Workers taking opioids or benzodiazepines (anxiety medications) prior to a work-related injury were more likely than other workers to continue taking the drugs after the injury, according to a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-funded study at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Samsung Electronics has publicly apologized for the illnesses and deaths of some of its employees at its computer chip and display factories and agreed to pay compensation up to 150 million Korean won (~$130,000) per illness.
News sources report that Samsung Electronics chief executive Kim Ki-nam, speaking at a press conference, acknowledged that the company “did not fully and completely manage potential health risks at our chip and liquid-crystal display production lines.”
The American Public Health Association (APHA) is calling the National Climate Assessment released last week is “a grave reminder of the action we need to take now to protect our communities from the negative health effects of climate change.”
Human health in the U.S. is one of the areas identified in the report as being negatively impacted by climate change.
Life expectancy in the U.S. has declined over the past few years, largely due to drug overdose deaths and suicides, according to a troubling new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Drug overdose deaths set a new record in 2017 by jumping 9.6 percent, to more than 70,000 fatalities. Suicide rates rose by 3.7 percent, continuing a trend that has seen suicides increase from 10.4 suicides per 100,000 in 1999 to 14 (per 100,000) in 2017.
On oil and gas worksites, diesel engines power machines ranging from drilling rigs to high-powered hydraulic fracturing pumps, to generators and lighting equipment. The diesel exhaust from these engines, however, is a toxic mix of chemicals that includes small particles of carbon, or soot, which can be accidentally inhaled.
A survey conducted earlier this year by a Canadian bank found that nearly 40 per cent of British Columbia (B.C.) homeowners were planning on renovating their homes. And while that’s great news for the construction industry, it’s important to be aware of the health dangers that asbestos-containing building materials in older homes pose to contractors and their crew.
When thinking of workers’ compensation insurance, we typically think of the money and other benefits provided to workers injured on the job. When public health researchers think of this same insurance, they may also see a potential opportunity to learn more information about work-related health and safety hazards.
ISHN hopes that all of our readers and website visitors have a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Many of you will be enjoying holiday dinners with family and friends. Here are some tips for how to safely enjoy those leftovers later (courtesy of FoodSafety.gov):
This month marks the 20th anniversary of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. Serving as the largest civil settlement in U.S. history, this 1998 court settlement was between 46 states and the District of Columbia and the four major tobacco companies at the time, and provided new protections against the marketing of tobacco products to kids and the opportunity for funding to address tobacco-related diseases in our nation.
A company that provides temporary agriculture labor has been cited by OSHA, after one of its employees died from a heat-related illness.
OSHA found that Rivera Agri Inc. failed to protect employees working in excessive heat after a farmworker succumbed to apparent heat-related symptoms while working in a cornfield near Grand Island, Nebraska.
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