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

Injury Control & Violence Billion dollar mining company hasn’t paid fine for safety violations in 2010 deaths of two workers

June 21, 2012 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 4Comment

Barrick Gold company was assessed a $447,600 civil penalty from the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration following the fatal injury incident in August 2010 that killed two workers. The multi-national corporation has yet to pay the penalty, but you wouldn’t know that reading the firm’s annual Responsibility Report.

Affordable Care Act Why the mandate matters: Two states’ stories

June 20, 2012 Liz Borkowski, MPH 1Comment

As we’re waiting to learn whether the Affordable Care Act will survive the upcoming Supreme Court decision, it’s a good time to remember what’s at stake with the individual mandate. It’s helpful to consider the stories of two states that took different mandate paths in their attempts to make insurance affordable, with very different outcomes.

Mining New study shows black lung and silicosis among U.S. surface coal miners, not just a problem for underground miners

June 19, 2012 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 1Comment

A x-ray surveillance program finds nearly four dozen cases of coal workers pneumoconiosis among surface coal miners in the U.S., while coal operators including Alpha Natural Resources and CONSOL Energy insist that workers on strip mining jobs aren’t exposed to enough dust to cause disease.

Injury Control & Violence Austin project successfully integrating workers’ rights into larger sustainability goals

June 18, 2012 The Pump Handle 2Comment

When most of us think of sustainability and construction, the usual suspects probably come to mind: efficient cooling and heating, using nontoxic building materials, minimizing environmental degradation — in other words, being green. But in Austin, Texas, a new effort is working to expand the definition of sustainability from the buildings themselves to the hands that put them together.

Occup Health News Roundup Occupational Health News Roundup

June 18, 2012 Liz Borkowski, MPH 1Comment

A stagehand’s death is a grim reminder of hazards in the theater; it takes OSHA an average of nearly eight years to issue a new standard; and a federal decision clears the way for 50 cancers to be added to the list of WTC-related diseases eligible for compensation and treatment.

Public Health Practice National Academies Press celebrates first year of free PDFs

June 15, 2012 Liz Borkowski, MPH 1Comment

The National Academies Press celebrates its first year of offering free PDF books for downloading. Several important public health publications are among the free offerings.

Environmental Health Frack sand mining boom: silica dust, air quality, and human health

June 14, 2012 Elizabeth Grossman 3Comment

To understand the current boom in frack sand mining, the place to look is Wisconsin. What’s happening in Wisconsin also shows how limited current information is regarding potential air quality and environmental health effects this industrial activity, which is a source of silica dust – a known human health hazard.

Public Health Practice Public health preparedness in a time of budget cuts

June 13, 2012 Liz Borkowski, MPH 2Comment

At a Congressional hearing on emergency preparedness, APHA’s Georges Benjamin warns about the impact of budget cuts on the public health system.

Public Health Practice NIEHS renews study call for Gulf oil spill workers; residents still waiting for services

June 12, 2012 The Pump Handle 3Comment

When an explosion on the BP-operated drilling rig Deepwater Horizon caused what would be the worst oil spill in U.S. history, Glenda Perryman’s friends and neighbors answered the call for clean-up workers.

Cancer Diesel exhaust a human carcinogen concludes WHO’s cancer panel

June 12, 2012 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 3Comment

A panel of scientific experts convened by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded today that diesel engine exhaust is carcinogenic to humans. Previously, the classification for diesel exhaust had been “probably carcinogenic to humans.”