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Volume 5 Number 4
August 2007
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As
we enter the last weeks of summer, September rapidly approaches. I would like
to take the opportunity to remind you that “WorkLife 2007: Protecting
and Promoting Worker Health, a National Symposium,” will be held
September 10-11 in Bethesda,
MD. If you have not yet
registered for the symposium, please visit our Web page at http://www.worklife2007.com/home.asp
and plan to join us. I anticipate two days of lively discussion and exchange.
Since
the previous WorkLife national symposium in October 2004, much has happened
at the working level to advance the WorkLife Initiative. Clearly, there is
wide agreement that the time is right to explore opportunities and challenges
for strategically linking worker health and safety protection with work-based
health promotion. Through such linkages, I believe that we together can
establish and nurture innovative ways to promote individual, organizational,
and economic health related to work.
I
am pleased that many diverse partners have embraced these goals in the
intervening three years, and that the circle of partners continues to grow.
More details about the WorkLife Initiative are available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/worklife/.
At
the 2007 symposium, the community of partners will assess the progress made
over the last three years and identify continuing needs. This is an
opportunity for you to have a voice in:
- Identifying effective worksite programs, policies,
and practices and understanding what it takes to put them in place;
- Joining with other colleagues in the areas of
health protection and health promotion to present the latest research
and identify research needs; and
- Contributing to the development
and dissemination of the tools and skills needed to improve workplace
health-directed efforts.
The 2004 symposium invigorated the
WorkLife Initiative and laid the foundation for the work that has continued
since then through one-on-one meetings, telephone calls, emails, and faxes.
Please join us in September and add your voice to the deliberations that will
shape the next phases of WorkLife.
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MMWR: Advanced
Pneumoconiosis Among Working Underground Coal Miners
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In response to reports of clusters
of pneumoconiosis among underground coal miners, NIOSH instituted field
surveys under the Enhanced Coal Workers’ Health
Surveillance Program. Case studies from the field surveys are presented
in the July 6 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5626a2.htm.
Of the 975 miners tested in seven counties, 37 miners (4%) had advanced
pneumoconiosis. Medical record data indicated that those 37 miners had worked
at least 10 years without a chest radiograph.
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NIOSH-Funded
Study Looks at Violence Among Emergency Department Workers
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Ninety percent of emergency
department nurses interviewed reported being verbally abused at least once in
the past year and nearly one-third had been assaulted, but the majority (72%)
never reported the incidents. These findings are part of a new report by
several outside researchers in a study funded by NIOSH. The study examined
workplace violence prevention training, and incidents of violent events and
subsequent injury among emergency department employees of acute-care
hospitals in New Jersey.
The full report, including recommendations for hospitals to improve employee
training, can be accessed at http://www.state.nj.us/health/eoh/survweb/documents/njhospsec_rpt.pdf.
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NIOSH Study
Finds Supplementary Breaks Minimized Discomfort, Did Not Impair Productivity
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A new NIOSH study supports earlier
research findings that supplementary rest breaks minimize discomfort and
eyestrain among data-entry employees without impairing productivity.
Participants’ ratings of discomfort and eyestrain were significantly lower
when four supplementary 5-minute breaks were added to the two conventional
15-minute breaks. Data-entry speed was significantly faster with
supplementary breaks so that work output was maintained despite the
additional 20 minutes of breaks. The study was published in the July 2007
issue of the American
Journal of Industrial Medicine. The article is
available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajim.20472.
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“Work, Stress
and Health 2008” Scheduled for March
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NIOSH, the American Psychological
Association, and the Society for Occupational Health Psychology will convene
“Work, Stress and Health 2008: Healthy and Safe Work Through Research,
Practice and Partnerships” on March 6 – 8, 2008, in Washington, DC.
This conference, the latest in a series, 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. Conference topics include:
traumatic stress and resiliency, fatigue, workplace diversity and
discrimination, and work-family integration. The deadline for paper, poster
and symposium proposals is August 31, 2007. http://www.apa.org/pi/work/wsh.html.
