Environmental Health and Safety

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With more experience traveling the real world seeing safety programs in action (or inaction) I realized that words matter. They not only communicate, but they can shape the very approach you take to your safety programming. They can get you stuck or they can liberate your safety culture.

Fuel economy standards intended to combat climate change by reducing gas emissions are in for a rollback, if a proposal announced today by the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration goes into effect. Passed during the Obama administration, the standards were scheduled to become progressively tougher over time for new vehicles. The Trump administration proposal would freeze the standards at their 2020 levels for six years.

The history and motivation behind the efforts NIOSH is putting into expanding and improving occupational safety and health in Wikipedia was discussed in earlier NIOSH Science Blogs (May 19,2015 and July 25, 2018) and thru the NIOSH January 2017 eNews.

If you work in safety in a high-hazard industry, would you be worried if your company injury and illness data sat on OSHA’s website to be accessed by the public? Would you fear publicizing the data could damage your company’s reputation?

Contractor gets fined $250K in worker’s death, OSHA makes changes to electronic recordkeeping rule and New Yorkers found that they had more to fear than steam from a burst pipe in Manhattan. These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

After reaching a low point in the late 1990s, the national prevalence of coal worker’s pneumoconiosis (black lung) in miners with 25 years or more of tenure now exceeds 10 percent and in some areas is much higher than that, according to a study published in the American Public Health Association’s American Journal of Public Health.

Standard teaching techniques apply to all types of learning. But safety training exists on a level of its own given the life and death stakes involved. While safety professionals need to find teaching ideas that work, many find themselves falling back on the same tired slide presentations.

It’s vital to provide individuals with the anti-fog (AF) lens coating that meets the rigors of the job. But an effective AF coating is only as good as they eyewear it’s on. If workers are uncomfortable in their fog-free eyewear, they’re likely to remove it.

Safety training has been around forever. There are also safety orientations, safety coaching, safety mentoring, safety education, safety feedback. These staples of safety programs have one thing in common: showing employees how to recognize risks, know the rules, and avoid injury or illness.

The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) was recognized twice by both the APEX Awards and the Content Marketing Awards for the IH Heroes Outreach program and the I Am IH™ web series. The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA®) will receive two APEX Awards for Publication Excellence from Communications Concepts, Inc. AIHA won a Grand Award in the Electronic Media category for the IH Heroes™ comic and a Certificate of Excellence for the IH Heroes™ series.