Environmental Health and Safety

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OSHA in December, 2014, cited Republic Metals Inc. in Cleveland for 19 alleged serious health and safety violations, including exposure to lead and copper fumes. The proposed penalties are $42,800, the administration said in a news release Thursday, Dec. 18.

Noise-induced hearing loss is the most common work-related illness in the United States. Each year, an estimated 22 million U.S. workers encounter noise exposures loud enough to be potentially hazardous. In addition to damaging workers' quality of life, occupational hearing loss can carry a high economic price to society.

Air pollution in Europe comes with a high price tag, according to a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). While policies have improved air quality overall, air pollution is still the main environmental health hazard, resulting in high costs for health care systems, unhealthy workers and an estimated 400,000 premature deaths in Europe in 2011.

To help protect emergency first responders from exposure to the Ebola virus, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is seeking comments to a Tentative Interim Amendment (TIA) to NFPA 1999, Standard on Protective Clothing for Emergency Medical Operations.

The National Retail Federation forecasts that retailers and merchants will hire between 730,000 and 790,000 seasonal workers this holiday season. Many of these workers, such as sales associates and cashiers, have little, if any, opportunity to sit during their work shift.

2015 NHCA conference registration is open, and registering by Friday, Dec. 19 will yield significant savings.

Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) professionals have to make many decisions on a daily basis. These decisions can involve risk assessment methods, preventive workplace measures, workers’ health surveillance or even rehabilitation or return-to-work practices.

Recommended standards for clinical low-back pain research hold promise for more consistently designed research and, in the long term, better treatment solutions to support those living with chronic low-back pain. The recommendations from the National Institutes of Health Task Force on Research Standards for Chronic Low-Back Pain were published in several leading back pain journals.