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

Food Safety & Nutrition A new kind of guide for restaurant diners: do the employees have sick leave, living wages?

December 1, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

The worker-led organization Restaurant Opportunities Center United released this month a new type of diners’ guide, one that focuses on working conditions for the employees at 180 restaurants nationwide. The US restaurant industry employs 10 million individuals and is the fastest growing sector in the economy. More than half of restaurant workers, however, earn less […]

Injury Control & Violence MSHA poised to issue investigation report on Upper Big Branch disaster

December 1, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 1Comment

The US Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is preparing to issue next week its investigation report on the April 5, 2010 coal mine disaster at the Upper Big Branch mine that killed 29 workers. Ken Ward, Jr. at Coal Tattoo reports that MSHA will hold a media briefing at 3:00 pm […]

Environmental Health Japan’s Tipping Point: Renewable Energy from Solar and Geothermal

November 30, 2011 The Pump Handle 1Comment

by Mark Pendergrast This is my second post in a series of three about the state of Japan’s renewable energy efforts, which are vital to prevent further climate change and to wean the country from fossil fuel and nuclear power. In the previous post, I covered the public-health impacts of climate change and explained why […]

Occup Health News Roundup Occupational Health News Roundup

November 29, 2011 Liz Borkowski, MPH

Although the news of a shopper using pepper spray was disturbing, I was glad that Black Friday 2011 passed without the kind of tragedy that happened in 2008, when 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour was killed by a stampede of shoppers at a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, Long Island. OSHA cited Wal-Mart for a serious violation of […]

Regulation Industry influence and White House obstacles hamper rules to protect health, safety and environment

November 28, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

A new report by the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) confirms what some of us have suspected: there’s not much difference between the Obama Admininstration’s and GW Bush Administration’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) when it comes to meetings with industry lobbyists and giving lip-service to transparency. In “Behind Closed Doors at the […]

Environmental Health Will Congress act to keep tax-break parity for transit and parking?

November 28, 2011 Liz Borkowski, MPH

The UN climate talks going on in Durban aren’t likely to lead to any major breakthroughs, but it would be nice if the US could at least avoid backsliding on the better-than-nothing steps it’s taken on emissions. One important step for controlling emissions is ensuring the availability of affordable public transportation. Congress has helped make […]

Cancer MSHA should scrap any plan to wait for OSHA action on respirable crystalline silica

November 25, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

Before too long the US Department of Labor (DOL) and other federal agencies should be issuing their annual regulatory plans and semi-annual agendas. These documents serve as official public notice of agencies’ regulatory (and deregulatory) priorities. The Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order (EO) 12866 direct agency heads to release these documents in April (agenda) […]

Public Health Practice Worth Reading: Poisoned Places and Pepper Spray

November 23, 2011 Liz Borkowski, MPH 1Comment

A few of the recent pieces I’ve liked: A special investigative series by several reporters at Center for Public Integiryt/iWatch News and NPR: Poisoned Places: Toxic Air, Neglected Communities Deborah Blum at Speakeasy Science: About Pepper Spray (also see her followup, Fox News Food Products) and, relatedly: Judy Stone at the Scientific American Guest Blog: […]

Infectious Diseases & Vaccines A shot in the dark: Vaccine funding cuts a gamble for good health

November 22, 2011 The Pump Handle 1Comment

by Kim Krisberg It’s too early to tell just how many families Elizabeth Frerking and her colleagues at the Saline County Health Department in Marshall, Mo., will have to turn away, but it’s likely to be too many. As of Oct. 1 and due to cuts in federal immunization funding, Frerking can only administer vaccines […]

Environmental Health Japan’s Tipping Point in Response to Climate Change: Will the Canary Survive the Coal Mine?

November 21, 2011 The Pump Handle

by Mark Pendergrast I’m going to talk about Japanese renewable energy in a minute, but first let me explain why. In 2010, I published a book on public health (Inside the Outbreaks), and as a follow-up, I concluded that the overarching threat to the world’s public health that we face in the coming decades is […]