lborkowski | June 1, 2016Back in November, researchers from China reported finding a gene that confers resistance to the last-resort antibiotic colistin in several E. coli isolates, and warned that pan-drug resistant Enterobacteriaceae -- a family of bacteria that includes common foodborne illness culprits E. coli and Salmonella -- "is inevitable and will ultimately become global." As researchers in other countries began examining stored isolates for the gene, MCR-1, they found it. STAT's Helen Branswell reports it "has been found in many European countries, parts of Asia, North Africa, South America, and North…
kkrisberg | May 31, 2016Everything’s bigger in Texas — including the number of Texans without health insurance. But thanks to the Affordable Care Act, the percentage of uninsured Texas residents has dropped by 30 percent. That means the Texas uninsured rate has hit its lowest point in nearly two decades.
In a new issue brief from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, researchers report that the Texas uninsured rate dropped from 26 percent in September 2013 — before the ACA’s first open enrollment period — to 18 percent as of March 2016. The decline was observed among every age, income and ethnic group…
kkrisberg | May 27, 2016“In my darker hours when I’m sleeping at night, that’s where I go.” Those are words from Eric Blank, senior director for public health systems at the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL), talking about the enormous difficulties that public health labs faced in confronting the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic. Now he fears that without emergency federal funds and in the face of new funding cuts, Zika virus will force the nation’s critical public health lab network into that same scenario — or into something even worse.
“(Public health labs) know what they need and when they need it and yet…
lborkowski | May 26, 2016Last week, the World Health Organization stopped short of declaring a yellow fever outbreak centered in Angola to be a public health emergency of international concern, but its emergency advisory committee “emphasized the serious national and international risks posed by urban yellow fever outbreaks.” Angola has reported more than 2,000 suspected cases of the disease and nearly 300 deaths. Cases among travelers from Angola have also been reported in China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya.
Like Zika, yellow fever is a flavivirus spread by Aedes mosquitos. Typical symptoms include…
cmonforton | May 25, 2016The food safety group Food & Water Watch (FWW) is publicizing data listing the companies and brands of chicken and turkey that have adopted the USDA's controversial "modernized" inspection system. The New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS) shifts responsibility for inspections from USDA specialists to company employees. The change was strongly opposed by food safety groups, but the Obama Administration implemented it anyway in early 2015. (Worker safety advocates also opposed the rule because it proposed a significant increase in line speeds which would lead to more repetitive motion…
kkrisberg | May 24, 2016At San Jose Mercury News, Louis Hansen reports on the “hidden” workforce of foreign workers that helped expand a Fremont plant for car manufacturer Tesla. The story begins with Gregor Lesnik, an unemployed electrician from Slovenia, who, according to his visa application, was supposed to work in South Carolina. Hansen writes:
The companies that arranged his questionable visa instead sent Lesnik to a menial job in Silicon Valley. He earned the equivalent of $5 an hour to expand the plant for one of the world’s most sophisticated companies, Tesla Motors.
Lesnik’s three-month tenure ended a year…
kkrisberg | May 23, 2016Last summer, 25-year-old Roendy Granillo died of heat stroke while he installed flooring in a house in Melissa, Texas, just north of Dallas. His tragic and entirely preventable death marked a turning point in advocacy efforts to pass a rest break ordinance for local construction workers.
About five months after Granillo’s death, the Dallas City Council voted 10-5 to approve such an ordinance, which requires that construction workers be given a 10-minute rest break for every four hours of work. On its face, it seems like an incredibly simple and logical request, especially considering the…
cmonforton | May 19, 2016I heard the headline from CBS News on my car radio:
“NTSB to cite operator error in deadly Amtrak derailment.”
The news story came on the eve of the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) public hearing regarding the May 2015 disaster outside of Philadelphia. The derailment killed eight passengers and injured 200 others. The subsequent news stories repeated "operator error." The phrase makes it sound like the engineer hit the wrong switch or pushed the wrong button. I wondered whether "operator error" in the headlines was a repulsive example of click baiting.
It wasn't.
The NTSB’s…
lborkowski | May 18, 2016Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has signed into law the Contraceptive Equity Act, which puts the state at the forefront of efforts to reduce insurance-plan barriers to accessing multiple forms of contraception. When the law takes effect in 2018, insurance plans regulated by Maryland that provide contraceptive coverage will no longer be allowed to charge co-payments for FDA-approved contraceptive drugs, procedures, and devices. This list include vasectomies and emergency-contraceptive pills.
The law will also allow women to receive six months of oral contraceptives at a time, and will prohibit…
kkrisberg | May 17, 2016Hardly a day goes by lately without another story on companies like Uber and their model of classifying workers as independent contractors while treating them more like traditional employees and sidestepping traditional employer responsibilities. It’s a model that has serious implications for workers’ rights and wages. However, there’s another form of employment that may be even more damaging to hard-fought labor standards: subcontracting.
In March, the University of California-Berkely Labor Center released “Race to the Bottom: How Low-Road Subcontracting Affects Working Conditions in…
cmonforton | May 16, 2016The US Chamber of Commerce says it will “falsely brand” a company as unsafe. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) says it will “lead to unfair and unnecessary public shaming” of businesses. Both groups are referring to a new regulation issued last week by OSHA. The rule to improve tracking of work-related injuries and illness was proposed by the agency in November 2013.
