NIOSH eNews web page

Findings from NIOSH Collaborative Study Reflected in Proposed OSHA Rule
Collaborative study focuses on risk from exposure to hexavalent chromium.

NIOSH Cincinnati Employees Volunteer in Community Service Project
Renovations to church rectory provide shelter for the homeless.

NIOSH, Colleagues Confirm Histoplasmosis Cases and Recommend Preventive Steps
November 5, 2004 CDC MMWR highlights findings from a NIOSH investigation at a Nebraska industrial plant.

Beth Whelan Named Branch Chief
Industrywide Studies Branch welcomes new Chief.

Safe Injection Global Network meeting
NIOSH meets with international community to strategize needlestick injury prevention for health care workers.

Division of Respiratory Disease Studies Director Announcement
Application deadline is December 8.

Look for Us
Four upcoming mining conferences will showcase activities from the Pittsburgh and Spokane Research Laboratories.

Around NIOSH

Office of the Director
New Management Appointments

Division of Applied Research and Technology (DART)
NIOSH activity in the International Organization for Standardization.

Division of Respiratory Disease Studies (DRDS)
Annual meeting brings NIOSH, industry, workers together to discuss research findings.

Division of Safety Research (DSR)
NIOSH and 13 co-sponsors covene first Workplace Violence conference.

Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies (DSHEFS)
CDC workshop held on respiratory protection for airborne infectious agents.

Education and Information Division (EID)
New brochure highlights safety tips for health care workers exposed to antineoplastic agents

Health Effects Laboratory Division (HELD)
HELD sponsors conference on Molecular Mechanisms of Metal Toxicity and Carcinogenesis.

National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL)
NIOSH leading respiratory standards development

Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (PRL)
How to conduct a coaching skills workshop for on-the-job trainers

Spokane Research Laboratory (SRL)
'Shox Box' uses GPS to locate sources of jolts and jars to mine haulage trucks

r2p Corner

Report on the NIOSH and Brush Wellman partnership.

National Occupational Research Agenda ( NORA)

News From Our Partners

OSHA Participates in Video Production

Communication Products

Eye Safety Topic Page

Workers' Health Chartbook 2004

English/Spanish Language Guidance on Preventing Silicosis

Workplace Solutions: Preventing Deaths and Injuries to Fire Fighters during Live-Fire Training in Acquired Structures

Upcoming Events

Call for Papers: Work, Stress and Health 2006: Making a Difference in the Workplace

Fourth International Conference on Work Environment and Cardiovascular Diseases

Fifth International Symposium on Modern Principles of Air Monitoring

Word of the Month

Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL):

  From the Director's Desk

The Dollars and Sense of Economic Analysis
"Show me the money" was a popular catch phrase from the movies a few years ago.  It is also a fact of life in occupational safety and health.  As we all face competing demands for limited resources, we are challenged to show that a given investment of time and money will result in a safer, healthier workplace.  But measuring those benefits in dollars is difficult because one side of the equation is elusive.  Where costs are indirect or long-term as they often are for work-related injuries and illnesses, they may not be recognized for years, if ever, using traditional tools of analysis.

I am pleased that NIOSH is working vigorously with diverse partners to advance new research for better quantifying the economic costs of occupational injuries and illnesses. This research is leading toward new means and methods for measuring the indirect costs of injuries and illnesses with greater certainty, counting the losses that drain corporate and household accounts alike, and demonstrating that smart interventions can repay themselves many times over.  In our November issue, you read about the collaborations that NIOSH has formed to advance new research for such analyses.  As the second part of the story, here are a few examples of studies now under way - either within NIOSH or by outside researchers with NIOSH funding - that illustrate the exciting possibilities of this field of research.

Comparative Analysis of Methods for Calculating Employer Costs of Workplace Illness and Injury
A variety of methods have been used to calculate employer costs of workplace illness and injury, each with a specific focus and sometimes conflicting with other methods. NIOSH in partnership with researchers at the University of Wisconsin, is identifying, characterizing and comparing several of these methods to show common difficulties and pitfalls in calculating costs. Results will be used to help identify best practices for further development. For more information on this project, contact Tim Bushnell at PBushnell@cdc.gov.

