly.
This also means not letting your kids run straight from the paddling pool into the house where there are plugs, sockets and switches. Get them dry first.

Keep drinks away from TVs, DVD players, stereos, speakers, computers, games consoles and anything else electrical.

Turning off electric games and appliances when they’re not in use is a good habit to get into. It is not only safer, but saves you money and is kinder to the environment.

There are many potential electrical hazards in the garden. For example, lawn mowers and hedge cutters can cut through their own electric cables, causing a risk of electric shock. It’s important to be vigilant at all times, especially if young children are nearby.

Ensure that, before children use any electrical equipment in the garden, they understand the dangers involved and use an RCD for mains powered equipment such as lawn mowers.

Keep appliance cords out of the reach of children, especially those connected to hot items such as kettles, irons, hair straighteners or hairdryers.

Never leave an unconnected appliance cord plugged in and switched on (for example, a mobile phone charger). Young children may be tempted to put the end of the cord in their mouths.

Algae genes could restore sight to the blind

Researchers believe they may be able to replace damaged cells in the retina with similar ones found in algae.

The technique has worked in mice and now scientists believe they can begin human trials within two years.

"The idea is to develop a treatment for blindness," Alan Horsager, at the University of southern California, told the New Scientist.

More than a million people in Britain suffer from vision problems caused by a damaged or malfunctioning retinas.

The retina is the "business end" of the eye, where nerve cells convert light into electrical and chemical signals that are sent to the brain down the optic nerve.

If it is not working then the eye is useless.
Algae need to be sensitive to light so they can seek out sunlight for photosynthesis and it is the cells they use to do this that scientists hope to use to replenish damaged equivalents in the human eye.
It involves injecting the gene into the retina.
Early tests showed that blind mice were able to see light again after treatment and that the effect appears to be permanent

UK to probe extended warranties on electrical goods

Britain's consumer affairs watchdog has launched a study into the 750-million-pound-plus ($1.2 billion) market for extended warranties on domestic electrical goods like televisions and washing machines.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said on Thursday it would look at whether competition was limited by retailers' ability to sell warranties at the same time as selling domestic electrical goods, and at whether the warranties were good value for money.

"Consumers buy millions of extended warranties on domestic electrical goods each year and we want to make sure they are getting value for money," said Claudia Berg, director in the OFT's consumer and goods group.

Changes to waste regulations which are due to come into force later this year will affect all businesses.

Changes to waste regulations which are due to come into force later this year will affect all businesses. The main change is that the regulations require businesses to confirm that they have applied the waste management hierarchy when transferring waste. This requirement extends the existing Duty of Care for waste and treatment requirements to ensure that organisations consider, prevention, preparing for reuse, recycling, and recovery of waste prior to disposal. Whenever you pass waste on to someone else, you will now have to declare on the waste transfer, or hazardous consignment note, that you have applied the waste management hierarchy. The regulations also introduce a two-tier system for waste carrier and broker registration, including a new concept of a waste dealer, and make amendments to hazardous waste controls introducing a new category, H15 Sensitizing.

The key changes that businesses need to be aware of are:

• Waste producers or those handling waste must comply with the WFD waste hierarchy (prevention, prepare for re-use, recycling, recovery, disposal) - unless it can be justified on environmental or technical grounds that this is not appropriate.
• From 1 Jan 2015, any business collecting waste containing waste paper, glass, metal or plastic must 'take all such measures to ensure separate collection of that waste'. This is to ensure this waste does not go to landfill.
• From 1 Jan 2014, any business that carries their own waste will need to be registered as a waste carrier. However, once registered, they will not need to register again unlike other waste carriers who will still need to register every three years.
• Transfer notes will require additional information including the 2007 SIC code of the transfer or and confirmation that they have applied the WFD waste hierarchy.
• The new Regulations enable electronic transfer notes and signatures to be used.
• The new rules will give the Environment Agency powers to apply Compliance, Stop and Restoration Notices.

There are also a number of changes to the Hazardous Waste Regulations through this new legislation. These include:

• The removal of Multiple Consignment Notes.
• A consignor is also defined as a broker or dealer of hazardous waste.
• A new Hazard Code is being added - H15 - Waste capable by any means, after disposal, of yielding another substance, e.g. a leachate, which possesses any of the characteristics above.
• Some changes to the Environmental Permitting Regulations in relation to Hazardous Waste.
• Some changes to the List of Wastes (EWC codes) for Hazardous Waste that are not yet clear.

And finally, the new Regulations revoke many of the existing environmental regulations relating to England and Wales.

Hot news from Scunthorpe :)

Gas from rubbish dump to help Tata Steel save money on electricity

GAS generated from a rubbish tip is helping the loss-making Tata Steel works in Scunthorpe make big savings on its electricity bills.

The 10-year deal struck with SITA UK will not only save the steelmaker at least £1.5 million but also make the 2,000-acre site cleaner.
SITA, which owns the landfill site in nearby Dawes Lane, says the deal with Tata is significant and will reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the works by more than 4,000 tonnes a year.
The landfill gas is used to power a gas engine which drives an electrical generator connected to the steelworks' coal handling plant.

Tim Otley, the UK head of energy solutions for SITA, explained: "The gas arises when waste collected from local homes and businesses is buried at the site and degrades and breaks down over time.
"This natural degradation of waste results in the production of methane and carbon dioxide.
"These gasses have traditionally been captured through a network of gas wells and flared off.
"However, by using the gas as a fuel to drive a series of engines, which in turn drive a generator, SITA UK is able to put the gas to better use in the production of electricity.
"This is an excellent example of how we can put waste to good use.
"In Scunthorpe we are helping Tata Steel to reduce the impact of its net carbon emissions and save money on the price of energy."
The electricity supply from the landfill site to the steelworks will eventually be enough to power the equivalent of more than 1,800 homes.
The Scunthorpe waste site, which opened in 2005, collects between 50,000 and 60,000 tonnes of rubbish a year and has the capacity to cope with a further 1.5 million cubic metres.

Cannabis could be used to treat epilepsy

Researchers at the University of Reading have discovered that three compounds found in cannabis leaves can help to reduce and control seizures in epilepsy.

They are now using extracts from the plants grown in huge industrial-sized greenhouses in the south of England to develop new drugs that could ease the misery of millions of epilepsy sufferers around the world. In the UK alone there are more than 500,000 people who suffer from epilepsy.

Dr Ben Whalley, who is leading the research at the department of pharmacy at the University of Reading, said tests in animals had shown the compounds effective at preventing seizures and convulsions while also having less side effects than existing epilepsy drugs.

Epilepsy is caused by sudden bursts of electrical activity in the brain that disrupt the normal way in which messages are transmitted. This can cause debilitating seizures and fits that can lead to sufferers injuring themselves.