Weekly E-Newsbrief
June 7, 2024
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 |
Hazardous Materials Worker Health and Safety Training (U45 Clinical Trials Not Allowed) FAQs Now Available on the WTP Website
Frequently asked questions and answers are now available on the WTP website for the 2024 NOFO Hazardous Materials Worker Health and Safety Training (U45 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed). The document addresses general questions, program and technical questions, and budget questions.
New Pathogen Safety Data Short Course and Instructor Guide Available on the WTP Website!
The WTP has developed new pathogen safety data (PSD) materials, including a shortened version of the original training course and an instructor guide for the course. The resources can be used to train WTP grant recipients and other occupational safety and health groups involved in infectious disease response.
NIEHS Worker Training Program Stresses Partnership Power
The NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP) leverages partnerships to extend its reach training workers to spot and safely manage hazardous substances on the job. Collaborating with federal, state, and local partners increases WTP’s ability to deliver health and safety trainings that protect the environment and preserve workers’ safety and health. WTP has a relationship with the Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG), which supports Department of Energy (DOE) missions, that continues to pay dividends for worker safety. The 2024 EFCOG Training Working Group meeting held in March was a chance for contractors supporting DOE to share best practices in worker training. Networking with EFCOG ensures that WTP sustains close working relationships with DOE contractors and can reach their employees with essential safety and health trainings.
Environmental Factor [Author: Lee Cannon]
New Heat & Health Index from the Department of Health and Human Services
On National Heat Awareness Day, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched a new tool to help communities prepare for heat and prevent heat-related illness and death. The Heat & Health Index (HHI) is the first nationwide tool to provide heat-related illness data at the ZIP code level, helping state and local officials identify areas most likely to experience negative health outcomes from heat and take steps to increase resilience. The HHI combines historic temperature data and Emergency Medical Services data on heat-related emergency responses from the past three years, as well as data on community characteristics, to provide a final heat and health index ranking by ZIP code, which can be used to empower strategic, data-informed decision-making.
Bird Flu’s Spread from Poultry to Cattle to Humans Provokes Worry Among Feds, States
Dairy farmers throughout the country are on guard and the federal government is mobilizing after an outbreak among cattle herds of highly pathogenic avian influenza, once thought to be confined to poultry flocks. The notable leap from cows and chickens to humans is not yet ringing alarm bells for public health officials or veterinarians, who believe the risk to the public remains low. The ongoing response has brought together a veritable alphabet soup of government agencies and agricultural organizations, highlighting the complicated nature of fighting bird flu. The mobilization is intended to stem the significant economic toll that farmers could face and curb the virus’ spread.
Iowa Capital Dispatch [Authors: Jennifer Shutt & Jared Strong]
A Heat Dome Can Bring Dangerously High Temperatures. What Is It?
Much of the Western U.S. is experiencing extreme heat with temperatures easily topping 100 degrees. The heat dome that’s currently putting a hot lid on the Western U.S. will bring high temperatures that are 20 to 30 degrees hotter than normal for early June, the National Weather Service said. Heat domes are generally caused by large high-pressure systems in the atmosphere. When a heat dome sits over a large land area, Lamers says, a sort of feedback loop can take hold. High pressure typically means dry weather, which can help drive the heat even higher. To stay safe during the day, people should take extreme heat seriously, staying hydrated and finding ways to break their exposure.
NPR [Author: Bill Chappell]
Construction Association Identifies Four Key Safety Best Practices
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national trade association representing the nonunion construction industry, and the organization recently released its annual guide to construction jobsite health and safety best practices. After analyzing the data, which covers more than 900 million work hours completed by participants in the construction, heavy construction, civil engineering and specialty trades, ABC identified top management engagement, substance misuse prevention programs, new-hire safety orientation, and toolbox talks as the four foundations of industry-leading safety best practices.
| Calendar Features | Back to Top |
Helping Others Through Difficult Times for Workers, Lunch and Learn
This two-part training in helping others through difficult times will feature information and resources on how workers and managers can implement a peer support initiative building from the resilient worker training. Learners will understand how to identify if a co-worker is under emotional stress and ways to provide peer support by adopting an emotional first aid model. Peer workers and managers will be introduced to methods to help impacted workers mitigate the impact of their stress and apply a resiliency tool kit. The trainings will take place on June 18, 2024, and June 20, 2024, both from 1 – 2 p.m. EDT.
