If you’re pregnant and live in Cleveland, Ohio, it’s likely you’ll pay about $522 for an ultrasound. If you live about 60 miles south in Canton, Ohio, it costs about $183 for the same procedure, a recent study found. Why such a significant price difference? Researchers couldn’t single out one overriding factor. But the study does tell us this: place matters when it comes to how much you pay for health care.
CDC investigates diacetyl exposure in coffee production facilities; Supreme Court rules in favor of workers’ First Amendment rights; Latino workers still face the greatest fatality risks at work; and a job-seeking experiment finds women bear the brunt of age discrimination in the job market.
Reporter Andrew Schneider has written a sequel to his 2004 book “An Air That Kills: How the Asbestos Poisoning of Libby, Montana Uncovered a National Scandal.” The new book covers the unsuccessful criminal trial against W.R. Grace, and the legacy of a deadly form of asbestos from Libby that fills millions of attics across the U.S.
Injury Control & Violence
Fatal work injury that killed Tim Cooper, 49, was preventable, OSHA cites Independence Tube
The fatal work-related injuries that killed Tim Cooper, 49, could have been prevented had his employer followed worker safety regulations.
“Bad math” and “slippery language” is how Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) characterized some of the testimony at this week’s congressional hearing on OSHA’s new silica regulation.
Just a few weeks ago, legislators in New York reached a deal to raise the minimum wage to $15. And while that’s certainly a big boost for incomes, it could also turn out to be a literal lifesaver.
Healthcare workers are the most assaulted workers in the US. A report from the Government Accountability Office provides the numbers, notes which states have laws on the books to address the problem, and highlights the modest actions taken to-date by federal OSHA.
Government
Not an “accident”: Joshua Halphin, 25 suffers fatal work-related injury in Springfield, MO
This week’s snapshot of just one work-related fatality in the US. This one occurred on Thursday, March 24 in Springfield, MO.
Reveal investigates fraud in California’s workers’ comp system; workers face unnecessary hazards in the recycling industry; anger over union exemptions in Los Angeles’ new minimum wage law; and two miners win their retaliation case against Murray Energy.
I’m marking Global Awareness Asbestos Week by shaming some companies in San Antonio, TX for exposing workers and the community to asbestos.