NIOSH eNews Volume 3, Number 9

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NIOSH eNews logo Volume 3 Number 9 January

2006

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|From the Director's Desk

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|Dr. , NIOSH DirectorLeading by example: NIOSH/town achieves

Star status |

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|NIOSH Topic Page Offers Resource on Preventing Coal Mine Deaths, Injuries

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|Topics include facts on dangerous gases, mine rescue training and ventilation

controls. |

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|NIOSH Presents Evidence Package to National Academies for Review of

Occupational Energy Research Program

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|Review will help future NIOSH program planning.

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|Panel Members, Next Steps for NAS Review of Two NIOSH Programs Announced

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|Committees reviewing Mining and Hearing Loss Prevention Programs meet this

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| |Developments Highlight NIOSH Leadership|

| |in PPE Research |

| |Included are a technical investigation,|

| |new respirator testing and |

| |certification criteria, a new |

| |partnership, and professional |

| |recognition. |

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| |CSTE and NIOSH Release Occupational |

| |Surveillance Data |

| |New report defines 19 occupational |

| |health indicators based on 13 state |

| |pilot program. |

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| |NIOSH and Beryllium Producer hold |

| |Annual Stakeholder Meeting |

| |Company workers and NIOSH researchers |

| |exchange information to further |

| |beryllium research. |

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Nanotechnology News From Our Partners Upcoming Events

Nanotechnology health Preventing chemical and International

Symposium:

issues reviewed in journal dust hazards focus of Biomedical Aspects of

article three new videos from CSB. Nano-Toxicology

NIOSH Nanotechnology Communication Products IFISH 3

expertise highlighted in Injury and Asthma Among

ISO Technical Committee Youth Less Than 20 Years

Meeting of Age on Minority Farm Call for Abstracts:

1st

Operations in the United American Conference

on

States, 2000 Volume II: Human Vibration

NIOSH to form field Hispanic Minority Data (

research team for DHHS NIOSH Pub. No.

partnerships in studying, 2006-109). Work, Stress and

Health

assessing Nanotechnology 2006: Making a

Difference

processes in the Workplace

Technology News

512-Improve Drill Dust

r2p Corner Collector Capture Through Call for Abstracts:

13th

WANTED: Partners to move Better Shroud and Inlet International

Respiratory

science to solutions. Configurations (DHHS NIOSH Protection of

Healthcare

Pub. No. 2006-108). Workers and Emergency

NORA Responders

NORA Liaison Committee

recognizes outstanding Getting to Zero…The Human

research: Nominations due Side of Mining (DHHS NIOSH 2006 NORA Symposium:

February 1, 2006 Pub. No. 2006-112) Research Makes a

Difference

NORA Town Hall Meetings

continue in January AIHce 2006 and VENT

2006

International

Symposium on

Wood Dust

Acronym of the Month

Personal Alert Safety

Systems (PASS)

From the Director's Desk

On December 14, the NIOSH town facility was awarded " Star " status under

the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Voluntary

Protection Programs (VPP). This is a notable accomplishment. The VPP program is

OSHA’s official recognition of the outstanding efforts of employers and

employees who have demonstrated excellence in occupational safety and health.

According to the most recent figures from OSHA, the prestigious designation of

" Star " status has only been awarded to 938 U.S. worksites under Federal

jurisdiction as of November 30, 2005.

To obtain " Star " status, VPP requires worksites to have successful ongoing

safety and health management systems, cooperation between labor and management,

and low incident rates. The town facility was awarded the " Star " status

after OSHA and other VPP representatives conducted a thorough site visit

consisting of program audits, records inspections, facility walkthroughs, and

208 formal and informal interviews with employees. The cooperative efforts of

town’s dedicated safety office staff and several employee

representatives

were recognized by the audit team. Additional items that particularly impressed

the audit team were the safety and health committee, the safety training and

recordkeeping programs, and the completeness of the site’s employee fitness

programs.

This recognition demonstrates that we at NIOSH not only produce world quality

science, but we also know how to “walk the walk†when it comes to making

our own

workplace as safe, healthy and secure as possible. Special thanks and

congratulations are extended to Dan Browning, the Management Operations Officer

for the town facility, the Safety Office staff for coordinating the

extensive preparations and hard work required to reach this level of success in

a relatively short period of time, and to each of the town employees who

contributed time and effort into the preparations for the site evaluation and

provided the necessary employee involvement required to receive this

designation. The town facility houses the Division of Respiratory Disease

Studies, the Division of Safety Research and the Health Effects Laboratory

Division. More information on the OSHA Voluntary Protection Programs can be

found at http://www.osha.gov/vpp.

