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Online Exclusive: Know the Signs and Symptoms of Heart Attack and Sudden Cardiac Arrest February is American Heart Month, making it a good time to remind workers how to recognize the coronary events that kill about one American every minute. This checklist of signs and symptoms can refresh workers' memories and help them respond quickly and appropriately to a co-worker in cardiac distress. . . . more » Inspecting Local Exhaust Ventilation Systems If you're using local exhaust ventilation to control exposures to airborne contaminants at the source, then you'll need to inspect and maintain your ventilation system in order to ensure that it is effective. . . . more » Manlift Safety Policy As we report in this month's issue, a worker in Turlock was seriously injured after materials that were being improperly moved with a manlift shifted and fell on him. It's important for workers to understand that misuse of a manlift, far from being a smart shortcut, can lead to injury or even death. . . . more » Your Medical History, In Brief and In Detail It's a bitter irony: at the moment when someone has his or her greatest need for medical care, he or she is unlikely to be able to assist medical personnel in providing that care. That's why it's essential that your medical history be available even if you are incapacitated. . . . more » Sample Incident and Near Miss Reporting Policy In order to ensure a safe, healthful, and efficient work environment for our employees, the Company has established the following incident and near miss reporting policy as a condition of employment and continued employment . . . more » More

Toxic Mold: Preventing Mold-Related Problems in Indoor Workplaces; Guidance from Federal OSHA and California California was the first state in the nation to pass a law addressing the hazards of toxic mold in buildings: the Toxic Mold Protection Act of 2001. This act required the California Department of Health Services (DHS) to present a study to the legislature evaluating . . . more » Roofing Safety: A Review of Cal/OSHA's Requirements; Prevent Slips, Falls, Serious Injuries, and Deaths Workers on roofs are at risk for serious injuries and death from falls. Not only do they perform their jobs at substantial heights, but they may also be working on surfaces that are . . . more » Best Practices: Federal OSHA's Fundamentals of a Workplace First Aid Program; Are You Ready to Respond to Medical Emergencies? Employers in California are required to ensure that medical treatment is readily available to sick or injured workers under General Industry Safety Order Section 3400, Medical Services and First Aid. . . . more » Sign up for a trial and access more articles like these

Online Exclusive: Know the Signs and Symptoms of Heart Attack and Sudden Cardiac Arrest February is American Heart Month, making it a good time to remind workers how to recognize the coronary events that kill about one American every minute. This checklist of signs and symptoms can refresh workers' memories and help them respond quickly and appropriately to a co-worker in cardiac distress. . . . more » Bulletin: OSHA schedules HCS hearings Federal OSHA has scheduled three informal public hearings for this March and April on the proposed rule to align the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) with . . . more » Bulletin: NIOSH presents six ideas for making green jobs safe for workers Green jobs have received a great deal of attention lately, especially since the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, but new jobs can mean new safety risks . . . more » Worker Health: Five Strategies to Cure Those Late-Winter Blues and Enhance Safety and Productivity It's February, and your workforce may be feeling a little down. For some, it might just be a post-holiday letdown or the grind of ongoing economic woes. For others, it could be a chronic, low-level depression called "dysthymia" that can be at least partially alleviated by . . . more » Hazardous Chemicals: Heavier-Than-Air Vapors; Protect Workers from This Invisible Hazard Terry Reynolds, a 55-year-old Kansas homeowner, just wanted to relight the pilot light of his propane water heater on Aug. 6, 2009. Unfortunately, the propane tank was leaking heavier-than-air propane gas into the water heater's enclosure, and instead of lighting the pilot, . . . more » Trainer's Handbook: Handling Hazardous Cargo: Training Requirements for Marine Terminal Operations Working in a marine terminal, shifting cargo containers onto and off of trucks and ships, is a hazardous occupation. Marine terminal workers have been killed by falling containers and by falling from containers. They have been run over by heavy equipment and had heavy equipment tip over onto them. . . . more » Appeals Board Decisions: Site's Designated Safety Representative Was 'Unavailable'; Sorting Out the Requirements for Safety Representatives During a routine inspection of a sewer refurbishing project being performed by Colich & Sons/J.R. Pipeline, J.V., in Los Angeles, the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) inspector asked to speak to the employer's designated safety representative (DSR). He was told that the DSR was unavailable because of a family emergency and had gone to the East Coast for an unspecified period of time . . . more » Hazard Identification: Preventing Catastrophic Pressure Vessel Failures; Beware of These Dangerous Situations On June 11, 2008, an operator at the Goodyear rubber manufacturing plant in southeast Houston, Texas, was running steam through the process tubes of a heat exchanger unit as part of a cleaning operation. The steam heated residual anhydrous ammonia that was present in the exchanger's shell, but . . . more » Health and Wellness: Firefighter Suffers Sudden Cardiac Arrest During Training Exercise; American Heart Month Is Opportunity to Educate On Nov. 9, 2008, a dozen firefighter trainees gathered in wet and chilly weather at a Virginia training facility for an entry-level firefighter certification class. The trainees dressed in their "turnout" gear--firefighting clothes and equipment--and conducted drills with hoses and self-contained contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). . . . more » News Note: NIOSH Study Examines Risk of Job-Related Violence for Home Healthcare Workers The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is conducting research to better understand work-related violence risks to home