Stakeholders

Sacramento, CA – California lawmakers are moving forward with legislation that would require health care facilities to use scavenging systems to reduce “surgical plume" – toxic airborne contaminants that threaten surgical staff and patients.

Washington – Secretary of Labor nominee R. Alexander Acosta is nearing full Senate confirmation after the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted March 30 to advance his nomination.

Washington – NIOSH has released two electronic modules for tracking sharps injuries, as well as blood and body fluid exposures, among health care workers as part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Occupational Health Safety Network.

Washington – NIOSH is seeking information from facilities that stockpile N95 respirators and high-level protective surgical gowns as part of a research study that will examine how storage conditions affect the deterioration of personal protective equipment.

Washington – President Donald Trump officially has rolled back a regulation requiring prospective federal contractors to disclose labor-law violations.

Washington – Several public health advocacy groups have filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit that aims to undo OSHA’s requirement for employers to electronically submit worker injury and illness data for public view.

Washington – Secretary of Labor nominee R. Alexander Acosta aimed for a unifying tone during his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on March 22.

Arlington, VA – The American Trucking Associations is calling for the federal government to release guidelines and standards regarding the use of hair samples as a drug-testing method for commercial motor vehicle drivers.

San Diego – More needs to be done to protect workers, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health says. More than 90 other organizations agree. Those groups have endorsed National COSH’s action agenda, “Protecting Workers’ Lives and Limbs,” released March 15.

Chicago – Medical residents and fellows, including first-year residents, will be allowed to work for up to 28 consecutive hours without sleep as part of revised requirements recently approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.