PUSHING a drawing pin into a notice board doesn’t seem risky, but for 140 education workers it has turned out to be fatal. The Times Educational Supplement (July 7) reports on research by Dr Robin Howie, an occupational hygiene consultant, who found that removing a single pin from an asbestos board can release about 6,000 fibres — in theory a single fibre can cause a tumour. Asbestos is thought to be present in most British schools and Health and Safety Executive figures show that 140 education workers, many teachers, died of mesothelioma between 1991 and 2000.

Another profession that faces daily danger is the Metropolitan Police force but, according to Police Review (July 7), their hearts are in the right state: 86 per cent of the Met’s workforce have cholesterol levels within normal range,

47 per cent have above-average fitness and just 14 per cent smoke. These are findings from a nine-month campaign during which 13,500 officers and police staff had health checks.

Nurses are another fit bunch — fit to drop that is. In a survey by www.nursingtimes.net 58 per cent say they are too tired to take exercise, and 18 per cent say that work gives them all the exercise they need, leaving just 24 per cent taking regular exercise.

Perhaps they need to go to a few medical conferences. Those warm dark lecture halls are always good for energy restoring naps between tea and biscuit breaks. But Hospital Doctor (July 6) wants delegates to pay attention. It urges doctors to get plenty of sleep the night before, drink lots of water on the day and to take fruit so they don’t feel tempted by the biscuits. Local authority workers are also being urged to ditch traditional ways. Personnel Today (July 5) reports on Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, which encourages staff to eat healthily and drink more water — it even issues staff with “pee charts to monitor throughput”. People love it, according to the council. They have reduced absentee rates as a result. “We have saved 4,000 days of work,” says Mick Forrest, the council’s assistant director of people and performance.

Mr Forrest could also have raised productivity by placing a few pot plants around the offices. A report by Richard Hywel Evans, an architectural and design practice, says that the productivity of public process planners (that’s civil servants) can be boosted by “subliminal reminders of nature through plants and suitable vegetation to break monotony”.

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