Volume
5 Number 5 September 2007
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Volume
5 Number 5 September 2007 |
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| r2p Corner NORA Around NIOSH New Partnerships… New Conferences… International Participation on Behalf of the U.S. Health Attaché to Vietnam New Publications… News From Our Partners Communication Products |
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Information Circular 9500 “Explosion Pressure Design Criteria for New Seals in U.S. Coal Mines” NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation Report: “Evaluation of occupational hazards in the construction and service sectors in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.” New Format for NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation Reports. NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation Report: “Evaluation of noise exposures in the service sector” |
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“International Roofing Expo 2008” “Fire Department Instructors Conference 2008” “American Association of Occupational Health Nurses” “12th US/North American Mine Ventilation Symposium” “International Association of Fire Chiefs Fire Rescue International 2008” |
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In the wake of the Sago mining disaster of 2006, Congress passed the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006 – known as the MINER Act. The legislation mandated a range of government actions to prevent catastrophic deaths and injuries in mines, and to improve emergency preparedness and rescue for miners trapped underground should catastrophes occur. Recognizing NIOSH’s scientific leadership, the legislation gave us several responsibilities for research to help achieve these critical goals. As the 2006 Sago and Darby incidents tragically showed and the Crandall Canyon disaster of August 2007 reaffirmed, underground mining remains a dangerous occupation. NIOSH takes its duties under the MINER Act very seriously, as we do with every aspect of our mining safety and health program. In the past year and a half, we have worked diligently with our diverse partners to design, conduct, fund, and apply research to address the needs highlighted by Congress. To help inform our stakeholders about progress in this regard, we recently revised and updated our web page describing the strategic research efforts under the MINER Act. The revised web page assembles a vast set of information about our various initiatives under the program, organizes it in a systematic and easy-to-read way, and provides current information about the status of those various efforts. I invite you to visit the web page at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/mineract/mineract.htm. It is an excellent ongoing resource. One particularly critical research need, among many, is the development of improved communications technologies to allow miners trapped underground, after a mine explosion or collapse, to communicate with personnel on the surface. Both wired and wireless communications systems face great physical challenges and barriers in underground coal mines. The effort to overcome or bypass those immense natural hurdles requires a practical knowledge of these technologies in the complex and unforgiving environment of underground coal mines. It also demands realistic but creative analysis to identify potential solutions, weigh their respective chances of success, and focus on those that have the greatest likelihood of achieving the needed strides. Recently, NIOSH accomplished a significant step toward the development of an improved wireless system. Tests found that transmissions from a two-way wireless voice communications system were successfully received over a two-mile distance in two underground coal mines despite twists and turns in the mine tunnels. To date, such physical barriers in underground mines have limited wireless communications to much shorter distances. This has been a basic obstacle in improving surface-to-mine wireless communications. More details about this progress can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/commtrack/pdfs/npinr.pdf. While this is an important step forward in our research, it does not mean that this work is complete, or that our tests have yielded a final product. Next steps of research will follow, to address several questions that remain about the application of these findings. We have a clear recognition that we are expected to deliver the highest-quality results that we can, while heeding the sense of urgency that all of us feel in the terrible shadow of events in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Utah. I look forward to noting further progress in future issues of eNews. |
| The first Prevention through Design (PtD) Workshop was held July 9 – 11, 2007, to launch a National Initiative aimed at eliminating occupational hazards and controlling risks to workers “at the source” or as early as possible in the life cycle of items or workplaces. The workshop attracted more than 200 participants from diverse industry sectors and disciplines. During the workshop, participants engaged in industry-centered breakout sessions to identify opportunities and barriers, and to develop recommendations for each industry. Participants also took part in cross-industry breakout sessions where they mapped out the top over-arching issues for PtD in the areas of research, education, practice, and policy. The output from the workshop will be used to develop a strategic plan that highlights actions and milestones to institutionalize the concept in workplaces throughout the United States. While NIOSH is coordinating the initiative, PtD is a collaborative endeavor and current partners include the American Industrial Hygiene Association, the American Society of Safety Engineers, the Center to Protect Workers’ Rights, Kaiser Permanente, Liberty Mutual, the National Safety Council, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, ORC Worldwide, and the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering. Other partners are welcome to join. More information on PtD is available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/PtD/. |
NIOSH Offers Resources for Workers in Disaster Recovery and Emergency Response |
| In the wake of two tragic events, the Minneapolis bridge collapse and the Utah mine roof collapse, NIOSH prepared and posted to our Web site resources for rescue and recovery workers. The August 2 NIOSH Update, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/updates/upd-08-02-07.html, describes strategic measures workers can take to avoid occupational hazards at rescue and recovery sites. Additional resources are available on the NIOSH emergency response topic page, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/emres/natural.html. The August 7 Update, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/updates/upd-08-07-07.html, focuses on resources for mine operators and mine workers to avoid risk of roof falls, to anticipate hazards in retreat mining operations, and to design safe mining operations. Additional information can be found on the NIOSH Mining Web page, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining. |
