NIOSH Science Blog Posts
What Measures Can Companies Use to Evaluate Safety Management Practices and Identify Opportunities for Improvement?
What measures can companies use to evaluate safety efforts and identify opportunities for improvement? The most commonly used measures of safety performance are lagging indicators such as injury counts and costs.1,2 While lagging indicators can be beneficial, using them as the only measure of safety can be a barrier to safety improvement. For example, Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsFireworks
The blog content comes from the NIOSH Manufacturing Mondays series. The Fourth of July is the quintessential American holiday. Not only are we celebrating the birth of our nation, but we take a break in the heat of summer to participate in parades, cookouts, swimming, and FIREWORKS! While many of us enjoy the exhilaration of Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsWorkplace Medical Mystery Solved: What Is Making This Roofer Sick?
Ray worked as a roofer and started feeling sick during work. His symptoms started halfway through the first day and, by the end of the second day, he felt even worse with a headache, cough, shortness of breath, and chest tightness. At the doctor’s office, his tests came back normal. Read more about his case Read More >
Posted on by 4 CommentsWorkplace Medical Mystery: What Is Making This Roofer Sick?
Ray drove to his work site on Monday morning, sipping coffee along the way. Spring was almost over, and everything was in full bloom. He was thankful for a cloudy day and cranked up the air conditioning, he knew he would start sweating once he got to work. Today Ray and his crew were working Read More >
Posted on by 21 CommentsClimatologic Conditions, Chronic Disease and Work: Emerging Evidence and Implications
As concerns about climatologic conditions (CC) are rising globally they remain poorly addressed in many settings such as the workplace. Climate-related hazards such as heat exposure and extreme weather events are and will continue to shape workers’ work experiences, risks for chronic disease, other health outcomes, and productivity. As such, central goals for occupational Read More >
Posted on byPausas para ir al baño
Aunque los trabajadores pueden suponer que tendrán acceso a baños en el trabajo, muchos que laboran en una amplia gama de sectores comerciales y ocupaciones dicen que no pueden hacer las pausas que necesitan para ir al baño mientras están trabajando.1-6 Las pausas insuficientes para ir al baño son algo importante que hay que considerar Read More >
Posted on by 2 CommentsThe Manufacture and Selection of Eye Protection at Work
The blog content comes from the NIOSH Manufacturing Mondays series. June 6th was National Eyewear Day (and May was Healthy Vision Month). To celebrate we are highlighting eye protection at work. Thousands of people each year experience work-related eye injuries that could have been prevented with the proper selection and use of eye and face Read More >
Posted on by 2 CommentsThe Role of Robotics in the Future of Work
NIOSH established the Future of Work Initiative in response to rapid changes in the workplace, work, and workforce. The Initiative seeks to prompt research and practical approaches to address future occupational safety and health concerns. Increased use and rapid technologic advances in robotics fits within the sphere of changes in how work will increasingly Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsNational Safety Month
Each June, we celebrate National Safety Month. While we all know safety is important year-round, this month we work to highlight efforts to prevent injury and death, from the workplace to anyplace. In this blog, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the National Safety Council (NSC) are highlighting research and prevention Read More >
Posted on by 2 CommentsSave Your Hearing Day
The blog content comes from the NIOSH Manufacturing Mondays seminar series. Today is National Save Your Hearing Day. Hearing loss is one of the most common work-related illnesses. [1] About 12% of U.S. workers have hearing difficulty. [2] Among noise-exposed workers, 23% have hearing difficulty compared to 7% of non-noise-exposed workers. [3] Twenty-four percent of Read More >
Posted on byUmbrella Manufacturing
The blog content comes from the NIOSH Manufacturing Mondays seminar series. During this time of year many of us will grab an umbrella when walking out the door, a useful device that has been with us for a long time but is seldom thought about until you need one. The umbrella is a vital piece Read More >
Posted on byHealth Worker Mental Health Initiative
A new Surgeon General’s Advisory highlights the urgent need to address the health worker burnout crisis across the country. Workers providing health services face many on-the-job challenges that can lead to work-related stress. For many of the 20 million health workers in the U.S., the COVID-19 pandemic has led to new and worsening mental health Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsWorld Whiskey Day: Safety and Health for Bourbon Distillery Workers
The blog content comes from the NIOSH Manufacturing Mondays seminar series. Saturday, May 21, 2022 is World Whiskey Day Founded in 2012 by a Scottish college student, the day is now recognized by whiskey drinkers all over the world to celebrate their favorite spirit. There are historical references to whiskey dating to at least the Read More >
Posted on by 2 CommentsShiftwork May Lead to Health Problems among Police Officers: What Can be Done? Using Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress (BCOPS) Study Data to Examine First Responder Health
Ensuring the safety of our community is a 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year kind of job. Weekends and holidays included. Working at night (outside the normal daylight hours of 7am – 6pm) is known as “shiftwork” and it has been linked to certain health issues. Police officers and detectives frequently work 1st, 2nd, and 3rd shift, Read More >
Posted on by 5 CommentsCommercial Vehicle Operators and Legionnaires’ Disease
A New Concern Among Commercial Vehicle Operators Legionnaires’ disease is a serious form of pneumonia that almost always requires treatment in the hospital. Studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and elsewhere have found Legionnaires’ disease occurs at twice the rate in transportation workers as in non-transportation workers. Among the transportation workers Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsManufacturing Mondays Blog Series: Military Appreciation
The blog content comes from the NIOSH Manufacturing Mondays seminar series. May is Military Appreciation Month, established by Congress in 1999. There are several important days to remember that encompass Military Appreciation Month like VE Day (Victory in Europe Day, May 8th), Armed Forces Day (the third Saturday in May), and Memorial Day (the last Read More >
Posted on byNewly Archived Webinar Recordings Highlighting How Emerging Technologies Can Prevent Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders
NIOSH recently posted seven webinars to YouTube highlighting the use of emerging technologies to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). Although the webinars are from 2018-2021, the content is still informative and relevant and receiving praise from those in the industry. The series of webinars focuses on using emerging technologies as interventions or for conducting Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentOutdoor Workers and Poisonous Plant Exposures
Poisonous Plants Are an Occupational Hazard For many outdoor workers (and some who work indoors), contact with poisonous plants is a common work hazard. Workers at risk include construction workers, farmers, landscapers and arborists, gardeners, outdoor painters, roofers, and wildland firefighters. Common plants they may come in contact with include poison ivy, poison oak, poison Read More >
Posted on by 2 CommentsManufacturing Mondays Blog Series: May the 4th Be with Laser and Plasma Cutting Workers
The blog content comes from the NIOSH Manufacturing Mondays seminar series. It’s the first week of May! This week is May 4th, a date when people celebrate that cultural touchstone: Star Wars. But don’t forget the other star wars. The famed defense program, officially designated the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), was announced by President Reagan Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentWorkers Memorial Day 2022: Statement from NIOSH Director John Howard, MD
Workers Memorial Day, observed each year on April 28, is an opportunity for us to commemorate workers who were injured, became ill, or died because of exposures to hazards. As scientists, we often look at numbers to tell one part of the story, and within the last two years there have been some trends that Read More >
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