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Tips for Creating a More Successful Industrial Hygiene Program OSHA defines industrial hygiene as "the practice of anticipating, recognizing, evaluating and controlling workplace conditions that may cause workers' injury or illness." That's the kind of definition that read one way can seem general, and when read another way, can seem overwhelming. There's a lot to unpack when it comes to industrial hygiene—and a lot that employers simply must get right. Let's review the basics of industrial hygiene and strategies for making sure your company has a successful program. Getting Started: Risk Analysis Industrial hygiene, like so much else in EHS management, really begins with good risk analysis. We can't protect employees from hazards in the workplace unless we first identify them. One of the most effective

methods is to break jobs into a manageable number of tasks (try for no more than 10), work with and observe employees conducting these tasks, and pay close attention to the actual and potential hazards. Read more: https://ohsonline.com/articles/2018/05/01/tips-for-creating-a-more-successful-industrial-hygiene-program.aspx?admgarea=ht.IndustrialHygie

May 2018,

Issue 80

Army Industrial Hygiene News and Regulatory Summary

Hazardous Substances

Special Interest Articles: • Fungal

Fragments • Noise

Exposure • Guide for

Clinics • Death on the

Job • Blasts

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Definition of Beryllium Work Area Changed by OSHA

Days before compliance is required with its major rule, Occupational Exposure to Beryllium (January 9, 2017, FR), OSHA has published a direct final rule (DFR) clarifying provisions

affecting trace amounts of beryllium materials in general industry workplaces. Specifically, the DFR amends the definition of beryllium work area as well as terms affected by that change. Read more: https://ehsdailyadvisor.blr.com/2018/05/definition-beryllium-work-area-changed-osha/

New Studies Confirm a Surge in Coal Miners' Disease

More coal miners in central Appalachia have suffered the advanced stages of the deadly disease black lung than previous government research has found, and more miners working in the region today have earlier stages of the disease.

Those are two of the findings in a bundle of studies released Tuesday and expected to be released soon, which focus on the epidemic of black lung disease first reported by NPR in 2016.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2018/05/22/613400710/new-studies-

confirm-a-surge-in-coal-miners-disease

Contents:

Hazardous

Substance..........1

Radiation............4

Ventilation…......5

PPE………….......5

Noise…………....6

Preventive

Medicine…..……7

Environmental

Health.................9

Ergonomics......11

Safety................12

Emergency

Preparedness

& Response......14

Deployment

Health……..…...15

Nanotech……...16

Regulatory

Research

& IH News. .......17

Training…….....19

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Fungal Fragments and Fungal Aerosol Composition in Sawmills

Assessment of exposure to fungi has commonly been limited to fungal spore measurements that have shown associations between fungi and development or exacerbation of different airway diseases. Because large numbers of submicronic fragments can be aerosolized from fungal cultures under laboratory

conditions, it has been suggested that fungal exposure is more complex and higher than that commonly revealed by spore measurements. However, the assessment of fungal fragments in complex environmental matrix remain limited due to methodological challenges. With a recently developed immunolabeling method for field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), we could assess the complex composition of fungal aerosols present in personal thoracic samples collected from two Norwegian sawmills. Read more: https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/62/5/559/4947208

Conditional Toxicity Value (CTV) Predictor: An In Silico Approach for

Generating Quantitative Risk Estimates for Chemicals Background: Human health assessments synthesize human, animal, and mechanistic data to produce toxicity values that are key inputs to risk-based decision making. Traditional assessments are data-, time-, and resource-intensive, and they cannot be developed for most environmental chemicals owing to a lack of appropriate data. Objectives: As recommended by the National Research Council, we propose a solution for

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predicting toxicity values for data-poor chemicals through development of quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) models.

