A Presidential advisory group of the nation’s leading scientists and engineers yesterday released a new report assessing the Obama administration’s preparations for this fall’s expected resurgence of 2009-H1N1 flu and outlining key steps officials can take in the coming weeks and months to minimize the disease’s impact on the nation, according to a White House press release.
A total of 5,071 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States in 2008, down from a total of 5,657 fatal work injuries reported for 2007. While the 2008 results are preliminary, this figure represents the smallest annual preliminary total since the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program was first conducted in 1992, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Final results for 2008 will be released in April 2010.
In response to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report announcing the preliminary Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries of 5,071 fatal work injuries in 2008 — down from a total of 5,657 fatal work injuries reported in 2007 — U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis issued the following statement:
Department of Commerce (DOC) Secretary Gary Locke, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano last week announced new guidance for businesses to plan for and respond to the upcoming flu season.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has published preliminary data on the release of toxic chemicals occurring in the United States between Jan.1 and Dec. 31, 2008, according to a recent agency press release. In its continued commitment to openness and transparency, EPA is taking the unprecedented step of releasing the raw data prior to the agency completing its analysis. EPA is analyzing the data and will publish the national analysis once it is completed.
September is Healthy Aging Month, an annual observance designed to raise awareness on the positive aspects of growing older, according to a press release from ACTS Retirement-Life Communities, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit aging services organizations. The health and wellness specialists at ACTS offer the following simple and effective tips to help older adults maintain a healthy lifestyle:
For the past year, leaders of five societies representing more than one million engineers and other technical professionals have been meeting to identify steps the country might take toward managing carbon emissions, a key issue in climate change discussions, should that become public policy. According to a press release from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the group has developed a Web site for collaboration (http://www.aiche.org/FSCarbonMgmt/) and scorecards for benchmarking carbon management alternatives. The scorecards are part of an effort to assess the merits of different carbon management technologies, to identify barriers to technology deployment, and to address gaps and barriers to measuring and verifying carbon emissions.
The Alliance of Hazardous Materials Professionals™ (AHMP), formerly the Academy of Certified Hazardous Materials Managers, has launched its new Knowledge Center, a centralized education-and-resource center for all levels of industry professionals, according to an AHMP press release.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced Gerber Products Co. has agreed to settle findings of hiring discrimination against 1,912 rejected minority and female applicants for entry-level positions, an agency press release stated. The agreement settles the department's allegations that Gerber engaged in hiring discrimination against minority and female applicants for one year.