Developing a Heat Illness Prevention Program in Construction
Employers are responsible for providing workplaces free of known safety and health hazards, including heat-related hazards. The best way to prevent exposure to these hazards, or at the very least, to lessen the impact of heat and hot weather, is to develop and enforce a Heat Illness Prevention (HIP) Program. CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training has developed two checklists to assist with the development of an overall HIP program and its daily enforcement on each unique job site. This webinar will review these checklists and share some key background information on HIP planning, followed by a Q&A discussion with a panel of experts, including both researchers and representatives from labor and management. It will take place on June 26, 2024, at 1 p.m. EDT.
Supporting an Impactful Heat Stress Prevention Program
Protective Industrial Products, Inc. is hosting a webinar to help identify and address the main causes of heat stress and dehydration on the job in both indoor and outdoor environments. Attendees will gain a better understanding of the “whats” and “whys” behind heat stress and dehydration solutions engineered to help drastically improve an organization’s heat stress prevention program. The webinar will take place on June 27, 2024, from 12 – 1 p.m. CDT.
| On The Web This Week | Back to Top |
Latino Workers Face Staggering Risks on NC Construction Sites. Why Are So Many Dying?
Latino workers are at a much higher risk of dying on North Carolina construction sites than white and Black workers, a recent investigation has found. Hispanic employees make up 27% of those who work on North Carolina construction sites, according to the U.S. Census, but they accounted for more than 60% of the construction employees who died on the job, according to the last annual count. Experts and construction workers point to several key reasons for the disparity: Latino workers perform many of the most dangerous jobs and tasks, such as roofing. Those who don’t speak English well often don’t understand important communications on job sites, and some construction companies don’t provide translators at safety meetings.
The Charlotte Observer [Author: Ames Alexander]
N95 Masks Nearly Perfect at Blocking COVID, UMD Study Shows
Any common face mask provides significant protection against the virus that causes COVID-19, but N95 masks are most effective at slashing the amount emitted by infected people, according to a University of Maryland-led study. So-called “duckbill” N95 masks scored highest in the study, which measured the exhaled breath of participants who were tested both masked and unmasked to measure comparative outputs of SARS-CoV-2. Researchers also found that cloth masks outperformed the specific brand of KN95 mask that was tested. Surgical masks brought up the rear in performance out of the four types, but even they blocked 70% of the virus, the tests showed.
Maryland Today [Author: Fid Thompson]
How Michigan Became Ground Zero for H5 Avian Influenza in the U.S.
Michigan has become ground zero for the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus that's sweeping the nation, killing turkeys, chickens and wild birds, infecting cows and other mammals, and now has sickened a third U.S. farmworker. The Great Lakes state has more dairy cattle herds known to be infected with avian influenza than any other state in the U.S., with 24 outbreaks in 10 counties, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It now also has two farmworkers with confirmed bird flu infections transmitted to them by close contact with sick cows. The reason Michigan's tally of livestock outbreaks and farmworkers with avian influenza is higher than other states is because of the extent of the surveillance in Michigan compared to other states.
Detroit Free Press [Author: Kristen Jordan Shamus]
| Federal Agency Update | Back to Top |
Biden-Harris Administration Invests $250K to Develop Powerful Artificial Intelligence Tool to Assist Wildland Firefighting Through Investing in America Agenda
The Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced $250,000 in funding to support the development of a powerful new artificial intelligence (AI) model, which will improve fire weather forecasts through better lightning prediction. The funding will create a customized version of LightningCast, which can predict lightning strikes in the next hour at any given location, including those around wildland fires. This version of LightningCast includes a new interface, additional machine learning technology and fire-related data to increase its value for decision-making.
