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Volume 5 Number 8
December 2007
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Last
month, I reviewed some of the highlights of NIOSH activity in 2007. Things
promise to be equally busy in 2008, as many of the initiatives that we
started over the past five years begin to reach maturity, and as we identify
steps that need to be taken now to prepare our professional communities for
the challenges that we are all sure to face over the next 10 to 20 years.
In
particular, two large-scale initiatives promise to drive much of
NIOSH’s work in 2008:
- We will continue to work closely with our partners
to align our research with the National Occupational Research Agenda
(NORA). The eight NORA Sector Councils, which are now fully formed,
represent an amazing array of talent. The NORA Symposium 2008, scheduled
for July 29, 2008, in Denver,
will showcase the excellent research that has begun to emerge from the
second decade of NORA.
- The Mine Improvement and New
Emergency Response Act of 2006, popularly known as the MINER Act, set
ambitious goals for research needed to improve disaster preparedness and
response in the mining industry. I am proud that our mining research
laboratories stepped up vigorously to carry out Congress’
mandates. Look for further progress in the coming months in critical
research with our mining partners on communication and tracking systems,
refuge chambers, air supply, and other needs specified in the Act. As
required by the Act, we have realigned our mining research program under
the new NIOSH Office of Mine Safety and Health, which was announced on
November 28. This realignment will help us better coordinate and
streamline our activities.
I
look forward to other actions that will position NIOSH and our partners to
protect the safety and health of today’s generation of workers, and
those to follow, in the changing landscape of the 21st Century. We
will remain vigilant for ways to incorporate the latest scientific
advancements into our research, and where possible, to drive advancements. We
will continue to monitor trends in the nature of work and the demographics of
the U.S.
workforce, and to align our research planning with high-priority needs
arising from those trends. The coming year will offer many opportunities to
address those goals.
For
example, the ability to identify and control work-related hazards will depend
on increasingly precise, increasingly timely sampling and analysis. Last
month, NIOSH convened a national meeting to consider needs for keeping
NIOSH’s seminal “Occupational Exposure Sampling Strategies
Manual” relevant to the 21st Century workplace. The results of that
meeting, combined with ongoing stakeholder input over the coming year, will
help shape the future of occupational exposure assessment. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/programs/expa/oessmeeting/
Also in 2008, we will hold a historic symposium on new technologies for
direct-reading, real-time exposure assessment – please watch future
issues of NIOSH eNews
for date and location.
As
the nature of work changes, the role of work organization as a critical
factor in occupational safety and health looms increasingly larger. On March
6-8, 2008, the Seventh International Conference on Work, Safety, and Health
will showcase the latest research in this area. http://www.apa.org/pi/work/wsh.html
Changes
in technology and new industrial trends will bring the potential for
exposures to new chemicals and agents, to new and more complex combinations
of agents, and even to materials that do not yet exist in traditional
industrial processes. What will those changes mean for the traditional
approach of setting quantitative limits for occupational exposures to
specific materials? NIOSH has begun to address those complex issues in
looking at the revolutionary field of nanotechnology, among other emerging aspects
of work in 2008 and beyond. I look forward to engaging our partners in
discussions on these challenges in the next year.
Now, as 2007 draws to an end, I
want to express my appreciation for the hard work that our employees and
their external partners have contributed over the past 12 months. Please
continue to read NIOSH eNews to stay current with our research programs in
the next 12 months.
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The NIOSH
Office of Mine Safety and Health
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The establishment of the NIOSH
Office of Mine Safety and Health was announced in a notice signed by
Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. Leavitt and published on
November 28 in the Federal Register. This action, which carries out a mandate
under the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006, realigns
the NIOSH Pittsburgh Research Laboratory and the NIOSH Spokane Research
Laboratory within the new Office. The Office will provide national and
international leadership in the prevention of work-related illness, injury
and fatalities of mine workers through research and prevention activities at
the Pittsburgh
and Spokane Laboratories. Additional information can be found in the November
28 Federal Register Notice, http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/07-5866.htm.
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NIOSH Board of
Scientific Counselors to Meet
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The NIOSH Board of Scientific
Counselors (BSC) will meet on Thursday, December 13 at the Holiday Inn
Capitol in Washington, DC. Agenda items for the meeting include
the NIOSH response to the National Academies of Science Program reviews. The
meeting is open to the public. For additional information, contact Roger
Rosa, BSC Executive Secretary at RRosa@xxxxxxx
or view the November 13 Federal Register Notice, http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/E7-22155.htm.
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On December 3, the NIOSH Science
Blog added a new posting on workplace stress. Stress is a prevalent problem
across occupations and the effects of stress can have broad impact on the
worker’s general health and well-being. We invite you to share your
ideas with NIOSH scientists and each other. Add a posting to the blog by
visiting our Web page, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/blog/.
