Weekly E-Newsbrief
August 26, 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 Stories
- Calendar Features
- On The Web This Week
- Federal Agency Update
- Awardee Highlights/Online Learning
- Job Openings
- We Want Your Feedback
- Newsbriefs Past Issues
| Top Stories | Back to Top |
Submission Deadline Extended: 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 new deadline for submission is Sunday September 11, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. EDT
DOE Drops Most COVID Restrictions; Masks Still Mandatory in Risky Locales
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) dropped most pandemic-related safeguards, such as COVID-19 screening and collection of vaccination data for employees and contractors. Although, indoor mask mandates remain in place in areas with high transmission rates.
Amazon Upgraded Warehouse AC System After Saying Worker’s Death Wasn’t Heat-Related
Amazon upgraded the air conditioning system at a New Jersey warehouse where it blamed a worker’s death during a heat wave last month on a “personal medical condition,” according to three facility employees and photographs seen by NBC News. Workers said the equipment was part of a new industrial air conditioner that the company added weeks after the death of Rafael Reynaldo Mota Frias, a 42-year-old Dominican national, in mid-July.
NBC News [Author: Eli M. Rosenberg]
Wildfire and Flood Victims are Prime Targets for Fraud as They Return Home From Disaster
Following record-breaking rain, life-threatening flooding, and scorching wildfires throughout the nation, homeowners left picking up the pieces could be victimized a second time by dishonest contractors looking to make a quick, corrupt buck.
| Calendar Features | Back to Top |
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. It will also look ahead to determine how we can work collaboratively on future infectious disease threats. The event will be held on August 31, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. EDT.
Wildfire, Water Systems & Public Health: Lessons from Recent Western Wildfires
In this webinar, experienced professionals who have helped communities throughout the West and Southwest US inspect, test and help guide the decontamination of water systems will share lessons learned to help inform first responders, health officials and citizens. The event will be held on September 7, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. EDT.
Avoiding Disaster: Growing Concerns and NIOSH Recommendations for Occupational Heat Stress
During this webinar participants will be provided with background for understanding occupational heat stress and physiology, risk factors for heat-related illnesses, heat-related illnesses and first aid, and educational resources and tools. Also, discussions on National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommendations and recent NIOSH activities on heat.
| On The Web This Week | Back to Top |
Yes, There are More Infectious Diseases Popping up These Days — Experts say There are 7 Clear Reasons why
Scientists estimate our odds of experiencing another pandemic "may double in coming decades," as disease outbreaks fueled by this wide array of interrelated, complex factors become more and more common.
Insider [Author Hilary Brueck]
New York To Resume Training for Preparedness Corps
Training for the program was halted in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The corps has been in place since 2014 and was created to help train New Yorkers to respond to a variety of disasters and emergencies as well as help with the aftermath.
Spectrum News 1 [Author: Nick Reisman]
7,000 Construction Workers are Needed for Ohio's Largest Economic Development Project
Ohio's largest-ever economic development project comes with a big employment challenge: how to find 7,000 construction workers in an already booming building environment when there's also a national shortage of people working in the trades.
| Federal Agency Update | Back to Top |
U.S. Department of Labor Launches 5-Year Initiative in Mid-Atlantic States to Reduce Worker Injuries, Illnesses in Warehousing, Storage, Distribution Yards
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently launched a regional initiative in three Mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia in an effort to protect workers and reduce injuries and illnesses in the warehousing, storage and distribution yards' industries.
Risk Management Program Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention Proposed Rule
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael S. Regan signed the Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention (SCCAP) rule, which proposes revisions to the Risk Management Program (RMP) to further protect vulnerable communities from chemical accidents, especially those living near facilities with high accident rates.
| Awardee Highlights/Online Learning | Back to Top |
Monkeypox Resources
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is tracking an outbreak of monkeypox, which has spread across several countries that don’t normally report monkeypox (MPV), including the United States. While you should not panic, it’s important to stay informed about MPV. This means understanding the symptoms, how it spreads, and what to do if you are exposed. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has resources to help inform and guide response and prevention of monkeypox.
Monkeypox: What You Need to know
What Healthcare Workers Need to Know to Be Protected from Monkeypox at Work
Safety & Security: Tips for Preventing Workplace Violence
On this episode of the OH&S SafetyPod, a discussion on what workplace violence is, tips for responding and preventing leading causes of occupational fatalities in the United States.
| Job Openings | Back to Top |
AFSCME Seeking a Health and Safety Advocate
This American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) position will be filled at the grade commensurate with the knowledge and experience of the selected applicant. Performs a wide variety of analyses involving health and safety policy issues at the federal, state and local levels; assists and advises affiliates when unsafe or unhealthy situations exist, in the event of work-related illnesses or injuries, during organizing campaigns and other union activities; and leads training activities.
AFSCME Seeking a Health and Safety Advocate II
This American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) position is responsible for performing a wide variety of activities that involve protecting the health and safety of AFSCME members, and for providing assistance to affiliates experiencing health and safety problems. Responds to a wide variety of inquiries submitted by the Union's 4,000 plus affiliates through council and local representatives and its own national staff; leads training activities; advocates for AFSCME occupational health and safety priorities at federal, state and local agencies; and conducts programs and studies on health and safety issues and problems for the Union’s members.
| We Want Your Feedback | Back to Top |
We Want Your Feedback
What kinds of stories or other content would make this newsletter especially valuable to you?
Send your ideas for this newsletter to: wetpclear@niehs.nih.gov
To go back and subscribe to the newsletter, click here
Back issues of our Newsbrief are available at our archives page