US children have three main routes to health-insurance coverage, but the “family glitch” leaves some families without an affordable insurance option.
Child Labor
San Francisco passes nation’s first Retail Workers Bill of Rights, addressing erratic scheduling and part-time work
The week of midterm exams is stressful for any college student. For San Francisco State student Michelle Flores, it was another stress-filled example of the unfair conditions she and millions of other retail workers face on a regular basis.
Injury Control & Violence
Study: Americans trading more work for less sleep, putting their health and safety at risk
Feeling tired? You’re not alone. A new study finds that many U.S. workers aren’t getting enough sleep, which is essential to optimal health, and that people who work multiple jobs are at heightened risk of getting less than the recommended hours of nightly rest.
Environmental Health
OSHA announces new effort to protect oil & gas workers: Industry investigates silica exposure
“Too many oil and gas industry workers are being hurt or killed on the job,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, David Michaels in remarks delivered to the more than 2,000 people who gathered last week in Houston for the 2014 OSHA Oil & Gas Safety and Health Conference. As part […]
Government
Fatal work injury that killed Ricardo Ramos, 49, was preventable, Michigan OSHA cites Hillshire Brands
The fatal work-related injuries that killed Ricardo Ramos could have been prevented had his employer followed worker safety regulations.
Education
The more you know: Study finds calorie signs do influence sugary beverage purchases among youth
In ongoing public health efforts to curb the obesity epidemic, better menu and nutrition labeling is often tapped as a low-cost way to help make the healthy choice, the easy choice. And while the evidence on the effectiveness of such interventions is still emerging, a recent study found that educating young people on the calories in sugar-sweetened beverages did make a positive difference.
Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration published a final rule that updates requirements for what prescription-drug information must disclose about potential effects for pregnant and breastfeeding women and their babies. And last month, the agency released Drug Trials Snapshots, which is part of a pilot project to help consumers learn more about the clinical trials upon which new drugs’ approvals are based.
The latest edition of the Labor Department’s regulatory agenda offers a mixed bag of unaddressed workplace hazards and slipped deadlines, as well as a few new topics for possible regulatory action to protect workers.
Injury Control & Violence
Not an “accident”: Jesus Mendizabal, 43, suffers fatal work-related injury on Staten Island, NY
This week’s snapshot of just one work-related fatality in the U.S. This one occurred on November 28 on Staten Island, NY.
As public health practitioners increasingly look upstream to identify the determinants that put people on a trajectory toward lifelong health and wellbeing, early childhood is often tapped as a pivotal intervention point. Now, a new tool is available that practitioners can use to measure neighborhood-level opportunity indicators that are fundamentally linked to children’s health.