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When recalling our onsite environmental, health and safety work following 9/11, Emilcott’s health and safety staff often discuss that respirators were either not worn or improperly worn by many first responders and subsequent waves of workers and construction crew members at Ground Zero. The tenth anniversary of 9/11 seems like a good time to re-examine the issue of preparedness. n the second day of 2011, the James Zadroga Act was authorized to broaden and renew funding and extend benefits to Ground Zero workers whose death was a result of exposure. These exposures were directly and indirectly caused by toxins present in the billowing clouds of dusts and smoke following the worst tragedy to happen on American soil in my lifetime. The tragic sickness of countless rescue workers continues to add heartbreak where there is little room for more. Protecting Emergency Response Workers: What Has Changed? It’s summertime again… time for barbeques, bathing suits, and sunscreen. We all know we should protect ourselves from the sun damage to skin, eyes, and possible skin cancer. I remember as a child the only available sun lotion was 2, 4, and 8, and it was considered healthy to get a little red. A result of that latent exposure to the sun was Melanoma that killed my sister at age 47.When asked about potential occupational “overexposure” to sunshine, I had to ask: Is there more to know about protecting workers from sun exposure? What are the regulations and occupational exposure recommendations for exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation? Here are some answers …. Do you have hazardous chemicals in your workplace? If you think the answer is no, are you sure? Let’s start with a definition! OSHA defines a hazardous chemical as one that presents either a physical or a health hazard. Many common and readily available products such as paints, cleaners, and other materials found in the workplace meet this definition. In fact, last year OSHA issued over 6,300 violations to companies that failed to comply with this standard. Learn more about your Right-to-Know! At Emilcott, we frequently run into job sites with high potential for poison ivy exposure…think about the uncleared, overgrown or unkempt places that surveyers, highway workers, laborers, HazWOPER workers, engineers, inspectors, construction workers, and landscapers, often find themselves! Outdoor workers who can be exposed to poison ivy must know how to recognize, prevent and administer first aid. As a LEED AP-certified professional who specializes in Indoor Environmental issues with a focus on fire and life safety, I was very interested in some recent articles that are creating awareness of critical health and safety problems inherent to the green building movement — especially commercial buildings with new hazards that must be identified to protect building occupants and mergency responders. For the company, job site or RPP administrator who does not understand why a qualified and empowered Respiratory Protection Program Administrator is a big deal, this blog highlights a triple-play of Top 5 facts that illustrate the importance of qualified training for Respiratory Protection Program Administrators: Top 5 OSHA violations, Top 5 reasons to be qualified, and Top 5 OSHA compliance indicators! As part of a standard, pre-work permit inspection by the local township, it was discovered the exterior of a church (and local pre-school) had been painted with lead-based paint! Unfortunately, the estimates to remove and repaint the church were far beyond the church’s budget. At the acrimonious and finger-pointing church review meeting, a voice suddenly called out, “I’ll take care of it for half the cost of the lowest estimate!” Salvation! However, when the contractor began the job, The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ended 2010 with two announcements that impact Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). The first of these announcements involves polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in school environments. EPA’s second end-of-2010 announcement involves testing for radon, as January is National Radon Action Month. Two easy ways to start 2011 off on the right foot — follow the EPA’s recommendation by eliminating two significant and relatively easy IEQ concerns, PCBs and radon, from your building. Why do we care about particles floating around in our air? Bruce Groves explores how the environmental air monitoring in the future will be able to locate (in real time) the place, the direction of the pollution source so that we can take measures to stop or reduce the indicated pollution sources. The goal AND end result are to develop as clean a living and working area as possible. |
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