Earn your Masters in Public Health (MPH) in Occupational Safety and Health at the Rutgers School of Public Health.

Rutgers School of Public Health is accepting students for the new MPH in Occupational Safety and Health.  The program is designed to prepare graduates to effectively manage workplace safety and health hazards in diverse work environments.  http://sph.rutgers.edu/departments/ENOH/index.html 
Please contact Dr. Koshy for further information at koshyko@rutgers.edu

OSHA to hold public meeting to solicit suggestions for strengthening the Voluntary Protection Programs

OSHA will hold a stakeholder meeting July 17, 2017, in Washington, D.C., to discuss the future direction of the agency’s Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP). The discussion will include comments and suggestions from the public on potential avenues for action.

OSHA is seeking to reshape VPP so that it continues to represent safety and health excellence, leverages partner resources, further recognizes the successes of long-term participants, and supports smart program growth. Some of the questions OSHA invites stakeholder input include:

• What can the agency do to enhance and encourage the efforts of employers, workers and unions to identify and address workplace hazards through the VPP?
• How can the agency support increased participation in VPP while operating with available resources and maintaining the integrity of the program?
• How can the agency modify VPP to enhance the efforts and engagement of long-term VPP participants?
• How might the agency modify Corporate VPP for greater leverage and effectiveness?
• How can the agency further leverage participant resources such as Special Government Employees?

The meeting will be held July 17, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Frances Perkins Building, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20210. Those wishing to attend must register by July 10 at VPP Stakeholder Meeting Registration.  Attendees can choose from several levels of participation in the discussion.

For those who may not be able to attend in person, a docket has been opened to receive comments. You can provide your input and/or read others’ comments here https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=OSHA-2017-0009. The docket closes Sept. 15, 2017.

We anticipate hosting a second stakeholder meeting tentatively scheduled to occur in conjunction with the VPPPA National Conference the week of August 28th in New Orleans.

For more information about the stakeholder events, click here. We look forward to hearing from you about this important discussion.

Employers share their tips for keeping workers safe in extreme heat

Employers and safety professionals were asked how they are keeping workers safe from extreme heat. Below are a few examples of the responses received. 

Land of Lincoln Goodwill Industries in Springfield, Ill., implements a buddy system within shifts so that workers can keep an eye on each other and report to their supervisor if they notice symptoms of heat illness. It is the company’s policy that new and/or transferred employees be acclimated to the environment by getting frequent breaks during their first two weeks on the job and during heat waves. The company also equips workers with cooling caps and bandanas, and provides earlier shifts and additional breaks, water and sports drinks on days when temperatures are expected to be especially high. Throughout the summer the company sends text messages/emails, and gives posters and toolbox talks to keep workers alert to the hazards of heat exposure.

Ballard Marine Construction uses canopies equipped with hoses to provide its workers with shade and cooling mist that protect them from the heat.

Ballard Marine Construction is a marine infrastructure and utility contractor serving international clients in the nuclear, hydroelectric, salvage, pipeline, and submarine cable industries. The company sets up portable shade canopies outside its dive control vans, with misting hoses woven throughout the frames to cover workers with a fine spray of water throughout the day. The company has also installed misters on its barges and used misting fans to keep its workers cool in high temperatures.

Granite Construction, one of the 25 largest construction companies in the U.S., uses a variety of methods to keep its workers safe from the heat. These include: providing each jobsite supervisor with a portable canopy sun shade; equipping workers with evaporative, cooling neck towels and shades that attach to the back of their hard hats to protect their necks from sun exposure; monitoring the OSHA-NIOSH heat safety app and following its recommendations; and conducting training sessions on heat exposure, how to recognize and treat heat-related illness, and proper hydration.

OSHA promotes safety in fireworks industry ahead of July 4 festivities

With Independence Day celebrations approaching, OSHA is encouraging the fireworks and pyrotechnics industry to protect workers from hazards while manufacturing, storing, transporting, displaying and selling fireworks for public events. OSHA offers information on common hazards and solutions, including downloadable safety posters for workplaces.

OSHA and NIOSH team up to offer updated heat safety app

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and OSHA have collaborated to update OSHA’s original Heat Safety Tool. The updated app, available for both Android and iPhone, provides a clearer user interface, while still providing the same information to help keep workers safe when working outdoors in hot weather. Extreme heat causes more deaths than any other weather-related hazard; each year more than 65,000 people seek medical treatment for extreme heat exposure.

Employers should encourage workers exposed to hot and humid conditions to use the app to check the heat index and relevant protective measures. The app displays the heat index in the user’s location and shows the current risk level. The app also forecasts the hourly heat index throughout the entire workday, giving employers information they can use to adjust the work environment as needed to protect workers.

More than 450,000 users have downloaded the original app since it was launched in 2011. The original OSHA app will no longer function after September 30. To download the updated app and get more information on OSHA’s efforts to help protect workers from the heat, visit our heat campaign webpage.