It’s been 15 years since worker safety advocates in Puerto Rico first began fighting against a proposal to dilute the qualifications associated with being a professional industrial hygienist. As part of their efforts, such advocates developed their own proposal to protect the livelihoods of those with the knowledge and experience to properly protect workers. And after years of work, they may finally cross the finish line victorious.
Environmental Health
With mosquito season around the corner, Congress drags its feet on Zika funding
With near constant news on the threat of Zika virus and a quickly growing evidence base detailing the virus’ devastating impact on fetal brain development, you’d think Congress could get its act together to make sure our public health system is fully prepared and equipped to confront the mosquito-borne disease. Sadly, you’d be wrong.
Imagine if employees are your local grocery store or restaurant weren’t given access to the bathroom when they needed to use it. Employees soiled themselves while stocking shelves or working at the check-out counter. That’s what is happening where we can’t see: behind the walls of poultry processing plants.
Workers inside Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel speak up about wages and conditions; New York’s governor sides with farmworkers in right to organize; reporters investigate the lack of women coaches in college sports; and Uber agrees to a workers guild with very limited power.
Public Health Practice
Worth reading: Alzheimer’s, working moms, and conditions in Trump’s Las Vegas hotel
Recent pieces address how the US fails black women and girls; navigating the Alzheimer’s transition; what has happened to some former workers from Trump’s Las Vegas hotel after an injury or unionizing efforts; and more.
Injury Control & Violence
Not an “accident”: Henry William Gray, 56, suffers fatal work-related injury in Denver, IA
This week’s snapshot of just one work-related fatality in the US. This one occurred on Monday, May 2 in Denver, IA
Affordable Care Act
More than 1 million mothers gain health insurance, thanks to the Affordable Care Act
Just in time for Mother’s Day comes more good news from the Affordable Care Act: the rate of uninsured moms caring for kids younger than 19 has dropped to its lowest rate in nearly 20 years.
Government
Fatal work injury that killed J.D. Jorgensen was preventable, Iowa-OSHA cites JRS Excavating
The fatal work-related injuries that killed Justin ‘J.D.’ Jorgensen could have been prevented had his employer followed worker safety regulations.
If you’re pregnant and live in Cleveland, Ohio, it’s likely you’ll pay about $522 for an ultrasound. If you live about 60 miles south in Canton, Ohio, it costs about $183 for the same procedure, a recent study found. Why such a significant price difference? Researchers couldn’t single out one overriding factor. But the study does tell us this: place matters when it comes to how much you pay for health care.
A study in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report last week reported that the birth rate for US teens aged 15-19 declined by 41% nationwide from 2006 to 2014. But the persistence of disparities — by geography as well as by race and ethnicity — is still of concern.