healthcare workers. According to the study's preliminary findings, . . . more » News Note: Rules for Intermodal Equipment Providers Take Effect The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is now enforcing a new rule, the Intermodal Chassis rule, designed to enhance the safety of . . . more » News Note: Truck and Bus Companies Now Subject to New Federal, California Rules Commercial trucking and passenger-carrier operations are subject to new state and federal rules aimed at . . . more » News Note: Updated California Tsunami Inundation Maps Available Newly updated California Tsunami Inundation Maps are now available from the California Tsunami Program, a joint effort of the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA), the California Geological Survey (CGS), and . . . more » News Note: Michaels Confirmed as New Federal OSHA Administrator David Michaels, Ph.D., an epidemiologist who formerly chaired the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to . . . more » Inspecting Local Exhaust Ventilation Systems If you're using local exhaust ventilation to control exposures to airborne contaminants at the source, then you'll need to inspect and maintain your ventilation system in order to ensure that it is effective. . . . more » Bulletin: New OSHA guidance focuses on emergency medical responders Federal OSHA has issued a new guidance document, Best Practices for Protecting EMS Responders During Treatment and Transport of Victims of Hazardous Substance Releases, that addresses . . . more » Bulletin: Special Report with this issue: What's New for 2010. While the legislative and executive branches of the state government continued to lock horns, the judicial branch busily ruled on important issues such as same-sex marriage, employee privacy, tip pooling, and . . . more » Recordkeeping: Are You Getting It All Down? Five Records You Need to Be Keeping and Why Most employers know they need to record certain work-related injuries and illnesses, but there are other records employers routinely forget to keep that can contribute to the safety program and help employers defend against Cal/OSHA citations. If you're not keeping records of the five items listed below, you may find yourself without a leg to stand on when defending against a citation or asking for an increase in your safety budget. . . . more » Appeals Board Decisions: Employer Fails to Identify Confined Space; Don't Let One Set of Hazards Mask Another Liquivision Technology contracted to perform dive services at Hinkle Reservoir in Granite Bay (northeast of Sacramento) during February, March, and April of 2008. The divers' job duties included vacuuming the floor of the reservoir 15 to 20 feet below the surface, to remove sediment and precipitation. . . . more » Combustible Dust: Federal OSHA Takes First Step Toward Combustible Dust Rule Since 1980, more than 130 American workers have been killed and more than 780 have been injured in combustible dust explosions, federal OSHA has found. The agency considered the problem serious enough that, since October 2007 . . . more » Hazard Identification: Special Purpose Particle Accelerators Pose Risk of Radiation, Electrical Shock, and More Just outside Geneva, Switzerland&@8212assuming your definition of "just outside" includes structures located 300 feet underground&@8212you'll find the world's largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider. At 17 miles around, it's hardly the sort of thing you'd expect to find sitting in your local hospital. But particle accelerators come in all sizes, from tabletop medical accelerators to, well, the Large Hadron Collider. . . . more » Trainer's Handbook: Employee Exposure and Medical Records; Why Workers Must Be Granted Access In workplaces that monitor for toxic chemical exposures or harmful physical agents such as ionizing radiation, employees may be interested in the results of the monitoring and any analysis of it that has been done. Under Cal/OSHA regulations, employees . . . more » Hazardous Chemicals: Controlling Airborne Contaminants with Local Exhaust Ventilation; Tips for Selection, Maintenance, and Inspection Nearly four million adult Californians suffer from asthma, and many of them encounter respiratory stressors daily in the workplace. Other California workers are at risk of a variety of lung diseases caused by exposure to chemical dusts, mists, fumes, gases, and vapors. California already regulates worker exposure to many respiratory hazards, such as asbestos and secondhand smoke, and the state periodically considers regulations for newly discovered hazards, such as diacetyl. . . . more » News Note: Study Finds Workplace BPA Exposure Increases Risk of Male Sexual Dysfunction High levels of workplace exposure to bisphenol-A (BPA) may increase the risk of reduced sexual function in men, a study conducted by researchers at Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research in Oakland found. The five-year study . . . more » News Note: Federal OSHA Provides Workplace H1N1 Influenza Fact Sheets Federal OSHA has issued commonsense fact sheets that employers and workers can use to promote safety during the current H1N1 influenza season. The fact sheets inform . . . more » News Note: Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards Now Available for the iPhone The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards (NPG) is now available as a mobile application for . . . more » News Note: Two Resources on Firing Ranges Now Available in Spanish NIOSH has made two of its resources on firing range safety and health available in Spanish. The NIOSH Topic Page on Firing Ranges, Campos de Tiro, can be found at . . . more » News Note: Material Handling Guide Wins Award Ergonomic Guidelines for Manual Material Handling, a joint product of Cal/OSHA, NIOSH, and two private agencies, has been named the . . . more » Bulletin: Online Exclusive: Checklist for inspecting local exhaust ventilation systems If you're using local exhaust ventilation to control exposures to airborne contaminants at the source, then you'll need to inspect and maintain your ventilation system in order to ensure that it is e . . . more » Manlift Safety Policy As we report in this month's issue, a worker in Turlock was seriously injured after materials that were being improperly moved with a manlift shifted and fell on him. It's important for workers to understand that misuse of a manlift, far from being a smart shortcut, can lead to injury or even death. . . . more » More