OSHA today published in the Federal Register a final rule revising the personal protective equipment (PPE) sections of its general industry, shipyard employment, longshoring and marine terminals standards concerning requirements for eye- and face-protective devices, and head and foot protection.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the selection of John Howard, M.D., as the new director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), effective immediately. Dr. Howard will assume a dual role. In addition to being the director of NIOSH, he will also serve as the World Trade Center Programs coordinator for HHS.
CDC is releasing new guidance that recommends actions that non-healthcare employers should take now to decrease the spread of seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu in the workplace and to help maintain business continuity during the 2009–2010 flu season.
Ethylene oxide exposure levels and monitoring requirements are addressed in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) recently published Small Business Guide for Ethylene Oxide.
After decades of warnings about the inevitability of another pandemic of influenza, it is astonishing that health officials have failed to make clear to the public, even to many colleagues, what they mean by the word pandemic
CIDRAP - Center for Infectious DiseaseResearch & Policy, University of Minnesota
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission are alerting the public to be wary of Internet sites and other promotions for products that claim to diagnose, prevent, mitigate, treat or cure the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. The agencies are also advising operators of offending web sites that they must take prompt action to correct and/or remove promotions of these fraudulent products or face enforcement action
Statement by WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan. See phase definitions
The current situation regarding the outbreak of swine influenza A(H1N1) is evolving rapidly.
Recommendations are based on current information and are subject to change based on ongoing surveillance and continuous risk assessment.
American health officials on Sunday declared a publichealth emergency over increasing cases of swine flu, saying that they had confirmed 20 cases of the disease in the United States and expected to see more as investigators fan out to track down the path of the outbreak
Human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection have been identified in the U.S. in San Diego County and Imperial County, California as well as in San Antonio, Texas. Internationally, human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection have been identified in Mexico.
This draft interim guidance is meant to inform and educate cargo trucking management and crew personnel about precautions and appropriate work practices to minimize exposure and prevent workplace-related transmission of flu in the event of a pandemic.
Two members of the New York Congressional delegation are calling on President Obama to reappoint an official to coordinate health programs for workers at ground zero — a job that has been vacant since the official was removed by the Bush administration last July
The case of the W. R. Grace & Company mine affected miners but also the town at large where many became ill.
The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) formally adopted a new position statement on depression in the workplace – a condition it says is an increasing drain on workforce productivity.
On Feb. 13, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) issued interim guidance for medical screening and hazard surveillance for workers potentially exposed to engineered nanoparticles.
As EPA works to better align Noise Reduction Ratings (NRR) with real-world use of hearing protection, a number of proposed changes to testing, labeling and regulations are underway. The new Web site http://www.NRRUpdate.com provides the latest regulatory updates, expert insights and resources for implementing these new regulations into the workplace.
Companies that manufacture products containing nanomaterials immediately must institute high-quality risk management and product stewardship measures to limit potential liability exposure in the future, assert attorneys Jesse Ash, Anthony Klapper and James Wood.
The Australian Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC) has released a research report on the occupational health and safety implications of having accurate data when designing Australian workplaces. The accuracy of anthropometric data is an emerging issue that is a focus of research for the ASCC
Research has linked contaminants to diseases, but that often fails to help victims win worker’s compensation.
Federal agencies in charge of radiation protection are struggling to revise their standards to take into account the differences in susceptibility to radiation-induced cancer among men, women and children.
Health care workers and emergency services personnel who could have direct contact with individuals who are ill during an influenza pandemic should be protected with antiviral drugs throughout the pandemic, even before these workers are exposed or become ill themselves, according to guidance released today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
A new report from the National Research Council finds serious weaknesses in the government's plan for research on the potential health and environmental risks posed by nanomaterials, which are increasingly being used in consumer goods and industry. An effective national plan for identifying and managing potential risks is essential to the successful development and public acceptance of nanotechnology-enabled products, emphasized the committee that wrote the report.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today cleared a new test developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to diagnose human influenza infections and the highly pathogenic influenza A (H5N1) viruses.
Implications for Future Pandemic Planning
Just why John Howard was denied reappointment as head of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is a mystery that deserves to be cleared up.
Despite arriving later and having less-intense exposure than first responders, New York state personnel who worked at the World Trade Center (WTC) site after the 9/11 attacks have increased rates of physical and mental health symptoms, reports a study in the November issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
9/21/07 - CDC Releases two Pandemic Influenza Checklist
Preparing vaccines and therapeutics that target a future mutant strain of H5N1 influenza virus sounds like science fiction, but it may be possible, according to a team of scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and a collaborator at Emory University School of Medicine. Success hinges on anticipating and predicting the crucial mutations that would help the virus spread easily from person to person.
School closures and other community strategies designed to reduce the possibility of spreading disease between people during an epidemic can save lives, particularly when the measures are used in combination and implemented soon after an outbreak begins in a community, according to a new study based on public records from the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic.
Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt today released the HHS Pandemic Planning Update IV, which provides a review of the current status of the Department's pandemic influenza planning efforts in five key areas: monitoring and surveillance, vaccines, antiviral medications, state and local preparedness, and communications.
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