PPE


Is Anything New in Respiratory Protection?

So what’s new with respirators? It’s true that most respirator designs do not change much from year to year. And when they do, the changes are very likely within the expected evolutionary range.Components are enhanced by technology to provide more safety for users. Cartridge designs are a little sleeker. The air for air-supplied respirators is bottled in a smaller or larger cylinder that may be made from a new material or improved by a new manufacturing process.

ITC Terminates Nitrile Glove Infringement Investigations

Today's Federal Register notice says the International Trade Commission has affirmed an administrative law judge's Aug. 25, 2008, determination that the asserted patent claims at issue are invalid.

chemicals in 55-gallon drums

Britain Adjusting Chemical Hazard Regulations to GHS

A proposal out for comments will allow for the enforcement of the European Regulation on the Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures, which adopts the internationally agreed Global Harmonized System on the classification and labeling of chemicals.

firefighters boots

NIOSH Studies What Boots Do to Firefighters

Exertion is part of it, as is the firefighter's balance when wearing the boots. The agency has compared rubber and leather boots at its labs in Morgantown, W.Va., and Pittsburgh, Pa.

National Eye Health Education Program Names New Planning Committee Chair

Anne L. Coleman, M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed chair of the National Eye Health Education Program Planning Committee. She is professor of Ophthalmology and Epidemiology/Public Health at UCLA and director of the Center for Eye Epidemiology at UCLA's Jules Stein Eye Institute.

UK Opens Inquiry on Root Causes of Construction Fatalities

James Purnell, Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions, said he commissioned the inquiry because some 2,800 people have died from injuries in construction work in the past 25 years, and "no one can find it acceptable that this number of people have died directly as a cause of their work and we are not making sufficient progress on preventing this total of human misery."

NIOSH Seeks Technical Review of Asbestos Draft Document

NIOSH has engaged The National Academies' Institute of Medicine to review the draft NIOSH Current Intelligence Bulletin: "Asbestos Fibers and other Elongated Mineral Particles: State of the Science and Roadmap for Research."

IEC Renews OSHA Alliance, Develops Arc Flash Safety Presentation

The presentation, which includes slides, focuses on hot work and arc flash hazards and how to protect oneself against shock and arc flashes or blasts.



Spike in Fatalities Before Athens Games Explored

A study examined factors contributing to occupational deaths in East Attica, Greece, in the five years preceding the 2004 Olympics. A 2002 increase to 19 deaths was linked with construction of large-scale public works projects, the investigators concluded.

medical exam gloves

Group to Develop Test Methods for Antimicrobial Medical Gloves

ASTM International has formed a new task group on antimicrobial medical gloves and invites glove suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors; contract test labs; government agency representatives; and infection control practitioners to participate in it.

OSHA Leaves 'Employer Pays' Intact

Today's final rule, effective Jan. 12, 2009, says the agency weighed 50 comments and what was said at an Oct. 6 hearing and decided not to change the Aug. 19 proposal that explicitly states where employers may be cited on a per-employee basis for not providing PPE and/or training.

NY Developer Cited for Willful Lack of Asbestos Monitoring

"Employees who were removing asbestos-containing materials at this site lacked basic safeguards that must be in place before performing such work," said Robert Kowalski, OSHA's area director in Bridgeport, Conn.

Researchers Identify Age-Related Hearing Loss Gene

Presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss, accounts for 30 percent of all hearing loss, according to a recent online study release in the journal Human Molecular Genetics.

DuPont Recalls Heavy Duty Acidic Cleaner Due to Leaking Cap

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with DuPont, of Wilmington, Del., has announced a voluntary recall of DuPont's Heavy Duty Acidic Cleaner bottles. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Grainger Merging Lab Safety Supply with Grainger Industrial Supply

The combination allows the distributor to merge two U.S. supply chains into one, cutting costs and enabling faster growth, Grainger officials said last week.

Crane Safety, Crisis Operations Top ASSE Agenda in Arizona

The two-day symposium takes place this week in Scottsdale and will be keynoted by T. Shane Bush's presentation, "Right Brain Leadership for the Future of Construction Safety."

Survey Finds High Rate of PPE Non-Compliance

According to a new survey released today by Kimberly-Clark Professional, 89 percent of safety professionals polled at the 2008 National Safety Council (NSC) Congress have observed workers failing to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) when they should have been.

3M Welding Survey Offers Chance at Free Eyewear

3M recently started a giveaway promotion to coincide with the launch of its new Lexa™ MinimIzeR™ safety glasses. The eyewear is designed for welders, helpers, and other personnel around the immediate welding site, such as supervisors or engineers, to minimize their chances of accidental exposure to "flash burn."

OccuNomix International, LLC high-vis apparel

Visibly Cool: Highway Construction Wear Getting a Makeover

A full wardrobe of stylish gear is ready for the Nov. 24 effective date of the FHWA rule requiring high-visibility apparel (such as this OccuNomix International, LLC outfit) for those working in highway work zones, including emergency responders.

EPA Promulgates New Use Rules for Two Nanoparticles

The agency has determined that, for both substances, use without impervious gloves or a NIOSH-approved respirator with an APF of at least 10 may cause serious health effects.

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