HRSA Announces $15 Million in New Investments to Address Maternal Health Needs and Disparities in Rural Communities
The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced a combined investment of $15 million over four years through the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (Rural MOMS) Program to improve maternal health in rural communities and a new program focused on strengthening maternal care and reducing disparities in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. The Rural MOMS Program focuses on a network model-approach to coordinate care across rural hospitals, medical centers, community health centers and rural health clinics.
Robertson Picked to Succeed White at EM Helm
The Department of Energy (DOE) is turning to longtime federal hand Candice Robertson to oversee the Office of Environmental Management (EM) after President Joe Biden announced plans to nominate William (Ike) White to a federal nuclear safety board. Candice Robertson is now a senior adviser at EM for clean power development at nuclear sites. White’s last day in charge of EM will be Friday, June 14, according to DOE.
EPA Proposes Requirements to Protect Workers and Consumers from Exposure to Toxic Solvent N-Methylpyrrolidone
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act that would protect workers and consumers from exposure to the solvent n-methylpyrrolidone (NMP), which is used to manufacture and produce many electronics, polymers, agricultural chemicals and petrochemical products. EPA’s 2020 risk evaluation found that this chemical causes serious health effects, including miscarriages and reduced fertility, and damage to the liver, kidneys, immune system, and nervous system. The rule would limit the concentration of NMP that would be allowed in some consumer and commercial products, establish strict workplace health controls for many uses of NMP, and ban some uses that cannot safely continue and for which alternatives already exist.
| Awardee Highlights/Online Learning | Back to Top |
Environmental Justice Champion Dr. Beverly Wright Honored in Exhibit at the US EPA’s New National Environmental Museum and Education Center in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Beverly Wright, the founder and executive director of the longest serving environmental justice resource center, will be honored by the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Environmental Museum and Education Center which just opened in Washington, D.C. Wright is a scholar, advocate, author, civic leader, professor of Sociology, and the Founder and Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ), the first-ever environmental justice center in the United States. She has dedicated over three decades of her life to advocating for environmental justice and tirelessly addressing the disproportionate impacts of environmental issues on marginalized communities.
CPWR Update: Working Safely This Summer
Summer weather has already arrived in much of the country, which means increased exposure to heat and other summer hazards. Construction employers must protect workers from higher temperatures, both outdoors and in enclosed spaces, and from skin cancer and summer storms. CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training offers a range of resources to help, including Toolbox Talks, Hazard Alert Cards, infographics, on-demand webinars, and checklists to support the development and execution of a heat-related illness prevention plan. These materials can be found on CPWR’s Heat Hazards webpage.
| Job Openings | Back to Top |
NIH Seeking Supervisory Industrial Hygienist
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking a supervisory industrial hygienist to develop and implement methods to eliminate or control hazardous and environmental conditions in the workplace; plan and conduct studies and surveys analyzing industrial hygiene and safety issues involved in industrial and laboratory processes; and develop new analytical procedures for identifying and assessing biomedical research laboratory and facility operations health and safety hazards, among other tasks.
NYCOSH Looking to Hire Industrial Hygienist and Safety and Health Specialist
The New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) is looking to fill two positions. The industrial hygienist will work with a wide range of unions and worker organizations to provide technical assistance, industrial hygiene services, and training. The safety and health specialist to develop, coordinate, and conduct safety and health training in New York City for workers in various industries including construction. In addition to conducting training, the job includes outreach to unions, community-based organizations and institutions, and production and distribution of appropriate safety and health materials.
UAW Health and Safey Department Seeking Certified Industrial Hygienist
The United Auto Workers (UAW) are seeking a certified industrial hygienist to join their health and safety department. The role of the certified industrial hygienist is to support the needs of the UAW membership by working closely with leadership from national departments (Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, and all other sectors of the UAW), as well as health and safety managers from the companies of the members we represent. This position is full-time and based in-person in Detroit, MI. When clicking on the link, scroll down to see job posting.
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