Environmental Health and Safety

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Stafford Transport Inc., a solid waste removal trucking company, has been cited by OSHA for five safety and health violations following an inspection at the company's Mableton facility. OSHA initiated the inspection in July 2014 as part of the agency's Site-Specific Targeting Program, which directs enforcement resources to workplaces with higher-than-average rates of injuries and illnesses.

A series of toxic chemical exposures at the Hanford Site is prompting stepped up safety measures at the vast nuclear cleanup site in southeastern Washington, according to documents obtained by KING 5 News.

The rampant use of toxic chemicals at almost every workplace is putting the huge number of the country's workforce at high health risk, as according to a survey, at least 21 people die in Bangladesh every month due to use of such chemicals.

The percentage of positive drug tests among American workers has increased for the first time in more than a decade, fueled by a rise in marijuana and amphetamines, according to an analysis of 8.5 million urine, oral fluid and hair workplace drug test results by Quest Diagnostics.

The American Industrial Hygiene Association® (AIHA) has described the potential exposures and health risks associated with the use of electronic cigarettes in a new report. The report reviewed current scientific information and evaluated the effects of chemicals used in e-cigarettes and emitted from them.

Dr. Christine Whittaker Sofge of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) spoke on the subject of occupational exposure banding at the AIHA Fall Conference. Sofge, who is Chief of the NIOSH Risk Evaluation Branch in Cincinnati, OH, explored the question: “What to do when you don’t have a lot of data.”

This morning, Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez announced the release of the department’s “Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor” report. The report is prepared annually by the department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs, and it assesses efforts by more than 140 countries to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.