There you can also view our previous science topics, preventing fire fighter
fatalities from cardiovascular events, and truck driver safety and health.
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 Registration
is now open for the “National Occupational Injury Research Symposium
(NOIRS) 2008,” http://www.eshow2000.com/niosh/registration.cfm.
Full registration is $200 before March 31, 2008, and $275 after that date or
onsite. The Symposium will be held October 21 – 23, 2008, in Pittsburgh, PA,
at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel. More information on the Symposium,
including the call for abstracts, can be found on the Symposium Web site, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/noirs/2008/.
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 NIOSH has
developed a new Safety and Health Topic page on body art. The Web page, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/bbp/bodyart/,
provides strategies to reduce body artists’ potential risks of
work-related exposures to bloodborne pathogens in applying tattoos or
piercing. The topic page presents recommendations and resources under four
headings: vaccinating and educating, preventing needlestick injuries,
reducing cross-contamination, and a guide to additional information on body
piercing and tattooing topics.
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Public
Comments Added to NIOSH Dockets
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Now Available:
Donning Process and Instructions for NIOSH Approved Disposable
Particulate
Respirators
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The NIOSH National Personal
Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) has been updating the list of
approved disposable particulate respirators to include the donning process
and user instructions. This information is being provided as a courtesy to
users and has been provided by the approval holders. If the instructions for
a model you are using are not listed, we have not received it from the
approval holder. We encourage all approval holders to submit the donning
processes and user instructions for all filtering face piece respirators
approved by NIOSH. The current list of approved respirators can be viewed at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/disp_part.
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The
NIOSH Exhibit Booth will be at these upcoming conferences.
- Construction Safety Council – Booths 412
and 414
Rosemont, IL
February 12 – 14, 2008
- Society of Mining Engineers (SME) Annual
Meeting and Exhibit – Booth 1535
Salt Lake City, UT
February 24 – 27, 2008
- Fire Department Instructors
Conference – Booth 248
Indianapolis, IN
April 9 – 12, 2008
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 Award of Excellence
for Public Health Training
Congratulations to the team who developed the Safe Patient Handling and
Movement Training Program for the Schools of Nursing. The team, which is
comprised of researchers from NIOSH, the Veterans Health Administration and
the American Nurses Association, received the Award of Excellence for Public
Health Training from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s
Public Health Education and Promotion Network. The award is given each year
to the training program that has demonstrated a commitment to excellence in
public health education. The new evidence-based curriculum developed by the
team focuses on the use of modern patient handling equipment, such as powered
ceiling and floor lifts, powered and un-powered lateral transfer aids, and
other high-tech transfer equipment which removes the high risk physical labor
associated with patient transfer tasks. To learn more, visit the NIOSH Web
page, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/review/public/safe-patient/introduction.html
or contact Tom Waters at TWaters@xxxxxxx.
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 NORA Construction
Sector Council Updates
The NORA Construction Sector Council will be posting draft goals for the
“National Construction Agenda” the week of December 17. The
Council members and corresponding members have been working on the agenda
over the past year to develop a set of 10 strategic goals to guide the nation
in construction research and research-to-practice efforts. The Council is
looking for additional comments and perspectives from the construction safety
and health community on these draft goals. The draft will be posted on the
NORA Construction Sector Council page http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora/councils/const/
under "Products".
The
inaugural issue of the new “NORA Construction Sector
E-Newsletter” will be sent out the same week. This new newsletter will
cover news and activities of the Construction Sector Council and other new
research and events of interest to our construction stakeholders. To receive
a copy of the newsletter, send an e-mail to David Bang at DBang@xxxxxxx.
Also, the 18th Annual
Construction Safety Conference and Exposition, to be held February 12-14,
2008, in Rosemont, Illinois
(next to O'Hare airport in Chicago),
will include a daylong session on February 14 to present and discuss the
preliminary NORA "National Construction Agenda." For more
information on the conference, go to http://www.buildsafe.org
or http://www.cpwr.com.
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The U.S. Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) has a new Web page for ordering OSHA
publications, http://www.osha.gov/pls/publications/publication.html.
The Web page provides a more user-friendly approach and serves as a
comprehensive resource for OSHA’s safety and health products.
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 “Technology News 528 – Recirculation Filter is Key to
Improving Dust Control in Enclosed Cabs” http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/pubs/pubreference/outputid2546.htm.