Economic and Social Consequences of Injury at Sand and Gravel Operations
To assess both the social and economic consequences of injuries to sand and gravel operators, researchers are developing a system safety model integrating the safety factors of workers, their equipment and their work environment. Social impact will be measured based on workers' self-reported levels of anger, anxiety and depression as indicators of worker stress. Economic costs will be measured based upon the cost-of-illness method, incorporating a list of indirect costs such as lost earnings, lost fringe benefits, lost home production, employer costs of retraining and restaffing and coworkers' costs of lost productivity and time delays. This integrated approach has potential applications for future economic studies and intervention efforts. For more information on this project, contact Tom Camm at TCamm@cdc.gov.

Economic Cost of Fatal Occupational Injuries in the United States
Researchers are enhancing a previously developed NIOSH computerized costing model for calculating the societal costs of fatal occupational injuries using the cost-of-illness method. Using the model, researchers have shown that between 1992 and 2001 the cost of fatal occupational injuries in the U.S. was $48.7 billion. The model takes into account medical costs, the present value of future earnings summed from the year of death until the worker would have reached age 67 and the value of home production lost. Costs can be separated by gender, age, race, occupational, industry, or event. Current efforts to improve the model include expansion to calculate the cost of fatal occupational injuries using Census of Fatal Occupational Injury (CFOI) data, improving model specificity by estimating indirect costs using state-specific wage and benefit data, and improving the operational utility of the model. The calculated costs from this study can be used in evaluation tools to more efficiently allocate resources for research and prevention efforts. For more information on this study, contact Elyce Biddle at EBiddle@cdc.gov.

Revision of the OSHA "$AFETY PAYS" E-Tool for Employers
In collaboration with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), NIOSH is updating and enhancing $AFETY PAYS, an OSHA developed interactive software program for measuring the economic impact of occupational injuries and illnesses on a company's profitability. The program uses a company's profit margin, average costs of an occupational injury or illness and an indirect cost multiplier to project the amount of sales a company would need to generate in order to cover the cost. Enhancements to the program include customizing the program to fit a firm's ability in capturing their costs. Contact Elyce Biddle at EBiddle@cdc.gov for more information.

Technology Investment Agreement with Advanced Technology Institute
The domestic shipbuilding, ship repair, and ship recycling industries have historically had injury and illness incidence rates 2-3 times higher than those of general industry, manufacturing or construction; approximately half of all shipyard injuries can be considered musculoskeletal disorders. This three phase study will 1) assess the type and scope of trade or department-specific injury and illness rates among domestic shipyards, 2) quantify risk factors by using exposure assessment tools and recommend unique ergonomic engineering controls and implement pilot ergonomic interventions, and 3) evaluate the cost-effectiveness of these interventions. For more information on this study, contact Stephen Hudock at SHudock@cdc.gov.

Economic Impact of Occupational Injury and Illness
With funding from NIOSH, the Center to Protect Workers' Rights is addressing gaps in describing and measuring the economic costs resulting from occupational injuries and illnesses. This project seeks to quantify those costs and the burden on construction workers and their families, specifically looking at those costs not typically addressed in existing approaches. Researchers will also determine who estimates and actually pays the cost of these injuries and illnesses among construction workers.

Job-Related Arthritis and Disability in Retirement
While the initial injury or pain of work-related arthritis typically occurs on the job, subsequent pain or osteoarthritis could occur much later in life. Current estimates of job-related injuries and illnesses ignore the costs of these later occurring health problems. NIOSH-funded researchers at the University of California will use data from the National Health Interview Surveys, National Center for Health Statistics, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to obtain prevalence and cost of osteoarthritis. Additionally, researchers will explore the connection between employment in injury-producing jobs and subsequent functional disability using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III.

