Environmental Health and Safety

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American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) has announced the release of its two-tier Under Study list pursuant to changes previously made to its TLV®/BEI® Development Process.

OSHA has updated instructions for conducting inspections and issuing citations related to worker exposures to tuberculosis in healthcare settings. This instruction incorporates guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, "Guidelines for Preventing the Transmission of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in Health-Care Settings, 2005*."

The revised version of ISO 14001, the international standard for Environmental Management Systems (EMS), will be published in September 2015. Greg Roberts, Manager of Sustainability and Mike Shaw, Senior Manager of Health & Safety (H&S) at Ramboll Environ, look at the changes and explore how it will align with the new ISO management system standard for occupational H&S, ISO 45001, being planned for publication in 2016.

The total number of asbestos-related deaths in Europe could peak at 47,000 per year -- 50% higher than previously believed and double the number of deaths caused by road accidents – according to an expert who spoke last month at a conference entitled, Freeing Europe Safely from Asbestos.

Workers involved in nearly every step of the modern food industry are at increased risk of occupational illness/injury and death, compared to other industries, reports a study in the July Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

The American Industrial Hygiene Association® (AIHA) has released two new educational materials focused on formaldehyde, specifically formaldehyde emissions from laminate flooring. The two documents, Laminate Flooring Outgassing: Technical Guidance and Formaldehyde: Is It a Problem in My Home?, were created by AIHA’s Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Committee Task Force on laminate flooring formaldehyde outgassing.

More than 200,000 users have downloaded the OSHA Heat Safety Tool since its launch in 2011. This spring, OSHA released a new version of the app for Apple devices, with full-screen color alerts, improved navigation and accessibility options.

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin has signed a bill into law that requires school districts throughout the state to provide training on workplace safety and health to students in grades 7 through 12.

Retired coal miners who lost health care benefits as a result of bankruptcy – including many who have black lung disease – have a shot of getting those benefits extended, under bi-partisan legislation introduced today in the U.S. Senate.