Worker Health & Safety | The Pump Handle

Worker Health & Safety Electronics production in Batam, Indonesia: “OSH is the most important. If we are sick we cannot earn our salaries.”

October 29, 2010 Elizabeth Grossman 3Comment

by Elizabeth Grossman Batam, one of Indonesia’s Riau Islands, sits across the smog-choked strait from Singapore, just one degree north of the equator. On October 21 and 22, the days that I’m there, newspaper headlines announce that Singapore is experiencing its worst air pollution since 2006 due to fires, most likely from illegal forest clearing […]

Environmental Health Roadtrip observations of workers safety (sort of) during highway construction

October 29, 2010 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 4Comment

I recently logged 1,300 miles in a rented white PT Cruiser traveling on I-94 from Chicago to Milwaukee and Madison, WI, down I-65 and I-74 to Cincinnati and up I-75 to Detroit. Along the way I saw dozens of road construction projects to expand traffic lanes, repair overpasses, and repave the road surface. Workers were […]

US Healthcare System Where the Healthcare Workers Are

October 28, 2010 Liz Borkowski, MPH 3Comment

At the Millennium Development Goal summit last month, one of the sessions addressed the issue of the global healthcare workforce. We don’t have enough healthcare workers to deliver needed care to the world’s population, and until we address this problem it’ll be next to impossible to meet the goals of reducing child mortality, improving maternal […]

Worker Health & Safety “Noise is good” – Breaking the silence on occupational health and safety in Asia

October 27, 2010 The Pump Handle 5Comment

by Elizabeth Grossman I’m on my way home from Indonesia, where I spent part of the past week attending the annual meeting of the Asian Network for Occupational Accident Victims (ANROAV), an organization that brings together NGOs working on occupational health, safety, and labor issues all across Asia. The meeting was held in Bandung, in […]

Injury Control & Violence Coal miner’s widow makes worker safety a campaign issue in KY congressional race

October 26, 2010 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

Melissa Lee’s life changed forever on May 20, 2006 when her husband Jimmy, 33 was killed, along with four other workers, in an explosion at the Kentucky Darby coal mine. Afterwards, she not only had four sons to raise without a dad, but as soon as Melissa started speaking up to demand mine safety improvements, […]

Worker Health & Safety Occupational Health News Roundup

October 25, 2010 Liz Borkowski, MPH 2Comment

The “Brazilian Blowout” is a popular treatment administered by salons to smooth their clients’ hair. The Oregonian’s Katy Muldoon explores the experience of one hairstylist who worried about the effects of the chemicals contained in the treatment. After a few months of administering Brazilian Blowouts, Portland hairstylist Molly Scrutton began experiencing throat and chest pain. […]

OSHA Chamber of Commerce’s misinformation campaign about worker safety regulations

October 21, 2010 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 3Comment

Updated (below) 10/22/2010 Industry trade association are masters of using scare tactics and misinformation about environment, health and safety regulations to recruit and retain members. The latest evidence is the Chamber of Commerce’s “This Way to Jobs” propaganda campaign, with the worn out message: regulations on workers’ safety and environmental protection hurt the economy and […]

Mining Occupational Health News Roundup

October 20, 2010 Liz Borkowski, MPH 3Comment

After last week’s triumphant rescue of 33 miners from Chile’s San JosÃ© mine, attention has turned to mine safety in Chile and worldwide. The Associated Press reports that President Sebastian PiÃ±era fired the top regulators from Chile’s mine safety agency and promised to triple its budget. In the weeks following the San JosÃ© collapse, at […]

Injury Control & Violence Contractor racks up mine safety violations and unpaid penalties, also wins safety awards

October 19, 2010 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 5Comment

Estevan R. Benavidez’s family says he was a happy-to-lucky, 20 year old. He graduated from Miami (AZ) High School in 2008, was a talented tattoo artist, liked to fish, eat junk food, and spend time with his young daughter. On January 9, 2010 he was working for Ames Construction as a laborer at the Freeport […]

Mining MSHA takes bold step to end black lung disease, proposes tough new regulation

October 14, 2010 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 2Comment

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and MSHA asst. secretary Joe Main are proposing new rules to protect U.S. coal mine workers from developing illnesses related to exposure to respirable coal mine dust. The most commonly known adverse health effect is black lung disease, but exposure is also associated with excess risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, […]