Three New Health
Hazard Evaluation Reports Now Available:
Manufacturing Sector – Evaluation of exposure to
metalworking fluids (MWFs). NIOSH responded
to a union request concerning dermal exposure to MWFs by employees working in
a chain manufacturing plant. NIOSH found that employees had direct skin
contact with MWFs, and several of the employees interviewed had rashes
consistent with work-related contact dermatitis. Chemical analysis also
showed that bulk MWFs contained a mix of skin irritants and allergens, and
some samples also contained formaldehyde, showing an overall poor maintenance
of MWFs in the plant. NIOSH recommended that a comprehensive MWF maintenance
program be established at the plant, and that MWFs and biocides be replaced
with less irritating components. NIOSH researchers also recommended that the
plant educate employees about personal protective equipment (PPE), good skin
care, and the hazards of MWF exposure. The final report is available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hhe/reports/pdfs/2005-0227-3049.pdf.
Healthcare & Social Assistance Sector –
Evaluation of noise levels. NIOSH responded
to a management request at a hospital concerning noise exposures to personnel
in the nutrition and food service department. NIOSH completed noise dosimetry
measurements on food service workers and took sound level measurements
throughout the work area. NIOSH found that the readings did not exceed OSHA
criteria, but two employees’ measurements did exceed the NIOSH
recommended exposure limit. NIOSH recommended that metal racks and utensils
be replaced with non-metal, food-safe materials to reduce metal-to-metal
contact noise. NIOSH also recommended that food service employees wear
hearing protection devices until noise levels are reduced in high exposure
areas. The final report is available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hhe/reports/pdfs/2007-0183-3047.pdf.
Services Sector – Evaluation
of work stress. NIOSH responded to a management
and union request at a police department concerning work stress and noise
exposure to dispatchers and 911 emergency phone operators. NIOSH researchers
interviewed managers and employees, administered questionnaires examining
workplace stressors and health-related outcomes, took saliva samples to
assess physiologic reactions to stress, and evaluated noise exposure levels
in the work area. NIOSH found that over 35% of employees self-reported
symptoms consistent with major depression and 25% reported symptoms
consistent with anxiety. Testing showed that salivary cortisol
levels were not associated with self-reported data concerning work stressors.
Further testing found that ambient noise levels measured in the work area
were acceptable for office communication. NIOSH recommended that social
support systems be improved within the organization, and that management and
employees work to remedy routine problems in order to improve job
satisfaction and reduce stress levels. Researchers also recommended that
non-work-related conversations be limited in the call room to minimize
distraction and reduce background noise. The final report is available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hhe/reports/pdfs/1999-0199-3053.pdf.
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Call for Abstracts
- “NSTI Nanotech Annual Conference,”
June 1 – 5, 2008, Boston,
MA. Deadline is December
6, 2007. http://www.nsti.org/Nanotech2008.
- “14th
International Society for Respiratory Protection,” September 14
– 18, 2008, Dublin,
Ireland.
Deadline is June 30, 2008. http://www.isrp.com/dublin/.
“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
“Work, Stress,
and Health 2008: Health and Safe Work Through Research, Practice, and
Partnerships"
March 6 – 8, 2008, Washington,
DC.http://www.apa.org/pi/work/wsh.html
“Semiconductor
Environmental, Safety and Health Association (SESHA) Annual Symposium and
Expo”
March 25 – 29, 2008, Portland,
OR. http://www.seshaonline.org/meetings/2008/index.php3
“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
“International
Association of Fire Chiefs 2008 International Hazardous Materials Response
Teams Conference”
May 29 – June 1, 2008, Hunt
Valley, MD. http://iafc.confex.com/iafc/haz08/cfp.cgi.
“2008 American
Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition”
May 31 – June 5, 2008, Minneapolis,
Minnesota. http://www.aiha.org/Content/CE/aihce/aihce.htm.
“2008 World
Safety Conference and Exposition”
June 2 – 6, 2008, Las Vegas,
NV. http://www.nfpa.org/wsce.
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
“2008 ASTM
Boulder Conference on Surface and Dermal Sampling”
August 4 – 8, 2008, Boulder,
Colorado. 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
“International
Association of Fire Chiefs Fire Rescue International 2008”
August 14 – 16, 2008, Denver, CO. http://www.iafc.org
“8th Conference of the European Academy
of Occupational Health Psychology”
November 12 – 14, 2008, Valencia,
Spain.
http://www.ea-ohp.org
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Cortisol: A steroid
hormone that has been used as an objective measure of psychological stress.
Typically, cortisol levels fluctuate during the day: highest early in the
morning, tapers off throughout the day to its lowest point in the evening.
However, during periods of stress, the adrenal gland produces high levels of
cortisol as one way of supplying the body with the energy needed to respond
efficiently and quickly.
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NIOSH eNews on the Web:
www.cdc.gov/niosh/enews/
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