Environmental Health and Safety

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A serious movement is afoot to systematize the concept of “safety culture.” The International Labour Organization has put forward a definition of a “preventative safety and health culture,” and ISO is apparently discussing prospective prescriptive requirements for a “positive culture.”

Recently, someone who is engaged in the DC political scene for safety told me that the failure of the current administration’s OSHA to issue an injury and illness prevention plan standard (or I2P2) was an historic lost opportunity for OSH professionals and ASSE members.

According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research, "Smart Textile Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023," the smart textile market was valued at US $700 million in 2014, which is expected to reach US $7,730.0 million by 2023, growing at a rate of 30.8% from 2015 to 2023.

Approximately thirty leading European researchers, trade unionists and representatives of associations gathered this week for a seminar organised jointly by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), the Belgian association Santé & Solidarité, and the Free University of Brussels (ULB).

Shawn Roll, an assistant professor at the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, focuses primarily on research for the prevention, rehabilitation and assessment of musculoskeletal disorders like carpal tunnel syndrome.

Although the effects of sleepiness and fatigue has been extensively researched, the multi-layered, complex construct of fatigue has resulted in much of the research, particularly field-based studies, being confounded to some extent due to the many endogenous and exogenous variables that “interplay” simultaneously.

Employees of Lake Compounce Family Theme Park who sprayed coatings on park equipment and worked with caustic chemicals in the park's paint room were exposed to chemical, burn and respirator hazards, according to OSHA inspectors, who cited the Bristol facility for 18 serious violations of workplace safety standards.

The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) said today that as investigations of the ongoing Flint water crisis continue, public workers have a right to know that they are protected by state and federal whistleblower statutes, as well as civil service rules.

Obliterative bronchiolitis, an irreversible form of lung disease in which the smallest airways in the lung (the bronchioles) become scarred and constricted, blocking the movement of air, was previously identified in flavoring manufacturing workers and microwave popcorn workers who were occupationally exposed to diacetyl (2,3-butanedione) or butter flavorings containing diacetyl. Now, NIOSH research finds that workers at coffee processing facilities may also be at risk.

During his final year in office, President Obama is expected to usher in some major new regulations, including rules regarding worker safety, health and the environment.