In This Issue |
Volume 15 Number 7 November 2017 | ||
From the Director’s DeskJohn Howard, M.D., Director, NIOSH How Do You Talk About Workplace Motor Vehicle Safety?The NIOSH Center for Motor Vehicle Safety (CMVS) is taking up the challenge of communicating to employers and workers about the risks of driving for work and how to avoid motor vehicle crashes. Crash risk affects workers in all industries and occupations, whether they drive tractor-trailers, cars, pickup trucks, or emergency vehicles, and whether driving is a primary or occasional part of the job. Because of the diversity of these work settings, one size does not fit all when it comes to either research or communication. Striking a balance, the CMVS prioritizes workers who are at highest risk for crashes and injuries—truck drivers, emergency responders, and oil and gas workers—while at the same time accommodating the wide range of other employers and workers who need motor vehicle safety information.The NIOSH Science Blog is 10 Years Old This Week!Ten years ago this week NIOSH posted its first NIOSH Science Blog, Preventing Fire Fighter Fatalities from Cardiovascular Events. Since then the blog has been viewed over 2.5 million times and has received over 7,000 comments! NIOSH has posted 433 blogs on a range of topics from A Robot May Not Injure a Worker: Working safely with robots to Preliminary Field Studies on Worker Exposures to Volatile Chemicals during Oil and Gas Extraction Flowback and Production Testing Operations. The blog has provided us with a great new way to communicate with our various audiences and allowed readers to write back to us with comments and questions. As we enter into our next decade of blogging, let us know if there are topics you would like to see included on the blog or if you have a favorite from the past 10 years. New Guidance Available for Hurricane Recovery EffortsNIOSH has developed key messages regarding dangers emergency response and recovery workers and volunteers face in the aftermath of a hurricane. This guidance, available in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese, includes information about how to work safely and avoid hazards such as carbon monoxide, mold, and heat stress. Feel free to copy and paste the information, links, and images into your newsletters, emails, and social media posts. New Fentanyl Resources Now Available for First RespondersA new fentanyl resource is now available for first responders. These postersprovide first responders with unified, scientific, evidence-based recommendations to protect themselves when the presence of fentanyl is suspected during the course of their daily activities such as responding to overdose calls, conducting traffic stops, arrests, and searches. The Recommendations are the result of a Federal Interagency Working Group coordinated by the White House National Security Council that NIOSH is a part of. A more comprehensive report on the opioid crisis was also released by the Working Group. NIOSH Announces New Robotics Research CenterNIOSH has established a new Center for Occupational Robotics Research to provide scientific leadership to guide the development and use of occupational robots that enhance worker safety, health, and well-being. Given the NIOSH mission to develop new knowledge, the Institute is uniquely positioned to evaluate potential benefits and risks of robots in the workplace, conduct workplace interventions to prevent robot-related worker injuries, and develop guidance for safe interactions between humans and robots. New Article on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Construction and Worker Safety AvailableA new journal article co-authored by NIOSH Director Dr. John Howard and Drs. Vladimir Murashov and Christine Branche, on "Unmanned aerial vehicles in construction and worker safety" was published in October in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine. Get Updates from NIOSH Emergency Preparedness and Response OfficeDid you know you can get updates on new NIOSH emergency preparedness and response information and resources delivered to your inbox? Sign up here. New Hazard Recognition Challenge App for Surface Stone MiningAre you up for the challenge? Practice your hazard finding skills with our new web application, Haz Rec Challenge, which lets you perform a virtual workplace examination on four locations at a surface stone operation: the pit, the plant, the shop, and a roadway. How many hazards can you find? First-ever International Small Business OSH Conference in the U.S.NIOSH and the Center for Health, Work & Environment at the Colorado School of Public Health recently hosted the fourth international Understanding Small Enterprise (USE) Conference in Denver, Colorado. Overall, 68.9% of occupational injuries and illness in the U.S. occur in establishments with fewer than 250 employees. While this is proportional with the number of workers, it represents a major target for OSH intervention and a reason to invest in small business OSH research and development. The USE Conference brought together researchers, small employers, and small business stakeholders from 18 countries and around the U.S. to learn about the latest issues in small business OSH and to find new ways to move our research into practice in small workplaces. The next USE conference is slated for 2019 in Brazil. New NIOSH Extramural Research and Training WebsiteA new web page is now available for information on NIOSH extramural research and training program. The page includes information on funding opportunities, research and training grants, performance data and reports, news and notices, and a new dashboard that shows extramural activity. NIOSH Mining and Construction Programs Collaboration UpdateThe NIOSH Mining and Construction Programs, along with the NIOSH National Construction Center (CPWR—the Center for Construction Research and Training) held a webinar in October titled "Protecting Workers in Enclosed Cabs from Silica Exposure: Leveraging Research from the Mining Industry." A recording of the webinar is available and a PDF of the slides is available for download. The enclosed cab design was included in the OSHA Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard, Table 1 Specified Exposure Control Methods when Working with Materials Containing Crystalline Silica under the column "Engineering and work practice control methods." Ready, Set, Edit!On October 19, NIOSH hosted an edit-a-thon in honor of National Nanotechnology Day. Wikipedians from across the Midwest gathered to work with NIOSH scientists to expand and improve Wikipedia articles about the emerging workplace safety and health issues of nanotechnology, | ||
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