Occupational Health Surveillance Afte Rthe Buncefield Oil Depot Fire
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36574 erpho Data Report cover.qxd:36574 erpho Cover v2.qxd 30/7/07 09:31 Page 3 Occupational Health Surveillance after the Buncefield Oil Depot Fire, England, December 2005 Final report: March 2007 36574 erpho Data Report.qxd:36574 erpho Data Report.qxd 12/7/07 07:37 Page i Occupational Health Surveillance after the Buncefield Oil Depot Fire, England, December 2005. Final report: March 2007 Published by the Eastern Region Public Health Observatory on behalf of the Buncefield Fire Occupational Health Working Group 36574 erpho Data Report.qxd:36574 erpho Data Report.qxd 30/7/07 10:34 Page ii Buncefield Fire Occupational Health Working Group. Final Report: March 2007 Title: OccupationalHealth Surveillanceafter the Buncefield Oil Depot Fire, England, December 2005. Final report: March 2007 Authors: Buncefield Fire Occupational Health Working Group Publisher: Eastern Region Public Health Observatory (http://www.erpho.org.uk) on behalf of the Buncefield Fire Occupational Health Working Group Date of publication: August 2007 ISBN: 1904389 12 0 Electronic copies at URL: http://www.erpho.org.uk Quick Link 16503 Further printed copies from: MarianneQuinn, HPAEast of England Regional Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Public Health, Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0SR. e-mail: [email protected] Copyright information: Permission is granted to reproduce text and figure 2. Please cite the source as: BuncefieldFire OccupationalHealth Working Group. Occupational Health Surveillance after the BuncefieldOil Depot Fire, England, December 2005. Final report: 2007.Cambridge:erpho; 2007. Acknowledgements We thank Dr Marian McEvoy of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Health Protection Unit for her support and advice at the outset of the survey.Wethank Marianne Quinn, Michelle Hardy, Jonathan Richards and Caroline Black for administrative support at the Health Protection Agency East of England Regional Epidemiology Unit. We are also gratefulfor statistical advice from Neville Verlander at the StatisticsUnit, Centre for Infections, Health Protection Agency and to the staff of the occupational health departments and respondents who participated in the survey.Peter Payne from the GIS Team at the Centre for Emergency Preparednessand Response,Health Protection Agency,produced Figure 1. The cover image was providedbyHertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service. Abbreviations A&E Accident and Emergency CI confidenceintervals GP general practitioner HPA Health Protection Agency OR odds ratio PCT primary care trust PR prevalenceratio 36574 erpho Data Report v3.qxd:36574 erpho Data Report.qxd 16/8/07 11:50 Page 1 Contents Contents Executive summary............................................................................................................................................2 Section 1Introduction.....................................................................................................................................4 1.1 Background..............................................................................................................................4 1.2 The Buncefield Fire Occupational Health Working Group .....................................................4 1.3 Rationale and Justification for the Register..........................................................................5 1.4 Aims and Objectives...............................................................................................................5 Section 2Methods...........................................................................................................................................6 2.1 Identification of Participating Occupational Health Departments.........................................6 2.2 Eligibility Criterion...................................................................................................................6 2.3 Standardised Occupational Health Assessment of Eligible Individuals ................................6 2.4 Identification of Occupationally Deployed Workers...............................................................7 2.5 Exposure Definitions ...............................................................................................................7 2.6 Health Outcomes.....................................................................................................................8 2.7 Selection of aComparison Population ...................................................................................8 2.8 Analysis.................................................................................................................................10 2.9 Data Handling .......................................................................................................................11 Section 3Results ...........................................................................................................................................12 3.1 Agencies and Individuals Deployed to the Buncefield Site.................................................12 3.2 Characteristics of Deployed Individuals ...............................................................................15 3.3 Exposures..............................................................................................................................17 3.4 Use of Healthcare and Occupational Health Services .........................................................20 3.5 Health Symptoms..................................................................................................................21 3.6 Associations Between Risk Factors and Reporting Symptoms............................................25 Section 4Discussion.....................................................................................................................................27 4.1 Main Findings........................................................................................................................27 4.2 Identification of Occupationally Deployed Workers.............................................................27 4.3 EstimatingExposures............................................................................................................28 4.4 Use of Respiratory Protection...............................................................................................29 4.5 Health Outcomes...................................................................................................................30 4.6 Interpretation of Results.......................................................................................................30 4.7 Operational Issues ................................................................................................................31 Section 5Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................33 Section 6Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... 34 References.........................................................................................................................................................35 Appendices........................................................................................................................................................37 1. Protocolfor HarmonisedOccupational Health Surveillance Following Deploymenttothe Buncefield Oil Depot Fire, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, 11 December 2005 ........................................................................................38 2. Guidelines for Occupational Health Departments. Buncefield Fire Occupational Health Register...............................................................................................42 3. Register Questionnaire .........................................................................................................47 4. Buncefield Occupational Health Invitation Letter ................................................................52 5. Occupational Health Participation Form...............................................................................53 6. Invitation letter from the Metropolitan Police .....................................................................54 1 36574 erpho Data Report.qxd:36574 erpho Data Report.qxd 12/7/07 07:37 Page 2 Buncefield Fire Occupational Health Working Group. Final Report: March 2007 2 36574 erpho Data Report.qxd:36574 erpho Data Report.qxd 30/7/07 10:35 Page 3 Executive summary Executive summary Background and Methods 1. Following the Buncefield Oil Depot fire, which startedon11December 2005 and was extinguished on 14 December 2005, the emergency services in Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire County Council and the Health ProtectionAgency East of England Regional Epidemiology Unit established the Occupational Health Working Group. The Health Protection Agency facilitated the work of the group, the development of an occupational health exposure and illness questionnaire, the establishment of aBuncefield Fire Occupational Health Register database and epidemiological analysis of the data. 2. Individuals were eligible for inclusion in the Register if they were occupationally deployed to or near the BuncefieldOil Depot fire site between 11 December 2005 and 5January 2006. 3. Occupational health departments thatdeployedstaff to the Buncefield fire sitewere identified. 4. The Register questionnaire was distributed by each occupational health department and an anonymous copy