$569 million. That’s how much revenue community health centers will miss out on because their state legislators decided not to expand Medicaid eligibility. The loss means that many community health centers will continue to struggle to serve all those in need, others will have to cut back on services and some could be forced to shut down altogether.
California’s workforce has grown by about 22 percent in the last 20 years but the number of safety inspectors for the 17 million people employed in the state’s 1.34 million workplaces has decreased by about 11 percent. This leaves California’s workforce – the largest of any US state – with the lowest number of inspectors per workers of any state with its own occupational safety and health plan for private-sector workers. California has so few workplace safety inspectors that it would take 173 years to inspect each workplace in the state just once.
In New York, construction is the deadliest industry, with immigrant workers experiencing half of all occupational-related fatalities. In Massachusetts in 2013, it’s estimated that upward of 500 workers died from occupational disease, at least 1,800 were diagnosed with cancers associated with workplace exposures and 50,000 workers experienced serious injury. In Wyoming, workplace deaths climbed to a five-year high in 2012.
Yet another study that calculates the extent to which BLS’ data on work-related injuries understates the incidence.
Conditions on Florida tomato farms improve thanks to the Fair Food Program; federal officials are developing a protective inhalation screening level for the West Virginia chemical spill region; and a Government Accountability Project expert testifies on whistleblower protections in observance of Workers Memorial Day.
ATSDR epidemiologist Frank Bove, ScD is awarded the 2014 David Ozonoff Unsung Hero Award. He is recognized for his work, most notably, studies examining the relationship between water contamination at Camp Lejeune and birth defects, cancer and other adverse health conditions.
Food Safety & Nutrition
Wayne Farms and Employer Solutions Staffing subject of Alabama poultry workers’ safety complaints
Nine poultry workers filed safety and whistleblower complaints with the Labor Department against the country’s fifth largest poultry company and the temp staffing agency that hired some of them.
The Labor Department announced new regulations to better protect coal miners from developing coal mine dust lung diseases. The are a step in the right direction, but not as stringent as proposed.
Three hours after I wrote this “The US Department of Labor has a plan to eliminate coal mine dust lung disease (a.k.a. black lung.) It’s been stuck in White House review for eight months, under the watch of a reg czar who promised timeliness of reviews,” they announced they were issuing the new rules.
Workers in Houston test the City’s new anti-wage theft ordinance, making a complaint against companies contracted by the City of Houston.