Workplaces with more than 250 employees now will be required to submit annually to OSHA their injury and illness incident reports and a summary log. The forms used to record the data are ones employers have been…
kkrisberg | May 13, 2016It’s been 15 years since worker safety advocates in Puerto Rico first began fighting against a proposal to dilute the qualifications associated with being a professional industrial hygienist. As part of their efforts, such advocates developed their own proposal to protect the livelihoods of those with the knowledge and experience to properly protect workers. And after years of work, they may finally cross the finish line victorious.
“We’re really hopeful it works out and we’ll see the light of day,” said Lida Orta-Anés, professor in the Industrial Hygiene Program at the University of Puerto…
kkrisberg | May 12, 2016With near constant news on the threat of Zika virus and a quickly growing evidence base detailing the virus’ devastating impact on fetal brain development, you’d think Congress could get its act together to make sure our public health system is fully prepared and equipped to confront the mosquito-borne disease. Sadly, you’d be wrong.
It’s been nearly three months since the White House submitted a request to Congress proposing $1.9 billion in emergency funding to support a full range of activities needed to prepare for, prevent, detect and respond to Zika in the United States. As of today, May…
cmonforton | May 11, 2016It wasn’t too long ago that OSHA issued a citation to Allen Harim Foods, a poultry producer in Delaware, for failing to give their workers access to the bathroom.
“Employees were not granted permission to use them [toilets] and/or were not replaced at their lines, waiting up to 40 minutes to use lavatories.”
Today, Oxfam America issued a report which suggests that “holding it” is a situation faced by workers throughout the poultry industry. It’s not just a problem for workers at lesser known companies like, Allen Harim. Workers employed by Tyson Foods, Pilgrim’s Pride, Perdue, Sanderson Farms…
kkrisberg | May 10, 2016At the Guardian, reporters Oliver Laughland and Mae Ryan report on working conditions inside Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel. Right away, the article notes that while the presidential candidate tours the country selling his job-creating skills, workers in his hotel say they get paid about $3 less an hour than many of Las Vegas’ unionized hotel workers, who also enjoy better health and retirement benefits. They write:
Earlier this month, following a protracted dispute with Trump and his co-owner, casino billionaire Phil Ruffin, the National Labor Relations Board officially certified a union for…
lborkowski | May 9, 2016A few of the recent pieces I've liked:
Melissa Harris-Perry in Elle and before the Congressional Caucus for Black Women and Girls: How Our Country Fails Black Women and Girls
N.R. Kleinfeld in The New York Times: Fraying at the Edges (“A withered person with a scrambled mind, memories sealed away: That is the familiar face of Alzheimer’s. But there is also the waiting period, which Geri Taylor has been navigating with prudence, grace and hope.”)
Oliver Laughland and Mae Ryan in The Guardian: Workers fight for dignity in Trump's Las Vegas hotel: 'You don't talk to the boss'
Emily Peck in the…
cmonforton | May 6, 2016Henry William Gray, 56, suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Monday, May 2 while working at an excavation site in Denver, Iowa. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports:
The incident occurred at about 11:30 am.
"Crews were doing excavating work when a wall collapsed.”
The location is a “historic two-story brick commercial building…which has been under renovation the past couple of years.”
KWWL indicates:
"Snelling Construction was excavating a long foundation wall. ….A portion of the foundation wall tipped over…”
Using OSHA’s on-line database, it does not appear that the Iowa State OSHA…
kkrisberg | May 5, 2016Just in time for Mother’s Day comes more good news from the Affordable Care Act: the rate of uninsured moms caring for kids younger than 19 has dropped to its lowest rate in nearly 20 years.
According to a new analysis from the Urban Institute released this month, the rate of uninsured moms fell 3.8 percentage points between 2013 and 2014 — that’s a decline about three times as large as any of the previous year-to-year changes observed since 1997. In sheer numbers, that means about 1.6 million moms gained health insurance. To give you even more perspective, consider that uninsurance rates…
cmonforton | May 3, 2016Justin ‘J.D.’ Jorgensen’s work-related death could have been prevented. That’s how I see the findings of Iowa OSHA in the agency’s recent citations against his employer, JRS Excavating.
The 30 year-old was working with a crew in a residential area in Altoona, IA. They were digging water and sewer lines. Mr. Jorgensen was inside a 10 to 12 feet deep trench when it collapsed on him. I wrote about the incident shortly after it occurred in January 2016.
Inspectors with IA-OSHA conducted an inspection at the construction site following the fatal incident. The agency issued citations to JRS…
kkrisberg | May 3, 2016If you’re pregnant and live in Cleveland, Ohio, it’s likely you’ll pay about $522 for an ultrasound. If you live about 60 miles south in Canton, Ohio, it costs about $183 for the same procedure, a recent study found. Why such a significant price difference? Researchers couldn’t single out one overriding factor. But the study does tell us this: place matters when it comes to how much you pay for health care.
The study was published last week in Health Affairs and was based on data from the Health Care Cost Institute, a commercial claims database that includes nearly 3 billion paid claim lines…