Environmental Health and Safety

RSS

Providing accommodations to aging workers with disabilities, chronic health problems or reduced work capacity can help employers retain experienced staff who might otherwise leave the workforce prematurely, according to two briefs issued recently by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The EPA and the U.S. Department of Justice have announced a settlement with Tyson Foods, Inc. and several of its affiliate corporations over incidents in which anhydrous ammonia was released at facilities in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska, resulting in multiple injuries, property damage, and one fatality.

Business and civic leaders, the labor community, economists, and educators are talking about the future of the American workforce. As the saying goes, the future begins now. News stories abound about the “skills gap”—in nursing, manufacturing, engineering, computer technology and other fields—that require postsecondary technical education and training.

In the United States, physicians lead all major occupational groups in overall wellbeing, followed by school teachers and business owners. Transportation workers have the lowest wellbeing scores, behind manufacturing and production workers.

Working all day in front of a computer screen can result in eye fatigue but a U.S. optometrist says breaks and blinks helps combat computer vision syndrome, according to UPI. The American Optometric Association defines computer vision syndrome as the complex of eye and vision problems related to near work that are experienced during or related to computer use.

The EPA says it will begin assessing 23 chemicals – 20 of which are commonly used as flame retardants (FR) -- for potential risks to human health and the environment. This effort is part of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Work Plan which identifies commonly used chemicals for risk assessment.

The proposed rule to lower the permissible exposure limit for crystalline silica got dusted off earlier this month after a long period of inactivity at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Mere days after an agreement that seemed to bring fracking forces and fracking foes together, some environmental groups are crying foul.

ACGIH® has released its 2013 editions of the TLVs® and BEIs® book and the Guide to Occupational Exposure Values. The information in the user-friendly, pocket-sized TLVs® and BEIs® book is used worldwide as a guide for evaluation and control of workplace exposures to chemical substances and physical agents.