Presented at the section's March 28 meeting at Miami University's Shriver Center in Oxford, Ohio, the award acknowledged Dr. Pramod Kulkarni's work in developing real-time, field-portable instruments that provide information on aerosols in workplace atmospheres.
All hazards must be identified before entry to the space and listed on the permit.
NIOSH and partners released a new video to help first responders understand the risks of occupational exposures to illicit drugs and what they can do to protect themselves from exposure while responding to an emergency.
WorkSafeBC has posted a new guide, posters, and a video addressing hazards specific to craft-brewing and distilling processes, including carbon dioxide and confined spaces.
A federal grand jury also charged the nine Armstrong Coal officials with making false statements as to results of tests required to be conducted every 60 days to protect certain "designated occupations," which are the dustiest and most dangerous job assignments in a coal mine.
Valerie Wolfe, chair of the Ontario Occupational Disease Action Plan Implementation Team, said occupation disease "is a serious and poorly understood issue in Canada. Incidence numbers are high. Impact is delayed, debilitating, and frequently fatal. This website is a critical step in raising awareness of health risks in the workplace and, most importantly, provides evidence-based knowledge that can drive prevention."
Safe Work Australia is asking for comments on the draft evaluation reports and recommendations for respirable crystalline silica and respirable coal dust by April 30, saying it will consider them when making final recommendations regarding the workplace exposure standards.
The screenings are intended to detect coal workers' pneumoconiosis, or black lung, early. Black lung is a serious but preventable occupational lung disease caused by coal miners breathing respirable coal mine dust.
There is new scientific evidence that exposure to all welding fume, including mild steel welding fume, can cause lung cancer and limited evidence it is linked to kidney cancer, HSE pointed out in a notice it called a "change in enforcement expectations."
Understanding the OSHA enforcement guidance will help you. It gets to the heart of what OSHA feels are key aspects of how it expects employers to comply.
Dampness can promote the growth of mold, bacteria, fungi, and insects. Workers and others in damp buildings can be exposed to airborne pollutants from biological contaminants and the breakdown of building materials.
The rules expand a protective zone, extend the evacuation period, require storage for boots and shoes to prevent pesticides from being tracked into workers' housing, and require doors, windows, and air intakes to be closed when pesticides are applied.
The proposed changes would clarify the standard and simplify or improve standard compliance.
In the report, the National Academies study committee said addressing the respiratory needs of health care workers across their wide range of settings and jobs is an ethical imperative, adding that it will require the design of innovative reusable respirators and implementation of robust respiratory protection programs.
Controlling the risks is done by applying the hierarchy of controls: elimination, substitution, engineering controls (such as ventilation systems to remove welding fume), administrative controls, and finally, PPE.
Voting is under way on a shortlist of five finalists, including one focused on preventing welding fume exposures in the rail industry, after Safe Work Australia received more than 70 entries.
Monitoring and sampling for dusts, gases, vapors, and mists should be a part of any personal exposure assessment initiative and is not only accepted practice, it represents best practice when done correctly.
New and innovative PAPR products are increasing user acceptance and protecting workers better.
The pneumatic drill generated 444 times the OSHA permissible exposure level of silica dust, while the electric drill generated 11 times the OSHA level. The pneumatic drill's noise level was also greater than that of the electric drill, according to one study highlighted in NIOSH's October 2018 Research Rounds.
"Hurricane Key Messages for Employers, Workers and Volunteers" covers the potential dangers involved in cleanup work after storms and flooding and the proper safety precautions, with links at the end of each section to additional resources.