With concerns growing about a nursing shortage, hospitals are looking at ways to improve retention of the nurses they have on staff. Susan Meyers at Nurse.com (via RWJF) reports on an initiative at Los Angelesâs Cedars-Sinai Hospital to improve physician-nurse communication in order to boost morale: With nearly a nine-year jump on the [MD-RN Collaborative], […]
The Rotterdam Convention is an agreement addressing international movement of hazardous substances, but of course thereâs a great deal of debate about what qualifies as a hazardous substance. As convention parties met this week, several developing nations spoke up against adding asbestos to this list â and, according to one Canadian MP who attended the […]
The American Public Health Association is holding its annual meeting this week in San Diego (check out their conference blog here), and members of the occupational health section will be gathering today to congratulate the winners of this yearâs awards. (Read about last yearâs awards here.) Here are some of the outstanding individuals who are […]
Remember back in early May, when White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten sent a memorandum to all agency heads warning them: “to resist the historical tendency of administrations to increase regulatory activity in their final months” and directed, except in extraordinary circumstances, that regulations needed to be proposed by 6/1/08. Well it seems that pretty much […]
The UKâs Health and Safety Executive reports that 20 tradesmen die from asbestos-related diseases every week, and that number will likely increase. In an effort to reduce asbestos exposure among plumbers, joiners, electricians, and other maintenance workers, HSE has launched the campaign Asbestos: The Hidden Killer. Campaign materials and activities are designed to alert workers […]
By Nathan Fetty This is a slightly different post to the Pump Handle, mixing in some visuals. Thereâs a route I often drive here in West Virginia that, not surprisingly, takes me through a lot of coal mining territory. Along this route, coal miners are rushing to and from work, and big coal trucks scream […]
A long awaited OSHA proposed rule on crane safety was published in the Federal Register on Oct 9. The current OSHA safety standards on cranes and derricks dates back to at least 1971, and these proposed changes have been in the works for 10 years. I’ve criticized OSHA’s Asst. Secretary for the deadly delay in proposing this rule, and it is […]
Itâs open season at many workplaces, the time when employers who offer health benefits let employees choose among different health coverage options for the coming year. The Wall Street Journalâs Anna Wilde Matthews reports that companies are reluctant to raise workersâ share of premiums, given that wages are stagnant, and many are instead increasing deductibles […]
The United Steelworkers (USW) and the United Mine Workers (UMWA) have sent letters to Asst. Secretary of Labor Richard Stickler asking for additional hearings and a longer public comment period for its proposed rule on mandatory drug and alcohol testing for workers in the mining industry. In one press account, the public hearings yesterday were called […]
Last month, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) proposed a rule that would require all U.S. mine operators to adopt the Dept of Transportation’s 100-page regulation on drug- and alcohol-testing. Setting aside the fact that MSHA’s proposal is a poorly designed, substantiated and written, the following is a news account, reported by Mine Safety […]