At first it was only an annoyance. Jim thought it would go away. Then it became dangerous. Jim works at a big printing company that produces labels for consumer products. If you have a can of motor oil in your garage or a jar of hair mousse in your bathroom cabinet, chances are the … Continue reading
The most recent issue of CDC Vital Signs highlights a few of the safety risks faced by truck drivers. Truck drivers also face health risks that can affect their livelihood. Limited illness and injury data for long-haul truck drivers prompted the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to conduct the National Survey of … Continue reading
Drycleaning There are about 36,000 commercial drycleaning shops in the United States. Most are owner-operated small businesses with fewer than 10 employees. In addition, some drycleaning shops may be owned and staffed by individuals with limited English language skills and/or may be marginally profitable– factors that may create additional barriers for the owner-operator to maintain a … Continue reading
The NIOSH Office for Total Worker HealthTM recently launched a series of posts discussing total worker health (TWH) issues on the NIOSH Science Blog. As part of this series, we will summarize select TWH webinars and allow those who couldn’t participate in the original broadcast an opportunity to correspond with the presenters. Below you will … Continue reading
On November 3, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council of the National Academies convened a workshop of distinguished representatives from the public and private sectors. The participants were asked to suggest priorities for research that will “provide public health officials, healthcare providers, and the general public with the most up-to-date information … Continue reading
Were you wondering how the NIOSH Science Blog was going to tie in to Halloween? After all, if we have something to say about National Doughnut Day, there has to be a connection to Halloween, right? For us, the problem was picking which horrifying hazard to highlight. Well, we aren’t going to talk about the … Continue reading
Earlier this month NIOSH hosted the 1st International Symposium to Advance Total Worker HealthTM together with 17 other partners. The symposium was a tremendous success. The over 350 attendees were able to learn from the perspectives of over 100 presenters from within the United States and other countries representing nonprofit, private, government, and academic institutions, … Continue reading
The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) is calling on leaders of companies and organizations to emphasize road safety for all employees—not just those who drive company vehicles— as a core component of the organization’s safety culture. NIOSH supports this call to action. This year, the theme of Drive Safely Work Week (DSWW), NETS’s … Continue reading
“Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.” — Niels Bohr Text message to chemical plant manager: Chlorine leak expected on line 2 tomorrow. Inspect and repair. High priority email and automatic call to coal mine superintendent: 83% chance of roof fall on section 4. Evacuate immediately and take corrective actions. Monthly … Continue reading
Go Green! Recycle! We have all heard the call to be more environmentally conscious. However, not everyone is aware of the many health and safety hazards facing employees who handle the recycling of electronics. Many recycled electronics can contain hazardous materials such as lead, cadmium and other toxic metals. In 2011, the U.S. e-scrap recycling … Continue reading
The National Retail Federation forecasts that retailers and merchants will hire between 730,000 and 790,000 seasonal workers this holiday season.[i] Many of these workers, such as sales associates and cashiers, have little, if any, opportunity to sit during their work shift. Increasingly, workers across a variety of occupations are required to stand for long periods … Continue reading
The United States workforce, like the population in general, is becoming more ethnically diverse. “We are and always will be a nation of immigrants,” President Obama stated recently in announcing his initiative on immigration reform. The Pew Research Center’s Hispanic Trends Project estimates that immigrants will make up roughly 23% of adults of working … Continue reading
Epidemiology is the art and science of using data to answer questions about the health of groups. In occupational epidemiology, we use that data to understand how work affects health. This blog entry is part of a series that shares the stories behind the data. Hearing loss is one of the most common chronic health conditions … Continue reading