Respirators
New OSHA Videos Offer Respirator, Facemask Safety Guidance
OSHA has developed two new videos for health care workers that feature training and guidance on respirator safety...
AIHA’s Respiratory Protection Committee Releases White Paper on Research Needs in Respiratory Protection
Many current practices in respiratory protection are based on assumptions, past practices or extrapolation from laboratory studies, according to the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), and few studies have been done to evaluate the efficacy of or the need for each of these practices...
NSC: OSHA’s Top 10 Most Cited Violations
The top 10 most cited OSHA violations were unveiled Oct. 27 at 97th annual National Safety Council (NSC) Congress and Expo in Orlando, Fla., with scaffolding and fall protection violations once again topping the list...
NSC: Protecting Health Care Workers from the H1N1 Threat
At the National Safety Council (NSC) 2009 Congress and Expo, NIOSH Director John Howard stressed that in the face of the H1N1 pandemic, the perception that health care workers are self-sacrificial “saints” who inevitably place themselves at risk when they come to work must be discarded and that occupational safety and health principles must be applied to protect this working population...
OSHA Prepares to Release Compliance Directive for H1N1-Related Inspections
To ensure the protection of frontline health care and emergency medical workers at high risk of infection with H1N1 virus, OSHA soon will issue a compliance directive to ensure uniform procedures when conducting inspections to identify and minimize or eliminate high to very high risk occupational exposures to the H1N1 influenza virus...
Preventing Flu Outbreaks in Health Care Workers: Surgical Masks vs. N95 Respirators
Surgical masks appear to be no worse than, and nearly as effective as, N95 respirators in preventing influenza in health care workers, according to a study released by the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA)...
What You Should Know About Selecting Respiratory Protection
Respiratory protection is provided to employees when a hazard can not be eliminated or effectively minimized with engineering controls...
New Developments in Respiratory Protection
NIOSH requirements for several types of respirators are changing. See what’s ahead for powered air-purifying respirators....
OSHA Releases New Respiratory Protection Guidance
In its newly published guidance document, Assigned Protection Factors (APF), OSHA provides employers with vital information for selecting respirators for workers exposed to contaminants in the air....
OSHA Proposes $273,000 in Fines against Jamestown, N.Y., Employer for Lack of Asbestos Safeguards
OSHA cited Blackstone Business Enterprises Inc. of Jamestown, N.Y., for 18 alleged willful and serious violations of OSHA standards for failing to protect contract employees against asbestos hazards....
ISEA Announces Public Review for First Aid, Smoke Hood Standards
The International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) recently announced the availability of draft revisions to its voluntary consensus standards for workplace first aid kits and air-purifying respiratory protective smoke escape devices. ...
OSHA Proposes Revised Procedures for Fit Testing Respirators
OSHA has proposed two revised fit test procedures under the Respiratory Protection Standard for determining the effectiveness of respiratory protection facemasks....
How Regulation and Innovation Have Shaped Respiratory Protection
Today's personal protective equipment (PPE) includes clothing, helmets, respirators, goggles and other gear to reduce exposures the wearer experiences...
OSHA Rejects Fire Prevention Technology
New York-based FirePASS Corp. reached out to Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., who then sent a letter to OSHA asking Foulke to explain why the agency denied granting...
Researchers Identify Pork Plant Illness
Workers at Quality Pork Processors in Austin, Minn., first exhibited signs of illness in December 2006, and more workers developed symptoms in the following...
Confined Space Safety and Rescue: Challenges and Lessons Learned
Engulfment takes the lives of three workers in a trench collapse at a construction site. An employee dies instantly when a spark causes an internal explosion;...
Study Finds Diacetyl Exposure Harmful to Mice
NIEHS, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, conducted the study because diacetyl has been implicated in causing obliterative bronchiolitis,...
Workers Suffer Lung Damage 25 Years After Exposed to Legal Levels of Asbestos-Like Material
In 1980, researchers studied 513 individuals who worked in a plant processing vermiculite that originated from a mine in Libby, Mont. The material these...
New ASTM Standard Provides Asbestos Guidance
The standard, ASTM D 7390, Guide for Evaluating Asbestos in Dust on Surfaces by Comparison Between Two Environments, can assist building owners as they...
OSHAs New Program Addresses Crystalline Silica Hazards
Crystalline silica, a compound workers in the construction, maritime and general industries are routinely exposed to, is cited as the cause of silicosis,...
MHSSN Releases Final Report on Mexico Copper Mine
On Jan. 17, the Maquiladora Health and Safety Support Network (MHSSN) released a final report based on the findings of a team of independent occupational...
Industrial Degreaser Linked to Parkinsonism, Researchers Say
The team, led by Don M. Gash and John T. Slevin of the U.K. College of Medicine, identified a number of industrial workers who exhibited symptoms of Parkinsonism,...
International OHS Through the Looking Glass of the Global Economy
The occupational health and safety conditions at the giant open-pit copper mine in Cananea, Mexico displayed how workplace safety in the global economy...
NIOSH Report: Prison Computer Recycling Plant Plagued with Heavy Metals
NIOSH officials urged an immediate shutdown of computer recycling operations located in eastern Ohio at the Elkton Federal Correctional Institution and...
Welder Awarded $20.5 Million in Lawsuit
A federal jury in Cleveland deliberated for more than a week before determining that Lincoln Electric Holdings, along with Hobart Brother Co., ESAB Group, TDY Industries and BOC Group, were negligent by not warning Jeff Tamraz of their products’ manganese toxicity....
