Environmental Health and Safety - Articles - Page 140

CDC, OSHA: Heat stress risk starts at 85 degrees Fahrenheit

May 13, 2019

After an analysis of 25 OSHA heat-related illnesses — 14 fatal and 11 nonfatal — the Centers for Disease Control suggested that employers start screening their workers for heat stress when the heat index reaches 85 degrees Fahrenheit rather than the 91 F OSHA currently recommends. Heat stress covers a wide variety of potential illnesses, including life-threatening heat stroke.

All about California’s heat stroke law

May 13, 2019

The state of California continues to place obligations for preventing employee heat stroke onto employers. In 2015, California heat stroke law clarified that cooldown periods or “recovery periods” must be paid, by state law.

Deadly heat wave worsens as recovery from Cyclone Fani continues

May 13, 2019

Areas recovering from destructive Cyclone Fani will have to endure dangerous temperatures as a heat wave builds across northern and eastern India. The heat already turned deadly with at least three deaths from sunstroke reported in Andhra Pradesh, according to OneIndia.

The human body can’t handle the heat

May 13, 2019

The human body can’t handle excessive heat. The processes that keep us alive work best within a certain temperature window. That’s generally between about 36° and 37° Celsius (96.8° to 98.6° Fahrenheit), depending on the person.

Health policy legislation shifts to the states

The U.S. lags behind competing nations. Where there is no critical mass for action, states are filling the void.

Ilise L. Feitshans JD, ScM and DIR

May 13, 2019

We have a swamp of occupational safety and health theory and practice currently. Lack of nationwide clarity undermines what should be unequivocal reproductive health protections, whether preconceptual, post-childbearing for target reproductive organs, or during pregnancy.

Weekly news round-up

May 11, 2019

Cooperating with OSHA gets two employees fired – and their employer found guilty of retaliation; health experts want asbestos banned and the Association Health Plans program gets a defeat in court. These were among the top occupational safety and health stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

A FairWarning Story

Worker advocates burned up over lack of federal heat protections

Marjie Lundstrom

May 10, 2019

On a summer morning near Dayton, Ohio, a temporary worker began his first day with a commercial roofing company around 6:30 a.m. Mark Rainey, 60, was assigned to a crew to rip off and dispose of an old bank-building roof. Within hours, as the heat index reached 85 degrees, his co-workers noticed the new guy was “walking clumsily,” then became ill and collapsed, according to documents from OSHA.

Four occupational safety experts honored as ASSP Fellows

May 10, 2019

The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), the world’s oldest professional safety organization, is bestowing the honor of Fellow on four longtime members who have made significant contributions to the occupational safety and health profession.

From Rite-Hite: Beat the heat in your warehouse this summer

May 10, 2019

Summer is just around the corner. And while we all welcome the sunshine and a break from the cold and snow…are you ready for higher temperatures, rain and an influx of bugs and pests?

Arc flash deaths often occur in confined spaces

A study of electrical injuries and fatalities on the job

Electrical injuries: facts & myths

Dave Johnson

May 10, 2019

IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, recently produced a paper1 reviewing 100 years of research on shock and arc injuries. Going back, the first recognized hazard to workers was the shock hazard.