   Findings from NIOSH Collaborative Study Reflected in Proposed OSHA Rule

Risk estimates from a collaborative assessment conducted by researchers from NIOSH, the Environmental Protection Agency and Johns Hopkins University, are reflected in a new proposed standard by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that would reduce OSHA's permissible exposure limit (PEL) for hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)). This quantitative risk assessment of lung cancer deaths among workers at a chromate manufacturing facility in Baltimore, Md. found that, among workers exposed to hexavalent chromium over a working lifetime at the current PEL, 255 per 1,000 workers would be expected to die from lung cancer attributable to their chromium exposure. OSHA proposes to set a new standard that would decrease the PEL for hexavalent chromium exposure to 1 µg/m³, a fifty-two-fold reduction from the current OSHA PEL. More information on the risk assessment can be found in the October issue of Risk Analysis (2004;24:1099-1108) or by contacting Robert Park at RPark@cdc.gov. Additional information on the OSHA proposed rule can be found at http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=11056.

For a volunteer project coordinated by the local Interfaith Hospitality Network in Cincinnati to help the disadvantaged, 12 employees from the NIOSH Cincinnati facilities spent a recent Saturday cleaning out and organizing the large attic of an old church rectory. Their donation of hard work and personal time created additional living quarters for the homeless. For additional information, contact Joyce Godfrey at JGodfrey@cdc.gov.

   NIOSH, Colleagues Confirm Histoplasmosis Cases and Recommend Preventive Steps

Results of an investigation by NIOSH, colleagues from other parts of CDC, and partners from the state of Nebraska confirmed the outbreak earlier this year of work-related histoplasmosis among at least 25 employees at an industrial plant where the same illness occurred in 2003. The findings, reported in the Nov. 5, 2004 issue of CDC's Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, prompted recommendations for reducing risks in similar circumstances. The investigators also emphasized that risk of exposure may occur not only to employees manipulating soil contaminated with H. capsulatum spores, but also to employees working hundreds of feet away. The report is available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5343a6.htm.

   Beth Whelan Named Branch Chief

Elizabeth A. (Beth) Whelan was appointed Branch Chief in the Industrywide Studies Branch of the NIOSH Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies, effective December 1, 2004 . Beth began her career at NIOSH in 1991 as an E.I.S. (U.S. Public Health Service Epidemic Intelligence Service) Officer and has held consecutive leadership positions in the branch, from Chief of the Epidemiology Section to Acting Branch Chief.

   Safe Injection Global Network meeting

Yvonne Boudreau and Brad King from the NIOSH Hazard Evaluations and Technical Assistance Branch (HETAB) joined representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO) and developing countr ies for the Safe Injection Global Network meeting in South Africa on October 19-27, 2004. The focus of the meeting was to strategize ways to prevent needlestick injuries to health care workers. As part of their work with the NIOSH HIV Team, Yvonne and Brad discussed the progress of the NIOSH/WHO cooperative agreement project involving use of a "Toolkit CD-Rom" to provide education and training to infection control specialists in developing countries. They also provided training via presentations on the subjects of post-exposure prophylaxis and safer needlestick devices. More information on the meeting can be found on the WHO web site http://www.who.int/injection_safety/en.

   Division of Respiratory Disease Studies Director Announcement

NIOSH is currently seeking candidates for the position of Director, Division of Respiratory Disease Studies. This position is located in Morgantown, W. Va. and the application deadline is December 8, 2004. There are several vacancy announcements for this position, according to the application category as follows..

Extramural, Health Scientist, http://www2.cdc.gov/hrmo/viewdetail.asp?AnnouncementNumber=6-05-004&QuickHireAnnouncement=N.

Intramural, Health Scientist, http://www2.cdc.gov/hrmo/viewdetail.asp?AnnouncementNumber=6-05-003&QuickHireAnnouncement=N.

