Nurses, construction workers, and cleaning industry employees have some new resources available to them:
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The American Nurses Association launched a âSafe Staffing Saves Livesâ website to help nurses become advocates for safe levels of staffing in hospital units (via Occupational Health & Safety)
- NIOSH has issued âSimple Solutions: Ergonomics for Construction Workers,â which includes tip sheets for 20 common construction tasks (via the NIOSH Science Blog)
- OSHA has put up a Safety and Health Topics Page for the cleaning industry; it includes links to resources regarding bloodborne pathogens, cleaning chemicals, ergonomics, hazardous/toxic substances, personal protective equipment, and other issues (also via Occupational Health & Safety)
In other news:
Committee to Protect Journalists: 2007 was the deadliest year for the press in more than a decade; 64 journalists were killed in direct connection to their work, and another 22 deaths are under investigation as possibly being work-related.
New York Times: The Ethiopian government is forcing untrained civilians to fight rebels in the countryâs Ogaden region, according to Western officials and people who have fled the country to avoid conscription.
Bloomberg: An investigation by the nonprofit National Labor Committee found that Christmas ornaments made in China and sold at Wal-Mart were produced under sweatshop conditions.
Associated Press: Bushâs nominee for the Department of Energy post of assistant secretary for fossil energy is a former executive for Massey Energy, which has long history of mine safety violations.
Newsday: A Johns Hopkins University study of poultry workers found an elevated risk for being colonized with gentamicn-resistant E. coli. (The study is available free from Environmental Health Perspectives.)