A long-term silicosis study yields valuable results; an OSHA trainer makes thousands selling fake training cards and a risk from wearable tech you may not have thought of. These were among the top occupational safety and health stories featured on ISHN.com this week.
In many European countries, women workers have a more difficult time than their male counterparts to get their cancer recognised as having been caused by work.
That’s one of the conclusions of a report of the European Agency for Safety and Health at work (EU-OSHA) which analyses the alert and sentinel systems used in various European countries for the early detection of work-related diseases.
Silicosis is a lung disease caused by exposure to airborne silica. Generally, it causes scarring (pulmonary fibrosis) after 20 or more years of exposure. Since 1988, Michigan has been identifying individuals who develop silicosis with the goal of targeting prevention actions. Michigan’s system is both the longest running and only comprehensive surveillance system for silicosis in the United States.
Rude passengers and sleep deprivation from irregular hours aren’t the only work-related hazards that crew members of airplanes have to deal with.
They – along with passengers - are exposed to cosmic ionizing radiation on every flight, because of the altitudes at which they fly. Because crew members fly more frequently, they are more at risk from the health effects of the radiation than are passengers.
Cosmic ionizing radiation (or cosmic radiation) comes from outer space.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has announced the availability of newly developed information on respiratory health and health care worker safety as well as an upcoming webinar series on ergonomics:
The final National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) for Respiratory Health is now available. The 10 strategic objectives are organized into three sections.
OSHA has posted new frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the agency's standard for respirable crystalline silica in general industry.
The agency says it developed the FAQs in consultation with industry and union stakeholders to provide guidance to employers and employees on the standard's requirements, such as exposure assessments, regulated areas, methods of compliance, and communicating silica hazards to employees.
Cleaning and disinfecting products are complex mixtures of chemicals that can irritate the skin. Evidence also shows that exposure to these products may increase the risk of work-related asthma among healthcare workers. But the effects of specific chemicals remain unclear. Now, a NIOSH study published in the journal Annals of Work Exposures and Health has added to our understanding by linking products and tasks to specific exposures.
With the recent resurgence of the most severe form of black lung disease among coal miners, especially in central Appalachia, understanding and preventing exposure to the respirable, or inhalable, dust generated during the extraction of coal is paramount. Black lung is a form of pneumoconiosis, or scarring lung disease, caused by breathing in dust that can occur with exposure to respirable coal mine dust.
A new report by EUROGIP presents an analysis of the extent to which occupational cancers are recognised in nine European countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland. It also looks at the schemes for identifying occupational cancers, especially via monitoring the health of people exposed to carcinogens in the course of their working careers.
The comment period is now open for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed objectives for Healthy People (HP) 2030. This includes proposed core objectives for Occupational Safety and Health (OSH).
