Environmental Health and Safety

RSS

The American Industrial Hygiene Association® (AIHA) has released the updated Consultants Listing, a searchable print and online directory of its consultant members. Users can search for industrial hygienists and other occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) professionals by state and specialty. This list is free of charge for the public and provides users with access to 370 companies who specialize in over 32 OEHS practice areas.

Some companies may be reluctant to invite OSHA into a plant voluntarily but Mike DeSoto, chief operating officer of MI Windows and Doors, said the end result is "very worth it." DeSoto spoke at the recent American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) 2018 Fall Conference about the need to implement a culture of workplace safety.

Julie Copeland, a Temple University Fox Business School alumnus and the CEO of Arbill, an award winning, privately-held, safety company headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, was inducted into Temple University’s League for Entrepreneurial Women (“The League”) Hall of Fame on October 16, 2018.

With more options than ever before, safety footwear is anything but a one-size-fits-all purchase. As you evaluate your footwear program, there are many things to think about, such as job-site hazards, seasonal weather exposure and material durability.

Healthcare workers should recognize the value of the occupational health professionals (OHPs) who are responsible for their health and safety. That message is coming from the Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare (AOHP) in the form of a Position Statement on The Critical Role of Occupational Health in Healthcare, which seeks to shed light on the vital role OHPs play in the industry.

An OSHA health compliance officer (an industrial hygienist -- IH) recently put me in an ethical dilemma. While conducting “side-by-side” air sampling as the employer’s representative during an OSHA inspection, I observed that the OSHA IH was not sampling for asbestos correctly.

When OSHA revised the walking-working surface standard in 2016, part of the goal was to make the general industry standard more consistent with existing construction standards.

Cross contamination is a serious challenge for food processing facilities that manufacture both allergen-free and gluten-free products and those for general consumption. Everything in the facility must be free from contaminants to ensure the safety of these food products.

Did you know that a single exposure to excessive noise can cause permanent hearing loss? That means that cutting your lawn, taking in a concert, going to a sporting event or even enjoying fireworks can damage your hearing. Did you know that you have a “daily sound allowance”? There may be many things you don’t know about noise induced hearing loss (NIHL).

Establishing a safe workplace requires more than PPE and policy. Training and performance management are critical, but only go so far, and all the visual cues, scrolling monitors and pithy slogans in the world won’t make your workplace sustainably safe and healthy.