NIOSH Topic Page Offers Resource on Preventing Coal Mine Deaths, Injuries

The tragedy of the January 2, 2006, Sago mine explosion in Tallmansville, West

Virginia, reinforces the importance of recognizing the potential hazards in

underground coal mining, and the need for systematic safety and health

vigilance. A new NIOSH Web topic page provides information on methane, carbon

monoxide, and other hazards in coal mining, and a portal to additional NIOSH

information on mine safety and mine rescue. The page is located at

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/minerescue/.

NIOSH Presents Evidence Package to National Academies for Review of

Occupational Energy

Research Program

OERP logoNIOSH has presented a full package of information to the

National Academies (NA) for its review of the NIOSH Occupational Energy

Research Program. The document, called an Evidence Package, presents a

comprehensive overview and history of the program, a detailed summary of

completed research and communication products, and a rationale and plan

for future research. NIOSH research has an important role in supporting

the well-being of more than 600,000 energy workers in the U.S. and more

than 10 million worldwide. Much work, however, remains to be done in

translating heath effects research into impact-driven practice for

improving worker and public health. The NA review will help NIOSH set an

optimal direction for future efforts to continue research and to move

from research to practice in this area. The Evidence Package can be

found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nas/oerp/OERP-NAS.html.

Panel Members, Next Steps for NAS Review of Two NIOSH Programs Announced

In an effort that is separate from but related to the review of the

Occupational

Energy Research Program, the National Academies (NA) has initiated its

evaluation of selected NIOSH research program areas with the formation of

provisional committees to review two programs. The NA will be evaluating not

only what NIOSH research programs are producing, but also determining the

extent

to which NIOSH research is relevant to worker health and safety needs in the

workplace. They will also evaluate the extent to which NIOSH research

contributes to reducing risk of occupational injuries, illnesses, and deaths.

The evaluation is being undertaken by the National Research Council (NRC) and

the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in the NA.

In December, the NA announced provisional committees to review the hearing loss

prevention and mining injury and illness prevention. Following a 20-day public

comment period, the NA has set up meetings of the two committees.

The provisional committee reviewing the hearing loss prevention program

met on January 5-6, 2006 in Washington, DC. More information on this

meeting can be found on the NA Web site,

http://www4.nas.edu/webcr.nsf/MeetingDisplay1/DELS-O-04-01-B?OpenDocument.

The provisional committee reviewing the mining injury and illness

prevention program will meet on January 12-13, 2006 in Washington, DC.

More information on this meeting can be found on the NA Web site,

http://www4.nas.edu/webcr.nsf/MeetingDisplay1/DELS-O-04-01-C?OpenDocument.

Stay tuned to eNews for more information on the NA review process and

additional

meeting dates and times.

Developments Highlight NIOSH Leadership in PPE Research

Recent developments involving a technical investigation, new respirator testing

and certification

criteria, a new partnership, and professional recognition highlight NIOSH's

leadership in research for

advancing personal protective equipment. The developments pertain to activities

by NIOSH's National

Personal Protective Technology Laboratory:

NIOSH is conducting a technical investigation to understand the reasons

for reported problems

with Personal Alert Safety Systems (PASS) used by fire and emergency

services. PASS systems

sound a loud audio alarm if the wearer becomes immobilized for 25

seconds. The audio alarm

assists rescue crews in locating the downed firefighter. The performance

of PASS systems is

covered in a National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard. An

April 2005 letter from the

NIOSH Division of Safety Research to NFPA raised the possible limitations

in PASS performance in

high temperatures encountered when fighting fires. The possibility of

reduced PASS audio alarm

in high temperature environments was identified during line of duty death

investigations by the

NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program Team (

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/firehome.html). NIOSH presented the findings of

the Team to the NFPA

Technical Correlating Committee for Fire and Emergency Services

Protective Clothing and

Equipment on which it has membership. NFPA posted a PASS alarm warning

notice on the NFPA web

site while the investigation is on-going (

http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=136 & itemID=26606 & URL=Codes%20and%2\

0Standards/NFPA%

20News). NIOSH is asking users to notify it of any additional instances

of in-service PASS

performance limitations by emailing NPPTL_PASS@.... More information

is available at

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/usernotices/default.html#pass.

