Government A Q&A with public health leaders on emergency preparedness: ‘It should be approached as a permanent and consistent part of what public health does, not a quick fix’
June 10, 2015 Kim Krisberg 1Comment

“All response is local” is a commonly heard phrase among public health practitioners who serve on the front lines of disease outbreaks, emergencies and disasters. Whether it’s a measles outbreak, a terrorist attack or a hurricane, public health agencies are at the ready to deploy an emergency response infrastructure designed for one overriding purpose: to protect their communities against preventable disease and injury.

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Government Massachusetts extends OSHA protections to state workers: It’s about ‘creating an infrastructure that supports health and safety’
June 5, 2015 Kim Krisberg

Back in 1970 when the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration was established, local policymakers could choose whether or not to extend OSHA protections to state employees. Unfortunately, Massachusetts took a pass. But decades later — and after years of advocacy, organizing and research on the part of worker advocates — employees of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts can now look forward to safer and healthier workplaces.

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farm workers Occupational Health News Roundup
June 2, 2015 Kim Krisberg

Family-friendly workplace policies can have unintended consequences for women; building owner charged with murder in collapse of garment factory in Bangladesh; new standing recommendations proposed for office workers; and a famous food journalist calls for improved working conditions for food workers.

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Government Scientists combine evolutionary biology and mathematics to reverse antibiotic resistance
May 27, 2015 Kim Krisberg 6Comment

For more than a decade, biologist Mariam Barlow has been working on the theory that administering antibiotics on a rotating basis could be a solution to antibiotic resistance. After years of research, Barlow had lots of data, but she needed a more precise way to make sense of it all — something that was so specific it could easily be used to treat patients. So, she joined forces with a team of mathematicians. And the amazing results could help solve an enormous, worldwide problem.

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Environmental Health Occupational Health News Roundup
May 19, 2015 Kim Krisberg

Injured workers testify before Illinois lawmakers on preserving the workers’ comp system; OSHA fines DuPont for failing to prevent the deaths of four workers; journalists arrested in Qatar while trying to investigate migrant working conditions; and a new report finds that service members who report sexual assault are likely to face retaliation.

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