DuPont has settled one of the lawsuits brought by the families of four workers killed in a fatal gas leak at DuPont's La Porte plant in November, 2014, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The American Industrial Hygiene Association® (AIHA) earlier this month filed comments for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Request for Information (RFI) on Chemical Management and Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs).
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has begun training for airport workers, in order to equip cabin cleaners, janitorial workers, baggage handlers, security officers and wheelchair attendants with the tools necessary to better tackle infectious diseases.
Nanotechnology is transforming many industries, including construction. Nanomaterials are incredibly small - between 1 to 100 nanometers or about a million times smaller than the length of an ant. At this size, materials can take on new properties.
NIOSH reports about 2,000 U.S. workers sustain job-related eye injuries that require medical treatment each day. However, safety experts and eye doctors believe the right eye protection could have lessened the severity or even prevented 90% of these eye injuries.
In the United States, about 82,000 chemicals are available to use, often in the workplace. Since little is known about the harmful effects of these chemicals—either alone, or combination—research is needed to determine safe chemical exposure levels for workers.
Certain types of UV radiation can produce an injury to the surface and mucous membrane (conjunctiva) of the eye called "arc eye," "welders' eye" or "arc flash." These names are common names for "conjunctivitis" - an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the front of the eye. The symptoms include:
Paragraph (c) of OSHA’s Occupational Safety & Health Standards - 29 CFR 1910.151 (Medical services and first aid.) requires “where the eyes or body of any person may be exposed to injurious corrosive materials, suitable facilities for quick drenching or flushing of the eyes and body shall be provided within the work area of immediate emergency use.”
An ongoing investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) of the November 15, 2014, toxic chemical leak that killed four workers at the E. I. du Pont de Nemours insecticide plant in La Porte, Texas, has uncovered flawed safety procedures, design problems and inadequate planning.
To learn whether exposure to potentially hazardous chemicals in the workplace increases the risk of birth defects, NIOSH researchers are partnering with the Centers for Birth Defects Research and Prevention (CBDRP) on one of the largest birth-defects prevention research efforts in the nation.
