Editorial Comments: Safety & Health | ISHN - Articles

Defining culture of health: Beyond workplace wellness

November 12, 2019

Many companies are interested in the concept of "Culture of Health" to improve health and well-being throughout their organization. But some current definitions don't encompass the full range of social influences essential for building a Culture of Health, according to an editorial in the November Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Improving indoor air quality amid wildfires

November 11, 2019

In California and other U.S. western states, wildfires have become more frequent and intense, adversely impacting air quality and human health. Smoke from wildfires contains many toxins and irritants, including particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter, which, due to their size, penetrate deep into the lungs and contribute to cardiopulmonary and respiratory illness.

Potted plants are irrelevant to indoor air quality

November 11, 2019

If you thought potted plants purified air in your home or office, you are mistaken, according to researchers at Drexel University. A new study on decades of research into plants and air quality suggests the benefits of potted plants are vastly overstated. “Plants are great, but they don’t actually clean indoor air quickly enough to have an effect on the air quality of your home or office environment," said Michael Waring, an associate professor of architectural and environmental engineering in Drexel’s College of Engineering.

Are toxic cultures rampant?

Survey paints discouraging picture

Dave Johnson

November 3, 2019

Google “safety culture” and you get about 1,600,000,000 results in 0.95 seconds. Safety and health managers have long known the importance of culture – the organization’s values, beliefs and leadership - on safety, morale, productivity, engagement, presenteeism and absenteeism. Culture has been at the top of safety and health issues for the past ten years at least.

Editor's Note

OSHA – the good, the bad, the future

“Our Savior Has Arrived” once said safety pros. That was long ago.

Dave Johnson

October 1, 2019

We’re coming up on an anniversary: in 1970 Congress passed and President Richard Nixon signed into the law the Occupational Safety and Health Act, creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA.

Editor's Letter

Crossing a street… Incidents are so random sometimes

Dave Johnson

September 12, 2019

At 10:30 in the morning the avenue is not busy. Rush hour has passed. The light changed, I got the pedestrian right of way signal, and started to casually walk to the island in the middle of the road. A line of cars and trucks waited at the intersection to turn left onto the avenue once pedestrians were all clear. I saw an SUV or pickup, I can’t recall, beginning to make its turn early – heading straight at me.

New York City doubles down on traffic fatalities & injuries

Meeting the promise of “Vision Zero”

Dave Johnson

August 1, 2019

Since 2014, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has set a goal, or more specifically a “vision,” that traffic deaths and injuries on city streets is, in his words, “not acceptable and… serious crashes will no longer (be regarded) as inevitable. We won’t accept this any longer.”

Help stop a suicide: Rates dramatically increasing in the workplace

Dave Johnson

July 8, 2019

“Today we’re going to talk about something bigger than PPE, policies and practices. Something we’ve never discussed before. Can’t really fit it into a toolbox. It’s called life.

Neglect leaves OSHA short-staffed and leaderless

Desperate hours at the agency?

Dave Johnson

June 18, 2019

In OSHA’s 48-year-old history, the agency has experienced desperate hours on a regular schedule. The agency opened its door in 1971. Before the decade was out a “STOP OSHA” lobbying movement was underway. In 1979, Republican Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania proposed an “OSHA Improvements Act” which would have exempted from inspections all employers, large or small, regardless of industry, with good safety records. It was defeated in 1980.

reporting serious injuries and fatalities

Knockin’ on heaven’s door

It’s a sound no one wants to hear in safety – to the harm of protecting workers

Dave Johnson

April 23, 2019

In 2017, 5,147 workers in the U.S. were killed on the job, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, down slightly from 5.190 in 2016. The fatal injury rate in 2017 was 3.5 per 100,000 full-time employees. Three or four people out of 100,000. Not close to one percent. Meaning most everyone escapes being touched by a work-related death.