Occupational health

Celeste wrote earlier about an excellent series of investigative stories on the resurgence of black lung disease among US coal miners. If you missed any of them when they first came out, they are: “Dust reforms stalled by years of inaction” and “Miners say UBB mine cheated on dust sampling,” by Ken Ward Jr., Charleston Gazette “Black lung surges back in coal country,” by Chris Hamby, iWatch News (Center for Public Integrity) “As Mine Protections Fail, Black Lung Cases Surge” and “Black-Lung Rule Loopholes Leave Miners Vulnerable,” by Howard Berkes, NPR (and more from NPR on black lung here…
I wonder sometimes if House Republicans have the same reading list as former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.  They obviously didn't read the series of articles about black lung disease in U.S. coal miners prepared by Chris Hamby and Jim Morris of the Center for Public Integrity, and Ken Ward Jr., of the Charleston (WV) Gazette.  Coal mine workers in their 30's, 40's and 50's are developing the fast-progressing form of the lung disease.  The stories lay out in detail some of the reasons for the epidemic, as well as the ineffective regulatory and enforcement system that fails to protect our nation…
For the New York Times' Well blog, Pauline W. Chen, MD writes of a nurse who kept working despite feeling a slight twinge in her lower back, reasoning that her patients would suffer if she weren't at work. And her story's not unusual, Chen reports: Nurses make up the largest group of health care providers in the United States, working in venues as varied as doctors’ offices and biotech firms, governmental agencies and private insurers. Trusted more than almost any other professional, nurses exert a wide-ranging influence on how health care is delivered and defined. But nurses’ work is not…
"Regulation in an uncertain world," was the title of a speech that President Obama's regulatory czar Cass Sunstein delivered on June 20, 2012 at a National Academy of Science's government-university-industry research roundtable on "Decision Making under Risk and Uncertainty."  Mr. Sunstein's speech, as prepared for delivery, tried to make the case that under his leadership at the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) the Administration has instituted new procedures and practices that make the federal regulatory system more rigorous, evidence based, and transparent…
Researchers with the CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) report in the current issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (Vol. 16, No. 23) on the prevalence of dust diseases of the lungs among U.S. surface coal miners.   Based on chest x-rays performed on 2,238 workers who work at surface/strip coal mines in 16 States, 46 of them (about 2 percent) had radiographic evidence of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP).  The median age of the workers with CWP was only 56 years; the median years of mining experience was 33 years.  Especially troubling is the…
The day after the Tony Awards honored excellence in Broadway theater, the NIOSH Science Blog posted information about some of the theatrical hazards and precautions that may not be visible to audiences. Gregory A. Burr and Deborah Hornback write: While the theater provides entertainment, the preparation and production of live performances can also pose hazards to those working in all aspects of the theater –from actors on stage to set designers behind the scenes and musicians in the orchestra pit.  Some of these hazards were well publicized in recent years as multiple actors and stunt doubles…
by Elizabeth Grossman “It’s basically strip mining,” said Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) environmental engineer Rick Wulk, describing the sand mining activity that has exploded across western Wisconsin since 2010.  Mining silica and quartz and processing it into industrial sand is big business these days because this sand is an important component of hydraulic fracturing operations that extract natural gas from shale. To understand the magnitude of the current boom in sand mining, the place to look is Wisconsin.  What’s happening in Wisconsin also offers a good example of how…
A panel of scientific experts convened by the World Health Organization's (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded today that diesel engine exhaust is carcinogenic to humans.   Previously, the IARC classification for diesel exhaust was "probably carcinogenic to humans," but with the publication of additional epidemiological and toxicological studies over the last 20 years, the expert panel determined there was sufficient evidence to change the compound's cancer designation.   The IARC panel wrote: "The scientific evidence was reviewed thoroughly by the Working Group…
Tobacco companies did it.  Asbestos-peddlers did it.  Chromium users did it.  The list goes on and on.  When polluters and manufacturers of dangerous products feel threatened by scientific evidence that their pet compound is carcinogenic to humans, they will do everything money can by to avoid the "cancer-causing" label. The latest example comes from diesel-engine manufacturers.   Their efforts come just in time for a meeting of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) scheduled for June 5-12, 2012.  IARC, an agency within the World Health Organization, is convening an expert…
by Beth Spence Carrying enlarged photographs of their lost loved ones, family members of three of the 29 miners killed in the 2010 explosion at West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch mine spent June 6-7 in Washington, D.C., pleading with lawmakers to take action to improve mine safety and to stiffen penalties for mining companies that knowingly, willingly and recklessly place miners’ lives at risk. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) stands with Clay Mullins, Betty Harrah, Gary Quarles and AFSC staff member Beth Spence. Photo by Bryan Vana, American Friends Service Committee. Betty Harrah’s photo showed…
