News - Articles - Page 339

A NIOSH Blog post

Job complexity, race, and socioeconomic status

Examining health disparities from an occupational perspective

October 5, 2017

Research conducted in the United States on racial/ethnic health disparities and socioeconomic status (SES) has not fully considered occupation. Because racial and ethnic groups are not represented equally in all occupations, differences in job characteristics may help explain racial/ethnic health disparities.

It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Black/white mortality differences closing in several states

October 5, 2017

Overall breast cancer death rates dropped 39 percent between 1989 and 2015, averting 322,600 breast cancer deaths during those 26 years. And while black women continue to have higher breast cancer death rates than whites nationally, death rates in several states are now statistically equivalent, perhaps reflecting an elimination of disparities in those states.

Loss prevention reps can help lower construction injuries

October 5, 2017

In a finding that could have special significance for smaller construction firms, researchers have determined that insurance loss prevention (LP) representatives – who are often a low or no-cost benefit for insurance policyholders – can help reduce the overall incidence of lost-time injuries.

AIHA urges Trump to help protect workers exposed to opioids and their synthetic analogues

October 5, 2017

The unique needs of first responders and related workers must not be forgotten as the nation combats the opioid epidemic. This was the core message of comments AIHA recently submitted to the President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. Workers who may be exposed include first responders such as law enforcement, DEA agents, and EMTs, as well as crime lab analysts and others.

October is National Protect Your Hearing Month

October 4, 2017

More than 36 million adults in the U.S. have some degree of hearing loss, according to the American Academy of Audiology. What may be surprising to people who think that hearing loss is a problem that comes with old age: more than 18 million are younger than age 65.

A Confined Space blog post

Lac Mégantic: Blame the worker on steroids

Jordan Barab

October 4, 2017

An unmanned, half-mile long train “bomb train” carrying tank-cars full of highly explosive crude oil barrels toward a city where it is doomed to derail on a curve, killing everyone in its wake. Luckily, Denzel Washington and Chris Pine show up to save the city at the last second. Everyone lives happily every after.

Companies in Virginia, Michigan endanger workers

October 3, 2017

A Virginia air conditioning company faces $225,995 in penalties after a worker plunged to his death at one of its worksites. The man was an employee of a Whitley/Service Roofing and Sheet Metal Company.

Australian searchers end hunt for missing Malaysia aircraft

October 3, 2017

Authorities in Australia have closed the book on a commercial aircraft that went missing three years ago and has never been found. In a final report published yesterday, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said it would be impossible to determine the cause of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on March 8, 2014, without finding the remains of the aircraft.

CDC Zika operations returning to normal

October 3, 2017

CDC has deactivated its emergency response for the Zika virus and will resume normal program operations. A team of experts from across the agency, called the Zika Coordination and Operations Transition Team (ZCOTT), will lead the transition from EOC activation to routine, long-term activities and will ensure timely coordination and collaboration on scientific, communication, and policy activities.

Gulf spill cleanup workers suffered symptoms

October 3, 2017

Workers who were likely exposed to dispersants while cleaning up the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill experienced a range of health symptoms including cough and wheeze, and skin and eye irritation, according to scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Their study appeared online Sept. 15 in Environmental Health Perspectives and is the first research to examine dispersant-related health symptoms in humans.