November 2009 - The Pump Handle - The Network of Care

World’s largest public health group calls for global asbestos ban

by Andrew Schneider, cross-posted from Cold Truth At last, the world’s oldest public health organization has joined the funeral dirge-paced parade to ban asbestos in the U.S. The 50,000-member American Public Health Association adopted a resolution at...

Published Thu, Nov 12 2009 11:24 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH, Regulation, Mining, Environmental Health, Environmental Protection Agency

Recognizing OHS Achievements with Speeches, Skits, and Song

The Occupational Health & Safety Section’s Annual Awards Luncheon is always one of the highlights of the APHA Annual Meeting, due its combination of inspiring awardees and creative musical skit. This year’s award winners won well-deserved recognition...

Published Wed, Nov 11 2009 3:58 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH

New Agency Leaders Have Big Plans, Lots of Work Ahead of Them

It’s a tradition for APHA’s Occupational Health & Safety section to invite top officials from OSHA, MSHA, and NIOSH to a “Talking Heads” session at each APHA annual meeting. The session “The Future of Occupational Safety and Health in the Obama Administration...

Published Wed, Nov 11 2009 9:09 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH

Health and Safety in Healthcare

As is always the case at APHA, there are far too many fascinating presentations for one person to see – so I hope those of you who are also here in Philly will add comments about some of the sessions you’re attending and what you’re...

Published Tue, Nov 10 2009 11:40 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Healthcare

Port Wentworth Tragedy Profitable for PR Firm

Each year, the Public Relations Society of America gives a Silver Anvil Award, which “acknowledges the very highest level of achievement and is the established icon of the ‘best of the best’ public relations practices.” The latest Silver Anvil has just...

Published Tue, Nov 10 2009 11:14 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Combustible Dust

Making Green Jobs Safe Jobs

I feel like I’m pretty up on the push for green jobs (creating jobs in the building and installation of wind turbines, construction of energy-efficient buildings, etc.) but this morning at the APHA meeting, I learned something about the occupational...

Published Mon, Nov 09 2009 9:30 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Global warming

Healthy People 2020 Open for Public Comment

The US Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy People program, which for the past several decades has provided “science-based, 10-year national objectives for promoting health and preventing disease,” has opened its 2020 iteration...

Published Mon, Nov 09 2009 7:04 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Health, Politics

APHA Annual Meeting Opening Session: Lessons on Chemicals, Culture, and More

At the opening general session of the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting, I learned a few things about Philadelphia, where this year’s meeting is happening. Philadelphia opened the nation’s first public hospital, nursing...

Published Sun, Nov 08 2009 1:30 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Environmental Health

A Broken Process on Burn Pits

Earlier today, the Senate Democratic Policy Committee held a hearing on the use of burn pits for trash at military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan – a practice that may be exposing thousands of soldiers and civilians to carcinogens, respiratory irritants...

Published Fri, Nov 06 2009 2:31 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Environmental Health

Cool Lab Safety Training for Students

Beth Griffin was a Research Assistant at Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center at Emory University when she was splashed in the eye with fluids from a rhesus macaque. She acquired a Cercopithecine herpesvirus 1 (B virus) infection and died 42 days after...

Published Fri, Nov 06 2009 8:34 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Safety

New Study Links PFOA and High Cholesterol Levels

By *** Clapp Researchers at Boston University School of Public Health (full disclosure: colleagues of mine) this week reported an association between perfluoroalkyl compounds — including PFOA, which was used to make non-stick products — and...

Published Thu, Nov 05 2009 10:50 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Environmental Health

Waiting for Solis’ OHS regulatory agenda

Any day now, the leaders at DOL, MSHA and OSHA should be letting us know formally their plans for proposing and issuing worker health and safety protections. This formal notification comes in the form of the Department’s semi-annual regulatory agenda...

Published Thu, Nov 05 2009 9:42 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH, Regulation, Politics

Saving face on the ice

I admit it: I have a soft spot for hockey players. It probably stems from my Michigan upbringing, including my family’s winter-time ritual of making an outdoor hockey rink, and the annual trek from Detroit to Nantias Sport Shop on Wyandotte Street...

Published Wed, Nov 04 2009 3:52 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH, Safety

Swine flu produces a good settlement for hospitals and workers

by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure It’s being described as a “dramatic settlement” that will set a pattern for the nation. Let’s hope so, because the agreement reached yesterday by the California Nurses Association/National...

Published Wed, Nov 04 2009 7:38 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Influenza

Scientific Integrity in Healthcare Legislation

High-profile issues like the public option and cost containment have been getting a lot of attention in the discussion about healthcare legislation, but there are less-noticed issues that are also important. Today, the Union of Concerned Scientists draws...

Published Tue, Nov 03 2009 12:33 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Healthcare

November 2009 - The Pump Handle

Syndication

Recent Posts

Tags

Archives