Extramural, Medical Officer, http://www2.cdc.gov/hrmo/viewdetail.asp?AnnouncementNumber=6-05-006&QuickHireAnnouncement=N

Intramural, Medical Officer, http://www2.cdc.gov/hrmo/viewdetail.asp?AnnouncementNumber=6-05-005&QuickHireAnnouncement=N

Senior Biomedical Research Service, http://www2.cdc.gov/hrmo/viewdetail.asp?AnnouncementNumber=10-05-012&QuickHireAnnouncement=N

   Look for Us

Stop by and chat with the NIOSH staff at the NIOSH Exhibit Booth at these upcoming conferences.

• The Safety Seminar for Underground Stone Mines, December 7-8, 2004 in Louisville, Ky. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/safetyseminardec2004.pdf.

• The 110^th Northwest Mining Association Meeting and Exhibit, December 6-10, 2004 in Spokane, Washington. Be sure to attend the NIOSH Open Industry Briefing on Tuesday, December 7 from 1PM-5PM . More information on this event can be obtained from Elaine Cullen at ecullen@cdc.gov or by visiting the web site http://www.nwma.org/pdf/04broch3.pdf.

• The Ninth Mine Health and Safety Seminar, January 19-20, 2005 in Lehigh Valley, Pa. http://www.egee.psu.edu/safetysem9/index.html.

• The 2005 SME Annual Meeting and Exhibit, February 28-March 2, 2005 in Salt Lake City, Ut. http://www.smenet.org/meetings/AnnualMeeting2005/index.cfm.

   Around NIOSH

Office of the Director
Edward Dacey has been named NIOSH Associate Director for Data Management and Information Technology. In this new role, he will serve as the Institute's expert on the foundations of computer science as they apply to theoretical models for the representation and transformation of information structures, statistics, higher math, computer system architecture and system software organization. He will provide leadership and guidance to NIOSH on the establishment of policy related to the generation and use of public health information and surveillance systems. Mr. Dacey's previous position was the NIOSH Associate Director for Management and Operations.

Allison Davis will serve as the NIOSH Interim Associate Director for Management. Ms. Davis' previous position was the NIOSH Administrative Officer.

Division of Applied Research and Technology (DART)
DART researchers have been active in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) subcommittee on workplace atmospheres to develop methods for the measurement of hazardous substances in the workplace. Robert Streicher has prepared a draft international standard for isocyanate measurement, Kevin Ashley has authored several ISO standards for metals (mercury, chromium) and Rosa Key-Schwartz recently completed a draft of quality assurance guidelines for measurement of crystalline silica. An ISO standard embodies the principles of openness, transparency, consensus and technical coherence in the process of standardizing measurements, control evaluations and determination of compliance with exposure limit values. Contact Eugene Kennedy, erk1@cdc.gov, for more information.

Division of Respiratory Disease Studies (DRDS)
The NIOSH beryllium research program team, with research collaborators from beryllium producer Brush Wellman Inc. (BWI), held its annual Program Leadership Team meeting in Morgantown, W. Va., on November 3-4, 2004. The annual meeting is a forum for the research staff to communicate recent findings to employer and employee representatives from BWI, and for employees to report on how they have applied new knowledge to improve workplace safety. Approximately 50 attended, including 30 employee and management representatives from BWI, 15 members of the NIOSH research program, and observers from the NIOSH Office of the Director, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, other NIOSH industry partners, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Division of Safety Research (DSR)
On November 15-17, 2004, NIOSH and 13 co-sponsors convened for the first time a conference focusing specifically on workplace violence. More than 175 participants representing business and labor leaders, researchers, professional associations, victims rights advocates, policy makers, legislators, employee assistance professionals, legal experts, and human resource specialists attended the conference held in Baltimore, Maryland. The conference included breakout sessions organized around the four typologies of workplace violence that have evolved over the last decade: Criminal Intent (Type I); Customer/Client (Type II); Worker-on-Worker (Type III); and Personal Relationship (Type IV). Each "typology" working group summarized their discussions on the final day of the conference. NIOSH plans to capture the results from the working groups in a document describing workplace violence prevention strategies and research needs that will be released in 2005.

Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies (DSHEFS)
DSHEFS staff participated in the planning of, and presentations for, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "Workshop on Respiratory Protection for Airborne Infectious Agents" on November 30 - December 1, 2004, in Atlanta, Georgia.

The purpose of the meeting was to exchange information and seek individual input from diverse participants regarding the following topics:

• The current state of scientific knowledge regarding transmission of certain infectious agents through the air, focusing on the scientific basis for respiratory protection of workers and patients;
• The current state of scientific knowledge regarding respiratory protection as related to droplet nuclei and certain aerosol-transmitted agents;
• Strategies for improving the quality and effectiveness of respiratory protection; and
• Research needs to fill current knowledge gaps.

Further information is available at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/resources/pressrel/announcements/113004wkshp/.

Education and Information Division (EID)
Antineoplastic Agents: Occupational Hazards in Hospitals [DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2004−102] is one of a series of educational brochures that identify potential health hazards encountered by health care workers in hospitals. The brochure lists antineoplastic agents commonly used in hospitals, work-related health effects associated with these agents, types of workers who may be exposed, and procedures involving a high risk of exposure. The brochure also outlines preventive methods and work practices, safety tips for workers, and highlights two case reports. The document is available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2004-102/.

Health Effects Laboratory Division (HELD)
The Third Conference on Molecular Mechanisms of Metal Toxicity and Carcinogenesis was convened at the NIOSH facility in Morgantown, W. Va. on September 12-15, 2004.  This NIOSH sponsored conference brought together 95 scientists from the U.S. and abroad to discuss state-of-the-art advances in the understanding of mechanisms involved in metal-induced toxicity and cancer development.  The meeting included 36 invited lectures by recognized experts.  In addition to the invited presentations, a poster session was held to highlight the work of young investigators in the field.  Proceedings of the conference will appear in a special issue of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry.  The conference was organized by NIOSH staff member Xianglin Shi with Val Vallyathan and Vincent Castranova serving as co-organizers. For further information, contact Xianglin Shi at xshi@cdc.gov.

National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL)
Following the International Society for Respiratory Protection (ISRP) meeting, November 9-12, 2004, three members of the NPPTL staff were among the 20 representatives from eight countries attending a November 14-19, 2004 meeting of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to develop international standards for air purifying and air supply self air respirators. NPPTL Director Rich Metzler is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) administrator for the United States for this effort. Bill Newcomb of NPPTL serves as the chairman for developing air purifying respirator standards. NIOSH is proving leadership for the ANSI delegation in developing the ISO standards for respiratory protection.

Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (PRL)
On-the-job trainers are often selected by companies for their job skills. Yet, they may have little or no experience teaching those skills to others. Researchers from PRL are planning a train-the-trainer seminar to help prepare safety practitioners and others to conduct a workshop that will assist experienced miners to effectively teach safety skills and practices to new miners. Strategies for successful coaching will be taught and practiced. For more information, contact Robert H. Peters at RPeters@cdc.gov.

Spokane Research Laboratory (SRL)
To monitor severe jolts and jars that operators of mine haulage trucks may experience when the vehicles are loaded or driven, a prototype electronic "black box" or "shox box" was developed under a cooperative research and development agreement between the Spokane Research Laboratory and the Morenci Mine managed by Phelps Dodge. This device incorporates a Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine the location of a truck when a jolt occurs and a root mean square algorithm to sort out the peak magnitudes of a jolt. The resulting data allow health and safety personnel to recommend proactive actions to limit the risk of severe jolts. The device has been tested at the Morenci Mine and is now going into production at Tate Technology, Spokane, Washington. More information on NIOSH's participation and related publications can be obtained from Richard Miller at REMiller@cdc.gov

