Categories: Construction, Engineering Control, Respiratory health
March 26th, 2013 11:12 am ET -
Chaolong Qi, PhD
- Are you a contractor whose company has at least three years of field experience cutting fiber cement siding with a circular saw?
- Has your company installed fiber cement siding on at least three large residential jobs?
- Do you have an upcoming job where fiber cement siding will be cut and installed for at least eight hours per day over a course of three days?
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If you answered “Yes” to these three questions then WE NEED YOU!
NIOSH is currently testing low-cost solutions for protecting workers from silica exposure when cutting fiber cement siding. You can help us test a dust control and at the same time add to the research that supports and advances the prevention of silicosis.
Fiber Cement Siding and Silica
Fiber cement siding is a popular product in home construction. Many builders select this siding because it is a weather-resilient material that does not generally attract insects or need to be painted as frequently as other common siding materials. However, fiber cement siding when cut can create fine dust particles containing silica that when breathed in, can lead to serious lung diseases, such as silicosis.
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Categories: Cancer, Manufacturing, Respiratory health, Technology
August 29th, 2012 10:58 am ET -
Simone Tramma, MD, MS; Eileen Storey, MD, MPH; David Weissman, MD
Last year we posted two blogs on the use of computerized tomography (CT) scans of the chest for lung cancer screening — Helical CT Scans and Lung Cancer Screening1 and Low-dose CT Scans and Lung Cancer Screening in the Occupational Setting.2 Since the postings, various organizations have provided guidance with differing implications for early detection of lung cancer in workers who have been exposed to lung carcinogens in the occupational setting. This blog provides an update on scientific investigation and the various recommendations that have been made in this area.
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Categories: At-risk populations, Cardiovascular Disease, Emergency response, Outdoor work, Personal protective equipment, Respiratory health
July 13th, 2012 4:40 pm ET -
Corey Campbell and Liz Dalsey
Photo courtesy of Todd Wyckoff, New Jersey Forestry Services
Wildland fires continue to increase in the Western United States as hot, dry and windy conditions persist, resulting in an extended fire season and factors conducive to fires. Currently, drought conditions are prevalent in the West due to low snow-pack levels, below average rainfall, record setting temperatures and high winds, resulting in a greater than average number of fires this year. Since January 2012, over 32,000 fires have burned almost 3.3 million acres in the US. [NIFC, 2012a]. Additionally, in the last 50 years, there has been a general increase in the occurrence and severity of forest wildfires in the US, as over 5 million wildfires have burned over 206 million acres [NIFC, 2012b].
When wildland fires occur in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), the area where houses meet undeveloped land, they can easily become catastrophic because a large number of people, homes and structures are at-risk. When a fire ignites in these areas, a quick and aggressive response from wildland fire agencies and wildland fire fighters is required.
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Categories: Engineering Control, Personal protective equipment, Respiratory health
May 23rd, 2012 8:52 am ET -
Eric Esswein, MSPH; Max Kiefer, MS; John Snawder, PhD; and Michael Breitenstein, BS
Operator: Hydraulic Fracturing Sand Transfer
Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” is the process of injecting large volumes of water, sand, and chemicals into the ground at high pressure to break up shale formation allowing more efficient recovery of oil and gas. This form of well stimulation has been used since the late 1940s, but has increased substantially over the last 10 years with the advent of horizontal drilling technology that greatly improves access to gas deposits in shale. Approximately 435,000 workers were employed in the US oil and gas extraction industry in 2010; nearly half of those workers were employed by well servicing companies, which includes companies that conduct hydraulic fracturing (BLS).1
To date, most of the attention on the safety and health implications of hydraulic fracturing has been related to impacts on the environment, primarily the potential for ground water contamination by hydraulic fracturing fluids. Although worker safety hazards in the oil and gas extraction industry are well known, there is very little data regarding occupational health hazards during hydraulic fracturing operations; for example, whether workers are exposed to toxic chemicals at hazardous concentrations.
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