Environmental Health and Safety

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No one wants to feel helpless in an emergency situation. To provide tips and assistance anytime, anywhere, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) stepped up their mobile game.

The U.S. federal government is diving into the world of citizen science and scientific crowdsourcing with its new CitizenScience.gov website. The General Services Administration launched the website at the direction of John Holdren, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, who issued a memo (pdf) in September outlining how the federal government can address "societal and scientific challenges through citizen science and crowdsourcing."

The second TOS+H Expo (Turkish Occupational Safety + Health Exhibition) continued the success of the premiere event two years ago and recently concluded in Istanbul with a large increase in visitor participation: 5,223 trade visitors (3,540 in 2014) participated to see the latest trends in personal protection equipment, health at work, occupational safety presented by 106 exhibitors from 17 nations. TOS+H Expo 2016 was jointly organized by Messe Düsseldorf and the local trade fair company Tezulas Fuar.

The Maryland Department of the Environment says Memphis-based Verso Corp. will pay a $10,000 settlement for two chemical spills that tainted the Potomac River last fall. Agency spokesman Jay Apperson said the amount is the same as a fine the agency proposed in February.

OSHA releases a controversial new rule, hotel workers allege hospital hazards in their workplace and – is there a link between low wages and occupational illness? These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

On April 4, 2016, the U.S. Global Change Research Program released a new assessment of the growing public health threat of climate change. The report, “The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment,” identified the many ways in which climate change is already threatening the health of all Americans and the significant public health challenges it is expected to create.

Low wages should be recognized as an occupational health threat, according to an editorial in the May Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

The hotel that is the subject of a complaint filed by some of its housekeeping employees with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) was “quite surprised” to learn of the concerns in the complaint.

Workers Memorial Day, 2016: Statement by John Howard, M.D., Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH):

Housekeeping department employees of the Sofitel Los Angeles have filed a complaint with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) alleging that they do not have the proper equipment to safely handle linen contaminated with blood or to remove used syringes and needles they encounter in guest rooms.