Environmental Health and Safety

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Will workers resist, due to privacy concerns, using wearables that capture a workers’ vitals? Carina Santos, CEO, Logical Safety: Privacy concerns are at the tip of many peoples tongues at the moment.

California has adopted the first ergonomic standard in the nation written specifically to protect hotel housekeepers. The new workplace safety and health regulation to prevent and reduce work-related injuries to housekeepers in the hotel and hospitality industry was approved March 9 by the Office of Administrative Law and will become effective July 1.

Occupational hazards are broadly defined as “a risk accepted as a consequence of a specific profession,” and in many instances, the construction and industrial sectors top the list of dangerous professions. While strides have been made in the realm of worker safety over the past several decades, many underlying risks still remain prevalent in the workplace.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) – the government agency that conducts research and makes recommendations for preventing work-related injuries and illnesses – has rolled out some tools to enhance the safety of those working in nanotechnology. This relatively new science has exploded in popularity in recent years, as scientists and engineers find more and more uses for engineered nanomaterials, which may be stronger and more lightweight and offer increased control of light spectrum and greater chemical reactivity than their larger-scale counterparts of the same composition.

Nearly three years ago, President Barack Obama responded to long-standing concerns that workers exposed to toxic chemicals at the country’s nuclear weapons labs were not receiving proper compensation. Obama created an advisory board to be composed of scientists, doctors and worker advocates. Their recommendations have led to significant changes, including the repeal of a rule that made it more difficult for workers who’d been injured in the last two decades to get compensation.

Enforcement of OSHA’s beryllium standard is delayed again, hotel workers demand “panic buttons” and a company in a high hazard industry achieves safety success. These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

As most parts of the country prepare to turn clocks ahead one hour, the National Safety Council is cautioning employers that workers in certain positions and industries who already have a higher risk of being drowsy may be even more tired than usual next Monday. According to a new NSC report, Tired at Work: How fatigue affects our bodies, shift workers, medical staff, emergency responders, military personnel, any worker over age 40, and transportation professionals – especially those who work rotating or night shifts – always are at increased risk for circadian misalignment, which occurs when we force ourselves to stay awake at hours when our bodies believe we should be sleeping.

On February 12, the federal government announced a multimillion-dollar settlement with Shell Oil over a long list of air pollution violations at a petrochemical refinery in Norco, Louisiana. In a statement, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said the settlement "demonstrates EPA's dedication" to pursuing pollution violations and protecting public health.

Nurses who rate themselves as being in suboptimal health are more likely to make medical errors, reports a study in the February Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Nurses who feel their workplace provides good support for wellness perceive their health as better—and thus may be less likely to make errors, suggests the study by Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, RN, of The Ohio State University College of Nursing and colleagues.

A Utica Shale well that XTO Energy Inc. and its contractors lost control of on February 15, 2018 was still spewing raw methane three weeks later in Ohio’s Belmont County. About 24 people were working at the Schnegg pad in York Township when contractors lost control of the well as they were pulling plugs and finishing up completion operations.