Weekly E-Newsbrief
July 29, 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 |
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
OSHA is Years Away From Issuing a Federal Heat Standard That Would Protect Workers. Advocates Say it is Dire Now
The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is early into its rule-making process, which can take 15 months to 19 years from start to finish and averages more than seven years, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
NBC News [Author: Melissa Chan]
Epidemiologists Warn the U.S. Reaches a Critical Moment to Contain Monkeypox
On the heels of a public health emergency declaration from the World Health Organization, epidemiologists and public health experts warn the U.S. is running out of time to contain a monkeypox outbreak that has infected nearly 3,000 Americans thus far.
NPR [Author: Becky Sullivan]
Stephen Owens Nominated for Chairman of Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
Stephen Owens currently serves as a member of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB). Owens has worked to increase transparency and information sharing by the CSB, identify ways to reduce the backlog in the CSB’s investigative reports, and increase collaboration and communications between agency leadership and CSB career professional staff and stakeholders.
COVID Cases Continue Climb; Most DOE Nuclear Cleanup Sites Have High Local Rates
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management requires masks be worn indoors when local community rates are high as measured by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data. Most cleanup sites are in this category including the Hanford Site in Washington state, Savannah River Site in South Carolina and the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee.
| Calendar Features | Back to Top |
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.
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.
The Continuing Challenge Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Workshop, Registration Open
Registration is open for the 33rd annual Continuing Challenge, the nation’s largest hazardous materials emergency response workshop. This year’s theme is “The Challenge Continues!” and will be in-person in Sacramento, California. The event will be held September 6-9, 2022
Call for Proposals: 2022 National Tribal Health Conference
The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) invites Tribal leaders, health directors, policy specialists, advocates, and allies to submit presenter abstracts for the 39th Annual National Tribal Health Conference to be held on September 26-28, 2022. Proposals are due August 8, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. EDT.
Oregon OSHA Encourages Creative Ideas as it Makes Grants Available for Workplace Safety, Health Training
Oregan Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) is now accepting grant applications for the creation of innovative on-the-job safety or health training or education projects. Oregon OSHA prioritizes unique projects that engage workers on essential workplace safety or health topics. Such projects may include an immersive video training or an eye-catching safety publication or a package of helpful safety and health guidelines and checklists. Applications are due by October 7, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. PDT.
| On The Web This Week | Back to Top |
Watch: Massive California Wildfire Forces Thousands to Evacuate
In the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, the sprawling Oak Fire continues to rapidly spread across central California outside Yosemite National Park. The blaze has consumed more than 16,000 acres and the destruction has left thousands fleeing their homes.
Podcast: The Vision of the Redevelopment Institute with Michael B. Taylor
In this episode of the Redevelopment Institute Podcast, Leslie Parrish interviews Michael B. Taylor, the founder of the Redevelopment Institute and Vita Nuova, LLC. Throughout the episode they discuss best practices in brownfield redevelopment and revitalization to overcome challenges and rebuild communities.
These Hurricane Flood Maps Reveal the Climate Future for Miami, NYC and D.C.
Rising seas and stronger winds mean the punishing waves pushed ashore by tropical storms and hurricanes will make their way farther and farther inland. That inland march would expose a larger swath of the U.S. coast to the kind of flooding unleashed during Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, and put more people at risk of drowning, the leading cause of death in hurricanes.
| Federal Agency Update | Back to Top |
The White House Launches Heat.gov
Heat.gov serves as the premier source of information regarding heat and health for the nation. This portal seeks to improve federal, state, and local information and capacity to reduce the health, economic, and infrastructural impacts of extreme heat. The website offers interactive maps, weather reports, tips for staying cool and other data to help officials across governments manage heat emergencies.
Biden-Harris Administration Launches New Solar Initiatives to Lower Electricity Bills and Create Clean Energy Jobs
The Biden-Harris Administration, through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), announced the five states and Washington, D.C. that will support the pilot of the Community Solar Subscription Platform to connect families to solar energy and lower electricity bills through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and other low-income assistance programs.
| Awardee Highlights/Online Learning | Back to Top |
Infection Prevention and Control of Monkeypox in Healthcare Settings
Human-to-human transmission of monkeypox virus occurs by direct contact with lesion material or from exposure to respiratory secretions. Reports of human-to-human transmission describe close contact with an infectious person. Transmission in healthcare settings has been rarely described. Infection prevention and control recommendations for healthcare settings are provided in the Guideline for Isolation Precautions: Preventing Transmission of Infectious Agents in Healthcare Settings.
Knowing Your Rights and Speaking Up: Recognizing National Whistleblower Appreciation Day
U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration celebrates all the brave workers who speak out against unsafe or unfair working conditions, and thank them for their contributions to ensuring safer, more just conditions for themselves and their co-workers. Because of these actions, lives and livelihoods have been saved. National Whistleblower Appreciate Day is recognized on July 30.
| Job Openings | Back to Top |
Early-Career Research Fellowship: Offshore Energy Safety Track
For the 2022-2024 Application Cycle, the Offshore Energy Safety track goal focuses on contributing to the understanding, management, and reduction of systemic risk in offshore energy activities.
Early-Career Research Fellowship: Education Research Track
For the 2022-2024 Application Cycle, the Education Research track goal focuses on contributing to the advancement of K-12 educational equity related to science and environmental literacy in the Gulf of Mexico region or Alaska by considering the recent impact of disasters on educational opportunities for students in vulnerable communities.
CDC Seeks Safety and Occupational Health Manager
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) seeks a safety and occupational health manager. The incumbent is responsible for providing a wide variety of safety and occupational health advice and assistance relative to the planning and implementation of safety programs and activities for employees regarding the full range of health, environmental, and safety policies and procedures.
| We Want Your Feedback | Back to Top |
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