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Consolidation
of the NIOSH 800 number with CDC-INFO
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Beginning
on August 30, 2007, the NIOSH 800-number information service (1-800-35-NIOSH)
will become part of the toll-free CDC-INFO public information contact center.
CDC-INFO is the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC)
consolidated call and e-mail handling center. Established in 2005, CDC-INFO
provides one-stop access to all the information resources of NIOSH and CDC.
CDC-INFO call center representatives are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week and answer public inquiries in English and Spanish. Those of you who
currently use the NIOSH 800-number may notice some changes in the way
inquiries are processed, especially publication requests. We ask you to bear
with us through the transition phase.
Please note the new telephone
number: 1-800-CDC-INFO
(1-800-232-4636)
Email: cdcinfo@xxxxxxx
TTY: 1-888-232-6348
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Conference
Wrap-up: Third International Conference on Occupational and Environmental
Exposure of Chemicals to Skin
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The
“3rd International Conference on Occupational and
Environmental Exposures of Skin to Chemicals” was held at the Colorado
School of Mines (CSM) in Golden, CO on June 17-20. NIOSH has been a major
sponsor of all three conferences. This year’s conference brought together
about 140 occupational and environmental health professionals,
dermatologists, lab scientists and policy makers from 19 countries.
Abstracts are available on-line at
the conference Web site, which will be maintained by NIOSH on the topic page,
“Skin Exposures and Effects” (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/skin).
Plans are already underway for the 4th conference in 2009, which is currently
planned to be in Edinburgh,
Scotland.
Information on this conference will be available in early 2008.
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NPPTL Update:
latest respirator numbers
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During the months of May and June
2007, the Technology Evaluation Branch in NIOSH’s National Personal
Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) issued a total of 54 approvals and
denied approval for 10 products. This includes the approval of 3 products
with CBRN protection. Thirteen of the 54 products approved were new products,
26 were modifications to previously approved products and 2 were certified
product investigations. In May, 16 applications for extension of approval
were submitted and this number jumped to 44 applications submitted in June.
Twenty-three applications for new approvals were received in May with 13 new
approval submissions in June. Thirty-six approvals for new products were
submitted in this time frame. The engineering evaluation team conducted 8
quality assurance manual audits to evaluate manufacturers’ quality assurance
process and manufacturing practices.
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NIOSH
Associate Director for Emergency Preparedness Named
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NIOSH
is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Margaret Kitt as NIOSH
Associate Director for Emergency Preparedness and Response, effective August
1. Dr. Kitt joined the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
in 2002 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer in the U.S. Public Health
Service, with duties in NIOSH's Division of Respiratory Disease Studies in Morgantown, WV.
Her assignments with NIOSH and CDC, and previous experience as a Senior
Flight Surgeon with the U.S. Air Force, have included extensive duties
related to emergency preparedness and response. Dr. Kitt received a Bachelor
of Science degree in Biology from The State University of New York at Albany, a Doctor of Medicine from the University of
Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, and a Master of Public Health
degree from the University
of Washington.
Thanks to Dr. Ken Martinez, who
has served in an exemplary manner as acting Associate Director since 2006, in
addition to his regular duties in the NIOSH Office of Emergency Preparedness
and Response.
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New Scientific
Program Administrator Joins OEP
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Dr. Joan Karr started work on July
9 in NIOSH’s Office of Extramural Programs (OEP). She holds a Bachelor
of Science degree in Biology from Central
Missouri State
University and a PhD in
Microbiology and Immunology from Baylor College of Medicine. She has
previously worked at the University
of Iowa (radiation biology
research), the National Cancer Institute, and Emory University.
She also worked as a Scientific Review Administrator at the California Cancer
Research Program and at CDC. Most recently, she worked in CDC's Office of the
Chief Science Officer on formal confidentiality protection and managing the
Paperwork Reduction Act team. She will be working in several sector and
cross-sector areas.