Read more: https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/ehp2998/

Farmworkers Sue EPA over Exposure to Dangerous Pesticides

Several lawsuits have been filed against the Environmental Protection Agency on behalf

of farmworkers. The lawsuits have to do with mandatory training for pesticide use. They claim the EPA is delaying the release of new training materials designed to improve worker safety. Revisions made in 2015 required farmworkers to undergo training for pesticide use every year instead of every five years Read more: http://abc30.com/politics/farmworkers-sue-epa-over-pesticides/3541878/

New IARC Website Tracks UV Radiation Cancers The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) recently launched its new database on cancers attributable to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Part of the Global Cancer Observatory, the website aims to provide estimates of the preventable melanoma burden using a standardized analytical approach for all countries. The Cancers Attributable to UV Radiation website provides the population attributable fractions associated with UV radiation exposure and will help national

decision makers as they set priorities for cancer prevention. Read more: https://ohsonline.com/articles/2018/05/14/new-iarc-website-tracks-uv-cancers.aspx?admgarea=news

Radiation

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'Degraded' Ventilation and Old Equipment Led To Buildup of Mould in Canadian Warship

The Defence Department says inadequate ventilation, poor maintenance and old equipment has led to the buildup of potentially hazardous airborne mould aboard Canada’s most advanced warships. A recently released report from the Directorate of Force Health Protection says an air quality assessment aboard HMCS

Winnipeg found higher-than-normal levels of mould spores in three compartments while the frigate was sailing from Tokyo to Hawaii in July 2017. The findings are important because some sailors have long complained of health problems they say could be related to mould exposure while serving aboard Canada’s 12 Halifax-class frigates. Read more: http://lfpress.com/news/cleanup-ordered-after-potentially-hazardous-mould-detected-in-canadian-warship/wcm/b2522880-2285-4b29-b5fb-b7a910381cf7

NIOSH and FDA Collaboration Streamlines Regulatory Oversight for N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators

Previously, N95 filtering facepiece respirators (N95) used in healthcare needed approval from both the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).* On May 17, 2018, FDA published a final order in the Federal Register to exempt a subset of N95s intended for use in

PPE

Ventilation

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healthcare from premarket notification requirements subject to conditions and limitations. This exemption will decrease the regulatory burden on some respirator manufacturers, and will eliminate private costs, and expenditures required to comply with certain federal regulations.

Read more: https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2018/05/17/hc-respirators-approval/

Noise Exposure ‘New Secondhand Smoke’

One of the quietest places in this noisy city is in the middle of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which draws 7 million visitors a year. Most don’t know of the tiny Astor Chinese Garden Court tucked deep within the giant museum. And so, it is quiet here.

In a city whose cacophony can reach 95 decibels in Midtown Manhattan — way above the federal government’s recommended average of no more than 70 decibels — the commotion over all that racket involves irate residents, anti-noise advocates, bars, helicopter sightseeing companies, landscapers and construction companies, as well as City Hall. The 311 nonemergency call service gets 50,000 calls a day, and the No. 1 complaint is noise. New York University has a five-year study underway — funded by the National Science Foundation — to monitor noise in New York. The Sounds of New York City project aims to track sound across the city. But what policymakers will do with the information is not yet clear. Read more: http://www.columbian.com/news/2018/may/21/noise-exposure-new-secondhand-smoke/

Noise

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Federal Government Sends Warning to Vaping Companies The Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday sent warning letters to 13 manufacturers, distributors and retailers of e-cigarette liquids. In a phone briefing for reporters, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the companies are endangering kids by marketing the products to resemble juice boxes, cookies or candy. Read more: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/05/02/607466204/federal-

government-sends-warning-to-vaping-companies

CDC Reports U.S. Illnesses from Mosquito, Tick, and Flea Bites

Increasing

In 2016, the most common mosquito-borne viruses were West Nile, dengue, and Zika, while the most common tickborne diseases

were Lyme disease and ehrlichiosis/ anaplasmosis. The most common disease resulting from the bite of an infected flea was plague, though it was rare. Illnesses from mosquito, tick, and flea bites have tripled in the U.S., with more than 640,000 cases reported between 2004 and 2016, according to the latest Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the 13 years between 2004 and 2016, nine new germs spread by mosquitoes and ticks were discovered or introduced into the U.S. Read more: https://ohsonline.com/articles/2018/05/03

Preventive Medicine

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/cdc-reports-us-illnesses-from-insect-bites-increasing.aspx?admgarea=ht.InfectiousDiseases

Study: Treated Clothes Stop Ticks In Their Tracks

A new study shows that clothes treated with permethrin, an insecticide, were able to disrupt and impair ticks' ability to bite humans—including Ixodes scapularis (the black-legged tick or deer tick), the primary vector of Lyme disease in the eastern United States. Though permethrin-treated clothing is commercially available in the United States, there’s been some debate on how effective it is at repelling ticks. This study, by researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and published yesterday in the Journal of Medical Entomology, challenged three types of ticks with contact with permethrin-treated

clothing for 1 minute, and measured tick activity during the next hour. Read more: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2018/05/study-treated-clothes-stop-ticks-their-tracks

Researchers Use Infrared Technology to Detect Zika Virus in

Mosquitoes

The light-based method of analysis called near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can detect Zika virus in mosquitoes more accurately, faster, and cheaper than traditional methods, a study today in Science Advances reports.