| NIOSH remembers Dr. Nandakumar Kittusamy, who died unexpectedly August 6, 2007, in India. He served as a Biomedical Engineer at the NIOSH Spokane Research Laboratory from May 2001 until April 2007. His research included the study of the effects of whole body vibration on heavy equipment operators and active technological measures to prevent lumbar back pain in long-distance truckers. In addition to his research at NIOSH, Dr. Kittusamy volunteered for and was deployed with a World Health Organization team to Banda Aceh, Indonesia, during the 2004 earthquake and tsunami, where he provided structural assessments of four local hospitals, permitting their emergency return-to-use. Earlier this year, the opportunity arose for him to return to his southern India homeland, where he served as Professor and founding Coordinator for the Industrial Engineering Program at the Kumaraguru College of Technology until the time of his death. He will be missed by his many U.S., Indian and international colleagues. |
Bringing Toxicology to Global Issues in Occupational and Environmental Public Health |
| Several NIOSH researchers are scheduled to speak in Louisville, KY, at the “Professional Conference on Industrial Hygiene” and the pre-conference symposium, “Bringing Toxicology to Global Issues in Occupational and Environmental Public Health.” The symposium will take place October 18 – 19, 2007, followed by the conference on October 20 – 23. The conference is sponsored by the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s Academy of Industrial Hygiene. Visit http://www.aiha.org/TheAcademy/html/pcih.htm to learn more about the conference and http://www.aiha.org/TheAcademy/html/pcih-symposium.htm for details on the symposium. |
| Abstracts will be accepted until September 14 for the "18th Annual Construction Safety and Health Conference," February 12 – 14, 2008, in Rosemont, IL. NIOSH, the Center to Protect Workers’ Rights (CPWR) and other government agencies and employer and industry associations are cosponsors of the conference. The National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Construction Sector Council will present the top 10 research priority areas identified for the construction industry, and participants will have the chance to comment on the draft construction goals. More information on the conference, including details on abstract submission, can be found on the CPWR Web site, http://www.cpwr.com/whatsnew.html#conferences. |
The NIOSH Booth will be on exhibit at:
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 Power Tool Noise Reduction 101College students get involved in occupational safety and health. Starting again this fall, NIOSH will sponsor college engineering student groups to evaluate and redesign power tools to reduce noise emissions as part of a class project. The projects are made possible by multiple partnerships between NIOSH and Michigan Tech University, Penn State University, Iowa State University, Purdue University, and the University of Cincinnati. These partnerships help to reduce risk of noise induced hearing loss among construction workers while promoting interest in occupational safety and health to engineering students. To learn more, visit http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/noise/collegeStudents/studentpresentations.html. |
 NORA FY08 Intramural Funding Awards AnnouncedNIOSH recently announced the selection of several new internal NORA projects. The approved projects are expected to make substantial contributions to workplace safety and health. The selections were made following peer review by experts from outside NIOSH. Some focus on the highest priority occupational safety and health issues, such as deaths due to falls, trench cave-ins and tractor roll-overs. Others will develop additional needed surveillance information or will close knowledge gaps in emerging issues, such as long-term exposure to low-level radiation and exposure to new nanoparticles. More information about these NORA projects is available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/updates/upd-08-23-07.html. Future eNews articles will describe other facets of NORA. Address questions to NORACoordinator@cdc.gov. |
New Appointments… New Partnerships… New Conferences… International Participation on Behalf of the U.S. Health Attaché to Vietnam
NIOSH has developed a new safety and health topic page for workers with developmental disabilities. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/wdd. This site highlights a state-specific database of safety and health information that was developed for this working population, as well as summarizes some of the key points that were derived from several Health Hazard Evaluations and other published resources. |
| NIOSH Awards Deep South Center for Occupational Health and Safety 5-Year Research Grant NIOSH has awarded a five-year research grant to the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Deep South Center for Occupational Health and Safety. The grant will provide support to several new initiatives: diversity recruitment, establishment of a summer institute for undergraduate students, and a new study of managed preventive care for employee health. The Deep South Center is one of 16 Education and Research Centers (ERCs) funded by NIOSH. More information about the NIOSH ERCs can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/oep/centers.html. Visit http://www.soph.uab.edu/dsc to learn more about the Deep South Center. |
NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation Report: “Evaluation of occupational hazards in the construction and service sectors in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.” New Format for NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation Reports NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation Report: “Evaluation of noise exposures in the service sector.” |
U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security “Technology for Critical Incident Preparedness” International Association of Fire Fighters’ “Nineteenth Symposium on the Occupational Health and Hazards of the Fire Service” “International Roofing Expo 2008” “Fire Department Instructors Conference 2008” “American Association of Occupational Health Nurses” American Society of Safety Engineers “SAFETY 2008” Professional Development Conference and Exposition “12th US/North American Mine Ventilation Symposium” “International Association of Fire Chiefs Fire Rescue International 2008” |
Ethylene Oxide: A flammable gas used in industrial sterilization facilities to sterilize equipment and products for the health-care and food industries. |
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