   r2p Corner

NIOSH and Brush Wellman Inc., the leading U.S. producer of beryllium and beryllium-containing products, have partnered in an effort to prevent chronic beryllium disease. This partnership encompasses a variety of projects, including workplace medical surveillance studies, alternative exposure metrics for exposure assessment, physicochemical characterization of beryllium process samples, the study of the possible role of dermal exposure in the development of the immune response to beryllium, and exposure reduction through workplace interventions. Employees are an integral part of this partnership. In addition to helping implement changes that reduce exposures, partnership interactions have helped workers and management to be more cognizant of potential exposures and help identify additional ways to reduce these exposures. Brush Wellman, as part of their product stewardship program, also passes information on control strategies to their customers, further enhancing workplace disease prevention. Many of these lessons will also be shared at a conference that NIOSH is co-sponsoring, the International Beryllium Research Conference (Be2005), to be held on March 8-11, 2005. More information on the conference can be found at http://www.irsst.qc.ca/en/intro-be-2005.html.

   NORA

This summer, NIOSH and its partners under the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) investigated a novel and important research topic: NORA's audience. Who are the people who read NORA products and how can NORA better meet their needs? To answer these questions, NORA researchers and communication specialists analyzed mailing lists, reviewed past issues of the NORA newsletter, and interviewed audience members. The following are highlights from the research findings:

• Academic and government audiences comprised 67% of the audience sample.

• The majority of respondents expressed a very favorable impression of NORA research and expressed satisfaction with the quality of NORA publications.

• Providing information to others was the primary way respondents used NORA publications in their jobs. Respondents explained they were more likely to read articles that pertained to their specific area of interest.

• Suggestions for improving NORA publications include reducing technical language, adhering to a regular newsletter publication cycle, broadening the topic areas covered, and producing more worker oriented materials.

• Respondents were most interested in reading reports describing practical applications of research projects. They also expressed an interest in receiving announcements and/or summaries of NORA publications.

This feedback is helping guide improved NORA communication projects and products. Look for the redesigned NORA newsletter which will be available this winter. The newsletter will contain more feature articles and summaries of NORA publications.

Would you like to be added to NORA mailing list? What do you look for when seeking information about worker health? What would your ideal publication look like? We are continually seeking feedback for story ideas and publication formats. Please send your ideas to Ray Sinclair, rcs1@cdc.gov, or Melissa Van Orman, bse8@cdc.gov. More information on NORA can be found at http://www2a.cdc.gov/NORA/.

   News From Our Partners

OSHA Participates in Video Production
OSHA's Chicago Region worked in partnership with Life Services Network and the Illinois Onsite Safety and Health Consultation program to develop "Work Smart, Be Safe: An Orientation to Long Term Care Safety." This 18-minute video covers important issues involving long-term care workplace safety, lifting, and housekeeping (such as safe methods for cleaning up blood spills) and more. The video and companion printed manuals are available in English and Spanish and can be accessed at http://www.illinoisbiz.biz/osha/videos/videos1.htm.  More information for health care workers can be accessed at the NIOSH topic page http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/healthcare.

   Communication Products

Eye Safety Topic Page
Each day in the U.S. about 2,000 workers receive medical treatment for eye injuries that occur on the job. NIOSH is addressing the occupational eye injury burden in conjunction with the Healthy Vision objectives of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2010 program (http://www.healthyvision2010.org/safety/injury.asp). NIOSH has just released two new eye safety web pages. The main topic page on eye safety (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/eye/) provides access to NIOSH eye safety resources , including a new general guidance web page on eye safety for infection control (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/eye/eye-infectious.html). This is an area of eye safety that is of increasing importance to a number of worker groups such as animal care/control workers, rescue and recovery workers, and transportation workers such as those involved in transportation from SARS endemic areas, in addition to healthcare workers. The primary eye safety topic page also provides links to a variety of other eye safety resources including eye injury data sources, related bibliographic citations, and numerous other eye safety standards, regulations, and guidance materials. For more information, contact Larry Jackson at LLJackson@cdc.gov.

