European Union (EU) legislators are considering adding or updating five binding occupational exposure limit values (OELs) to the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive (CMD), in an effort to decrease the number of occupational cancers that cause more than 100 000 deaths a year in the EU.

The Black Lung Benefits Program is more than $4 billion dollars in debt, and a 55 percent reduction scheduled at the end of 2018 in the production tax paid by coal companies will cause that deficit to nearly quadruple over the next 30 years, according to a recent report by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The rapid rise in severe cases of black lung disease has seen a corresponding increase in lifesaving and expensive lung transplants, which are mostly paid for by public insurance, according to a new study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Researchers found that the rate of lung transplants related to coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP) has increased nearly threefold.

AIHce showed a movie matinee on Tuesday. The documentary, “Complicit,” takes the audience to the worldʼs electronics factory floors, revealing the situations under which Chinaʼs youth population has shifted by the millions in search of a better life. The documentary focuses on exposures to benzene and n-hexane and the workers and activists putting pressure on the major companies and brands to prevent the exposures that changed their lives.

The federal agency that trains, tests and certifies the physicians who read X-rays and diagnose the deadly coal miners’ disease black lung said it was not consulted by Kentucky lawmakers in the 14 months they considered a new law that mostly limits diagnoses to pulmonologists working for coal companies.

Whether it’s called Workers' Memorial Day, International Workers' Memorial Day or International Commemoration Day (ICD) for Dead and Injured or Day of Mourning, April 28 will be dedicated – in all corners of the globe - to remembering workers who’ve killed, disabled, injured or sickened by their work.

Sensors are an increasing presence in our lives—from wearable gadgets to smart buildings, from autonomous vehicles to smart cities. In occupational health and safety, sensors are used widely for exposure monitoring, emergency response, and safer worker-machine interfaces. The use of sensors as real-time respirable dust monitors is a targeted application with its own specific challenges.

In a move to help all silica dust-producing operations comply with impending rule changes, two pioneers in industrial dust control are reminding customers that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) respirable crystalline silica (RCS) dust emissions Final Rule [OSHA §1910.1000 Respirable crystalline silica] compliance deadline for general industry and maritime is June 23, 2018.

The Kentucky legislature this week passed a bill to exclude radiologists from the types of doctors who can diagnose black lung disease among miners seeking workers’ compensation for their illness. A radiologist uses x-rays to diagnose disease. Black lung disease is diagnosed through x-rays and an occupational history.

Occupational hazards are broadly defined as “a risk accepted as a consequence of a specific profession,” and in many instances, the construction and industrial sectors top the list of dangerous professions. While strides have been made in the realm of worker safety over the past several decades, many underlying risks still remain prevalent in the workplace.