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The
NIOSH Booth will be on exhibit at:
- “Association of Occupational Health
Professionals in Healthcare.” September 26 – 28, 2007 in Savannah, GA.
Visit us at booths 10&11
- “NanoTX 07.”
October 3-4, 2007 in Dallas,
TX. Visit us at booth
#814.
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 Director of the
Afghan Public Health Institute visits NIOSH sites
Dr. Bashir Noormal, Director of the Afghan Public Health Institute (APHI),
Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health, Kabul (MOPH), Afghanistan, visited the
Division of Safety Research, the Health Effects Laboratory Division and the
Division of Respiratory Disease Studies in Morgantown, WV, and the Pittsburgh
Research Laboratory’s mine in Lake Lynn, PA on July 18th and
19th. Dr. Noormal shared the successes and struggles associated
with rebuilding the public health infrastructure in Afghanistan.
Additionally, Dr. Noormal wanted to learn more about developing and
implementing occupational safety and health programs. Dr. Noormal’s
visit was part of a two-week visit to CDC hosted by the World Health
Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center in Reproductive Health in Atlanta.
Americas Regional Initiative to Eliminate Silicosis
The Second Regional
Meeting to Advance the Latin American Plan to Eliminate Silicosis
was hosted in Santiago, Chile on July 13 and 14 by the
Minister of Health and the Minister of Labor of Chile. The World Health
Organization (WHO), Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), International
Labor Organization (ILO) and Ministerial representatives from Argentina, Brazil,
Mexico, Peru and Uruguay
participated, along with representatives from labor and employers from those
countries, the International Commission of Occupational Health (ICOH), the
International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA), and experts from NIOSH
and Fundacentro, Brazil. Commitments were made to
cooperate together to take specific actions necessary to success of this
effort. Participation by NIOSH included training to help Chilean officials
set up and run sampling for silica dust, and co-chairing a workshop that developed
simple and inexpensive control guidance for small businesses in brick-making
and stone-crushing.
NIOSH initiated technical
assistance to Chile in
these areas in 2005 and conveyed admiration for the leadership of the Chilean
Ministry of Health and Institute
of Public Health for
making substantial advances in each area. NIOSH looks forward to continuing
cooperation with WHO, PAHO, ILO and the partners of the Americas.
Additional information on NIOSH's global collaborations research program is
available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/programs/global.
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 Discoveries and
Breakthroughs Inside Science
NIOSH and the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) have partnered
with Discoveries and
Breakthroughs Inside Science (DBIS), a series that
communicates science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in
programming for local television stations. Story segments will tie NIOSH
research with the industrial hygiene profession and AIHA experts. DBIS
provides twelve 90-second segments each month to subscribing local stations.
Two of the segments are delivered in Spanish to Spanish-language stations.
This collaboration is part of the NIOSH and AIHA memorandum of understanding
to advance the prevention of work-related injuries and illnesses and
facilitate the transfer of research results to practice.
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 NORA Wholesale and
Retail Trade Sector Council
NIOSH and the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) have not had
extensive involvement with Wholesale and Retail Trade (WRT) sector leaders
historically. The NORA WRT Sector Council has been formed and is successfully
working on an occupational safety and health strategic plan for the nation,
but additional participants could lend depth and breadth to the
deliberations. Do you have experience or an interest in wholesale or retail
trade? Do you have expertise in an area important to the sector, for example,
falls, violence, musculoskeletal disorders and motor vehicle injuries? Please
consider contacting the WRT Coordinator Vern Anderson at VAnderson@xxxxxxx to volunteer. There are
many opportunities to contribute at different levels. As always, you can send
a note to NORACoordinator@xxxxxxx
to discuss any NORA-related issue.
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CDC Publishes Guide for Next Decade of Public Health Research
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released Advancing the Nation’s
Health: A Guide for Public Health Research Needs, 2006-2015.
The Research Guide identifies research areas that should be addressed during
the next decade by CDC and its partners in response to current and future
needs and events. http://www.cdc.gov/OD/science/PHResearch/cdcra/.
