NIOSH Issues Snapshot of its Past and Future Activities
NIOSH’s research and recommendations over the years have made a significant impact in reducing and preventing occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. NIOSH’s work has lead to recommendations on reducing exposures to asbestos, lead, vinyl chloride, and other toxic industrial agents. As the U.S. economy has changed, NIOSH has kept pace by addressing the new occupational hazards that have arisen or become more prominent, such as latex allergies, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), indoor air quality, and workplace violence. With the goal of achieving even greater impact with their research, NIOSH created the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) in 1996. The creation of NORA allowed NIOSH to expand their partnerships and leverage resources to meet the needs and challenges of the changing face of work.
NIOSH has published a new document which provides a snapshot of their work addressing the safety and health issues that reach across all the U.S. states, industries, and disciplines. NIOSH has also included examples of how NIOSH and their partners are working hard to achieve the shared mission of making the workplace safer and healthier for all workers.
CSB to Investigate Laboratory Explosion at Texas Tech University Chemistry Department
University officials told CSB the accident occurred in the chemistry department during the handling of a high-energy metal compound, which suddenly detonated. Texas Tech had entered into an agreement with Northeastern University, which holds a contract from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to study the high-energy materials.
“We see serious accidents in high school and university labs every year, including a tragic fatality a year ago at UCLA,” said CSB Chairman John Bresland. “I believe it is time to begin examining these accidents to see if they can be prevented through the kind of rigorous safety management systems that we and others have advocated in industrial settings.”
Mr. Bresland said the CSB planned to collect information on several laboratory accidents for a future study on the topic. Investigations Supervisor Don Holmstrom, who manages the Board’s Western Regional Office in Denver, will lead the investigation, along with CSB Investigator Dr. Mary Beth Mulcahy, a physical chemist.
The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating serious chemical accidents. The agency’s board members are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems. CSB does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA.
OSHA Proposes $236,500 Fine for Serious and Willful Violations at CITGO Refinery
OSHA has cited CITGO Refining and Chemicals LP, in Corpus Christi, Texas, for workplace safety violations resulting from a catastrophic release of hydrocarbon and hydrofluoric acid from the alkylation unit at this facility.
“CITGO did not ensure adequate maintenance and oversight of its process safety equipment, exposing workers to the release of toxic chemicals and posing a danger to not only the company’s employees but to the community, as well,” said Dean McDaniel, OSHA’s regional administrator in Dallas, Texas.
OSHA has alleged two willful, 15 serious and one repeat violation following an investigation that began July 20, 2009. The willful violations include failing to adequately repair and maintain process equipment, and to update changes in operating procedures. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health. Proposed penalties total $236,500.
Serious violations include failing to maintain floor holes to prevent employees from tripping, failing to properly label electrical equipment, failing to prevent exposure to electrical parts, failing to update piping and instrumentation diagrams, and failing to address process hazard analysis deficiencies. A serious violation is one that could cause death or physical harm that can result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists.
The repeat violation addresses failing to train workers regarding modified procedures. A repeat violation is issued when an employer previously was cited for the same or similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facilities in federal enforcement states within the last three years.
ConocoPhillips, Bossier Operations Earns VPP Status
ConocoPhillips, Bossier Operations in Franklin, Texas, has earned merit recognition in OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) for its employee health and safety achievements.
“This facility is not only the first oil and gas field operations for ConocoPhillips that has exceeded OSHA’s VPP minimum standards, but the company has not had an OSHA recordable injury since 2005,” said Dean McDaniel, OSHA’s regional administrator in Dallas, Texas. “The company is to be commended for displaying an outstanding commitment to safety and health.”
ConocoPhillips, Bossier Operations, which drills and maintains the production of natural gas and oil for the Franklin area, earned VPP recognition after implementing a comprehensive employee safety and health management system in accordance with the programs’ standards.
OSHA’s recognition programs include the VPP for employers and employees who have implemented exemplary workplace safety and health management systems. In the VPP, management, labor, and OSHA work cooperatively and proactively to prevent injuries, illnesses, and workplace hazards. As part of attaining VPP status, employers must demonstrate management commitment to the safety and health of their employees and actively involve employees in the safety and health management system.
Mobile MedlinePlus Puts Reliable Health Information at Your Fingertips
Wondering what the side effects are for your new prescription? Go to Mobile MedlinePlus while you're waiting for the pharmacist to fill your order!
Or, instantly look up the symptoms of H1N1 flu if you’re at the supermarket and your child's school calls you to tell you he doesn’t feel well.
The National Library of Medicine’s Mobile MedlinePlus builds on the NLM’s MedlinePlus Internet service, which provides authoritative consumer health information to over 10 million visitors per month. These visitors access MedlinePlus from throughout the United States as well many other countries, and use desktop computers, laptops and even mobile devices to access all this available information.
The mobile Internet audience is large and growing fast, almost doubling from February 2007 to February 2009. Some experts predict that within the next five years, more people will connect to the Internet via mobile devices than via desktop or laptop computers. People use their mobile devices to accomplish a variety of tasks, including finding health information. With this in mind, NLM developed the mobile version of MedlinePlus to bring high-quality health information to users on the go.
