Conditions on Florida tomato farms improve thanks to the Fair Food Program; federal officials are developing a protective inhalation screening level for the West Virginia chemical spill region; and a Government Accountability Project expert testifies on whistleblower protections in observance of Workers Memorial Day.
ATSDR epidemiologist Frank Bove, ScD is awarded the 2014 David Ozonoff Unsung Hero Award. He is recognized for his work, most notably, studies examining the relationship between water contamination at Camp Lejeune and birth defects, cancer and other adverse health conditions.
Food Safety & Nutrition
Wayne Farms and Employer Solutions Staffing subject of Alabama poultry workers’ safety complaints
Nine poultry workers filed safety and whistleblower complaints with the Labor Department against the country’s fifth largest poultry company and the temp staffing agency that hired some of them.
OSHA
Second 2014 worker fatality at Suncor Alberta oil sands facility highlights alarming industry death rate
Today is Workers Memorial Day. This post discusses one of the thousands of occupational fatalities that occur every year around the world. – On Sunday, April 20th, Shayne Daye, a 27-year old electrician and technician, died as a result of an injury sustained while working at Suncor’s Oil Sands site about 15 miles north of Fort McMurray, Alberta in western Canada. Daye’s death is Suncor Oil Sands’ second workplace fatality of 2014. A look at the industry’s record in Alberta suggests an alarming rate of occupational fatalities.
The Labor Department announced new regulations to better protect coal miners from developing coal mine dust lung diseases. The are a step in the right direction, but not as stringent as proposed.
Three hours after I wrote this “The US Department of Labor has a plan to eliminate coal mine dust lung disease (a.k.a. black lung.) It’s been stuck in White House review for eight months, under the watch of a reg czar who promised timeliness of reviews,” they announced they were issuing the new rules.
Workers in Houston test the City’s new anti-wage theft ordinance, making a complaint against companies contracted by the City of Houston.
Two recent incidents reminded me of what a worker said about “safety talks.”
Unfortunately, it’s not too terribly surprising that diseases of the developing world don’t attract as much research attention as diseases common in wealthier countries. However, a new study not only underscores that trend, it actually found zero relationship between global disease burden and health research.
NIOSH is one of those federal agencies that prefers to lie quietly in the background. But when USDA misconstrued a NIOSH report on poultry worker injuries, the agency took notice and created some waves.