Exposures

Feds distribute $10.5M in workplace safety and health training grants

September 3, 2015

OSHA has awarded $10.5 million in one-year federal safety and health training grants to 80 nonprofit organizations across the nation for education and training programs to help high-risk workers and their employers recognize serious workplace hazards, implement injury prevention measures and understand their rights and responsibilities.

Effectiveness of respirator programs make all the difference

Sally J. Smart

November 4, 2013

When effective engineering controls and work practice control measures are not feasible, or while they are being implemented or evaluated, respiratory protection may be required to achieve this objective.

OSHA

The truth that sickens and kills

Michaels admits PELs are outdated, dangerous

Dave Johnson

November 1, 2013

In this case, it does much more than merely hurt. “This case” refers to last Thursday’s (October 24, 2013) rather extraordinary admission by OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels that hundreds of OSHA’s permissible exposures limits (PELs) are far out of date, basically useless, and in fact dangerous.

Chemistry industry says OSHA safety tools are “too narrow”

ACC urges agency to get stakeholder input

October 31, 2013

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is taking issue with an online tool developed by OSHA to help employers assess the relative safety of potential alternatives for hazardous chemicals. While the ACC said it welcomed OSHA’s recent launch of a website making it easier to access up-to-date information on Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) for the workplace, it feels more input is needed.

Industrial hygiene

Five steps to successful exposure assessments

Jerome Spear

October 31, 2013

The better our understanding of exposures and the risks they pose, the more assurance we have that we are controlling the most important (highest risk) exposures first. Control efforts (such as engineering, work practice, or personal protective equipment) are often costly to implement and maintain.

Tests on Gulf spill cleanup workers show altered blood chemistry

Exposure to oil, dispersants heightens cancer risk

October 2, 2013

Researchers studying a small sampling of workers who’d helped clean up the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill found significantly altered blood profiles that could indicate an increased risk of certain kinds of cancer.

Contractors wanted: Help NIOSH advance research to protect workers from silica

Testing at real work sites needed

March 29, 2013

NIOSH is currently testing low-cost solutions for protecting workers from silica exposure when cutting fiber cement siding. You can help us test a dust control and at the same time add to the research that supports and advances the prevention of silicosis.

Cadmium and lead linked to hearing loss in U.S. adults

Even low levels can damage hearing

February 21, 2013

Low levels of two common metals may contribute to hearing loss, according to a study published recently in Environmental Health Perspectives. Researchers found that lead and cadmium – even at levels below national workplace standards set by OSHA – can damage hearing.

Are we in the age of “do nothing” safety?

Dave Johnson

January 29, 2013

In the movie “Zero Dark Thirty” a brief exchange occurs between a CIA subordinate and his boss at Langley HQ. The subordinate and his team are frustrated. The higher-ups are not with aggression pursuing leads that the team believes could track down Bin Laden. “I wonder,” says the subordinate. “how do you assess the risk of doing nothing?”

Is your job making you sick?

Canadian study seeks answers

Dave Johnson

January 17, 2013

A new study, funded by the Canadian Cancer Society, will examine the human and economic impact of workplace exposure to 44 known or suspected carcinogens and their links to 27 types of cancer. The study's main goals are to quantify - for the first time - how serious the problem is in Canada by estimating the number of new cancer cases and cancer deaths that can be attributed to workplace factors, and also to weigh the economic impact.