occupational health
The Pump Handle
Tag archives for occupational health
New study sheds light on the health effects of job insecurity
Posted by The Pump Handle on September 28, 2012 It’s not news that unemployment is bad for a person’s health. But it turns out that just the threat of unemployment is bad as well.
Report on chemical-asthma links a useful resource for workers at risk
Posted by The Pump Handle on September 21, 2012 It really is a chemical world, which is bad news for people with asthma. According to a recent report, at this very moment from where I write, I’m surrounded by objects and materials that contain chemicals that are known or suspected asthmagens — substances that can act as asthma triggers if inhaled.
OSHA rulemaking activity in the year before a Presidential Election
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on September 12, 2012 Since 2000, major regulatory activities by OSHA do indeed slow down during a Presidential election year compared to the year preceding it.
Occupational Health News Roundup
Posted by Liz Borkowski on September 10, 2012 California’s legislature passes a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights; a fire at a Venezuelan oil refinery kills 41; and researchers publish findings on construction workers and former NFL players.
States and localities take on poor working conditions, safety hazards
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on September 7, 2012 In the final section of our new report “The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety,” we end on a high note. We profile a number of new laws at the state and local levels to improve working conditions for Americans and protect them from serious health and safety hazards.
The year in worker health & safety: action (and not) on the federal scene
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on September 6, 2012 In our new report “The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety,” we devote one section to key activities by the Obama Administration and the U.S. Congress.
A New Labor Day Tradition: The Year in Occupational Health & Safety
Posted by Liz Borkowski on September 4, 2012 In honor of (US) Labor Day, Celeste and I have started what we intend to be a new Labor Day tradition: publication of a report that highlights some of the important research and activities in occupational health in the US over the past year.
A different kind of Texas-style justice: Two nights at Austin’s Workers Defense Project
Posted by The Pump Handle on August 31, 2012 It’s Tuesday evening and as usual, the small parking lot outside the Workers Defense Project on Austin’s eastside is packed. The dusty lot is strewn with cars and pick-up trucks parked wherever they can fit and get in off the road. I’ve arrived well before the night’s activities begin, so I easily secure a spot. But my gracious guide and translator, a college intern named Alan Garcia, warns me that I might get blocked in. It happens all the time, he says.
OSHA action on worker safety standards during Presidential election years
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on August 28, 2012 During the last seven Presidential election years, OSHA has an interesting record of issuing new rules on worker safety issues despite the heated national campaigns.
‘An issue that affects all of us’: Young workers center takes on wage theft in the Rio Grande Valley
Posted by The Pump Handle on August 27, 2012 For six months, Jorge Rubio worked at a local chain of tortilla bakeries and taquerias in the cities of Brownsville and San Benito, both in the very southern tip of Texas. Rubio, 42, prepared the food, cleaned equipment, served customers. Eventually, he decided to quit after being overworked for months. On his last day of work, his employer refused to pay him the usual $50 for an 11-hour workday.