AIHA Signs MOU with NSC India
On April 20, the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and National Safety Council (NSC) India renewed their September 2007 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MOU calls for the collaboration of the two organizations to further develop occupational safety and health through technical cooperation and exchanges...
Canada: UCL Publishes New Electric Utility Safety Standard
On May 4, ULC Standards, an accredited standards development organization in Canada, announced the publication of CAN/ULC-S801-10, Standard for Electric Utility Workplace Electrical Safety for Generation, Transmission and Distribution. The standard applies to workers who deal with the construction, operation, maintenance and replacement of electric utility systems that are used to generate, transform, transmit, distribute and deliver electrical power or energy to consumer services or their equivalents...
Study: Declining Social Security Benefits Keep Older Men in Work Force
The decline in Social Security benefit amounts for workers who recently reached their 60s has been the leading cause of the trend toward delayed retirement of older men, a new national study suggests...
May 2-8 is NAOSH Week
This year’s annual North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week, “Mission NAOSH 2010: Safe Workplaces,” takes place May 2-8 to raise awareness about occupational safety, health and the environment. NAOSH Week kicked off with events May 2 and 3 in Washington, D.C., and Canada...
Why “Health” is the New “Green”
According to the 2010 Edelman Health Engagement Barometer, the general public expects businesses to be involved in health in ways that go well beyond the health of their employees. The study shows that 72 percent of respondents trust companies that are effectively engaged in health, while 65 percent either recommend or buy products from these companies – indicating that a focus on health is a smart business strategy...
115 Miners Rescued from Flooded China Mine, 38 Still Trapped
As hopes faded for the miners trapped underground for more than week in the Wangjialing coal mine in China, rescue operations continued – and resulted in the miraculous recovery of 115 survivors...
A “Rights-Based Approach” Needed to Meet the Needs of 105 Million Migrant Workers
Amid growing challenges due to the global economic crisis, a new International Labour Organization (ILO) study highlights the need to adopt a “rights-based approach” to provide a fair deal for the world’s 105 million migrant workers...
153 Miners Remain Trapped in Flooded China Mine
Water flooded the Wangjialing coal mine in China’s Shanxi province on March 28, leaving 153 workers trapped underground...
U.K. Agency Launches Online Tool to Help Prevent Musculoskeletal Disorders
Great Britain’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has announced a new, downloadable tool to help businesses and organizations reduce the likelihood of their employees suffering from musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) of the upper limbs associated with repetitive tasks...
Luck of the Irish? More Part-Time Employees, Lower Life Expectancy than Rest of EU
A booming economy during the 1990s, fueled by construction projects and increased consumer spending, allowed Ireland to become one of the fastest growing open economies. Like the rest of the world, the Irish economy has suffered in recent years...
How Supervisors Can Promote and Manage Safety in Operations
By understanding two fundamental questions and leading by example, supervisors can encourage their employees to work safely, according to Paul D. Balmert, a consultant with years of experience as a line manager in the chemical industry. In an interview with EHS Today, Balmert discussed managing safety in operations and offered some practical tips for supervisors...
Workplace Gender Inequality Still Alive Worldwide
Despite big changes over recent decades, workplace gender inequalities endure in the United States and other industrialized nations around the world. According to University of Washington sociologists, these inequalities are created by facets of national social policy that either ease or concentrate the demands of care giving within households and shape expectations in the workplace...
Study: Australian Workers Still at Risk of Asbestos Exposure
On Feb. 15, Safe Work Australia released the results of a study aimed to determine construction and maintenance workers’ current attitudes, awareness, compliance and exposure levels to asbestos in their workplaces...
Global Ranking Reveals Emerging Economies As EHS Hot Spots
Businesses with manufacturing bases, extractive operations or agricultural interests in emerging economies need to pay particular attention to EHS, according to new research released by Maplecroft, a UK firm that assesses global risks for business...
Welsh Assembly Government Signs Pledge to Reduce Work-Related Deaths and Injuries
The Welsh Assembly Government recently signed Great Britain’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) pledge, an initiative that aims to bring organizations together to commit to reduce work-related deaths, injuries and ill health...
Groups Worldwide Remember Bhopal Disaster, Urge Dow to Clean Up Site
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal chemical disaster, thousands of supporters around the world will participate in an International Day of Action on Dec. 3 to pressure Dow Chemical, the current owner of Union Carbide, to clean up the water in Bhopal and face criminal charges in India...
Report Finds Groundwater in Bhopal Communities Is Still Polluted
Nearly 25 years after an industrial tragedy killed thousands of people in Bhopal, India, a new report from The Bhopal Medical Appeal (BMA) shows that the groundwater in surrounding Bhopal communities remains contaminated with toxic chemicals...
Smokers Worldwide Support Workplace Smoking Bans
A new study shows the majority of smokers worldwide support smoking bans in the workplace...
Global Survey Shows Businesses Turn to Wellness Programs to Improve Productivity
According to a recent global survey, improving productivity by keeping employees healthy and working is emerging as the top business objective for employer-sponsored wellness programs around the world – except in the United States, where reducing health care cost increases continues to be the top goal, and Asia, where the most important objective is improving work force morale...
ILO and IFC Help Improve Conditions for Factory Workers
An innovative approach to supply chain relationships has shown that factories with improved compliance to labor standards are considerably more likely to survive the economic crisis...
Study: Cultural Beliefs About Pesticides Put Mexican Farm Workers At Risk
Mexican immigrant farm laborers may face an increased risk of exposure to harmful pesticides due to their cultural perceptions, suggests a study appearing in a supplemental issue of the American Journal of Public Health...
HSE Launches Campaign to Educate Polish Construction Workers about Safety
On Sept. 18, Great Britain’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched a campaign to inform Polish construction workers based in London about on-site health and safety...
HSE Busts Myth that Concertgoers Need Earplugs
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the agency in the U.K. that regulates occupational safety and health, has moved to silence critics claiming HSE requires audiences to wear earplugs when attending noisy concerts and music festivals...
EU-OSHA: No Cutting Back on Safety, Health
Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) Jukka Takala warned that European organizations cannot afford to forget workplace safety in the current economic downturn...
U.S.-EU Environmental Politics at a Crossroads, Professor Says
Although the United States and European Union face common environmental and energy challenges, they often have taken different approaches to solving them, according to Stacy VanDeveer, associate professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire...
