Weekly E-Newsbrief
September 16, 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 |
Registration Open: Fall 2022 Workshop and Awardee meeting - Examining the Changing Landscape of HAZWOPER Training, Hybrid Meetings
The workshop will explore the ways in which HAZWOPER training has evolved over the last several years and consider changes that may take place in the future. Workshop participants will consider and discuss the audience for HAZWOPER training, the conditions under which HAZWOPER work is performed, the changing distribution of hazards, and approaches for teaching refresher courses. The awardee meeting and workshop will be held on October 19-21, 2022.
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 18, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. EDT
At 75, the Father of Environmental Justice Meets the Moment
The White House has pledged $60 billion to a cause Robert Bullard has championed since the late seventies. He wants guarantees that the money will end up in the right hands.
The New York Times [Author: Cara Buckley]
It's Not Just Money. Unions are Fighting for Better Schedules, Safety and Work Conditions
The unions say conditions on the job are driving thousands of workers to quit jobs that they previously would have kept for their entire careers, creating untenable conditions for the remaining workers. Changing those work rules, including the on-call requirement, is the main demand.
CNN Business [Author: Chris Isidore]
Climate Law Has a Hidden Benefit for Coal Miners: Permanent Funding for Black Lung
For years Congress has passed temporary extensions of a tax on coal to fund the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. The Inflation Reduction Act, signed by President Biden, re-instated the tax and made it permanent.
WESA [Author: Reid Frazier]
| Calendar Features | Back to Top |
Chemistry of Fires at the Wildland-Urban Interface: Public Release
Destructive fires at the wildland-urban interface (WUI) have burned thousands of acres of residential space in recent years. The Chemistry of Fires at the Wildland-Urban Interface Report will convene experts to examine the chemical processes that occur during urban wildfires, the identity of resulting chemicals, and what is known about human exposure pathways. The event will be held on September 20, 2022, at 3:00 p.m. EDT.
Cities as Solutions to Climate Change: Perspectives from IPCC Authors
The conference brings together researchers and practitioners focused on the potential impacts that cities have on climate change around the globe and features two vice-chairs and seven authors from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. The presentations and conversations, aim to move from the research to practice and applied solutions at the intersection of urban ecology, better cities, and climate change. The event will be held on September 23, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. EDT.
Call for Nominations: Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Disasters and Emergencies
The Forum is seeking 5-7 members in the fields within health emergencies preparedness, response, and recovery. The Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Disasters and Emergencies convenes public and private sector leaders to improve the nation’s preparedness for, response to and recovery from disasters, public health emergencies and emerging threats. Submit nominations for Forum members by September 30, 2022.
| On The Web This Week | Back to Top |
Why Heat Wave Warnings are Falling Short in the U.S.
The National Weather Service's main heat alert system, the heat index, may be leading the public to misjudge the dangers. It shows how humidity makes the temperature feel hotter, but only for a person sitting in the shade, leaving out outdoor workers and others who spend hours in the sun.
WBUR [Author: Lauren Sommer]
California Lessons for Federal & State Workplace Heat Rules
California has one of the oldest and most robust occupational heat standards in the country, making it a ready model for other worker protection agencies to follow in the absence of a federal heat standard. Until now there has been little research on compliance with these rules or how that compliance affects workers. A new report helps fill that research gap and provides valuable insights as advocates continue to call for a strong, enforceable federal heat stress standard.
Natural Resources Defense Council Blog [Author: Jaunita Constible]
How Jackson, Mississippi’s Water Crisis is a Sign of Larger Racial Inequities
Residents in Jackson, Mississippi have gone without safe drinking water for weeks after flooding and a failure at the city’s largest water treatment plant. While water pressure has been restored, videos show dirty water is still coming through faucets.
PBS News Hour [Author: Amna Nawaz]
| Federal Agency Update | Back to Top |
First Federal Center Focused on Farmworker Health and Safety to Open in Chicago
The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) will receive $6 million from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to establish the newest Agricultural Safety and Health Center in the U.S. The new center, called the Great Lakes Center for Farmworker Health and Wellbeing, will be housed at the UIC School of Public Health.
U.S. Department of Labor Announces Proposal to Define Measure Effectiveness in Serving Employers for Additional Workforce Programs
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking public comment on its proposal to establish a definition for the final performance indicator used to report outcomes for Title I non-core programs under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act core programs. The proposed rule would use “Retention with the Same Employer” as the criterion to measure effectiveness in serving employers. Interested persons are invited to submit written comments on the proposed rule on or before November 14, 2022.
Biden Administration Launches Portal to Help Communities Assess Exposure to Climate Hazards
The Biden-Harris Administration in partnership with Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of the Interior (DOI) jointly launched a new website to help communities across the nation understand the real-time climate-related hazards in their area, analyze projected long-term exposure to those hazards, and identify federal funds to support climate resilience projects for their communities.
| Awardee Highlights/Online Learning | Back to Top |
Opioids in the Workplace
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) funded grantees and other partners are working to address the opioid crisis. These extramural researchers have conducted research and developed resources, including education, training, and surveillance data, related to preventing opioid misuse and overdose in working populations.
How to Care for Your Mental Health in the Age of Climate Change and Worsening Natural Disasters
Natural disasters can be devastating, uprooting communities, and leaving residents with trauma and a long road to recovery. It’s hard to not feel hopeless reading headlines about the inevitability of climate change and its role in worsening extreme weather events. There are resources for mental health support available year-round and deployed in the wake of natural disasters
Texas Tribune [Author: Maria Mendez]
| Job Openings | Back to Top |
NEA is Seeking a Senior Program/Policy Analyst/Specialist (Health and Safety/Health Policy), 2-year term
This two-year term position supports the National Education Association’s (NEA) strategic objective of healthy, safe, and just schools by focusing the energy and resources of its 3 million members on the development and implementation of policies and programs that promote safe and healthy PK-12 public schools, colleges, and universities by providing policy, programmatic, technical, and strategic support to national, state, and local Association leadership and staff.
| We Want Your Feedback | Back to Top |
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