Researchers from Australia, Brazil, and the United States conducted the tests on Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the main insect vector for transmitting Zika. They found that NIRS can detect the virus in the heads and thoraxes (midsections) of the mosquitoes with 94.2% to 99.2% accuracy. The investigators say this technique is 18 times faster and 110 times cheaper than quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), a

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technique commonly used to screen for pathogens in mosquitoes. Read more: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-

perspective/2018/05/news-scan-may-23-2018 (scroll down 5th heading)

Group Publishes Infection Prevention and Control Guide for Clinics

A healthcare delivery shift from hospitals to outpatient clinics — along with an increasing number of procedures done in clinic settings — brings a greater risk of healthcare-related infections, which prompted a team from the University of Texas to publish the first step-by-step guide for improving infection prevention and control (IPC) practices in clinics. The report appears in the latest issue of Open Forum Infectious Diseases. Earlier recommendations were broad or were issued in the wake of outbreaks and

epidemics, and the new report offers a more proactive systemized approach, the authors said. Many clinics don't have resources to launch a robust IPC program, so the group suggests focusing on high-priority areas such as injection safety, sterilization, and high-level disinfection. Read more: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2018/05/news-scan-may-03-2018 (Scroll down 5th heading)

Recycled Electrical Products Lead to Hazardous Chemicals Appearing in Everyday Items

Hazardous chemicals such as bromine, antimony and lead are finding their way into food-contact items and other everyday products because manufacturers are using recycled electrical equipment as a source of black plastic, according to a new study. The substances are among those applied to devices, such as laptops and music systems, as flame retardants and pigments but

Environmental Health

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remain within the products when they reach the end of their useful lives.

Read more: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-05/uop-rep052918.php

Prolonged Exposure to Air Pollution Triggers Inflammation and

Progression of Cancer Genes Prolonged exposure to coarse particles of air pollutants trigger inflammation and cause the progression of cancer-related genes, a breakthrough study at Cedars-Sinai suggests. Previous research has linked air pollution to a number of diseases including cancer. The latest findings showed that nickel particles in Los Angeles's heavily polluted air can alter genes related to disease development. "This study, which looked at novel data gathered in the Los Angeles area, has significant implications for the assessment of air quality in the region, particularly as people are exposed to air pollution here for decades," said lead author Dr. Julia Ljubimova, the director of the

Nanomedicine Research Center at Cedars-Sinai. Read more: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/227255/20180509/prolonged-exposure-to-air-pollution-triggers-inflammation-and-progression-of-cancer-genes.htm

Minimizing Exposure to Common Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals May Reduce Obesity Rates

Everyday products carry environmental

chemicals that may be making us fat by interfering with our hormones, according to research presented in Barcelona at the European Society of Endocrinology annual meeting, ECE 2018. Following recommendations on how to avoid these chemicals could help minimise exposure

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and potentially reduce the risk of obesity and its complications. Obesity increasingly affects millions of people worldwide, with cases rising sharply in young children and babies -- a trend which is not explained by evolving diets and lifestyles alone. The condition contributes to an estimated 2.8 million deaths per year

worldwide and leads to many other health complications, which are a large financial burden on healthcare systems. Read more: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180520090900.htm

Impact of Workplace Exposure and Stress on Neck Pain and Disabilities in Women—A Longitudinal Follow-up after a

Rehabilitation Intervention

Introduction The aim was to evaluate if pain, disability, and work productivity are influenced by physical and psychosocial work exposures as well as by stress, up to 1 year after a randomized controlled trial treatment

intervention, and to determine whether any such association differed between treatment and control groups. Methods Ninety-seven working women suffering non-specific neck pain (n = 67 treatment group, n = 30 control group) were followed from end of treatment intervention and at 9- and 15-month follow-ups, respectively. Physical and psychosocial exposures, as well as perceived stress, were assessed after the treatment intervention. Read more: https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article-abstract/62/5/591/4942287?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Ergonomics