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 NIOSH Alert:
Preventing Fire Fighter Fatalities Due to Heart Attacks and other Sudden
Cardiovascular Events
Sudden cardiac death is the most common cause of an on-duty fire fighter
fatality. NIOSH incorporates findings from 131 NIOSH investigations into
sudden cardiac-related deaths in a new Alert titled, “Preventing Fire Fighter Fatalities Due to
Heart Attacks and Other Sudden Cardiovascular Events.”
The Alert, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2007-133,
discusses workplace exposures that put fire fighters at risk for heart
disease, presents case reports highlighting important findings from the NIOSH
Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention program, and provides
recommendations to minimize the risk of injury and death to fire fighters
from cardiovascular events. Since 1998, NIOSH has been investigating these
deaths as part of the Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention
Program, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire.
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Call for Abstracts
- U.S. Department of Justice and Department of
Homeland Security “Technology for Critical Incident
Preparedness,” November 6 – 8, 2007, San Francisco, CA. Deadline is August
15, 2007. http://www.ctc.org.
- “International Association of Fire
Chiefs Fire Rescue International 2008,” August 14 – 16,
2008, Denver, CO. Deadline is September 1, 2007. http://www.iafc.org.
- “2008 World Safety Conference and
Exposition,” June 2 – 6, 2008, Las Vegas, NV.
Deadline is September 14, 2007. http://www.nfpa.org/wsce.
- “2008 American Industrial Hygiene
Conference and Exposition,” May 31 – June 5, 2008, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Deadline is October 2, 2007. http://www.aiha.org/abstract.html.
- “2008 ASTM Boulder Conference on Surface
and Dermal Sampling,” August 4 – 8, 2008, Boulder, Colorado.
Deadline is November 12, 2007. Kevin Ashley in the NIOSH Division of
Applied Research and Technology is the Symposium Chair. http://www.astm.org/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/filtrexx40.cgi?U+mystore+swqs8906+-P+EVENT_ID+1080+/usr6/htdocs/astm.org/SYMPOSIA/callforpapers.frm
- “14th
International Society for Respiratory Protection,” September 14
– 18, 2008, Dublin,
Ireland.
Deadline is June 30, 2008. http://www.isrp.com/dublin/index.html.
“International
Association of Fire Chiefs Fire Rescue International 2007”
August 23 – 25, Atlanta,
GA. http://www.iafc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=356
“3rd
International Symposium on Nanotechnology, Occupational and Environmental
Health”
August 29 – September 1, Taipei,
Taiwan. NIOSH
is a cosponsor of the conference. http://nano-taiwan.sinica.edu.tw/EHS2007/index.htm.
“International
Roofing Expo 2008”
February 21 – 23, 2008, Las
Vegas, NV. http://www.theroofingexpo.com/Roofing07/public/Content.aspx?ID=6980&left=0&Nav=0
“Fire
Department Instructors Conference 2008”
April 7 – 12, 2008, Indianapolis,
IN. http://fdic08.events.pennnet.com/fl//index.cfm
“American
Association of Occupational Health Nurses”
April 25 – May 2, 2008, Salt
Lake City, UT. http://www.aaohn.org/education/symposium-expo/index.cfm
American Society of
Safety Engineers “SAFETY 2008” Professional Development
Conference and Exposition
June 9 – 12, 2008, Las Vegas,
NV. http://www.asse.org/speakerpage08
“12th
US/North American Mine Ventilation Symposium”
June 11 – 18, 2008, Reno,
NV. http://www.unr.edu/ventsymp2008
“International
Association of Fire Chiefs Fire Rescue International 2008”
August 14 – 16, 2008, Denver, CO. http://www.iafc.org
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Enhanced Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program (ECWHSP):
Through the ECWHSP, trained NIOSH personnel travel to coal mines and mining
exhibits throughout the country to administer thorough examinations to miners
in a specially designed mobile examination unit. Learn more about the NIOSH
ECWHSP on the Web site, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/surveillance/ords/ecwhsp.html.
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