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NIEHS WTP: August 19, 2022 Newsbrief

Weekly E-Newsbrief, August 19, 2022

Weekly E-Newsbrief

August 19, 2022

The E-Newsbrief of the National Clearinghouse is a free weekly newsletter focusing on new developments in the world of worker health and safety. Each issue provides summaries of the latest worker health and safety news from newspapers, magazines, journals, government reports, and the Web, along with links to the original documents. Also featured each week are updates from government agencies that handle hazmat and worker safety issues such as DOE, EPA, OSHA and others.

Subscribing to the National Clearinghouse Newsbrief is the best way to stay on top of the worker health and safety news.

Top StoriesBack to Top

WTP Reports and Factsheets: Urban Flooding

Flooding events can be extremely dangerous, especially fast-moving water that rapidly fills streets, homes, and buildings before people can safely evacuate. Some urban communities experience repeated flooding events which can be stressful for homeowners due to the financial strain, emotional stress, and hardships of temporarily living in a damaged home. The NIEHS Worker Training Program provides resources and tools on urban flooding.

Urban Flooding and Worker Health Effects Report

Urban Flooding Fact Sheet

Call for Abstracts for the 2023 National Trainers’ Exchange

The 2023 Trainer’s Exchange will take place in Indianapolis, IN, May 2-4, 2023, and is hosted by OAI, Inc. in conjunction with the NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP). The National Trainers’ Exchange will bring together safety and health trainers and training stakeholders from the Department of Energy and the NIEHS WTP to exchange ideas about how to make training for hazardous materials and emergency response workers more effective and empowering. Through participatory workshop sessions, participants will share best practices, training techniques, and ways to overcome challenges. The deadline for submission is Wednesday, August 31, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. EDT

Submission Link

Oil Spill Cleanup Workers More Likely to Have Asthma Symptoms

Researchers from the Gulf Long-term Follow-up Study (GuLF STUDY) found that workers involved in cleaning up the nation’s largest oil spill were 60% more likely than those who did not work on the cleanup to be diagnosed with asthma or experience asthma symptoms one to three years after the spill.

NIEHS News Release

GuLF STUDY Website

U.S. Says Drought-Stricken Arizona and Nevada Will Get Less Water From Colorado River

For the second year in a row, Arizona and Nevada will face cuts in the amount of water they can draw from the Colorado River as the West endures an extreme drought, federal officials announced. The cuts planned for next year will force states to make critical decisions about where to reduce consumption and whether to prioritize growing cities or agricultural areas.

NPR

Judge says Pharmacies Owe 2 Ohio Counties $650 Million in Opioids Suit

A federal judge in Cleveland awarded $650 million in damages Wednesday to two Ohio counties that sued CVS, Walgreens and Walmart over the way the national pharmacy chains distributed opioids to their communities. Lake County is to receive $306 million over 15 years. Trumbull County is to receive $344 million over the same period.

PBS News Hour [Author: Mark Gillispie]

Calendar FeaturesBack to Top

Climate Conversations: Wildfire

Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to national policy action on climate change. The event will be held on August 25, 2022, at 3:00 p.m. EDT.

Event Registration

NIEHS Webinar: COVID-19: Impact on Worker Mental Health and Substance Use, Workplace Solutions

This interactive webinar will introduce participants to a new module that builds on the existing NIEHS WTP Opioid/SUD in the Workplace training curricula. The new module is an additional training resource about the work-related causes, impacts, and solutions to addiction and mental health effects, aggravated during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The event will be held on August 25, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. EDT.

Event Registration

NIEHS Webinar: Looking Back at COVID and Planning Ahead for Future Threats

The NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP), its grantees, and recovery centers develop tools and programs to prevent occupational exposure to infectious diseases, such as COVID-19. As workplaces transition out of the COVID-19 pandemic, focus needs to be on helping employers and workers prepare for ongoing and future infectious disease threats. This webinar will take a “look back” to describe the WTP COVID-19 program and showcase some of the materials produced. The event will be held on August 31, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. EDT.