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Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, 2018 The AFL-CIO’s just-released annual report on the state of safety and health protections for America’s workers tallied up millions of work-related injuries in 2016 that resulted in billions of dollars in costs to the economy and revealed that workplace violence is now the second leading cause of death while on the job in the U.S. Death on the Job; The Toll of Neglect, 2018, is based on 2016 data and features state and national information on workplace fatalities, injuries, illnesses, the number and frequency of workplace inspections, penalties, funding, staffing and public employee coverage under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. It also includes

information on the state of mine safety and health. Read more: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/updates/upd-04-27-18.html

Comparing Data from the Poisons Information Centre with Employers’ Accident Reports Reveal Under-Recognized Hazards at the Workplace

Records of injuries and incidents provide an important basis for injury prevention related to hazardous substances at the workplace. The present study aimed to review available data on injuries and

incidents involving hazardous substances and investigate how data from the Poisons Information Centre could complement the records of the Swedish Work Environment Authority. We found two major obstacles for using injury/incident data based on employers’ mandatory reporting. First, it was not possible to quickly and reliably identify injuries caused by hazardous substances, and second, data identifying substances or products are not systematically included

Safety

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Read more: https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article-

abstract/62/5/517/4913655?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Safety Labels vs Signs: What’s the Difference?

The accurate interpretation of safety signs is crucial to prevent injuries and save lives. OSHA has set industry standards that clearly define what a safety sign is, how it should be used, and where it should be placed. However, when it comes to deciding whether to use a sign or a label to convey a message, OSHA leaves that part up to you. Every facility will have different priorities and constraints when it comes to choosing safety labels and signs. It may often require experimentation with different kinds of materials and designs to determine what is most effective, but these basic definitions apply:

Read more: http://www.ehstoday.com/ppe/safety-labels-vs-signs-what-s-difference

NIOSH Studying Condition of Stockpiled Respirators, Surgical Gowns

Millions of respirators and surgical gowns are in storage around the country,

stockpiled for use during infectious disease epidemics such as avian flu or Ebola. But after years in storage, will those items still protect the wearers as they should? A NIOSH team is trying to answer this question through a three-year study at stockpiles around the country, with sample items from them sent back to a NIOSH lab in Morgantown, W.Va., for testing. Lee A. Greenawald, Ph.D., a physical scientist and project officer with the agency's National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, provided a snapshot of the project, now in its second year, on May 23 during the AIHce EXP conference here.

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Read more: https://ohsonline.com/articles/2018/05/29

/niosh-studying-condition-of-stockpiled-respirators-surgical-gowns.aspx

Study Find Sharps Containers Pose No Risk of C Difficile Infection A microbiological investigation published yesterday in the American Journal of Infection Control has found the containers used to safely dispose of needles and other sharp medical instruments pose no risk of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). The investigation was following up on a 2015 study that found that a significantly lower rate of CDI in hospitals that used disposable sharps containers (DSCs) over those using reusable sharps containers (RSCs), but did not propose a scientific explanation for how the containers might spread CDI to patients. The hypothesis was that the statistical association found in the previous study was an artifact and that

DSCs and RSCs may have a low spore burden but no fomite potential. Read more: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2018/05/stewardship-resistance-scan-may-23-2018 (scroll down)

U.S. ‘a Lot More Fragile than We Realize’ on Biothreats, Experts Warn

The nation is critically underprepared to confront transnational biological threats ranging from DIY bioterror agents to natural pathogens that outpace current pharmaceuticals and overwhelm medical facilities, the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense heard at a Wednesday event at the Hudson Institute. James Lawler, a retired Navy commander whose experience includes serving as

Emergency Preparedness

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director for medical preparedness policy on the National Security Council and director for biodefense policy on the White House’s Homeland Security Council, warned that the country is “woefully unprepared for these biological threats” in an increasingly interdependent world.

