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For years orthopaedic surgeons specializing in foot and ankle care have been warning women about the perils of wearing high heels. High heel wearers risk foot injury, muscle imbalance, bone deformities, knee and ankle joint problems, bunions, hammer toes and more. Now a new study featured in the November issue of Foot & Ankle International (FAI), the official scientific journal of the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) details the biomechanical changes that occur in feet during high heel wear and the correlation between the heel height and amount of pain, pressure and strain it puts on your feet.

NIOSH is interested in strengthening its efforts to prevent hearing loss in the workplace. It’s estimated that more than 22 million workers are exposed to hazardous noise on the job and an additional nine million are at risk for hearing loss from other agents such as solvents and metals, according to NIOSH.

OSHA has cited Hovensa LLC for 56 alleged serious violations of workplace safety and health standards at its oil refinery located in Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Labels prepared under the European Union’s regulation for classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (EC/1272/2008), which adopted criteria based on the UN's Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), are considered to comply with OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) requirements if the EU GHS labels comply with all of the provisions of the HCS, according to an OSHA letter of interpretation posted on the agency’s Web site Nov. 2, reports ORC Worldwide, a Washington, DC-based occupational safety, health and environmental consultantancy.

OSHA has prepared a fact sheet providing crowd control guidelines for retailers to protect workers during major sales events.

Surveys from the National Retail Federation and Information Resources, Inc. suggest that “uber-competitive bargain-hunting” will dominate as this year's trend among families who have spent the year making only purchases of necessity. But if cost is the only concern for spending-savvy "frugalistas," it could mean they may compromise safety, warn Underwriters Laboratories and the National Fire Protection Association.

China's Ministry of Health and State Administration of Work Safety have agreed to upgrade the country's mine medical rescue center to part of the national emergency rescue system, according to a post on the People’s Republic of China official government web portal.

OSHA has issued a guidance document, Best Practices for Protecting EMS Responders During Treatment and Transport of Victims of Hazardous Substance Releases, that addresses adequate training and personal protective equipment for emergency medical services responders who assist victims of hazardous substance release incidents, according to an agency press release.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in a press statement, is warning consumers to beware of unscrupulous vendors who may market ineffective and unregistered products or services that claim to disinfect surfaces or entire rooms against the H1N1 influenza virus. In the current flu-conscious climate, heightened anxiety about the spread of the H1N1 virus has bred false claims in the marketplace.

OSHA announced in a press release that the agency has issued citations to Cambria Contracting Inc. for 11 alleged willful violations of the OSHA construction asbestos standard for failing to train and protect its workers at a Buffalo, N.Y., jobsite. The Lockport, N.Y., demolition contractor faces a total of $484,000 in proposed penalties.