Can human beings work "unnatural" hours without suffering ill effects. 

Can the human body and brain adapt ?
As the pressure of modern life increase, so does the need for more people to be working 24 hours a day. What are the short and long term effects to individuals who change their sleep patterns.  Is the body a machine which can simply be re programed or re engineered with the right inputs ?
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British Energy has halved the time required to complete some of its basic training and engineering programmes amid an acute shortage of experienced nuclear staff.

Documents show that some of the group’s programmes to train staff to “Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel” level (SQEP) – a benchmark industry training standard set by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate – have been trimmed from 18 to nine months.

There's been a lot of media focus lately on the advances that are being made in nanotech and how it's going to solve every problem we currently face.  Very little attention has been give however to the potential dangers of such technology.  The general public doesn't seem at all too worried about it's use,  scientists however are,  and would like a little more research done into the matter.

Extending human life expectancy is not a new story. When our genes evolved thousands of years ago, it was not in the interests of the species for people to live past child-rearing as resources such as food were in very short supply. So human life expectancy was in the 20s a thousand years ago. It was only 37 in 1800. It is now pushing 80, and we have been adding about three months each year for the past several decades.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — More than a half-million pieces of Chinese-made children's jewelry contaminated with lead are being recalled, officials announced.

The recalled merchandise involves 205,000 pieces sold by Family Dollar Stores (FDO), 200,000 pieces sold by Michaels Stores, 43,000 charm bracelets and tack pin sets sold by Big Lots (BIG) and 45,000 stretchable bracelets imported by Cherrydale Fundraising, 10,400 necklaces and bracelets manufactured by Colossal Jewelry & Accessories, and 4,500 necklace and earring sets made by La Femme NY 2, officials announced.

The offshore oil and gas industry will today be given a stark warning that its safety performance is not good enough.
A report is expected to reveal that engineering and maintenance is not being given enough attention and not only is there a wide variation between companies but also within companies.
After a three-year investigation of nearly 100 installations the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will tell operators that while significant improvements have been made "more must be done".
The direct "must do better" message to the industry will be made at the launch of the KP3 report - a major investigation carried out by the HSE's Aberdeen-based Offshore Division into the safety and integrity of offshore installations and the equipment on them.

Rick Cohagan, Managing Director of Chevron Upstream Europe, has been appointed new co-chair of Step Change in Safety . He will work with the Step Change leadership team and co-chair Doug Halkett on improving the oil and gas industrys safety record, with the aim of making the UK the safest place to work in the world-wide oil and gas industry.

Although a seemingly minor incident, the escape by miners from a mine in Ballerat (Australia) this morning (3.30 am local time - Nov 19th) drew critical comment from the local union organiser.

The mining rescue brought back memories of recent major rescues at Crandall Canyon Mine , USA and Beaconsfield , Australia mine sites.

Safety is always a major concern to miners and the mining industry in Western Australia has recently hailed the safety practices at the Kanowna Belle gold mine near Kalgoorlie after 54 workers trapped underground were rescued.

A truck caught fire in the shaft of the mine.  The fire was quickly put out but the area filled with smoke but workers then followed practiced safety procedures and shut themselves in specially designed refuges.

Unfortunately a recent incident in a Chinese mine did not have a similar outcome and experts slammed safety procedures at the mine

An inflatable habitat designed for explorers on the moon or Mars is headed to Antarctica for a test run.

The habitat — engineered by ILC Dover and resembling an inflatable backyard bounce for children — will make its South Pole debut early next year. NASA demonstrated the inflatable prototype on Wednesday at ILC Dover's facility in Frederica, Del.

"We deflated [and inflated] it in about 10 minutes," Larry Toups, habitat lead for NASA's Constellation Program Lunar Surface Systems Office, said in an interview.

I the wake of a slew of product quality issues,  10 locally made Chinese cosmetic products have now been "blacklisted by Chinese authorities

.....click on the link to read the full report

We can also report an unrelated but relevant story about a European plan to end animal testing in 2009. which is forcing global cosmetics firms to find new tools

The delicate hybrids thriving in the balmy climate of southern France's historic perfume region include sweet jasmine, May roses - and fresh layers of artificial human tissue.

In a land where the making of fragrances dates back to the Renaissance, scientists in Provence are working feverishly to develop biotechnological tools to test cosmetics with new alternatives before a European Union ban on animal testing comes into effect in March 2009.

 Maybe Engineering principles need to be employed to solve this dilema -

This takes safety plus engineering design and quality to a new level -

Few industries have had more success in selling goods to China than makers of medical devices like x-rays, pacemakers and patient monitors. Which is why a recent Chinese decree was so troubling.

The directive, issued in June, called for burdensome new safety inspections for foreign-made medical devices - but not for those made in China. The Bush administration, as well as the European Union, are crying foul.
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Safety Engineers will tell you that this is Standard Practice in most other Western countries - why the delay in the US ?

 
Trelleborg has developed a product, that can withstand a jet fire - the cause of the Piper Alpha disaster. The product is already in use on several platforms, primarily in the North Sea as the aging oil rigs become more of a safety concern

 The pain killer to end all pain killers was just one big pain and a solution has finally been engineered

 Once it hits the tarmac,  it won't drop down any further - but still travelling at speed in a straight line

 Environmental and safety engineering has not been high on the agenda -

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.USA (AP) — A congressman is trying again to engineer support for legislation to ban an Alabama-made poison that critics claim is both a deadly threat to wildlife and a potential weapon for terrorists. 

However it is available and used in other countries,  for example compound 1080 or sodium monofluoroacetate , is a naturally occurring compound produced by many species of Australian plant. Sodium monofluoroacetate occurs naturally in about 40 native plant species in Australia, primarily of the genera, Gastralobium, which grow in Western Australia, across northern Australia in the Northern Territory and in central Queensland.

 Civil and safety engineers will investigate an incident which saw at least seven people killed and about 15 injured on Thursday when a Dubai bridge under construction collapsed near luxury hotels and high-rises in the Gulf tourism hub.

 Shell has once again been rapped over the knuckles by the Health and Safety Executive for safety problems on its North Sea platforms despite pledges from chief executive Jeroen van der Veer that he was determined to change the culture after safety and engineering problems in the past.