Read more: https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/pandemic-biohazard/country-a-lot-more-ragile-than-we-realize/

Report to Army Finds Blast from Some Weapons May Put Shooter's Brain at Risk

Military personnel may be endangering their own brains when they operate certain shoulder-fired weapons, according to an Army-commissioned report released Monday. The report, from the Center for a New American Security, says these bazooka-like weapons pose a hazard because they are powered by an explosion just inches from the operator's head.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/04/30/606142634/report-to-army-cites-concussion-risk-of-weapons-blast-to-the-shooter

Deployment Health

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OECD Tour de Table Reports on Developments on Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published a May 17, 2018, document entitled Developments in Delegations on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials -- Tour de The document compiles information provided by delegations for the February 2018 OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) meeting on current developments on the safety of manufactured nanomaterials. It aims to

summarize relevant information on activities related to manufactured nanomaterials, as well as other activities on nanotechnologies at the international level. The reported developments include: - Canada is currently developing a risk assessment framework that will be used to guide environmental and human health risk assessment of prioritized nanomaterials in commerce. Expert consultations on the draft framework are planned for 2018; - As part of its evaluation of the Danish Nanoproduct Register, Denmark is checking how neighbor countries are following the use of nanomaterials on their national markets. The results of this study were expected to be publicly available in the beginning of 2018; Read more: http://www.nanotech-now.com/columns/?article=1327

Nanotechnology

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Ernst and Warren Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Improve Servicemember

Blast Exposure Injury Prevention United States Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today introduced the bipartisan Blast Exposure and Brain Injury Prevention Act of 2018. The legislation would improve research on traumatic brain injury (TBI) among servicemembers and strengthen the Department of Defense’s (DOD) capacity to track and prevent blast pressure exposure. Since 2000, more than 370,000 servicemembers have received a first-time

diagnosis of traumatic brain injury, in many cases due to the use of improvised explosive devices (IED) in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Read more: https://kiow.com/2018/05/20/ernst-and-warren-introduce-bipartisan-bill-to-improve-servicemember-blast-exposure-injury-prevention/

Look at OSHA’s Latest Regulatory Agenda

The Department of Labor’s Spring 2018 Regulatory Agenda includes 20 OSHA entries: 4 in the final rule stage, 7 in the proposed rule stage, and 9 in the prerule stage. Actions with significant implications for employers include the Standards

Improvement Project IV (final rule stage); a deregulatory action under the Occupational Exposure to Beryllium standard (proposed rule stage); many revisions to the Cranes and Derricks in Construction standard (proposed rule stage): and revisions to the Emergency Response and Preparedness regulations (prerule stage). Read more: https://ehsdailyadvisor.blr.com/2018/05/look-oshas-latest-regulatory-agenda/

Regulatory Research & Industrial Hygiene Professional News

OSHA

Legislation

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Army Industrial Hygiene News and Regulatory Summary

NIOSH Warns Firefighters about Rhabdo Firefighters—whether they are working in burning buildings or burning forests—can experience a dangerous condition called rhabdomyolysis or rhabdo. Rhabdo is the breakdown of damaged muscle tissue that releases proteins and electrolytes into the blood. These substances can damage the heart and kidneys and cause permanent disability and even death. The condition can occur for many reasons, including engaging in the type of extreme physical exertion common with firefighting. Read more: https://safety.blr.com/workplace-safety-

news/employee-health/employee-health/NIOSH-warns-firefighters-about-rhabdo/

EPA Looks to Ban Methylene Chloride in Paint Removers In an announcement, the EPA appears to indicate that it will finalize an Obama-era proposal that would ban methylene chloride in all consumer and most commercial paint- and coating-removal products. Read more: https://ehsdailyadvisor.blr.com/2018/05/epa-looks-ban-methylene-chloride-paint-removers/

EPA

NIOSH

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Training

APHC

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This monthly summary is published by the Industrial

Hygiene Program Management Division for the Army Public Health Center.

POINTS OF CONTACT:

By Email:

ihnews@amedd.army.mil

By Phone or FAX: Office: (410)436-3161 FAX: (410)436-8795

On the Web:

http://phc.amedd.army.mil/topics/workplacehealth/ih/Pages/

default.aspx

Articles appearing in this summary are a collection of articles taken verbatim from public sources and do not necessarily represent the opinions/views, policy, or guidance of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U. S. Government. The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Army for the information, products or services contained therein. The U.S. Army does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. The use of trademarked names does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Army but is intended only to assist in identification of a specific product.