Weekly E-Newsbrief
July 15, 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 |
Presentations and Recordings from Spring 2022 Workshop are Available!
The presentations from the NIEHS Spring 2022 Worker Training Program workshop are now available. The purpose of the workshop was to share strategies regarding mitigating occupational hazards related to climate change; share case studies and approaches grantees have used; and provide an overview on how to conduct occupational climate vulnerability assessments.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Launches 3 Digit Number
Beginning July 16, 2022, callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can dial 988 to connect to trained counselors. The counselors will listen, understand how the caller’s problems are affecting them, provide support, and connect callers to resources if necessary.
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.
New Mexico Nuclear Power Research Gets Millions in Federal Funds. Can it be Made Safer?
Instead of burying nuclear waste thousands of feet underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad or holding it onsite at reactors around the country, researchers are studying a way it could be turned into energy. A team of scientists at New Mexico State University earned $8.5 million in federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a method to recycle spent fuel leftover from decommissioned nuclear power plants.
Carlsbad Current-Argus [Author: Adrian Hedden]
How a Long-Sought Bill Could Make Construction Work Less Deadly
More than seven years after Carlos Moncayo died in a construction accident, a construction safety bill named after him could become law if Gov. Kathy Hochul chooses to sign it. The legislation, known as Carlos’s Law, would dramatically raise the fines faced by corporations for construction accidents that result in criminal convictions.
New York Times [Author: Karen Zraick]
The Superfund Tax is Back: Recent IRS Guidance and Background
The Superfund Tax was reinstated as part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and became effective on July 1, 2022. The tax funds the Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund, which is used for cleaning up abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.
Climate Changes Costing U.S. Billions in Health Spending
From deaths and injuries caused by extreme heat and stronger storms to longer growing seasons linked to an increased risk of mosquito- and tick-borne illnesses and wildfires, the healthcare impacts of climate change are costing the U.S. billions, a new analysis found.
Fierce Healthcare [Author: Tnia Reed]
Calendar Features | Back to Top |
Health Equity: What COVID-19 Can Teach Us About Creating and Sustaining Partnerships Between Refugee, Immigrant and Migrant Communities
Since the start of the pandemic, partnerships between health departments and communities have been essential in addressing COVID-19. These collaborations have fostered new relationships and promising practices, but they have also highlighted challenges in reaching immigrant, migrant, and refugee communities. The webinar will take place on July 19, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. EDT.
APHA Webinar: Deaths of Despair - Lives in Recovery
This American Public Health Association (APHA) webinar will discuss how communities can prevent deaths of despair and successfully treat people with opioid use disorder. Attention will be given to promising interventions, suicide prevention, and mental health promotion. Time will be allotted for questions at the end of our session. The event will be held on July 19, 2022, at 3:00 p.m. EDT.
Brownfields 2022, Registration Open
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included an unprecedented $1.5 billion investment in EPA’s Brownfields program over the next two years. Brownfields 2022 is the premier event to learn how you can access these grants and maximize your economic, environmental, and social performance. This funding will transform communities into sustainable and environmentally just places, enhance climate resiliency, and more. The event will take place on August 16-19, 2022, in Oklahoma City.
3rd International Symposium to Advance Total Worker Health
The 3rd International Symposium to Advance Total Worker Health focuses on advancing Total Worker Health (TWH) research, practice, policies, and programs. Bringing together an audience of safety and health professionals, employers, researchers, policymakers, organized labor representatives, and members of the academic community, this one-of-a-kind symposium examines opportunities to make workplaces safer and to improve the health and well-being of the workforce across the world. The event will be held on October 11-14, 2022, in Bethesda, Maryland.
Save the Date: 2022 National Conference on Worker Safety and Health (COSHCON2022)
The National Conference on Worker Safety and Health (#COSHCON2022) is the only national gathering of its kind. We bring together a diverse, inclusive, and bilingual group of workers, occupational health and safety experts, unions, activists, and academics united around common goals. We join to celebrate and encourage workers' power, make our workplaces safer and reduce the toll of on-the-job injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. The event will be held on December 6-7, 2022, and December 13-15, 2022.
On The Web This Week | Back to Top |
New Climate and Health Outlook From OCCHE
Climate and Health Outlook from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE) aims to inform health professionals and the public on how our health may be affected in the coming month(s) by climate events and provide resources to take proactive action. This edition expands beyond extreme heat to include additional climate-related health hazards.
