Tag: NIOSH

Your Respiratory Protection Program

Different respirators clearly function differently, offering users two types of respiratory protection. Filtering facepiece respirators (FFR), like N95s and P100s, filter out particles like the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 and the particulate matter in wildfire smoke. Other respirators supply clean respirable air. For example, airline respirators use compressed air from a remote source, and […]

GAO: NIOSH Needs to Bolster WTC Program Access

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) needs to closely monitor members’ timely access to health services under its World Trade Center Health Program, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded in a new report (GAO-22-105303) released July 29. Eligible responders and survivors of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks receive health services through […]

Workplace Homicides Peaked in 1994, Report Shows

On July 21, the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced the release of a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the BJS, and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) titled “Indicators of Workplace Violence, 2019” (NCJ 250748; NIOSH 2022-124). According to the report, workplace homicides peaked […]

NIOSH Releases Best Practices for Temporary Workers

On July 18, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announced the release of a new set of best practices for protecting temporary workers. The resources for host employers and staffing companies include the Protecting temporary workers: best practices for host employers manual, a checklist, and a slide deck presentation. Temporary workers, or […]

NIOSH Finds Evidence Supporting Universal Masking

While universal masking alone provided a reduced level of exposure to infectious particles, researchers with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found evidence supporting a layered approach—physical distancing, ventilation, and masking—to control the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Results of a study out of NIOSH’s Health Effects Laboratory in […]

NIOSH: Humidity Helps Decontaminate N95s

While there currently is no limitation on N95 respirator availability, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) researchers found humidity helps decontaminate reused filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs). When supplies of N95 FFRs were low or unavailable in 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended FFR reuse as a crisis strategy. The […]

OSHA, NIOSH Update Robotics Guidance

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recently updated the OSHA Technical Manual’s chapter on “Industrial Robot Systems and Industrial Robot System Safety.” The updated and expanded chapter on robotics now includes up-to-date technical information on hazards associated with industrial and emergent robot applications, safety considerations for […]

NIOSH Examines Forklift, Struck-By Fatalities

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently released a pair of Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) reports. One report examines the death of a forklift operator crushed by a pallet full of soft drink cans, and the other details a fatal fall from a boom lift while tree trimming. Warehouse incident […]

NIOSH Casts Spotlight on Opioids

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announced in a Total Worker Health (TWH) update that the institute’s grant partners are conducting research on the impact of opioids in the workplace. Extramural researchers have been studying and developing resources related to the prevention of opioid misuse and overdose in working populations. NIOSH has […]

NIOSH: Over Half of Workers Do Not Use Hearing Protection

Nearly half of workers exposed to hazardous occupational noise do not use hearing protection, according to a recent National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) study. The study appeared in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine. Researchers found that some of the industries in which noise is a well-recognized hazard had high prevalences of hearing […]