The Pump Handle

Better Stoves for Better Health

Two recent articles (via the Above the Fold newsletter) have encouraging news about the respiratory and climate problems caused by polluting stoves used in much of the developing world. In Environmental Health Perspectives, Tina Adler focuses on a new...

Published Wed, Mar 10 2010 1:25 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Environmental Health

A Year Later, What’s Happening with the Scientific Integrity Memo?

Exactly one year ago, President Obama issued a memorandum on scientific integrity that gave the Office of Science and Technology Policy 120 days to “develop recommendations for Presidential action designed to guarantee scientific integrity throughout...

Published Tue, Mar 09 2010 12:54 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Science

Systematising the evidence base: a key strategy for bringing more environmental health science into clinical practice and public health policy

By Paul Whaley As a society we could do much better at incorporating environmental health science into clinical advice and policy recommendations. Take formaldehyde: In the early 1980s multiple studies in rats were showing that exposure to formaldehyde...

Published Tue, Mar 09 2010 7:18 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Research, Environmental Health

Agenda available for Latino Action Summit on Worker Health and Safety

Earlier this week, I wrote about the countdown on OSHA’s website to the National Action Summit for Latino Worker Health and Safety (April 14-15) but noted the paucity of information about the what will actually occur at the event. I’m pleased...

Published Fri, Mar 05 2010 3:33 PM by The Pump Handle

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

Federal No. 2 Coal Mine: Hilda Solis and Joe Main speak

by Ken Ward Jr., cross-posted from Coal Tattoo After she visited Patriot Coal’s Federal No. 2 Mine in Monongalia County, W.Va., last year, Obama Labor Secretary Hilda Solis couldn’t say enough about the operation, its great labor-management relations...

Published Fri, Mar 05 2010 6:16 AM by The Pump Handle

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

OSHA Listens

Today, OSHA is holding “a public meeting to solicit comments and suggestions from OSHA stakeholders on key issues facing the agency.” Judging by the event web page, OSHA thinks one of the key problems to address is the inexcusable fact that...

Published Thu, Mar 04 2010 7:39 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: OSHA

Strengthening Science in Government

My colleagues and I at the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy have spent the last two years investigating the working environments of federal-agency scientists who address health and environmental issues – and today we’re finally the releasing...

Published Wed, Mar 03 2010 1:20 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Science

Science versus theology

by Sarah Vogel If you thought the scientific debate about bisphenol A was over or even quieting down, you haven’t been reading the latest issues of Toxicological Sciences. (What are you doing with your spare time?) Last month in an editorial piece published...

Published Tue, Mar 02 2010 7:26 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Environmental Health

43 days left, but why attend Summit for Latino H&S?

I noticed a new feature on OSHA’s website this morning, a countdown to the National Action Summit for Latino Worker Health and Safety. Today’s notice says *43 Days Left* which seems to be OSHA’s way of saying “you better register...

Published Mon, Mar 01 2010 2:51 PM by The Pump Handle

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

Flu “hype,” vaccinations and tin foil hats

by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure It really gives me heartburn to see an otherwise sensible article in AOLNews by Katie Drummond with a headline: “Hyping H1N1: Did It Create a Dangerous Flu Fatigue?” I don’t know if that was...

Published Mon, Mar 01 2010 9:52 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Influenza, Preparedness

Introducing New Solutions: The Drawing Board

This is the first piece of a new series featured on The Pump Handle. New Solutions, A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, is taking their work from the world of print to an online medium, posting once-monthly blogs about environmental...

Published Fri, Feb 26 2010 10:20 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Environmental Health, Chemicals Policy, New Solutions: The Drawing Board

“Sickened by Service”

The Salt Lake Tribune has published an excellent series, “Sickened Service” by Matthew D. LaPlante, telling the stories of veterans whose illnesses or deaths seem likely to be related to exposures during their military service: What doesn’t kill you:...

Published Thu, Feb 25 2010 11:50 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety

Lesson #1: Don’t hang up on Ken Ward Jr

The Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward Jr. caused my jaw to drop several times this morning with his story ”Mine hailed as model of safety faces federal probe.” At the Patriot Coal company’s Federal No. 2 mine—the underground...

Published Tue, Feb 23 2010 12:28 PM by The Pump Handle

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

The Growing Global E-waste Problem

We’ve written before about the problem of e-waste (see here and here), and a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme underscores the urgency of the situation. In a nutshell, discarded electronics contain valuable substances that are worth...

Published Tue, Feb 23 2010 6:27 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Environmental Health

“Falls” lead the injury pack

by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) has been conducted since 1957 and is one of the main instruments to get a glimpse at the health of the US population. The NHIS is a “multistage area probability...

Published Mon, Feb 22 2010 12:02 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Safety

Syndication

Recent Posts

Tags

Archives