Workers' Health Chartbook 2004
The NIOSH Worker Health Chartbook 2004 (DHHS [NIOSH] Publication No. 2004-146) is now available in printed form (Email pubstaff@cdc.gov or call 1-800-356-8573). The Chartbook consolidates information from the network of injury and illness surveillance tracking systems in the U.S. and is designed for agencies, organizations, employers, researchers, workers, and others interested in numbers of and trends in occupational injuries and illnesses. The document presents the data in an easy-to-read, visually compelling format. The Chartbook is accessible in electronic form at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/chartbook.

English/Spanish Language Guidance on Preventing Silicosis
A new NIOSH booklet provides easy-to-use recommendations in English and Spanish to help construction workers, abrasive blasters, and other employees to protect themselves from the risk of silicosis when they are potentially exposed on the job to silica dust. Silicosis: Learn the Facts! / Silicosis: Conozca los datos! (DHHS [NIOSH] Publication No. 2004-108) includes statistics on the prevalence of work-related deaths from silicosis and case studies with information to help employees recognize risk factors. The booklet notes that many people with work-related silicosis are only in their thirties. The booklet can be ordered from the NIOSH toll-free information number, 1-800-35-NIOSH (1-800-356-4674). It is also available online at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2004-108/ .

Workplace Solutions: Preventing Deaths and Injuries to Fire Fighters during Live-Fire Training in Acquired Structures
A new NIOSH Workplace Solutions document provides safety recommendations to consider during live-fire training exercises for fire fighters. Preventing Deaths and Injuries to Fire Fighters during Live-Fire Training in Acquired Structures (DHHS [NIOSH] Publication No. 2005-102) presents two cases studies where fire fighters were critically injured while participating in such exercises. Recommendations for instructors and training participants follow the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) guidelines. The document can be accessed at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/wp-solutions/2005-102.

   Upcoming Events

Call for Papers: Work, Stress and Health 2006: Making a Difference in the Workplace
NIOSH, the American Psychological Association, the National Institute of Justice, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, and the U.S. Department of Labor, will convene the sixth international conference on occupational stress and health, Work, Stress, and Health 2006: Making a Difference in the Workplace in Miami, Florida, on March 2-4, 2006, at the Hyatt Regency Miami Hotel. The conference is designed to address the constantly changing nature of work, and the implications of these changes for the health, safety, and well-being of workers. In keeping with the conference theme of "making a difference in the workplace," there will be a particular focus on the translation of research to practice and workplace programs, policies, practices, case experiences, and other efforts to prevent stress in today's workplace. The conference is currently accepting papers for presentation at the conference. http://www.apa.org/pi/work/callforpapers.html.

Fourth International Conference on Work Environment and Cardiovascular Diseases
The Fourth International Conference on Work Environment and Cardiovascular Diseases will be held on March 9-11, 2005, in Newport Beach, Calif. The conference is presented under the auspices of the International Commission of Occupational Health, Scientific Committee on Cardiology in Occupational Health. NIOSH along with the University of California at Irvine Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, the University of California, Los Angeles Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, the Center for Social Epidemiology, the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, the American Psychological Association and the Japan Association of Job Stress Research will cosponsor the event focusing on characterizing the changes occurring in work in both industrialized and developing nations. The role of globalization and the importance of social movements, including unions, will be explored. More information on the conference is available at http://www.coeh.uci.edu/ICOH.

Fifth International Symposium on Modern Principles of Air Monitoring
NIOSH along with the National Institute for Working Life, Sweden, and the National Institute of Occupational Health, Norway will cosponsor the Fifth International Symposium on Modern Principles of Air Monitoring on June 12-16, 2005 in Loen, Norway. The scientific program will feature the latest developments in exposure assessment and strategies as well as analytical air sampling and measurement/monitoring methodologies. New for the Fifth Symposium, the topic of biomonitoring will be addressed. More information on the symposium can be found at http://www.airmon.org or by contacting Martin Harper at MHarper@cdc.gov.

   Word of the Month

Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL): enforceable regulatory limit set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on the amount or concentration of a substance in the air. PELs are set to protect workers against the health effects of exposure to hazardous substances and are based on an 8-hour time weighted average exposure.