Category: Manufacturing

Skin…Exposed!

Dermal exposures are often given a back seat when chemicals are tested for toxicity or personal protective equipment is designed. However, skin diseases account for 15-20% of all reported occupational diseases in the United States. They result in costs estimated at $1 billion annually.  Read More >

Posted on by Scott Dotson, PhD, and Garrett Burnett, MS, MBA18 Comments

Safety and Health for Younger Workers

As we approach the time of year when many young people start summer jobs, we all need to do our part to keep them safe at work. On average each year from 1998 to 2007, about 800,000 workers 15 to 24 years of age were treated in emergency departments and nearly 600 died from work-related injuries. Younger workers were twice as likely as their older counterparts to be treated in hospital emergency departments for work-related injuries. Read More >

Posted on by Dawn Castillo, MPH15 Comments

The Effectiveness of Workplace Training

In light of the costs and time involved with safety and health training, businesses want to know whether training can meet the goals of decreasing workplace injuries and illness, and whether the cost of training programs can be justified. Researchers, training providers, labor, and management should continue to work together to advance the knowledge of effective practices in education and training. Read More >

Posted on by Carol Merry Stephenson, PhD38 Comments

Workplace Hearing Loss

It is estimated that over 22 million workers are exposed to hazardous noise on the job and an additional nine million are at risk for hearing loss from other agents such as solvents and metals. Read more about a new surveillance program and provide input on future efforts to prevent hearing loss in the workplace.  Read More >

Posted on by Captain William Murphy, PhD, and SangWoo Tak, ScD, MPH34 CommentsTags

The Business Case for Safety and Health

NIOSH has partnered with the Williams College of Business at Xavier University and the National Safety Council to offer a new course to MBA students titled "Business Value of Safety and Health." The course teaches the next generation of executives the advantages of implementing occupational and environmental health and safety programs. Read More >

Posted on by Steve Wurzelbacher, PhD, CPE, Ginny Frings, PhD, Mei-Li Lin, PhD15 Comments

Immigrant Worker Safety and Health

Immigrant workers face a disproportionate risk for workplace injury and illness. At the Safety, Health and Social Justice for Immigrant Workers - Lessons from the NIOSH Environmental Justice Projects session of the 2008 American Public Health Association's annual conference "Public Health Without Borders" (October 25-29), a panel will present the experiences from six of the environmental justice projects addressing safety and health concerns of immigrants working in farming, poultry processing, and restaurant and domestic work. For those unable to attend the session, we would appreciate feedback through this blog. Specifically, what experience have others had with developing successful interventions for immigrant workers? Additionally, what types of materials are needed to better assist safety and health professional to provide information and training to foreign-born workers? Read More >

Posted on by Administrator18 CommentsTags

The “No Fit Test” Respirator Research Workshop

NIOSH is hosting the "No Fit Test" Respirator Research Workshop on November 6, 2008. The workshop aims to examine how the latest material technology (shape-changing polymers, adhesives, etc.) may be leveraged to improve current and future respirator designs including the long-term possibility of moving away from current fit-testing requirements, while preserving user protection. Read More >

Posted on by Ed Fries and Ron Shaffer, PhD24 CommentsTags ,

Frequency of Respirator Fit Testing

Over three million American workers are required to wear respirators to protect themselves from hazards in their workplace. Since the fit of the respirator to the user's face affects the protection provided by the respirator, occupational safety and health professionals recommend fit assessment during the initial selection of a respirator model and at some periodicity as part of a respiratory protection program. Read More >

Posted on by Ed Fries and Ziqing Zhuang98 Comments

Contingent Workers

One analysis of 2005 federal data found that 16% of contingent workers have family incomes less than $20,000, a proportion twice as high as that of noncontingent workers. Only 13% of contingent workers had health insurance provided by their employer, compared with 72% of noncontingent workers. Read More >

Posted on by Kristin J. Cummings, MD, MPH, and Kathleen Kreiss, MD1 Comment

NIOSH Dose Reconstruction Program

Dose reconstruction is a scientifically complex process. In fact, the entire Compensation Program involves many challenging issues—many of them outside the realm of science. The NIOSH process has always been an open one. And, as always, we welcome comments and questions.  Read More >

Posted on by Larry Elliott31 Comments

Youth@Work: Talking Safety

Millions of teens in the United States work. Approximately 2.4 million 16- and 17-year-olds worked in the United States in 2006. Surveys indicate that 80% of teens have worked by the time they finish high school. While few would argue that most work provides numerous benefits for young people, it can also be dangerous. Read More >

Posted on by Carol Merry Stephenson, PhD4 CommentsTags