Environmental Health and Safety

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Two months after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, residents of the U.S. territory are still being told to boil water from rivers and streams before using it to drink, bathe, wash or cook with. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that if it’s not possible to boil water – for at least a minute - water may be disinfected with bleach. That warning is part of an EPA update on Hurricane Maria’s effects on Puerto Rico.

Affordable eye protection, chemical labeling solutions and an emergency shower that decontaminates were among the top occupational safety and health products featured on ISHN.com this week.

Many top OSHA positions go unfilled, the future of drones in construction and “mum’s the word” on climate change as far as the EPA is concerned. These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

New research conducted at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health finds exposure to arsenic in drinking water was significantly reduced among Americans using public water systems following a 2006 EPA regulation on maximum levels of arsenic. Compliance with the regulation led to a decline of 17 percent in levels of urinary arsenic, equivalent to an estimated reduction of more than 200 cases of lung and bladder disease every year.

On the heels of a new report from Government Accountability Office (GAO) noting that climate change is costing the federal government billions, the EPA this week canceled speeches by three agency scientists, who were scheduled to discuss climate change at a conference in Providence, Rhode Island.

Firefighters aren’t the only workers who are exposed to smoke from California’s wildfires. Employees who are working in outdoor areas in proximity to wildfire smoke – which can contain chemicals, gases and fine particles that can harm health – must also be protected, according to Cal/OSHA.

“People matter – now more than ever” – this was confirmed at the recent staging of A+A 2017, the leading international trade fair for safety, security and health at work. A total of 1,930 exhibitors from 63 countries and over 67,000 trade visitors (2015: 65,000) from more than 100 nations participated in the world’s largest trade fair for this sector held in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Assess- Look carefully at plant operations. Inspect all work areas, access routes, and equipment for hazards to eyes. Study eye accident and injury reports. Identify operations and areas the present eye hazards. Test- Uncorrected vision problems can cause accidents. Provide vision testing during routine employee physical exams.

Eye injuries in the workplace are very common. More than 2,000 people injure their eyes at work each day. About 1 in 10 injuries require one or more missed workdays to recover from. Of the total amount of work-related injuries, 10-20 percent will cause temporary or permanent vision loss. Experts believe that the right eye protection could have lessened the severity or even prevented 90% of eye injuries in accidents.

A stunning workplace violence incident, sexual harassment in the workplace and a top ranking that nobody wants for rural areas of the U.S. were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.