Category: Aviation
Workplace Safety and Health in a Barbie World
As the occupational safety and health community continues to combat very real and serious hazards, we are closing out the summer with a little fun. This summer Barbie and friends have recaptured national attention breaking box office records with movie ticket sales exceeding one billion dollars in just a few weeks. While Barbie’s first “job” Read More >
Posted on by 4 Comments50 Years of NIOSH and 30 Years of NIOSH in Alaska
For the past 30 years, NIOSH has operated a small research office in Anchorage, Alaska. The NIOSH Division of Safety Research established the Alaska Field Station in 1991 to address the high rate of occupational fatalities among workers in the state. Surveillance from 1980-1989 showed Alaska had the highest rate of occupational fatality in the Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsExtramural Spotlight: Airline Pilot Mental Health
In March 2015, Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps, killing all 150 people onboard. An investigation found that the copilot deliberately steered the plane into the mountainside. It also revealed that he had a history of depression. Among workers, untreated depression can affect the ability to perform tasks and—as the Germanwings incident shows—in Read More >
Posted on by 11 CommentsNew NIOSH Training Offers Fatigue Management for Pilots in the Land of the Midnight Sun
For a pilot working in Western Alaska, the amount of daylight during their work day can vary as much as 14 hours between the summer and winter solstice (or more the farther north you go). These aviators often fly multiple legs each day, serving as a transportation link to over 250 villages across the Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsNonstandard Work Arrangements
Who is looking out for workers in nonstandard work arrangements? As the prevalence of nonstandard work arrangements (such as temporary agency, contract, and “gig” arrangements) rises, so do concerns about workplace safety and health among this workforce. A recent article, “Nonstandard work arrangements and worker health and safety” published in the American Journal of Industrial Read More >
Posted on by 18 CommentsMaking Alaska a Safer Place to Work
During 1980-1989, Alaska had the highest work-related fatality rate of any state in the nation, with a rate of 34.8 deaths per 100,000 workers per year compared to the average U.S. rate of 7 deaths per 100,000 workers per year. At the invitation of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services and the Read More >
Posted on by 12 CommentsNIOSH Study Evaluates Risks for Pregnant Flight Attendants
Some job hazards for flight attendants have changed greatly over the years. For example, while U.S. flight attendants are no longer exposed to second hand smoke at work, today there are heightened safety concerns due to terrorism , but some hazards have been present on the job since the first flight attendants started working. Flight Read More >
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