GMO food labeling effort gains momentum

New York will soon join Vermont, Alaska, Connecticut, and Maine in requiring genetically modified foods to be labeled – if advocacy groups have their way.

Center for Safety and Health Sustainability releases metrics to advance standardized reporting

The Center for Safety and Health Sustainability (CSHS) has released its Best Practice Guide for Occupational Health and Safety in Sustainability Reports, which provides occupational health and safety (OHS) professionals with metrics and best practices in OHS sustainability reporting.

Roofing contractor again fails federal safety inspection

OSHA penalties: $108,500

After its latest OSHA inspection, a Florida contractor has increased the health and safety violations it’s been cited for to 23, and the fines it faces to more than $66K.

Utility district cited in arc flash explosion at hydroelectric dam

L&I cited the utility district for five serious violations and for each assessed the maximum penalty of $7,000

The Washington Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) fined Grant County Public Utility District #2 $35,000 for five serious safety violations after investigating an explosion at its Priest Rapids Dam on the Columbia River in Beverly, Wash. Six workers were hospitalized with serious electrical burns after the explosion.

Two of Orlando victims were nightclub employees

Although information on the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida is still being developed, two of those killed were working at Pulse nightclub at the time of the incident.

Three AIHA past presidents lead “Challenge Fund” for grassroots OHS project in Bangladesh

Three past presidents of the AIHA - Barbara Dawson, John Henshaw and Zack Mansdorf - are leading a fundraising effort to support a grassroots-level occupational safety and health training program in Bangladesh.

In California, fracking is being decided at county level

Butte County, California has become the fourth county in that state to ban the controversial method of harvesting natural gas known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking.

First responders to get training in infectious disease safety

A training program will help approximately 35,000 first responders and workers whose jobs may expose them to infectious diseases protect themselves while also minimizing the spread of disease to others. The three-year, $9 million program is being launched by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal agencies.

A NIOSH Science Blog post

Protecting young workers in retail jobs

June, which is National Safety Month, is an appropriate time to focus on young workers, as they head out of school and into the workforce. Many of them will find jobs in the retail industry, a leading employer of young workers in the United States.

Gun range workers exposed to lead, respiratory hazards

Employees of a Louisiana firing range were exposed to lead from spent ammunition rounds – a health and safety hazard which helped earn the company citations for 16 serious violations from OSHA.

Turning climate change into opportunity

Science strives to find solutions

We’ve heard plenty about the factories, automobiles and other things that produce greenhouse gas and contribute to climate change, but how about a new kind of plastic that is made from greenhouse gas?

Report: There’ll be 20 million cancer survivors in U.S. by 2026

There were more than 15.5 million Americans with a history of cancer as of January 1, 2016, a number that is projected to reach more than 20 million by 2026. That’s according to Cancer Treatment and Survivorship Statistics, 2016, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society (ACS), and its companion publication for consumers, Cancer Treatment & Survivorship Facts & Figures, 2016-2017. 

Intellectually challenging jobs linked to better cognitive performance

It's the opposite for physically hazardous work

Working in a more intellectually challenging job is associated with better memory and other aspects of cognitive functioning, reports a study in the June Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

NYC contractor found guilty in worker’s death

A New York City general contractor was found guilty Friday of manslaughter in the trench-collapse death of a worker last year.

Smoking among U.S. high school students at an all-time low

But e-cigarette use a concern

Cigarette smoking among high school students dropped to the lowest levels since the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) began in 1991, but the use of electronic vapor products, including e-cigarettes, among students poses new challenges according to the 2015 survey results released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.