NAOSH Week, celebrated this year May 6 – 12, 2012 is an opportunity to promote safe and healthy workplaces and communities. Each day of NAOSH Week, a health and safety topic was profiled in the Communique, as listed below:

• Monday: Slips, Trips and Falls
• Tuesday: Office Ergonomics
• Wednesday: Reporting Workplace Injuries
• Thursday: Ladders
• Friday: Scents in the Workplace

Friday’s announcement also included the opportunity to win some great prizes by completing a brief online quiz- thanks to everyone who has already entered the draw. In case you missed it, the link to the quiz is below. Answer a few questions about the NAOSH Week topics, and enter your name for a chance to win!

We will be accepting entries until the end of the day on Thursday, May 17, 2012.

CLICK HERE FOR A CHANCE TO WIN

More information about NAOSH Week can be found at www.naosh.ca.

HR Services | Health and Safety Services
www.hrs.humber.ca/safety

Humber Libraries is continuing to investigate eBook services.

We are now running an on-campus trial of the Books24x7 database.

Books24x7 offers over 15 topical collections in the areas of IT and Business. It provides full-text access to thousands of leading professional books from top authors and publishers.

It also includes videos of preeminent thought leaders and business gurus.

Access the trial at the link below and be sure to let us know what you think about it by filling out the evaluation form.

http://library.humber.ca/articles/trials.php

Scent-Related Issues in the Humber Workplace

Increasing Awareness on Scent-sitivities

Fragrances are found in a wide range of products, including perfume, cologne, deodorant, soap, shampoo, hairspray, air fresheners, and cleaning agents. Although it is a personal choice to use fragrances, fragrance chemicals are by their very nature shared. Exposure to fragrance chemicals in scented products can trigger health reactions in susceptible individuals such as those with conditions such as asthma, allergies, migraines, or chemical sensitivities.

What Can You Do To Help?

It is important to understand that some of the people in the College workplace may have a sensitivity to scented products. If you use scented products, use them sparingly or consider using unscented alternatives. A general guideline is that the scent should not be detectable more than an arm’s length away from the user. Be considerate and respectful when a scent issue or concern is raised.

If You React to Fragrance Chemicals . . .

If you experience health effects or discomfort from exposure to scented products used by a particular individual, you may wish to approach that person directly. Let them know in a cordial and respectful manner that you react to fragrances and ask for their cooperation in avoiding or minimizing the use of the fragrance. If you are uncomfortable about approaching the individual, discuss the issue with your manager.

If You Are Approached About the Scented Product You Wear . . .

If an employee, student or supervisor informs you that the scented product that you use is a problem and asks that you reduce its use, or not use it at all, you may initially feel hurt, puzzled or annoyed. Understand that it is not about you as a person or about your choice of fragrance but it is about the effect the fragrance chemicals are having on others. Discuss the issue in an open and respectful manner, and work with cooperation and understanding towards a satisfactory resolution.

Further details on Humber’s guidelines for scent in the workplace can be found by clicking here.

As promised, today’s announcement offers the opportunity to win some great Humber prizes. Click on the link below, answer a few questions about the NAOSH Week topics which were profiled in the Communique this week, and enter your name for a chance to win!

CLICK HERE FOR A CHANCE TO WIN!

NAOSH Week is led by the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE).
More information about NAOSH Week can be found at www.naosh.ca.

HR Services | Health and Safety Services
www.hrs.humber.ca/safety

Third Annual Humber Liberal Arts and Sciences Conference

September 28 - 29, 2012
North Campus

The term “culture” is used in many different contexts, but we can speak of culture as learned patterns of knowledge, belief, and behavior that are shared and which enable a group of people to make sense of life. Culture, however, can often contribute to tension and conflict, both within a group and between different groups. The role that culture plays in generating social, political and economic crises has long been studied by academics. But concerns about how culture factors into contemporary problems in these areas has become a matter of increasingly intense public debate. There are a number of current controversies surrounding culture: the American “culture wars” between conservatives and progressives on issues such as same-sex marriage and immigration, which are also reflected in debates about reasonable accommodation of cultural difference in other liberal democratic countries; the cultures that are forming through new social media and the impact they are having on society, economics, and politics; the argument that there are intractable cultural differences between the West and Islam, or the West and China; the concern that socially embedded “cultures of entitlement” will block necessary political and economic reform in North America and Europe; and the alarming recognition that a globalized “culture of consumption” continues to cause irreversible environmental damage. The question of how to modify, reform, or even revolutionize cultural perspectives such that they can respond to these types of issues has perhaps never seemed more pressing.

And yet, as researchers and theorists who study this culture factor well know, culture is not simply a lens that can be replaced when it has become cracked. There is no culturally neutral zone from which to analyze or act on culture itself, even if one is tempted to judge it as dysfunctional or outdated. In this way, culture is not simply an object of study; rather, the discourses involved in the study of culture require constant interpretation, scrutiny, and reinterpretation.

This conference invites disciplinary and multidisciplinary papers that look at culture and its relation to economics, technology, psychology, law, politics, religion, social policy, sociology, anthropology, history, postcolonial theory, fine and performing arts, music, film, literature, language, education, media studies, architecture and design, environmental studies, gender studies, queer studies, critical race theory, pedagogy, and philosophy. Papers and panels may be issue or case-study based, or focused on theoretical and methodological issues.

Proposals for individual papers, panels or workshops should be submitted by Friday, May 18, 2012. Click here to for the proposal form.

Proposals should be approximately 250-500 words in length and include a description of all presentation requirements (AV, etc.). Please submit proposals by email to LASConference@humber.ca.