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In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently released a series of illustrated communication products targeted to Spanish-speaking immigrant workers to help them understand their rights to a safe workplace. The materials, titled Protéjase en el trabajo (Protect yourself at work), include four brochures, five short videos, […]
It has been 13 years since the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published the first reports of a potentially deadly lung disease in workers at a microwave-popcorn factory. The newly identified lung disease, sometimes called “popcorn lung,” was officially dubbed bronchiolitis obliterans for its devastating effect on the lungs. It was eventually […]
Your workers have completed their medical evaluations and have been fit-tested; they know how to don and doff their respirators, how to keep them clean, and when to replace them. But do your workers know how their personal choices can impact safety when they’re wearing a respirator? Or do they just think they know? Workers […]
Have you ever used a string trimmer to trim the edges of your yard? How about using a chainsaw to clean up dead tree limbs after a storm? Maybe you’ve used a power sander to refinish the floors in your home. After each of these activities, you might have experienced tingling and numbness in your […]
At one time, crystalline silica exposures were a concern in construction and mining, and only older workers who had been exposed for long periods of time developed the disabling lung disease called “silicosis.” But workers in new industries and applications—fabricating granite countertops, hydraulic fracturing operations, and denim sandblasting among them—are suffering significant exposures. Also, silicosis […]
A worker at a Wisconsin cheese factory lost two fingers in an amputation incident in January 2013. The worker was operating an unguarded cheese packing and labeling machine. When OSHA investigated the incident, it discovered that a similar amputation had occurred a year earlier. According to OSHA, the amputations could have been prevented by the […]
Are bees an occupational hazard? In 2007, three workers were stung by bees while harvesting almonds in Texas; one of them was stung more than 60 times and had to be taken to the hospital. In 2008, a worker in California was stung while driving a tractor and died of an allergic reaction. It’s not […]
Working outdoors in the heat is extra stressful. There’s the stress from whatever work you’re doing, and then there’s the stress on your body created by the need to shed heat. Your workers may know they need to protect themselves. But some of what they’ve heard about preventing heat illness, identifying heat illness, and treating […]
Slips, trips, and falls on the same level are a leading cause of sprains, strains, tears, and more serious injuries to workers. NIOSH spent 10 years following slip, trip, and fall interventions in three hospitals to determine what caused workers to fall and how falls could best be prevented. Their findings can help all employers […]
Slips, trips, and falls constitute the majority of general industry accidents, according to OSHA—and the vast majority are falls on the same level, not 30-foot falls from a roof or some other height. Falls cause 15% of all accidental deaths, and are second only to motor vehicles as a cause of fatalities. Have you looked […]