“We know that a huge number of people are seeking good health information on the Web,” noted NLM Director Dr. Donald A.B. Lindberg. “What better way to reach out to them than by offering this new mobile service, which delivers trustworthy, consumer-friendly information instantly, anywhere?”
Mobile MedlinePlus is available in English and Spanish ) and includes a subset of content from the full Web site. It includes summaries for over 800 diseases, wellness topics, the latest health news, an illustrated medical encyclopedia, and information on prescription and over-the-counter medications.
For instance, you could visit the “Talking With Your Doctor” page on Mobile MedlinePlus to learn how to get the most out of your doctor’s visit. Mobile MedlinePlus can also help you when you’re trying to choose an over-the-counter cold medicine at the drug store. And if you’re traveling abroad, you can use Mobile MedlinePlus to learn about safe drinking water.
Earthquake Response Training Tool in Creole and Spanish
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ (NIEHS) Earthquake Response Training Tool—Protecting Yourself While Responding to Earthquakes—is now available in Haitian Creole and Spanish. The tool is an awareness-level health and safety resource for “skilled support personnel” (SSP) who will participate in an earthquake response and cleanup.
Green Labor Journal
The National Labor College () and the AFL-CIO’s Center for Green Jobs recently launched the Green Labor Journal, a monthly online journal that examines issues of sustainability, energy use, and climate change from a union perspective.
The journal will showcase union green initiatives and provide up-to-date information on new developments in green policy, technology, and work processes.
Each month, the Green Labor Journal will emphasize that green jobs must pay decent wages and benefits so workers can sustain themselves and their families. All green policy initiatives also must include fair labor standards.
The online journal also will highlight the important role of unions in environmental debates.
The current version features an article on the recent United Nations climate change talks in Copenhagen and the NLC’s Green Workplace Representative Certificate Program, which will provide working people with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills they need to conduct workplace sustainability audits, organize a greening committee in every workplace, and work with management to make needed changes to address climate change.
ASSE Urges Senate to Support Public Sector Worker Coverage in OSHA Reform Legislation
In a letter to U.S. Senator Johnny H. Isakson (R-GA), a leader in occupational safety and health issues, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) urged support for provisions in the OSHA reform legislation that would provide federal-level safety and health protections for the more than eight million state and municipal workers now without coverage, noting that the only practical solution is a federal solution.
In his letter to Isakson, the ranking minority member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions’ Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety, ASSE President C. Christopher Patton, CSP, noted that under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act), states without their own state OSH plans are not required to provide such protections. Achieving OSH coverage for public sector workers is important to ASSE members, occupational safety, health and environmental professionals who work in all industries worldwide.
“Millions of workers are not provided federal occupational safety and health protections due to the fact that the OSH Act only requires such coverage in states with their own occupational safety and health plans,” Patton wrote. “ASSE supports providing all public sector employees with federal OSH protections and urge you to keep the provision that would provide this coverage in the Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAW Act, S. 1580) bill now under consideration.”
“If this provision is dropped from reform legislation, it would be a significant lost opportunity to correct the failure of the OSH Act to treat all workers equally,” Patton said. “Giving all workers the minimal protections afforded by federal OSHA standards would be argument enough to support this provision.”
ASSE urges Isakson to consider the unmeasured burden that taxpayers are bearing because the states in which they live do not adequately protect workers.
“This nation’s best employers are committed to workplace safety and health at levels far above the minimal levels of OSHA,” Patton said. “They do so not only because it is the right thing to do for their employees but also because it is a prudent, cost-effective business practice. Most employers in this nation understand that a relatively small investment in workplace safety and health pays off with reduced costs for liability insurance, workers compensation, worker lost-time and overall productivity.”
Patton also noted that efforts to achieve this coverage at the state level are difficult.
“As much as we would like to think that states are moving in this direction on their own as private sector employers have, they are not,” Patton wrote. “Only one state in recent years, Illinois, has taken steps to establish a federally-approved state plan for public sector workers. Efforts to achieve such coverage at the state level are extremely difficult, as ASSE’s members in Florida know first-hand. Introduction of ASSE-championed bills in Florida that would simply require the state’s public sector employers to meet federal standards without an enforcement mechanism took three years to be introduced.”
An investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Board (CSB) into the 2006 Daytona Beach municipal water treatment facility that took the lives of two workers found Florida’s lack of OSH coverage for its public sector workers contributed to those deaths. In response, ASSE Florida members led ASSE to provide the resources needed to help pass legislation in 2008 establishing a task force charged with determining how to best protect Florida’s workers that reinforced the need to provide the state’s public sector employers to meet federal OSH Act standards—without any enforcement provisions or resources to support the requirement. A bill requiring these protections failed to pass in 2009. The bill passed the House, but not the Senate.
“The only practical solution to this problem is a federal solution. Whether that is Section 101 of the PAW Act, or another approach that incentivizes states to protect their workers, ASSE urges you to use your leadership to help find a way to achieve universal worker occupational safety and health protections,” Patton said.
