Category: Environment/Green Jobs

Protecting Workers and the Public from Wildfire Smoke

  The Canadian wildfires highlight the hazard of wildfire smoke, an issue faced annually by many communities across the United States. In this blog, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and National Center for Environmental Health teamed up with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide Read More >

Posted on by Maryann M. D’Alessandro, PhD; Meghan Kiederer, BA; Joseph Schall, MA; Maria Mirabelli, PhD, MPH; Susan Stone, MS; CAPT Lisa Delaney, MS, CIH; CAPT Christa Hale, DVM, MPH, DACVPM (Epi); Lew Radonovich, MD4 Comments

The Role of Demographics in the Future of Work

  The future of work continues to be shaped by ongoing changes in the workplace, work, and workforce. Shifting workforce demographics will present both opportunities and challenges for occupational safety and health (OSH). A central challenge will be ensuring the equitable distribution of work-related benefits and risks that accompany these transformations. To meet this challenge, Read More >

Posted on by Laura Syron, PhD, MPH; Marie-Anne S. Rosemberg, PhD, MN, RN, FAAOHN; Michael A Flynn, MA; Jacqueline Sivén, PhD, MA, MPH; Andrea Steege, PhD, MPH; Sara L. Tamers, PhD, MPH4 Comments

Opportunities for Integrating Safety and Health into Sustainable Building Projects: Have You Tried the Prevention through Design (PtD) Pilot Credit?

Ten years ago the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) launched the concept of Prevention through Design (PtD), which champions preventing and controlling occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities by “designing out” or minimizing hazards and risks. Since then, many safety and health professionals have become familiar with the concept and implemented it in Read More >

Posted on by Christine Branche, Ph.D., FACE, Heather Langford, LEED AP BD+C, O+M, and Matthew E. Gillen, FAIHA4 Comments

Occupational Hazards and Climate

Climate-related occupational hazards have historically received little attention. In 2009, NIOSH began work to address this gap and developed a framework to identify climate-related occupational hazards. Recently, NIOSH investigators published new work in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene. Based on a review and assessment of the peer-reviewed literature from 2008–2014, the article updates Read More >

Posted on by Paul Schulte, PhD; Donna Van Bogaert, PhD; and Debbie Hornback, MS4 Comments

Occupational Exposures to New Drycleaning Solvents

Drycleaning There are about 36,000 commercial drycleaning shops in the United States. Most are owner-operated small businesses with fewer than 10 employees. In addition, some drycleaning shops may be owned and staffed by individuals with limited English language skills and/or may be marginally profitable– factors that may create additional barriers for the owner-operator to maintain a Read More >

Posted on by Diana Ceballos, PhD, MS, CIH; Stephen Whittaker, PhD; and Eun Gyung Lee, PhD, CIH 14 Comments

Occupational Exposures at Electronic Scrap Recycling Facilities

Go Green! Recycle! We have all heard the call to be more environmentally conscious. However, not everyone is aware of the many health and safety hazards facing employees who handle the recycling of electronics. Many recycled electronics can contain hazardous materials such as lead, cadmium and other toxic metals. In 2011, the U.S. e-scrap recycling Read More >

Posted on by Diana Ceballos, PhD,CIH,MS; Elena Page, MD,MPH41 Comments

Climate Change and Occupational Safety and Health

  Weather and climate patterns are changing, causing increasingly frequent and severe heat waves, drought, flooding, and extreme weather events, as well as a rise in sea levels, a report released in May by the U.S. Global Change Research Program concluded (National Climate Assessment). Global climate change has become one of the most visible environmental Read More >

Posted on by Max Kiefer, MS, CIH; Jennifer Lincoln, PhD; Paul Schulte, PhD; Brenda Jacklitsch, MS33 Comments

Green Buildings and Human Health

Earlier this year I participated in the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Summit on Green Buildings and Human Health. At USGBC’s invitation, I authored a blog that appears on their website. We are co-posting the blog on the NIOSH Science Blog. The Summit was very successful, and USGBC is open to including worker issues into Read More >

Posted on by Christine Branche, Ph.D.16 Comments

Help Wanted: Spray Polyurethane Foam Insulation Research

Help NIOSH with our research. We need you if you are in the spray foam business. Spray foam contains vapors with unknown health implications. Our researchers are taking air samples at worksites where spray foam is being installed. This research will help us develop interventions to help keep workers healthy. Read More >

Posted on by David A. Marlow, BS25 Comments

Safety Has Not Been Asked to Prom

Environmental responsibility and occupational safety share many fundamental characteristics when it comes to changing behavior and making an impact. Recently, the green movement has become a mainstream movement. What can proponents of occupational safety learn from green campaigns?  Read More >

Posted on by Thomas Cunningham, PhD, and Garrett Burnett, MS, MBA35 Comments

Going Green: Safe and Healthy Jobs 2

As green and sustainable practices become more common in the U.S, there is an opportunity to promote worker safety and health as a fundamental dimension of true sustainability. A sustainable product, process or technology should not only protect the environment and the consumer but also the worker. Green jobs must be safe jobs. NIOSH presents six ideas about the steps needed to protect both workers and the environment by making occupational (worker) safety and health concepts part of green and sustainability developments. Read More >

Posted on by Matt Gillen, MS, CIH, Pietra Check, MPH and Christine Branche, PhD65 Comments

Going Green: Safe and Healthy Jobs

Green jobs—good for the environment, good for the economy. But are green jobs good for workers? The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and its partners recently launched the Going Green: Safe and Healthy Jobs initiative to make sure that green jobs are good for workers by integrating worker safety and health into "green jobs" and environmental sustainability. Read More >

Posted on by Christine Branche, PhD52 CommentsTags