Weekly E-Newsbrief
January 13, 2023
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 |
2022 Fall NIEHS WTP Awardee Meeting and Workshop Page
Participants at the hybrid awardee meeting and workshop, Examining the Changing Landscape of HAZWOPER Training, explored the ways in which HAZWOPER training has evolved over the last several years and considered changes that may take place in the future.
Federal COVID Aid OK'd to Pay for Roads, Natural Disasters
State and local governments will soon gain new flexibility to spend billions of federal coronavirus relief dollars on things not directly related to the pandemic, including new roads and bridges and aid to people affected by wildfires, floods and other natural disasters.
ABC News [Author: David A. Lieb]
‘We know what it’s like’: Workers in dangerous jobs empathize with NFL’s Hamlin
Buffalo Bills player Darmar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest during a “Monday Night Football” game, giving rise to a renewed recognition of the hazards faced by NFL players. However, workplace injuries — and fatalities — are a far more common concern for tens of thousands of U.S. workers.
The Washington Post [Authors: Jacob Bogage, Taylor Telford, and Andrew Van Dam]
Climate Change Helped Fuel 18 Billion-Dollar Disasters in 2022, NOAA Says
U.S. weather disasters are getting costlier as more people move into vulnerable areas and climate change raises the risks of extreme heat and rainfall, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned as it released its annual billion-dollar disasters report.
Amazon Loses Bid to Overturn Historic Union Win on Staten Island Warehouse
Amazon should recognize its first unionized warehouse in the U.S., a federal labor official has ruled, rejecting the company's bid to unravel a breakthrough union win on Staten Island. The decision requires Amazon to begin bargaining "in good faith" with the union. However, the company is expected to appeal the ruling before the full labor board in Washington, D.C.
NPR [Author: Alina Selyukh and Giulia Heyward]
| Calendar Features | Back to Top |
The 2023 EJ Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative Agreement Program (EJCPS) Request for Applications is NOW OPEN!
EPA is solicitating applications for projects that support community-based nonprofit organizations (CBOs) in their collaboration with other stakeholders (e.g., local businesses and industry, local government, medical service providers, academia, etc.) to develop solutions that significantly address environmental or public health issue(s) in communities disproportionately burdened by environmental harms. Application packages must be submitted by April 10, 2023. A pre-application assistance webinar will be held on January 24, 2023, 2:00 p.m. EST.
Report Release Webinar: Community Wastewater-Based Infectious Disease Surveillance
The National Academies' Committee on Community Wastewater-based Infectious Disease Surveillance is holding this webinar to provide an overview of the committee's Phase 1 report. The webinar will be held on January 19, 2023, 2:00 p.m. EST.
| On The Web This Week | Back to Top |
The Green Jobs Boom is Benefiting the People Who Need it Most
Apprenticeship programs can provide life-changing skills and certifications for underserved communities. In several studies, access to jobs has been shown to correlate with lower crime rates; one study of youth employment in New York City revealed a 10 percent drop in incarceration for those who had summer jobs.
Reasons to be Cheerful [Author: Michelle Ma]
How Rebuilding After a Natural Disaster Can be Safer, More Cost-Effective and Sustainable
Old building techniques of compressing dirt into blocks gets upgraded with new technology. The building material is considered burn, wind, and water resistant. It's much more environmentally sustainable with an impressive low carbon footprint and less expensive than traditional construction costs. Experts say they usually see about a 30% savings on combined production and construction costs when using compressed earth blocks.
ABC Action News [Author: Jessie Cohen]
Biden's Climate Agenda Has a Problem: Not Enough Workers
U.S. clean energy companies are offering better wages and benefits, flying in trainers from overseas, and contemplating ideas like buying roofing and electric repair shops just to hire their workers as firms try to overcome a labor shortage that threatens to derail President Joe Biden's climate change agenda.
Reuters [Authors: Nichola Groom and Valerie Volcovici]
| Federal Agency Update | Back to Top |
U.S. Department of Labor Awards $1M to Support Disaster-Relief Jobs, Training to Continue Michigan’s Opioids Crisis Response
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced an incremental award of $1,025,220 for the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity to continue providing disaster-relief jobs, along with employment and training services, to eligible individuals in 24 counties in Michigan.
Biden-Harris Administration Announces Availability of $100 Million Through Inflation Reduction Act for Environmental Justice Grants
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of approximately $100 million for projects that advance environmental justice in underserved and overburdened communities across the country. This funding, made possible through President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, marks the largest amount of environmental justice grant funding ever offered by the Agency.
U.S. Department of Labor Announces Mobile Timesheet App Now Available for Spanish-Speaking Workers, Employers to Record, Track, Compute Wages
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that the Spanish-language version of the department’s Wage and Division Timesheet App for iOS or Android devices – that tracks work hours, break time, overtime worked and calculates wages due – is now available for free download.
| Awardee Highlights/Online Learning | Back to Top |
Urban Flooding Resources
NIEHS Worker Training Program provides resources for flooding events in the urban environment. Resources detail potential health effects for workers, homeowners, and others who perform cleanup and recovery activities. Also, tips to help workers and homeowners avoid and prevent exposure to structural hazards, infectious agents, and toxic chemicals.
Environmental Health Chat: Combining Technology and Training to Protect Workers’ Health
In this episode we’ll hear from two WTP grantees: Mitchel Rosen, Ph.D., an occupational health and safety expert, and Cesar Bandera, Ph.D., an electrical engineer and small business owner. They are working together to advance hazardous materials training using cell phone-based technologies.
Leading Causes of All Deaths Among Current, Retired, and Former Construction Workers
The Center for Construction Research and Training-CPWR Data Bulletin examines the leading causes of death among construction workers in 2020 for all deaths (both on and off the job site) and compares at work death trends with fatal occupational injury trends.
| Job Openings | Back to Top |
Nova Southeastern University Seeks a Service Program Specialist
The Institute for Disaster and Emergency Preparedness at Nova Southeastern University's Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine is seeking a Service Program Specialist. The grant-funded specialist will work with a team on Project SEAMIST (SouthEast Area Marine Industry Safety Training) and on the Southeast Area Hazardous Maritime Instructor Training grant, providing provisional support to all faculty and staff involved in the projects.
| We Want Your Feedback | Back to Top |
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