The Pump Handle - A Water Cooler for the Public Health Crowd

Environmental Health Preventing chemical disasters: Labor and community groups say action must accompany words

June 12, 2014 Elizabeth Grossman 1Comment

Following the deadly April 17, 2013 explosion at the West, Texas fertilizer plant – and a series of other catastrophic incidents involving hazardous materials – President Obama directed federal agencies to improve chemical facility security and safety. Their report makes recommendations but does not mandate any immediate action. Meanwhile, dangerous chemical releases occur at workplaces around the US almost daily.

Injury Control & Violence “He gave us the truth of what happened to our loved ones”

June 12, 2014 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

Investigator Jim Beck got to the bottom of what happened at the Upper Big Branch coal mine disaster. He died last week from cancer.

Affordable Care Act Will employers scrap their health plans and send employees to exchanges? Do we want them to?

June 11, 2014 Liz Borkowski, MPH 2Comment

A new IRS rule is likely to discourage employers from scrapping their health plans and sending workers to get health insurance from exchanges. Given that a reliance on employer-sponsored insurance disadvantages some workers and contributes to job lock, do we really want employers to keep being such a significant source of insurance coverage?

Food Safety & Nutrition Two new studies find food policy interventions have support and impact

June 10, 2014 Kim Krisberg

Five million dollars. That’s how much the fast food industry spends every day to peddle largely unhealthy foods to children. And because studies have found that exposure to food marketing does indeed make kids want to eat more, advertising is often tapped as an obvious way to address child obesity. Fortunately, a new study finds that the public agrees.

Government Not an “accident”: Chris Williamson suffers fatal work-related injury in Florence, Alabama

June 10, 2014 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 2Comment

This week’s snapshot of just one work-related fatality. This one occurred on June 4 on an electrical pole in Florence, Alabama.

Health Impact Assessments A powerful prescription for better public health: raise the minimum wage

June 9, 2014 The Pump Handle 2Comment

Evidence from decades of research has convinced many public health professionals that there is no single factor more important to healthy living than a minimum standard of income and no single factor more harmful to health than persistent poverty.

Government New research estimates that one in eight U.S. children will experience maltreatment

June 6, 2014 Kim Krisberg 1Comment

Researcher Christopher Wildeman has spent his whole career describing and quantifying the more unpleasant parts of people’s lives and his latest study on the surprising prevalence of childhood maltreatment is no exception. Still, there is a bit of a silver lining.

Government The fiction of OSHA’s agenda for new worker safety rules

June 5, 2014 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 1Comment

Milestones set, milestones missed. The fiction of OSHA’s regulatory agenda for new worker safety protections.

California Where you live may be hazardous to your health: Two reports show “place matters”

June 4, 2014 Elizabeth Grossman

Where you live may be hazardous to your health. This is the conclusion of several new reports including one by the Environmental Justice and Health Alliance for Chemical Reform that shows who lives in US communities most vulnerable to hazardous chemical exposures and the CDC’s latest examination of health disparities.

Child Labor Occupational Health News Roundup

June 3, 2014 Kim Krisberg

The Huffington Post investigates how the mining industry cheats worker safety; Seattle set to raise minimum wage to $15; and the death of a hummus plant worker could have been prevented with better safety practices.