"Our inspections identified a large number of mechanical, respirator protection, electrical, lead, fire, explosive, and other hazards that must be effectively and continuously addressed to protect the workers at this plant from potentially deadly or disabling injuries and illnesses now and in the future," said Rosemarie Ohar, OSHA's area director in New Hampshire.
Post-hearing comments will be due by Aug. 14. The agency's proposed rule addresses a new technology, a monitor to be worn by coal miners throughout a shift that reports dust exposure levels continuously.
With 25,288 confirmed cases of influenza A(H1N1) as of June 8, the threat of a serious outbreak has not disappeared, says pandemic expert Dr. Maurice A. Ramirez. He recommends offering a "flu benefit" and says employers should prepare for having 30 percent of their workers unavailable because of flu.
'World No Tobacco Day 2009' on May 31 is the occasion for a campaign to make packaging more alarming, to warn smokers and potential smokers more directly.
A May 28 conference co-sponsored by the California Department of Public Health looked at sustainable farming and ecologically friendly pest control, along with health impacts of pesticide use.
In addition, the standard's Fire Protection in Shipyard Employment subpart includes sections on implementing a fire safety plan, fire watches, and fire response. Hexavalent chromium has been added to the list of air contaminants whose concentrations should not exceed stated exposure levels.
The standard will require hospitals, health and correctional facilities, EMS, homeless shelters, labs, and others to develop control measures to lower employees' risk of infection.
A study in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report is timed to 2009 National Recreational Water Illness Prevention Week (May 18-24) with the aim of educating parents, instructors, pool maintenance workers, and others.
President Obama has chosen Dr. Thomas Frieden, commissioner of New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for seven years, to replace Julie Gerberding atop CDC, according to news reports today.
Mexico has recorded 60 deaths, and the count of countries where cases have turned up remained at 33 today, WHO said in its daily update.
The biggest news in U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis' first semiannual regulatory agenda is no news: Nothing big was promised, just a little forward progress on long-awaited rules.
"The decision to declare an influenza pandemic will fall on my shoulders," Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, said Friday. "I can assure you, I will take this decision with utmost care and responsibility."
A secondhand smoke Health Hazard Evaluation triggered by confidential requests from non-poker dealers at Bally's, Paris, and Caesars Palace casinos found evidence of exposure to a known carcinogen from tobacco smoke, based on measurable levels in their urine.
Filed April 28, the petition says OSHA has acknowledged both the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for crystalline silica and OSHA’s abrasive blasting standard (29 CFR 1910.94) are "seriously outdated."
The Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission are alerting the public to be wary of Internet sites and other promotions for products that claim to diagnose, prevent, mitigate, treat, or cure the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus.
"There's a common misconception about who's at risk. Many people think that occupations like miners and chemical workers are at high risk. But in fact, hairdressers, dental hygienists, industrial bakers and even teachers are at risk, too," said Dr. Susan Tarlo, a respirologist at the University of Toronto and a spokesperson for the Ontario Lung Association for World Asthma Day (May 5).