Respiratory hazards - Articles - Page 2

Five workers injured in blast at ammunition company

Process Safety Management standards violated at facility

November 15, 2013

An OSHA investigation at Crane Army Ammunitions Activity in Indiana following an explosion and fire that sent five workers to the hospital has resulted in 36 notices of unsafe or unhealthful working conditions at the company.

First responders failed to wear respirators in vinyl chloride spill

Dave Johnson

August 1, 2013

More than seven months after a train derailment and chemical spill forced more than 700 people from their homes in Paulsboro, N.J., the borough remains ill-prepared to respond to a similar or worse accident, officials told federal investigators, according to various news reports.

How’s the air quality in your neighborhood?

July 10, 2013

If you plan to spend time outdoors, check the Air Quality Index (AQI) for your location. If the air quality is unhealthy, try to reduce the time you spend outside, or change your plans altogether.

Yes, occupational safety and health investigative reporting still exists

“I began chasing down a long, long paper trail"

Dave Johnson

May 28, 2013

The13th Annual Upton Sinclair Memorial Lecture for Outstanding EHS Investigative Reporting at AIHce was entitled, “Breaking the Silence: The Importance of Public Records for Worker Safety at Sensient Flavors,” presented by Tony Cook, an Indianapolis Star reporter who covered the investigation of the Sensient plant where federal health officials found a third of the plant’s roughly 100 production workers had experienced abnormally restrictive lung function.

NIOSH recommends new exposure levels for nanomaterials

Minimizing worker exposure is recommended

April 30, 2013

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is recommending that occupational exposures to carbon nanotubes and nanofibers be controlled to reduce worker’s potential risk for certain work-related lung effects. NIOSH is the first federal agency to issue recommended exposure levels for this growing industry.