Debra Coyle McFadden 2021 Eula Bingham Awardee OHS Section APHA October 2021 markdcatlin 2021-11-01 | 2021 Eula Bingham Awardee: Debra Coyle McFaddenOccupational Health and Safety Section of the American Public Health Association, October 27, 2021Debra Coyle McFadden is the executive director of the NJ Work Environment Council (WEC). McFadden has twenty years of experience in public policy and has trained thousands of workers, union representatives, and community members on environmental health and occupational safety and health.In response to COVID-19, McFadden and the WEC team jumped into action. In March 2020 McFadden reached out to colleagues at Rutgers University LEARN to partner on a webinar titled, COVID-19: Protecting and Educating Workers, that featured state/federal officials discussing COVID-19 and the latest actions by the government. After the success of the initial webinar, McFadden realized the critical need for this type of ongoing education. This led to the creation of the Saving Lives, Protecting Workers weekly webinar series which ran from March 2020 through April 2021. The hour-long webinars provided the latest COVID-19 information and provided a space to hear from frontline workers, union representatives and community members. In total, McFadden and team developed and produced 46 webinars with more than 100 presenters and 4,710 participants in attendance. The series continues on an as-needed basis.McFadden also contributed to two national and one state COVID-19 reports emphasizing the urgency of COVID-19 worker protections. In addition, she worked with allies in the Protect New Jersey Workers Coalition, which WEC is a member, to advocate for COVID-19 worker protections. This advocacy led to Gov. Phil Murphy signing a worker protection Executive Order that included COVID-19 worker training funds. This was one of the strongest worker rights EOs to be issued in the country.Under McFadden’s leadership, WEC has trained more than 450 participants on COVID-19 awareness and prevention in the workplace and has fielded more than 170 technical assistance requests. In January 2021, WEC received the National Healthy Schools Hero Award from the Healthy Schools Network for its COVID-19 work. Eula Bingham Award for Excellence in OHS Education and TrainingDr. Eula Bingham (1929-2020) was known for putting OSHA on the map and shaping the field of occupational health and safety and toxicology. During her tenure, the Agency focused on adopting strong standards for an employee’s right-to-know. This included not just work with OSHA, but collaboration with other Federal Agencies and policy stakeholders. She was an out-spoken and unwavering voice of worker’s rights, women’s rights, environmental health, and social justice. Throughout her career, she worked with state legislators, labor unions, grassroots organizations, and consumers to implement safety regulations at all levels of government. This award recognizes individuals’ innovation and commitment to OHS training and education.
Marysel Pagán SantanaMarysel Pagán Santana 2021 Lorin Kerr Awardee OHS Section APHA October 27 markdcatlin 2021-10-31 | 2021 Lorin Kerr Awardee: Marysel Pagán Santana, DrPH, MSOccupational Health and Safety Section of the American Public Health Association, October 27, 2021Marysel Pagán Santana has devoted her career to improving worker health and safety, particularly those impacted by the climate crisis and public health emergencies in Puerto Rico. Marysel started her career as an industrial hygienist and her doctoral studies focused specifically on disenfranchised workers. She examined how the Worker Protection Standard, the federal regulation to protect agricultural workers from pesticide poisoning, needed improvement to meet the needs of Puerto Rican workers. She interned with a community health center in a remote mountainous area in Puerto Rico, conducting and later leading their farmworker health and safety training program. Her advisors were skeptical that occupational health and safety interventions could take place outside more traditional factory settings. She ultimately convinced them otherwise; they honored her with an environmental justice award, and she changed her dissertation to study farmworker health.Marysel’s studies were interrupted in 2017 when hurricanes ravaged the island. As student body president, she tirelessly advocated to get students and surrounding communities’ food, lodging and other assistance. She used this experience to successfully lead a community mobilization project with Migrant Clinicians Network, where she is helping health centers prepare, manage, and respond to emergencies, including how to ensure workers are protected. Throughout COVID-19 she been an important advocate for Puerto Rican workers. Endless hours of training and technical assistance to health departments supported the systematic documentation by contact tracers and cases investigators on work-related outbreaks. In addition, she worked with the health department in the development and implementation of health and safety protocols in schools for a safe reopening. She also helped school custodians and teachers prepare for in-person learning, helping them understand how to protect themselves and improve ventilation.Marysel embodies the essence of the Lorin Kerr Award. Her sustained and outstanding efforts underscore her dedication to improve the lives of workers.Lorin Kerr AwardLorin Kerr (1909 -1991) was a life-long activist and served for over 40 years as a physician for the United Mine Workers. He was dedicated to improving access to health care for coal miners and other workers and to obtaining compensation for and preventing black lung disease. This award recognizes a younger activist for their sustained and outstanding efforts and dedication to improve the lives of workers.
