Labor Division

RSS

Sheffield, England – Do you sometimes feel like falling asleep at work? Traffic pollution and nighttime traffic noise may be to blame.

Lansing, MI – Amid a tree-trimmer fatality rate more than 14 times the state average this year, the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a hazard alert cautioning against unsafe work practices.

Washington – The Mine Safety and Health Administration needs a more consistent approach to logging, assessing and responding to complaints of hazardous mine conditions, according to the results of a recent audit conducted by the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.

Washington – The Environmental Protection Agency will fast-track the evaluation of five persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals under requirements established by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, which was signed into law in June.

Washington – The health care industry commonly uses scavenging systems to protect operating room personnel from exposure to anesthetic gases or vapors that are released or leak out during medical procedures, but other recommended practices are not always observed, according to a recent study from NIOSH.

Washington – United Farm Workers and several community health groups have petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately suspend widespread use of chlorpyrifos, a neurotoxic pesticide already acknowledged to pose poisoning risks to workers.

Washington – NIOSH and the Labor Occupational Health Program of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health have developed a curriculum intended to teach workers with developmental and intellectual disabilities about occupational safety and health.

Washington – NIOSH has added 34 drugs to its list of those that have the potential to be hazardous to an estimated 8 million U.S. health care workers.

Cincinnati – Night-shift workers have the highest risk for sleep problems compared with all other workers, according to a recent study from NIOSH.

Washington – In an effort to ease burdens on employers, OSHA has issued a proposed rule that would “remove or revise outdated, duplicative, unnecessary, and inconsistent requirements” in 18 standards concerning recordkeeping, general industry, maritime and construction.