OSHA has cited Nemak USA Inc. – based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin – for exposing workers to metalworking fluids used on aluminum after three employees were diagnosed with occupational hypersensitivity pneumonitis, a debilitating lung disease. The company faces penalties of $26,520 for two serious health violations, the maximum penalty allowed by law.

Small and midsize business owners who are struggling to find a way to address prescription drug misuse among their employees can get help from Sharing Solutions, an initiative just launched by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Said Carolyn Cawley, president of the Chamber Foundation; “Employer specific resources are thin, and they’re scattered. Our campaign collects and curates credible resources to help employers get what they need more quickly.”

In partnership with their principal investment group, HealthEdge Investment Partners, Westone Laboratories, Inc., a market leader in custom earpieces, high performance in-ear monitoring technology and hearing protection, announced it has closed on its acquisition of Custom Protect Ear, the largest custom-fit industrial hearing protection manufacturer in North America.

The integration of the social determinants of health paradigm by occupational and public health researchers and institutions is leading to a recognition of the need for a more holistic and nuanced perspective on work and its impact on population health (Ahonen et al 2018; Schulte and Vainio, 2010; WHO 2008). Fundamental to this transformation is the need to complement traditional approaches to occupational health with new conceptual and methodological perspectives that can better account for the social aspects of health and well-being.

The FDA has until March 15 to issue a final rule mandating that cigarette makers place graphic health warnings on cigarette packs and in advertising, a federal judge ruled last week. The order by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts was in response to a lawsuit filed in October 2016 by eight public health and medical groups and several individual pediatricians.

Public health experts are warning that the funding cuts outlined in President Trump’s fiscal year 2020 budget request would weaken the nation’s ability to tackle health problems. “In a time where life expectancy is falling, our leadership should be investing in better health, not cutting federal health budgets,” said Georges Benjamin, MD, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association (APHA).

VelocityEHS, the global leader in cloud-based environment, health, safety (EHS) and sustainability solutions, announces a partnership with Kinetica Labs (based in Ann Arbor, Michigan) to incorporate video-based, sensorless motion-capture technology to its Humantech ergonomics software platform. Using artificial intelligence and computer vision, this new technology replaces time-consuming effort required to complete manual, observation-based musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) risk assessments in the workplace.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released details of a Global Influenza Strategy for 2019-2030 aimed at protecting people in all countries from the threat of influenza, or flu. The goal is to prevent seasonal flu, control the spread of influenza from animals to humans, and prepare for the next flu pandemic.

Yo-yo dieting may make it harder for women to control a variety of heart disease risk factors, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Epidemiology and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2019, a premier global exchange of the latest advances in population-based cardiovascular science for researchers and clinicians.

A social services company is held responsible for an employee’s murder in the same week that a bill to prevent workplace violence in the health care and social service industries is re-introduced in Congress. These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.