Volume
4 Number 10 February 2007
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Volume
4 Number 10 February 2007 |
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NY Seeks Information on WTC Responder Deaths NIOSH Announces WorkLife 2007 Symposium Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Sonographers |
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IOM
Report on NIOSH Anthropometric Research National
Academy Review of the Occupational Energy Research Program Contributions
in Engineering, Statistics Noted in MMWR |
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| r2p Corner Update from NPPTL NPPTL Releases December 2006 Figures on the Respirator Certification and Approval Process NORA |
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NIOSH
Announces Funding Opportunities Centers for Agricultural Disease and Injury Research, Education, and Prevention News
from Our Partners Communication
Products |
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Four new mining products are now available Look
for Us Mark Your Calendars: Important Paper and Poster Submission Deadlines |
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Since the 1970s, occupational health professionals have made significant advancements in understanding the health risks of asbestos, and in identifying workplace populations at potential risk. In turn, those advancements have helped scientists and others to design interventions to protect working people from mesothelioma, asbestos disease, and other serious and often fatal illnesses. NIOSH can take pride in the contributions that it has made to those advancements over the years. Nevertheless, as we enter the 21st Century, many questions and uncertainties remain. For example, because several types and forms of mineral fibers are classified as asbestos, the scientific literature contains various inconsistencies in the definition and application of the term "asbestos" for defining and addressing potential health risks. Those inconsistencies reflect various scientific limitations that existed at the points in times in which given studies were reported, or given decisions were made. In many cases, decisions made many years ago, reflecting the best scientific information then available, still form the basis of today’s public policies. Because these issues are so complex, and because competing demands for attention to other scientific questions always exist, it has been difficult for scientists and others to make a systematic effort to re-examine longstanding policies in light of today's scientific knowledge. Uncertainty is never a desirable factor when people’s health is at issue. For that reason, NIOSH will undertake a major initiative this year to engage the current questions about asbestos in light of today’s technical capabilities and scientific knowledge. We will seek ideas and input from our diverse partners to help define the pressing questions about asbestos and other mineral fibers, to identify new scientific advancements that may be brought to bear on those questions, and to lay out a roadmap for the research most likely to bring certainty out of uncertainty. We will announce further details of this initiative in the coming weeks,
with additional information to come in the March issue of NIOSH eNews.
We look forward to your interest and participation. |
| In an initiative
funded by NIOSH, the New York State Department of Health is collecting
information on deaths among World Trade Center responders, recovery workers,
and volunteers. This data collection system will
be used to identify and track all fatalities that occur among WTC responders
so that science-based investigations of root causes can begin to be explored.
Further information, including a mailing address, a toll-free telephone number,
and an email address for contacting the program, is available at http://www.nyhealth.gov/environmental/investigations/wtc/health_studies/fatality_investigation.htm. |
NIOSH
Announces “WorkLife 2007: Protecting and Promoting Worker Health,
A National |
| NIOSH announces "WorkLife 2007: Protecting and Promoting Worker Health, A National
Symposium." This Symposium, sponsored by NIOSH in conjunction with over
25 supporting organizations, will explore strategies and acquire tools
for enhancing and sustaining healthy workplaces and healthy workers. The
two-day symposium is part of NIOSH’s WorkLife Initiative
and will be held September 10-11 at the Hyatt Regency in Bethesda, Maryland.
For more information go to http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/worklife/. |
| A new NIOSH
Workplace Solutions publication highlights the risks for sonographers developing
work-related musculoskeletal disorders, an injury that accounts for one-third
of all occupational injuries and illnesses reported by employers. NIOSH
provides recommendations that include appropriate engineering controls,
work practices, hazard communication, and training to prevent these work-related
musculoskeletal disorders. To view the full publication, go to http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/wp-solutions/2006-148/. |
| The Institute of Medicine released an assessment report on
a NIOSH head-and-face anthropometric study of U.S. respirator users. This
is the result of a NIOSH effort to update data on facial shapes and sizes
of a representative U.S. population, so that information used to set criteria
for fit-testing of respirator face masks accurately reflects the characteristics
of today's increasingly diverse workforce. The IOM review committee found
the results to be an advancement over data and criteria that have been used
since the 1970s, but offers recommendations for changes to address what the
committee characterized as weaknesses in the study. To view the entire report,
go to http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3740/28457/39829.aspx. |
National Academy Review of the Occupational Energy Research Program |
| A National Academies
committee issued its final report on January 3, of its review of the Worker
and Public Health Activities Program sponsored by the Department of Energy
and conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services. The committee
made several recommendations for improving the NIOSH program and enhancing
communications to workers and the public. NIOSH is grateful to the committee
for its work in reviewing NIOSH activities under the program, and is carefully
reviewing the recommendations. The final report, “Review of the Worker and Public Health Activities
Program Administered by the Department of Energy and the Department of Health
and Human Services,” is available at no cost from the National Academies
Press or go to http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/oerp/news.html. |
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for December 22, 2006, Volume 55 (SUP02), includes two feature articles written by NIOSH researchers.
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Update from the NIOSH National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory |
National Occupational Research Agenda Sector Council Co-Chairs
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Childhood
Agricultural Safety and Health Research: Centers for Agricultural Disease and Injury Research, Education, and Prevention For additional information please contact Dr. Allen Robison at 404-498-2509
or WRobison@cdc.gov. |
| Release of the Global Risks 2007 Report The second “Global Risks Annual Report,” published by the World Economic Forum in cooperation with Citigroup, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Swiss Re, and the Wharton Risk Center, was released in January. The report found major improvements in the understanding of the interdependencies between global risks, the importance of taking an integrated risk management approach to global challenges, and the necessity of dealing proactively with root causes of global risks rather than reacting to the consequences. It also suggests that many of the 23 core global risks have worsened over the last 12 months, despite growing awareness of their potential impacts. In addition to specific risk mitigation measures, the report also found that institutional innovations may be needed to create effective responses to a complex risk landscape. The full report can be downloaded at http://www.weforum.org/pdf/CSI/Global_Risks_2007.pdf. |
NIOSH releases four new Health Hazard Evaluation Reports Health Care and Social Assistance Sector
Services Sector Four New Mining Products Are Now Available
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Mark Your Calendars: Important Paper and Poster Submission Deadlines |
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| Hyperflexion: Bending a limb or a body part beyond its normal range..
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