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Having a mental health problem is nothing to be ashamed of, according to 87 percent of the American adults who participated in a recent survey conducted on behalf of the American Psychological Association (APA). That and other findings are being hailed by mental health professionals are “encouraging,” although the Harris poll did uncover some entrenched stigma as well as some surprising demographic differences in attitudes.

On April 3, I represented the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) at an event kicking off Distracted Driving Awareness Month and California Teen Driver Safety Week, in Sacramento. I challenged California to lead the nation in acting on NTSB’s 2011 recommendation to ban the non-emergency driver use of portable electronic devices that do not support the driving task.

The Monty Python fans among you will instantly picture the scene from “The Life of Brian” movie. The massed crowd outside their new-found saviour’s ramshackle bedroom window arguing over their individuality with their new “Messiah” Brian and his mother. But it would take a ‘serious’ movie geek to remember the next few lines when in unison the crowd chant “Yes we are all different” only to be answered by a lone wavering dissenting voice shouting “I’m not.”

Frustrated with OSHA’s foot-dragging on developing a regulation aimed at protecting healthcare and social assistance employees from workplace violence, the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) is taking its case to lawmakers. ASSP President Rixio Medina, CSP, CPP, has expressed his organization’s support for HR 1309 and S. 851, legislation to help protect workers in the healthcare and social service sectors from the threat of workplace violence.

Some 141.1 million Americans – more than four in ten of us - live in counties with unhealthful levels of either ozone or particle pollution, according to a new "State of the Air" report from the American Lung Association. That’s an increase of more than 7.2 million Americans since the 2018 summary. Eight cities recorded their highest number of days with unhealthy spikes in particle pollution since the nation began monitoring this pollutant 20 years ago.

Injuries to two employees in two separate incidents have resulted in OSHA citations against a Mobile, Alabama packaging manufacturer. One of the workers at the ProAmpac facility suffered a severe hand injury after being caught in a piece of equipment. Another employee sustained a finger laceration when struck by moving machine parts.

In a recent study in France, one third of the respondents who said they’d considered suicide within the past year cited working and employment conditions as the reason. Fear of losing one’s job was the top stressor, followed by verbal threats, humiliation and intimidation at work. Some 3.8 percent of workers between the ages of 18 and 75 said they’d had suicidal thoughts within the 12 months preceding the study.

Placing healthier options in more prominent positions on grocery store shelves and packaging food in smaller serving sizes are among the improvements in the U.S. food system that would make it easier for consumers to choose healthy foods – and to get heathier. That’s according to a science advisory from the American Heart Association (AHA), which says that change that needs to occur at multiple levels- the food industry, agricultural industry, public health and medicine, policy, and among communities, worksites, schools, and families.

The world’s first International Standard for occupational health and safety (OH&S). ISO 45001, Occupational health and safety management systems – Requirements with guidance for use, is Applicable to all organizations, regardless of size, industry or nature of business. The standard, developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), is intended to help organizations reduce work-related accidents, injuries and diseases.

Being fired for refusing to safety glasses was apparently what set in motion a deadly rampage at a suburban Chicago manufacturing facility in February. Before it was over, the company’s human resources manager who’d done the firing was dead, along with four other employees and the gunman. Six police offers were injured in the incident.