Environmental Health and Safety

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Three employees were exposed to dangerous levels of lead, arsenic, iron oxide and copper particles and fumes while torch-cutting steel at a scrapyard operated by OmniSource St. Marys.

According to ISHN’s 2015 EHS State of the Nation subscriber survey, overall, income figures, budget resources and staffing levels, job satisfaction and job security show much more stability, and in a number of cases growth, than reported in ISHN State of the Nation surveys 5-10-15 years ago.

According to ISHN’s 2015 EHS State of the Nation subscriber survey, much EHS programmatic work in 2015 centers on: 1) building and/or maintaining a safety culture for organizations (54%); 2) finding and fixing workplace hazards (48%); 3) conducting risk assessments and risk prioritization (43%); and 4) tracking safety and health performance measures other than counting injuries and illnesses (38%).

A teenaged worker at an outdoor amusement park was burned after collapsing near a food stand fryer from excessive heat on June 9, 2014. An OSHA investigation into the incident found that seasonally-employed workers, mostly teen employees, hired as outdoor and food stand staff at Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pa. were exposed to heat hazards during their summer employment.

The maturity and evolution of the EHS profession (going beyond the traditional compliance mindset) is evident in the most serious hazards pros say they will contend with in 2015, according to ISHN’s 2015 EHS State of the Nation subscriber survey.

Small businesses are prepared to adopt workplace wellness programs and, based on the kinds of health risks facing employees, are a good target for such health interventions according to new research published in this month’s issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine from the Colorado School of Public Health.

Harmful levels of road traffic noise affect one in four people in Europe and raise health risks ranging from sleepless nights to heart disease, the European Environment Agency (EEA) has stated.

The most pressing issue facing EHS professionals in the new year, according to ISHN’s 2015 EHS State of the Nation subscriber survey, is an age-old challenge that has been reported in ISHN State of the Nation surveys since the 1980s – dealing with the safety and health attitudes and behaviors of line employees. Consider:

Research published in Occupational & Environmental Medicine in November, 2014, which examined the chronic effects of shift work on cognition, showed that shift work is associated with impaired cognitive function.

A special report in the latest issue of HesaMag, the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) periodical on health and safety at work, looks at the main factors that are undermining occupational health services in Europe. First among such factors is a shortage of specialists. The average age of occupational doctors is high, and little new blood is entering the profession.