A new rule issued today by OSHA dramatically lowers workplace exposure to beryllium, a strategically important material that can cause devastating lung diseases. The new beryllium standards for general industry, construction and shipyards will require employers to take additional, practical measures to protect an estimated 62,000 workers from these serious risks.
Nearly half of all adult asthma cases – 48 percent -- might be related to work – and thus, preventable -- according to a study published in the CDC’s MMWR last month. This finding means as many as 2.7 million U.S. workers might have asthma caused by or exacerbated by workplace conditions.
The first weekend of the new year could be a dangerous one for the 80 million Americans who are in the path of what authorities are calling a “historic” winter storm.
As the weather system that has already devastated western states sweeps eastward, the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for parts of Georgia, the Carolinas and Alabama that begins this afternoon.
25 miners died in work-related accidents last year
January 6, 2017
Preliminary data released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) indicate that in 2016, 25 miners died in work-related accidents at the nation’s mines – down from 29 in 2015. The figure represents the lowest number of mining deaths ever recorded and only the second year that mining deaths dropped below 30.
For the third time since the summer of 2015, a worker with a metal container manufacturer has suffered an amputation injury. In each incident, federal safety investigators found that, if the employer had complied with workplace safety standards, the injuries were preventable.
Coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, also known as “black lung disease,” has reappeared in the U.S. in “alarming” numbers, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Occupational hearing loss is one of the most common work-related illnesses in the United States, yet it does not often come top of mind when we consider workplace incidents.
In a letter to members of Congress yesterday, the American Public Health Association strongly opposed attempts to repeal or weaken the Affordable Care Act.
"Any effort to repeal the ACA without ensuring a viable and immediate replacement plan is unconscionable and will put the health of the American people at an unacceptable risk," wrote APHA Executive Director Georges C. Benjamin, MD.
January is National Radon Action Month, when the EPA encourages all Americans to test their homes for radon. Exposure to radon in indoor air is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Test your home and make 2017 a safer and healthier year.
“January is the time when we remind everyone to ‘test, fix and save a life.’ That’s because lung cancer due to radon can be prevented by testing, and if needed, fixing your home. It’s a simple and important way to help safeguard your family’s health,” said Jon Edwards, Director of EPA’s Office of Radiation and Indoor Air.
Employee exposure to unguarded or inadequately guarded machines is prevalent in many workplaces. Workers who operate and maintain machinery suffer approximately 18,000 amputations, lacerations, crushing injuries, abrasions, and over 800 deaths per year.
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