NIOSH Science Blog – Work-Related Amputations: Who’s Counting? March 21st, 2013 1:58 pm ET - Kenneth D.
Rosenman M.D. Knowing how many, who and where injuries or disease are occurring is a basic premise of preventing injuries and illnesses. If we don’t have accurate information on injury/illness occurrence, we don’t know how many resources to devote, what action(s) to take or whether the action we do take is effective. Amputation at Recycling Plant Prompts OSHA Action in New Jersey. 5 Tips to Prevent Eyestrain in the Office. Your computer, your tablet, your smart phone: all helpful devices, but when used for long periods of time, they can expose you to eyestrain.
Or worse, you could develop something called “Computer Vision Syndrome,” which the American Optometric Association defines as a group of eye and vision-related problems with symptoms including headaches, blurred vision and neck/shoulder pain that result from prolonged computer use. As part of March’s Workplace Eye Wellness Month, Prevent Blindness America offers five tips to help office workers avoid these health hazards and maintain healthy vision: Place your computer screen 20 to 26 inches away from your eyes and a little bit below eye level. Use a document holder placed next to your computer screen. It should be close enough so you don’t have to swing your head back and forth or constantly change your eye focus.
Hazardous waste vehicles face stricter controls. Cal/OSHA Issues High Heat Advisory as Temperatures Rise Across the State. OAKLAND, Calif., March 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Cal/OSHA is reminding all employers to protect their outdoor workers from the risk of heat illness, as temperatures in the Central Valley and parts of Southern California are expected to reach the 80s today and into the weekend, with record highs expected in some areas.
"While California's heat illness standards are the toughest in the country, we will continue to make sure employers and employees know the risks of heat illness and the steps that can be taken to prevent it," said Christine Baker, director of the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR). The Division of Occupational Safety and Health, commonly known as Cal/OSHA, is a division within the DIR.
Cal/OSHA takes a comprehensive approach to preventing heat illness among outdoor workers. "Heat illness can easily be prevented," said Cal/OSHA Chief Ellen Widess. Train all employees and supervisors about heat illness prevention. Monsanto in Hartsville earns top safety award - SCNow.com: Business. HARTSVILLE, S.C. — Typically, stories about workplace safety revolve around horrible safety practices that lead to a fatality or injury at the workplace.
Just the opposite is true for the Monsanto cotton breeding and testing site in Hartsville. The facility recently received one of the highest awards for workplace safety by the South Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Administration Thursday. The Safety and Health Recognition Program (SHARP) is a designation given to companies that exceed the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970 in providing employees a safe and healthy work site. In addition to creating a safe workplace, and cultivating a culture of safety, OSHA exempts the SHARP businesses, which are small businesses, from inspections for up to two years. The push for safety at the site is an ongoing initiative from Monsanto corporate since the acquisition of the Delta and Pine Land company in 2007.
Is that ergonomic chair really ergonomic? Sitting for long periods of time can cause back and neck pain, muscle cramps and even fatigue, yet many people have jobs that require them to spend a great deal of each workday sitting in front of a computer.
If you have a sedentary job, using an ergonomic chair might help you ward off some aches and pains. But what, exactly, is an ergonomic chair? Want to track hazardous chemicals in train cars? Good luck. If you don’t know what’s in the train cars with hazardous material signs that travel through the city and county, you’re not alone.
From the city level up to most federal agencies, there are few public records on what kinds of and how much hazardous waste pass through in a given year. And officials at all levels of government said it just isn’t feasible to track that kind of information. John Wildermuth: Can legislation stop people from jumping off bridges? In a world where terrible things happen every day, can we write a law to stop all of them?
Should we even try? Take, for example, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano’s new bill, AB 755, that would require any California bridges built or rebuilt with state or federal money to plan for suicide barriers to deter jumpers. This isn’t a new cause for Ammiano. He served on the Golden Gate Bridge District board as a San Francisco supervisor and has been pushing for suicide barriers, with little success, for more than a decade. In 2010, the last year with full statistics available, 3,913 people committed suicide in California.
Colorado orders Abound Solar to clean up hazardous waste at four sites. By Mark JaffeThe Denver Post Posted: 02/25/2013 05:14:41 PM MST|Updated: about a year ago The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says Abound Solar is responsible for thousands of "unsellable" solar panels containing cadmium in warehouses.
Barrels of toxic liquid also were found. (Special to The Denver Post) Colorado health and environment officials have ordered Loveland-based Abound Solar, the bankrupt solar-panel maker, to clean up hazardous waste at four Front Range locations. OSHA.