Workplace Health

RSS

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration suspended all activities related to the implementation and enforcement of the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for big companies while the mandate is tied up in court. 

Challenges to President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private employers will be consolidated in the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, a panel dominated by judges appointed by Republicans, reports the Associated Press. 

CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will host a special virtual event on Thursday, Nov. 18 with NIOSH Director Dr. John Howard, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, and other national experts from labor and medicine on the mental health of the nation’s critical health workforce.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Thursday, November 4 announced a new emergency temporary standard to protect more than 84 million workers from the spread of the coronavirus on the job. Employers with 100 or more employees have until Jan. 4 to ensure that their workforces are fully vaccinated.

Many organizations are now actively working to improve community relations and prove to their neighbors, vendors, and customers that they are striving to be environmentally sensitive and promote sustainability. Reducing water consumption is one way they are accomplishing this.

Eighteen states filed three separate lawsuits Friday, October 29 to stop President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors, arguing that the requirement violates federal law, reported the Associated Press. 

Record-breaking heat in the U.S. in 2021 endangered millions of workers exposed to heat illness and injury in both indoor and outdoor work environments. Workers in outdoor and indoor work settings without adequate climate-controlled environments are at risk of hazardous heat exposure, and workers of color are exposed disproportionately to hazardous levels of heat in essential jobs across these work settings.

Painting is common across many manufacturing facilities and doesn’t appear to be particularly dangerous on the surface. Despite all appearances, workers in these areas may encounter more health hazards than they realize.

The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) maintains data-driven and solutions-based positions on issues that impact occupational safety and health. ASSP has developed new policy statements on anticipated federal standards related to heat stress and COVID-19 as it aims to inform government officials and key stakeholders in improving the regulatory approach to workplace safety and health.