Event Registration

Save the Date: WHO Guidelines on Mental Health at Work

The World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines on Mental Health at Work, and the accompanying Policy Brief from the World Health Organization and International Labour Organization will be published in September. WHO’s first-ever global guidelines on mental health at work provide evidence-based recommendations to improve mental health at work by supporting those who live with, or without, a mental health condition to participate and thrive at work. The guidelines will be published on September 28, 2022.

WHO Mental Health in the Workplace

Olden Distinguished Lecture: The Quest for Environmental and Climate Justice with Dr. Robert D. Bullard

Dr. Robert D. Bullard is a distinguished professor of urban planning at Texas Southern University (TSU), an author of 18 books, recipient of many awards and is recognized as the “father of environmental justice”. He is the founding director of the Robert D. Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at TSU, co-founder of the HBCU Climate Change Consortium and the National Black Environmental Justice Network. The event will be held on October 3, 2022, at 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. EDT.

Event Save the Date

On The Web This WeekBack to Top

Alabama Workforce Development Chief: You Can’t View Workforce Like Inanimate Object

The head of Alabama’s workforce development efforts, Ed Castile, said getting workers to the right place with the right skills remains a numbers game but the workforce can’t be treated like just a number.

Alabama NewsCenter [Author: Michael Tomberlin]

Podcast: The Climate Divide: Heat Disparity in Washington DC

Through powerful local voices and expert interviews, this podcast explores how the legacy of redlining and other forms of housing discrimination have led to a lack of green spaces in some D.C. neighborhoods, and how these densely populated urban blocks can be as much as 20 degrees warmer than historically wealthier and more bucolic wards in the District.

Hola Cultura

Austin Construction Camp has Goals of Empowering More Women to Enter the Construction Industry

Camp NAWIC is not your typical summer camp. It is a hands-on day camp created by the Austin Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) in 2019. Leaders say their goal is to give girls a safe and supportive place to explore career paths in construction and gain hands-on learning experience from women in the industry.

KVUE News [Author: Conner Board]

Federal Agency UpdateBack to Top

Profits Over People: Federal Safety Inspectors Find 3 More Dollar General Stores Habitually Disregarding Workplace Safety, Risking Employees' Lives

When federal workplace safety inspectors visited three Dollar General stores in Georgia earlier this year, they found exit routes obstructed, boxes of merchandise stacked unsafely and electrical panels hard to access, violations often cited at Dollar General locations. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed more than $6.5 million in penalties after 78 inspections at Dollar General locations nationwide, including more than $450,000 in penalties as a result of three inspections in Georgia since 2017.

OSHA News Release

EPA Field Tests Culminate 4 Years of Bioagent Studies

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is collaborating with partners to ensure that first responders are properly equipped and trained to respond to a variety of biohazard emergencies. The effort includes field assessments studying everything from vessel decontamination to how pathogens are transported by rain.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security News Room

Awardee Highlights/Online LearningBack to Top

NIOSH Resources: Work and Fatigue

High levels of fatigue can affect any worker in any occupation or industry with serious consequences for worker safety and health. Learning the risks for fatigue-related events, identifying the sources of fatigue, and using strategies to manage fatigue will help keep workers safe and healthy. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) provides seminars, online trainings, research and other resources on workers and fatigue.

NIOSH

OSHA’s Heat Hazard Enforcement Program and How to Prepare Your Workplace

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently unveiled a new National Emphasis Program (NEP) for outdoor and indoor heat-related hazards. To best protect workers in hot working environments, particularly in a climate of ramped up enforcement, employers are wise to devote considerable attention to understanding heat-related hazards, appreciating OSHA’s planned expansion of heat-related inspections, and preparing workplaces in response to the rollout of the heightened enforcement program.

JD Supra

Job OpeningsBack to Top

Early-Career Research Fellowship: Offshore Energy Safety Track

The Offshore Energy Safety track goal focuses on contributing to the understanding, management, and reduction of systemic risk in offshore energy activities. All application materials, including the letters of recommendation and mentor statement, must be submitted through our online application system by August 24, 2022, at 5:00 PM EDT.

Fellowship Posting

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