by Mark Catlin Tony Mazzocchi was a visionary who was in the forefront of the labor movement's major struggles for social justice in the postwar period.   Those hard fought struggles and victories, from the civil rights movement and the struggles against nuclear proliferation and the Vietnam War, to the struggle for environmental justice and the movement for occupational health and safety, which he spearheaded. Last evening, in a very moving ceremony, the US Department of Labor inducted Tony Mazzocchi, dynamic labor leader,  into its Labor Hall of Honor. The ceremony took place at the New…
Last week, iWatch News (of the Center for Public Integrity) published an in-depth story on combustible dust explosions, which have killed or injured at least 900 workers over the past three decades. Chris Hamby tells the story of Wiley Sherburne, a 42-year-old electrician who was killed by burns from iron dust explosion at the Hoeganaes plant in Tennessee, and the long history of this occupational hazard. Hamby reports that worker-killing dust explosions have been documented since the late 1800s, but still continue. Whether the dust is from metal, nylon, wood, sugar, or another substance, its…
by Laredo, golden retriever dog A weird story appeared on my Facebook page today.  It was written by somebody named "AP."  The headline read: "Alpha introduces mine search-rescue dog in Va."   I like working dogs just as much as the next canine, so I read the article.  Says that "Ginny" is a two-year old dutch-shepherd dog who weighs 48 pounds. Get this, Mr. AP's article says Ginny is: "...the newest member of coal producer Alpha Natural Resources Inc.'s search-and-rescue team, trained to perform searches in both underground and surface mines.  Equipped with an infrared camera and atmospheric…
The Obama Administration's quest to appease business interests' claims about burdensome and outdated regulations awoke a giant in the form of the civil rights, public health and workers' safety communities.  From the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Council of LaRaza, to the American Public Health Association and Nebraska Appleseed, the feedback is loud and clear: USDA should withdraw the regulatory changes it proposed in January (77 Fed Reg 4408) which would shift the responsibility for examining and sorting poultry carcasses with obvious defects from USDA inspectors to the…
When Debbie "Muvmuv" Brewer was diagnosed in 2006 with pleural mesothelioma, it was a tough year.  She'd also lost her beloved Dad, Phillip Northmore, who succumbed to his own asbestos-related disease.  After meeting Muvmuv a few weeks ago at the 8th Annual International Asbestos Awareness Conference, I wrote that she named the tumor inside her chest wall "Theo,” and she was hoping that he would remain dormant. Muvmuv, a native of Plymouth UK, was due to undergo a CT scan: “to find out if Theo had moved at all, or if he has been a typical lazy man and sat on the sofa watching TV.  He must be…
This week (May 13-19, 2012) is National Police Week, which honors law enforcement officers who have been killed in the line of duty. According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, "On average, one law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in the United States every 53 hours." Events are taking place all week in DC; a schedule is here. The National Police Week website has the preliminary 2011 "Roll Call of Heroes: Line of Duty Deaths" online. In addition to officers from city, county, and tribal police and sheriffs' departments, it includes officials…
by Andrea Hricko, MPH Rick Brown, PhD, a sociologist by training, was a world renowned champion of public health. Thousands of occupational health, children's health, and community health advocates who knew him are mourning his loss. Rick passed away two weeks ago of a stroke while lecturing in Kentucky. His work on health care issues (especially the lack of health insurance for children) and his development of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) were just two of his major achievements. He was a longtime professor at UCLA School of Public Health, adviser to several U.S. Presidents,…
April 28th is Workers Memorial Day, and groups California to Nebraska to Kentucky are planning events -- see a complete list at the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) website. Events in Washington, DC are happening in advance of Workers Memorial Day: On Thursday, April 19th at 10am, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing on the failures of the OSHA standard setting process. On Friday, April 20th at noon, several groups are holding a Worker Memorial Day event in front of the US Chamber of Commerce headquarters (1615 H Street NW),…
Earlier this month, the Mine Safety and Health Administration released results of an internal review into the agency's actions leading up to the April 5, 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster, which killed 29 miners in Raleigh County, West Virginia. The Executive Summary reports, "While the Internal Review team did not find evidence that the actions of District 4 personnel or inadequacies in MSHA safety and health standards, policies, or procedures caused the explosion, the team found several instances where enforcement efforts at UBB were compromised because MSHA and District 4 did not follow…
National Sleep Awareness Week might have been last week, but many of us are feeling the importance of shuteye this week, as we struggle to drag ourselves out of bed at what feels like an inappropriate hour. While Daylight Saving Time may get the blame for sleepiness this week, though, there are important year-round factors that cause fatigue. In honor of National Sleep Awareness Week, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's NIOSH Science Blog published two posts about the impact of work demands on sleep. Claire Caruso and Roger Rosa start off by highlighting the…