The passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 brought unprecedented changes in US workplaces, and the activities of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have ...contributed to a significant reduction in work-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses. Despite this, millions of workers are injured annually, and thousands killed.To reduce the toll, OSHA needs greater resources, a new standard-setting process, increased civil and criminal penalties, full coverage for all workers, and stronger whistleblower protections. Workers should not be injured or made sick by their jobs. To eliminate work injuries and illnesses, we must remake and modernize OSHA and restructure the relationship of employers and workers with the agency and each other.This includes changing the expectation of what employers must do to protect workers and implementing a requirement that firms have a "duty of care" to protect all people who may be harmed by their activities. Only by making major changes can we ensure that every worker leaves work as healthy as they were when their work shift began.
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Introduction: Millions of workers are injured on the job each year. Updated injury reporting regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 2014 have resulted in ...publicly available data on reported severe injuries. Methods: OSHA severe injury reports (SIRs) were analyzed from 2015 to 2022. Severe injury rates were calculated using total employment estimates by industry and state to characterize the distribution of SIRs. Secondary analyses examined how SIRs differed seasonally, as well as before and after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: There were 83,338 severe workplace injuries reported across the 29 states that are under federal OSHA coverage. Manufacturing (375.98 per 100,000 workers) and Utilities (277.21 per 100,000 workers) had the highest rates of severe injuries. Despite summertime peaks in SIRs, there were not significant differences between seasons when examining SIRs by industry (p = 0.9763) or various injury factors. 1,846 of the SIRs were heat-related, and Utilities had the highest rate of heat-related severe injuries (13.34 per 100,000 workers). There was a statistically significant difference in the average injury rate when comparing pre- and post-COVID-19 periods (p < 0.001), which was statistically similar across all industries (p = 0.8143). Conclusions: Although several prior studies have examined the OSHA SIR data, this is the first known analysis of SIRs in relation to state- and industry-specific employment data. Despite the lack of a significant seasonality in SIRs, many industries seem to be impacted by heat-related injuries across all states. The number and rate of SIRs declined during COVID-19 similarly across all industries, with some industries maintaining low injury reporting rates through 2022. Practical Application: Findings of which industries and states may be experiencing a disproportionate burden of SIRs, including heat-related injuries, can inform injury prevention efforts. Additional work is needed to disentangle the drivers behind decreases in reported severe injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit hard on the world economy and global health. Where most businesses are completely closed following governments restrictions, the food sector across the supply chain must ...remain operational in order to feed the nations. In such a challenging time, keeping the workers healthy and safe is critical while maintaining a high level of food safety and consumer confidence. Against a backdrop of heightened uncertainty, up-to-date and reliable information is more important than ever, both for regulators and this sector. This literature review aims at assembling all current knowledge about COVID-19 and its impact on the food industry. It is an exhaustive compilation of relevant public information and guidance published by the World Health Organization (WHO), and collected from 11 governmental and 10 non-governmental sources as well as 25 peer-reviewed articles published in scientific journals since the beginning of the crisis till June 5th, 2020. This paper could be of assistance to educators, researchers, and policy makers. It could also serve as an assessment tool to ensure business continuity and to determine the level of food industry readiness providing reassurance to all stakeholders during these unprecedented times.
•Employee health and food safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.•The Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) measures and COVID-19.•Identification of the short and long terms impact of COVID-19 on the food industry.•Assessment tool to evaluate food industry readiness during the pandemic.•Managing business continuity during the pandemic.
The health of the healthcare workers Joseph, Bobby; Joseph, Merlyn
Indian journal of occupational and environmental medicine,
05/2016, Volume:
20, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Purpose:
To provide a nationally representative snapshot of workplace health promotion (WHP) and protection practices among United States worksites.
Design:
Cross-sectional, self-report Workplace ...Health in America (WHA) Survey between November 2016 and September 2017.
Setting:
National.
Participants:
Random sample of US worksites with ≥10 employees, stratified by region, size, and North American Industrial Classification System sector.
Measures:
Workplace health promotion programs, program administration, evidence-based strategies, health screenings, disease management, incentives, work–life policies, implementation barriers, and occupational safety and health (OSH).
Analysis:
Descriptive statistics, t tests, and logistic regression.
Results:
Among eligible worksites, 10.1% (n = 3109) responded, 2843 retained in final sample, and 46.1% offered some type of WHP program. The proportion of comparable worksites with comprehensive programs (as defined in Healthy People 2010) rose from 6.9% in 2004 to 17.1% in 2017 (P < .001). Occupational safety and health programs were more prevalent than WHP programs, and 83.5% of all worksites had an individual responsible for employee safety, while only 72.2% of those with a WHP program had an individual responsible for it. Smaller worksites were less likely than larger to offer most programs.
Conclusion:
The prevalence of WHP programs has increased but remains low across most health programs; few worksites have comprehensive programs. Smaller worksites have persistent deficits and require targeted approaches; integrated OSH and WHP efforts may help. Ongoing monitoring using the WHA Survey benchmarks OSH and WHP in US worksites, updates estimates from previous surveys, and identifies gaps in research and practice.
: The objective of this article is to provide an overview of and update on the Office for
(TWH) program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety ...and Health (CDC/NIOSH).
: This article describes the evolution of the TWH program from 2014 to 2018 and future steps and directions.
: The TWH framework is defined as policies, programs, and practices that integrate protection from work-related safety and health hazards with promotion of injury and illness prevention efforts to advance worker well-being.
: The CDC/NIOSH TWH program continues to evolve in order to respond to demands for research, practice, policy, and capacity building information and solutions to the safety, health, and well-being challenges that workers and their employers face.
When the OSH Act of 1970 was passed, Congress created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for employees. OSHA did so by setting ...and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, and education.Early standard setting was aggressive and ambitious, with the incorporation of industry consensus standards and the promulgation of new standards. OSHA's standard setting and enforcement sparked increased membership in safety and health professional organizations, which in turn led to strong demand for obtaining safety or health certification. Additionally, this growth drove the development of a wide variety of safety and health products, in effect creating a new market. Vendors used OSHA standards and enforcement to motivate sales.
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