New Mexico dairy farm workers face dangerous workplace conditions and fears of retaliation; Chicago passes minimum wage increase; worker dies at Staten Island car dealership; and Philadelphia task force supports paid sick leave.
Recent pieces address President Obama’s remarks on events in Ferguson, an Obamacare program that works but is shutting down, retail workers’ pay, and more.
Wouldn’t it be something if the President’s annual pardoning of a turkey be replaced with an annual Thanksgiving recognition of workers along the food chain?
Children who have the opportunity to attend full-day preschool programs, versus part-day programs, tend to score higher on school readiness measures such as language, math, socio-emotional development and physical health, according to a recent study. So, why is this finding important to public health? Because education has literally been described as an “elixir” for lifelong health and wellbeing.
Government
Public health labs and the Ebola response: ‘This is the type of work they do day in and day out’
Months before the first case of Ebola was diagnosed in Texas, the state’s public health laboratory had begun preparing for the disease to reach U.S. shores. And while the virus itself is an uncommon threat in this country, the response of the nation’s public health laboratory system wasn’t uncommon at all — in fact, protecting people’s health from such grave threats is exactly what public health laboratorians are trained to do.
Four workers from DuPont’s La Porte, TX facility are dead. Their employer makes hundreds of millions on its behavior-based, blame the worker safety program. Federal investigators will find that the catastrophe occurred because of decisions made far up the chain of command, not unsafe behaviors by the victims.
Environmental Health
Occupational health and safety leaders honored, new policies adopted at American Public Health Association annual meeting
The OHS Section’s annual meeting at APHA brings together the best of public health: solid research, community-based methods, policy and politics, social justice and solidarity.
The fatal work-related injuries that killed Juan Carlos Reyes’ could have been prevented had his employer followed worker safety regulations.
Environmental Health
Congress and science: White House threatens to veto bills that would change EPA science advisory boards and limit EPA use of science
In action that may portend how the 114th Congress will treat science, the House has passed two bills that would limit the EPA’s use of science. The White House is threatening to veto both – and an additional bill that in the White House’s view could weaken the Clean Air Act’s public health and environmental protections.
New report chronicles the low wages of child care workers; Johns Hopkins black lung review still unfinished; California nurses go on strike; and OSHA calls on retailers to protect their workers during Black Friday.