Category: Safety and Health Data

Workplace Injury, Illness and Death- How do we know how many?

  Workers Memorial Day, April 28, is a day to reflect on how work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths affect American workers, their families and society at large. Each year at this time NIOSH reports on the burden of workplace injury and illness (see MMWR). But how do we know how many workers died or suffered Read More >

Posted on by Kerry Souza, ScD, MPH 3 Comments

Occupational Exposure Limits – State of the Science

  The process of developing and using occupational exposure limits is a cornerstone of industrial hygiene practice, with a history dating back to the 1880s. Occupational exposure limits, known as OELs, have not—until recently—evolved enough to reflect the advances in related sciences of toxicology, risk assessment, and exposure assessment. Much of the pioneering effort to Read More >

Posted on by Thomas J. Lentz, Ph.D.; Scott Dotson, Ph.D. and Deborah Hornback, MS6 Comments

How to Put Leading Indicators into Practice

  The use of leading indicators is a growing hot topic in occupational and environmental health and safety. The Campbell Institute at the National Safety Council has been studying leading indicators for the past two years to help more organizations take advantage of their predictive power. The Institute defines leading indicators as proactive, preventive, and Read More >

Posted on by Joy Inouye12 Comments

Connecting Occupational Public Health and Patient Care Through Electronic Health Records (EHRs)

This week is Health IT Week which recognizes efforts to improve the quality of healthcare delivery, increase patient safety, decrease medical errors, and strengthen the interaction between patients and healthcare providers via electronic health records (EHR).  NIOSH is working to improve occupational safety and health through health information technology. In 2007, NIOSH undertook a seemingly straightforward Read More >

Posted on by Margaret Filios, M.Sc., RN; Genevieve Barkocy Luensman, Ph.D.; John R Myers, MS; Marie Haring Sweeney, Ph.D.; Kerry Souza, Sc.D., MPH11 Comments

Including Work Information in Electronic Health Records

  Today’s “Health IT Buzz,” the blog of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), features a blog co-written by Kerry Souza of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and Michael Wittie of the ONC. Posted during “Health Center Week”, the blog highlights the Read More >

Posted on by Kerry Souza, ScD, MPH 2 Comments

A Voice in the Wilderness: Alice Hamilton and the Illinois Survey

Today, on Workers Memorial Day we remember those who died from work-related causes and take stock of what we still need to accomplish to reduce the toll of workplace injury, disease, and death. As we do this, it may be helpful to look back at how far we have come and remember one woman in Read More >

Posted on by Leslie Nickels, PhD, MEd8 Comments

Using Workers’ Compensation Records for Safety and Health Research

Workers’ compensation insurance has been established in all states to provide income protection, medical treatment, and rehabilita­tion for employees who are injured or become ill as a result of work.  Workers’ compensation claims and medical treatment records along with other information resources have been used to conduct occupational safety and health research and surveillance and Read More >

Posted on by David F. Utterback, Ph.D.; Alysha R. Meyers, Ph.D., AEP; Steve Wurzelbacher, PhD, CPE, ARM69 Comments

What’s Next for the NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods

  Many products essential to daily life are produced using  chemicals that can endanger human health unless properly controlled.  While the end product may be safe for the consumer, the workers who manufacture the product may be occupationally exposed to the chemical ingredients more directly or at higher concentrations than the consumer who uses the Read More >

Posted on by Dale Shoemaker, PhD; Rosa Key-Schwartz, PhD; Gayle DeBord, PhD; and Yvonne Gagnon, MPH3 Comments