Study Says California Employers Fail to Keep Food, Farm Workers Safe From COVID
The California Institute for Rural Studies’ report says farm and food production employers routinely failed to provide workers with face masks, nor did they enforce physical distancing or notify workers when there were COVID outbreaks at worksites. The study was based on OSHA inspections from April 2020 through December 2021.
Cal Matters [Author: Lil Kalish]
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: A Chat with the Surgeon General on Health Worker Burnout
This Kaiser Health News (KHN) podcast talks with the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy about the new report, Addressing Health Worker Burnout. The pandemic has taken a toll on everyone, but those who work in health care have suffered disproportionately, according to a new report.
Apprenticeship Program Trains People for Clean Energy Jobs
The apprenticeship program at ReVision Energy’s Training Center is designed to lower these barriers. ReVision employees receive paid on-the-job training, classes scheduled around their work, and online lessons to take at their convenience. So more flexible training can help ensure that there are enough qualified workers to meet the growing demand for clean energy.
New Workers Account for 35% Of Injuries, Analysis of Comp Claims Shows
More than a third of work-related injuries occur during people’s first year on the job, according to a report from insurance provider The Travelers Cos. For its 2022 Injury Impact Report, Travelers examined more than 1.5 million workers’ compensation claims filed between 2015 and 2019 from various businesses and industries.
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/twh/newsletter/twhnewsv11n2.html#practice
There is an urgent need to train workers and employers on how to prevent and respond to the opioid and substance use crises. Training is an essential step in getting employers, labor, and communities to start addressing these outcomes. The NIEHS WTP, with support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Disease Prevention, developed three training programs that are available to labor, employers, and community organizations to raise awareness about occupational risk factors for opioid and other substance use, misuse, and addiction.
NIOSH Total Worker Health in Action Promising Practices Newsletter
NIEHS WTP Opioids and Substance Use: Worker Prevention and Response Webpage
Federal Agency Update | Back to Top |
Fact Sheet: White House Announces over $40 Billion in American Rescue Plan Investments in Our Workforce – With More Coming
The White House announces over $40 Billion in American Rescue Plan funds have been committed to strengthening and expanding our workforce. Since passage of the law, states, localities, community colleges, and local organizations have leveraged American Rescue Plan resources to deliver training, expand career paths, encourage more Registered Apprenticeships, provide retention and hiring bonuses in critical industries, and power efforts to help underserved Americans and those who face barriers to employment secure good jobs.
U.S. Department of Labor Reminds Southeast Employers to Protect Workers Against Heat Illness’ Serious Dangers
U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reminds employers and workers not to ignore the dangers of working in hot weather, indoors and out. Incorporating water, rest and shade can be the difference between ending the workday safely or suffering serious injuries or worse. OSHA provides various tools, factsheet
U.S. Department of Labor Implements ‘Weekend Work’ Initiative to Conduct Random Safety Inspections to Protect Construction Workers from Fall Hazards
"The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Weekend Work initiative will identify and address construction-related fall hazards on weekends, when many employers typically do not monitor their job sites well,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Jennifer Rous in Denver. “Our proactive approach will identify hazardous worksites, ensure that workers are protected from needless injuries or worse, and help ensure employers provide a safe and healthful workplace."
New Update Available for EPA’s RE-Powering Tool Kit
With data provided by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) brownfields, Superfund, Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Program, and Landfill Methane Outreach Program, the RE-Powering Mapper 3.0 includes more than 190,000 potential sites on nearly 40 million acres of land that can be utilized for solar, wind, biomass and geothermal energy. EPA also updated its Mapper User Guide and Data Documentation with the release of Mapper 3.0.
Awardee Highlights/Online Learning | Back to Top |
Best Practices for Siting Solar Photovoltaics on Municipal Solid Waste Landfills
EPA Office of Land and Emergency Management and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) partnered to develop a guide to assist municipalities, developers, communities, and other stakeholders to better understand, coordinate, and carry out solar installations on MSW landfills.
Heat Illness Prevention Online Course
The course will discuss several topics including some heat-related illnesses with their common signs, symptoms, and recommended first aid responses. Multiple types of risk factors are covered, as well as how the heat index is measured. This course also goes into detail about what control measures the rules require employers to provide at certain heat index temperatures, such as access to shade, drinking water, and more.
Job Openings | Back to Top |
NIEHS Worker Training Program is Seeking an Industrial Hygienist
Applications are currently being accepted for an industrial hygienist with a strong professional knowledge of the theory and application of the principles of industrial hygiene. This position is for GS 690-12/13 FPL 13 in the WETB, DERT and is open government wide.
We Want Your Feedback | Back to Top |
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