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50 Years of Protecting Worker Respiratory Health

2017 is an important year for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Respiratory Health Division (RHD). This is the 50th anniversary of our establishment in 1967 as the Appalachian Laboratory for Occupational Respiratory Disease (ALFORD) within the U.S. Public Health Service. ALFORD subsequently joined NIOSH in 1971, changed into the Division of Read More >

Posted on by David Weissman, MD, and Doug Johns, PhD 3 Comments

Using Clear Communication at NIOSH

What is clear communication? Clear communication means using familiar concepts, words, numbers, and images presented in ways that make sense to the people who need the information – your intended audience.     Why should I care about clear communication? Whether you’re communicating health messages to employers or workers, every audience has its own level Read More >

Posted on by Sydney Webb, PhD; Rebecca Olsavsky, MS; Stephanie Pratt, PhD; and Tanya Headley, MS 1 Comment

DERMaL eToolkit

Emergency response personnel are often at risk of getting dangerous chemicals on their skin. Despite the availability of numerous high-quality resources designed to guide emergency management and operations personnel, data gaps continue to exist on specific hazards or scenarios. Available resources contain an overwhelming quantity of data on inhalation exposures, but data related to dermal Read More >

Posted on by Naomi Hudson, DrPH, MPH Leave a comment

Ambulance Crash Test Methods

Ambulance crashes are a major safety concern for workers and patients. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reviewed data from 45 special crash investigations from 2001-2015, and found that 84% of EMS workers were not wearing a seat belt in the patient compartment.1 For EMS workers, wearing a seat belt can be at odds with Read More >

Posted on by Jim Green and Sydney Webb, PhD 2 Comments

NIOSH Presents: Research on Managing Fatigue in the Workplace, Lessons Learned

On March 20-23, 2017, thirteen participants from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) attended the 10th International Conference on Managing Fatigue, in San Diego, California. This year’s conference was the first held in the U.S. since 2009, and was attended by over 260 Read More >

Posted on by Sarah Mitchell, MPH6 Comments

National Police Week and NIOSH’s Work in Officer Safety

Peace Officers Memorial Day and National Police Week are observances that pay tribute to local, state, and Federal officers who have died or been disabled in the line of duty.  The Peace Officers Memorial Day occurs annually on May 15 which was designated by President John F. Kennedy in 1962.  National Police Week is the Read More >

Posted on by Hope M. Tiesman, PhD; Jeff Rojek, PhD; Hongwei Hsiao, PhD; Claire Caruso, PhD3 Comments

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month: For 45 Years NIOSH Helps Prevent Occupational Hearing Loss

  Back in 1927, when an organization then known as the American Society for the Study of Disorders of Speech* first promoted May as “Better Hearing and Speech Month,” very little was known about occupational noise-induced hearing loss. But for more than 45 years, NIOSH has been researching ways to prevent it. Occupational hearing loss Read More >

Posted on by Trudi McCleery, MPH, and the NIOSH Hearing Loss Prevention Team2 Comments

Firefighter Cancer Rates: The Facts from NIOSH Research

In 2010, researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), launched a multi-year study to examine whether firefighters have a higher risk of cancer and other causes of death due to job exposures. The study was a joint effort led by researchers at NIOSH in collaboration with researchers at the National Cancer Read More >

Posted on by Robert D. Daniels, PhD, CHP22 Comments