On December 13, 2005, NIOSH convened a public meeting with respirator

manufacturers and other

stakeholders to continue discussions on concepts for standards for

testing and certifying

powered, air-purifying respirators (PAPRs) and closed-circuit,

self-contained, breathing

apparatus that would be used for respiratory protection against chemical,

biological,

radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) agents. In the public meeting, NIOSH

noted that it proposes, as

a first step, to establish criteria administratively for testing PAPRs

for CBRN exposures, so

that testing of such devices can begin in a timely way, and then to

develop formal standards

under a notice-and-comment process. If devices are certified after

testing under the

administratively established criteria, manufacturers would not be

required to re-submit them for

testing under the formally established criteria. Additional details are

available at

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/.

NIOSH and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

formalized an agreement on

December 2, 2005, to facilitate cooperation between the two

organizations. The agreement

involves the determination of performance requirements and cooperation in

the development of

test methods, product specifications, practices, guides, classifications,

and terminology

related to work and emergency responder protective clothing and

equipment. Further information

on the agreement is available at

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/r2p/mou/ASTMmou.html.

NIOSH chemist Dennis Viscusi was named U.S. Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention (CDC)

Employee of the Month for December 2005. The award recognized Dennis'

technical contributions to

the transformation of a 1940s-era building on NIOSH's Bruceton, Pa.,

campus into a

state-of-the-art laboratory facility for testing respirators. The

renovated laboratory building

opened in May 2005. While carrying out his regular duties, Dennis helped

with every detail of

the building renovation, from laying out the lab benches and placing test

equipment to ensuring

that the appropriate power requirements were available for the lab

equipment to minimize

electrical interference. More information on Dennis' contributions is

available at

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/enews/viscusi/viscusi.html.

CSTE and NIOSH Release Occupational Surveillance Data

The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) and NIOSH have

released a new report, Putting Data to Work: Occupational Health Indicators

from

Thirteen Pilot States for 2000. The report defines 19 occupational health

indicators (OHI), specific measures of a work-related disease or injury or

factors associated with occupational health in a specified population. The

indicators allow for assessing and monitoring overall health and provide a

baseline from which comparisons and trends over time can be tracked. OHIs are

intended to increase the consistency and availability of occupational disease

and injury surveillance data at the state and federal levels. The set of OHIs

are part of a larger national process of public health indicator development

including injury, environmental, chronic disease and the “Leading Health

Indicators†of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Healthy

People

2010 project. The CSTE-NIOSH report can be found at

http://www.cste.org/pdffiles/newpdffiles/CSTE_OHI.pdf.

NIOSH and Beryllium Producer hold Annual Stakeholder Meeting

On November 3 and 4, 2005, NIOSH and Brush Wellman Inc. (BWI), the major U.S.

producer of beryllium and beryllium-containing products, held their annual

stakeholder communications meeting in town, WV. The meeting served as a

communication forum among workforce representatives from all company levels,

company health and safety staff and NIOSH researchers. Workers highlighted

research-driven changes put into practice at the facility over the past 20

years, described the beryllium management program and its implementation at

another facility, and posed questions to NIOSH researchers as ideas for future

research. NIOSH researchers presented a review of the program progress and

updates on ongoing industrial hygiene, genetic, and epidemiologic research

studies. Upon their return to the plant, the workers shared the meeting

information with coworkers and their families. In 1998, NIOSH and BWI signed a

Memorandum of Understanding that outlined a plan to conduct beryllium-related

occupational safety and health research, with the ultimate goal of preventing

beryllium disease. More information on NIOSH beryllium research highlights is

available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/beryllium/newsletter.html.

Nanotechnology

NIOSH Nanotech imageNanotechnology health issues reviewed in journal article

The body of scientific evidence about the occupational health implications of

airborne, engineered nanoparticles is comprehensively reviewed in a

new, peer-reviewed journal article by two scientists, one a current NIOSH

researcher and the other formerly with NIOSH. The article, “Airborne

Nanostructured Particles and Occupational Health,†by D. Maynard and

Eileen D. Kuempel, appears in the December 2005 Journal of Nanoparticle

Research. Dr. Maynard is now with the Woodrow International Center for

Scholars, and Dr. Kuempel is with the NIOSH Education and Information

Division.

An abstract of the article is available online at Springerlink.

From the available evidence, the scientists conclude that the current data,

although limited, suggest the wisdom of taking prudent measures in

working with engineered nanomaterials. While more research is needed to better

understand the characteristics and behaviors of nanomaterials

relevant for assessing their occupational health implications, enough data

exist for suggesting preliminary guiding principles, according to the

article.

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