Workplace Exposures

Washington — The Department of Labor has revised the Black Lung Benefits Act to require self-insured coal mine operators to “post adequate security for their benefit liabilities.”

Waltham, MA — The number of heat-related illnesses “increases significantly” once the temperature rises above 80° F, results of a recent analysis from the Workers Compensation Research Institute show.

Washington — The Environmental Protection Agency will ban the use of the toxic chemical trichloroethylene and prohibit most uses of the carcinogenic chemical substance perchloroethylene, under separate final rules announced in December.

Washington — Despite precautionary safety measures put in place months earlier, a chemical plant in Conyers, GA, still experienced multiple fires and a “massive plume of potentially toxic smoke” that endangered the surrounding community, the Chemical Safety Board says.

Washington — Legislation recently introduced in the Senate would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to research the effects of “repetitive low-level blast injuries” on the mental health of military veterans.

Why is benzene exposure harmful, and why do exposure limits keep decreasing?

Cold weather raises the risk of some not-so-obvious hazards. Here are a few to keep in mind.

Sacramento, CA — California’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board has unanimously approved to make permanent an emergency temporary standard aimed at safeguarding workers who handle engineered stone from silica hazards.

Washington — Construction workers exposed to noise on the job face a higher risk of hearing loss than noise-exposed workers in all other industries do, results of a recent NIOSH study show.

Washington — The Environmental Protection Agency is set to publish a final rule intended to improve the efficiency” of the agency’s chemical review process and provide better information.