At Least 1.6 Million Crashes are Caused Each Year by Drivers Using Cell Phones and Texting
The National Safety Council estimates at least 28% of all traffic crashes—or at least 1.6 million crashes each year—are caused by drivers using cell phones and texting. NSC estimates that 1.4 million crashes each year are caused by drivers using cell phones and a minimum of 200,000 additional crashes each year are caused by drivers who are texting. The announcement came on the one-year anniversary of NSC’s call for a ban on all cell phone use and texting while driving.
“We now know that at least 1.6 million crashes are caused by drivers using cell phones and texting,” said Janet Froetscher, president & CEO of the National Safety Council. “We know that cell phone use is a very risky distraction and texting is even higher risk. We now know that cell phone use causes many more crashes than texting. The main reason is that millions more drivers use cell phones than text," she said. “That is why we need to address both texting and cell phone use on our roads.”
“This new estimate provides critical data for legislators, business leaders and individuals to evaluate the threat and need for legislation, business policies and personal actions to prevent cell phone use and texting while driving,” Froetscher said. “There was great progress made in 2009, particularly regarding a broad recognition that texting is dangerous. We now need the same broad consensus that recognizes cell phone use while driving causes even more crashes.”
Froetscher said public support for laws banning cell phone use while driving is gaining momentum.
“Public opinion research conducted in 2009 by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and Nationwide Insurance show public support for total bans on cell phones at 43 and 57% respectively,” Froetscher said. “With public support now around 50%, we will continue to educate people about the risks of cell phone use while driving and the value of effectively-enforced laws in changing behavior and reducing crashes.”
In constructing its estimates, NSC used widely-accepted statistical methods and analysis based on data of driver cell phone use from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and from peer-reviewed research that quantifies the risk of using a cell phone and texting while driving. NSC's statistical model and estimates were peer-reviewed by academic researchers in traffic safety and biostatistics.
The estimate of 25% of all crashes—or 1.4 million crashes—caused by cell phone use was derived from NHTSA data showing 11% of drivers at any one time are using cell phones and from peer-reviewed research reporting cell phone use increases crash risk by four times. The estimate of an additional minimum 3% of crashes—or 200,000 crashes—caused by texting was derived by NHTSA data showing 1% of drivers at any one time are manipulating their device in ways that include texting and from research reporting texting increases crash risk by 8 times. Using the highest risk for texting reported by research of 23 times results in a maximum of 1 million crashes due to texting; still less than the 1.4 million crashes caused by other cell phone use.
Department of Labor Releases 6 High-Value Datasets
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently made six high-value datasets publicly available as part of the Obama Administration’s Open Government Initiative. The datasets include information from OSHA, which will make it possible for anyone in the public to better track health and safety conditions in the American workplace. Earlier this month—DOL launched its own transparency Web page (. The page tracks the department's efforts to comply with the administration's Open Government Directive.
Aside from the six datasets, DOL’s Bureau of Labor Statistics previously released dozens of datasets highlighting employment projections, trends, surveys and statistics, and OSHA made available a dataset to report weekly fatalities and catastrophes as reported by its area offices.
The administration's directive established a new standard for government agencies, insisting that by specific dates they achieve key milestones in transparency, collaboration, and participation.
The six datasets are listed below:
— Establishment Specific Injury and Illness Rates
Each year, OSHA collects work-related injury and illness data from employers within specific industry and employment size specifications. This data collection is known as the OSHA Data Initiative or ODI. The data are used by OSHA to calculate establishment specific injury and illness incidence rates. Data from 1996 to 2007 are searchable online.
This inventory is the first phase in the development of a single repository of all completed and planned research and evaluation projects that have or will be conducted by DOL during the upcoming calendar year.
This dataset includes: a title and description of each project; the date the project began; the date the project was published with a link to completed research and evaluation project outcomes as these become available; and information on contract or grant resources, if applicable. The database will be updated on a monthly basis.
(Growing America Through Entrepreneurship)
Project GATE was a random-assignment demonstration project designed to help public workforce system clients create, sustain or expand their own businesses. A total of 4,198 applicants to Project GATE were randomly assigned to either the program group or the control group. This set represents the final data from the evaluation and includes administrative data from the six- and 18-month follow-ups and survey data from the six-, 18- and 60-month follow-ups of program participants.
The PWSD is a dataset that can be used to answer questions about various public workforce system programs and how these programs fit in with the overall public workforce system and the economy. It was designed primarily to be used as a tool to understand what has been occurring in the Wagner-Peyser program and contains data from quarter one of 1995 through quarter four of 2008. Also, it was designed to understand the relationship and flow of participants as they go through the public workforce system.
The evaluation employs administrative data from 12 states, covering approximately 160,000 WIA participants and nearly 3 million comparison group members. Focusing on participants who entered WIA programs between July 2003 and June 2005, the evaluation considers the impact for all those in the program, the impact for those receiving only core or intensive services, and the incremental impact of training services.
The MSPA requires a contractor to obtain federal certification prior to performing any farm labor contracting activities.
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