Environmental Health and Safety

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A supplement to the December issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (JOEH), will address current issues related to the science of setting occupational exposure limits (OELs). The ten articles in State of the Science of Occupational Exposure Limit Methods and Guidance resulted from collaborations between scientists at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA), and other organizations.

Fair and equal application of rules/ regulations/ law is at the heart of safety and health programs.

As a consultant, you find yourself in a vast array of work environments.

Although employees trained in first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation are commonplace in workplaces, the concept of first responders for mental health crises is still very much in its infancy, even though millions of workers take sick leave or paid time off each year due to mental illness.

In Europe almost one worker in four (23 per cent) believes that their work represents a risk to their health, according to the first results of the European inquiry into working conditions, presented in Luxembourg on 24 November.

Bob, an experienced firefighter and trainer started to experience chest pain, shortness of breath, and a cough with blood following a firefighter training that he set up and led. At the emergency room, the doctor ruled out a blood clot in his lungs. However, an x-ray did show Bob had small nodules in his lungs.

The digital workplace has introduced both exciting new possibilities and an unwelcome new dimension to the problem of work-related stress, according to Andrea Maria Nahles, Germany’s Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. The key to dealing with both, she says, is flexibility.

When an occupational injury occurs, the effects can extend far beyond the worker and the workplace. Just ask family members who may have to take care of their injured relative or do additional household chores and errands. Hypothetically, this could mean a spouse or child helping to support a much larger, injured relative to move to the dinner table or a child lugging heavy laundry and groceries or moving furniture.

A coal company’s bankruptcy filing will set the stage for “a harsh future” for thousands of retired coal miners, predicts United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) International President Cecil E. Roberts.

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) held the Healthy Workplaces 2015 Summit in Bilbao on 3-4 November. ETUI researchers Viktor Kempa and Aida Ponce Del Castillo took part in the debates focused on strategies for managing psychosocial risks in the workplace.