Eileen Storey 2021 Alice Hamilton Awardee OHS Section APHA October 27 markdcatlin 2021-10-31 | 2021 Alice Hamilton Awardee: Eileen Storey, MD, MPHOccupational Health and Safety Section of the American Public Health Association, October 27, 2021Dr. Eileen Storey’s passion for occupational health was unwavering. An occupational medicine physician, she improved the health, treatment and care of workers for many decades. She dedicated her life to advancing the knowledge of the relationship between indoor environmental factors and adverse health effects, especially respiratory health outcomes. She also inspired many at the University of Connecticut Health Center (UCHC) to support and advocate for worker rights, safety protections and well-being, especially via the APHA OHS section. Because of her leadership, her team was encouraged to share their scientific findings and recommendations with many labor organizations, public health departments, and professional associations so that their data reached many audiences who serve working people.Dr. Storey was an excellent communicator, and she taught others to actively listen to workers and show respect for their self-knowledge. As Director of the Center for Indoor Environments and Health at UCHC from 2000-2008, she provided clinical expertise, tracked and evaluated workers’ health symptoms, assessed buildings for causes of poor indoor air quality, and recommended engineering and technical resources to reduce worker risk of health symptoms and illnesses. Most notably, Eileen increased the understanding of the prevalence and severity of asthma and other environmentally related illnesses among office workers, teachers, union leaders, public health practitioners, and school children. Dr. Storey also served as Chief of the Respiratory Health Division at NIOSH from 2008-2017 devoting her to time to designing smarter surveillance systems for occupational health and safety to improve clinical care, empower patients, and reduce costs. She embodied the same spirit and dedication to occupational health as Alice Hamilton.The APHA OHS Section extends our deepest sympathies to the loved ones of Dr. Eileen Storey, who passed away on September 26, 2021. Her contributions to worker safety and health will not be forgotten.Alice Hamilton Award Alice Hamilton (1869-1970) was considered the founder of occupational health in the U.S.and was a tireless activist and physician who dedicated her life to improving the health and safety of workers. She was committed to science, service and compassion. This awardrecognizes the life-long contributions of individuals who have distinguished themselves through a career of hard work and dedication to improve the lives of workers.
Manti Michael Nota 2021 Leslie Nickels International Health & Safety Awardee OHS Section APHA Oct 27 markdcatlin 2021-10-30 | 2021 Leslie Nickels International Health and Safety Awardee: Manti Michael Nota, MSc, AFOHOccupational Health and Safety Section of the American Public Health Association, October 27, 2021Manti Nota is a Tanzanian industrial hygienist who has dedicated his career to improving occupational health in Africa. In 2016, Manti left a secure position in Tanzania’s largest mine to work with self-employed artisanal miners in communities in northern Nigeria where lead poisoning from gold ore has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of children and severe poisoning of thousands of children and adults. As a staff member of Occupational Knowledge International, a U.S. based nonprofit organization, he has been embedded with Doctors Without Borders who have been leading the response to the lead poisoning crisis in Nigeria since 2010. Manti has demonstrated dedication to improving the health of mining communities under extremely difficult conditions in a region suffering from kidnappings and violence. He exceled at earning the trust of miners, religious authorities and community leaders to work cooperatively to change work practices in order to reduce lead, silica and other hazardous exposures. He created health and safety committees in the target villages to empower miners to oversee improvements and to ensure sustainability over time. Manti also initiated a train-the-trainers program to facilitate peer training of new miners in response to large numbers of internal displaced people moving into the area.In this role, Manti has trained more than 4,000 miners in safer mining practices, organized lead hazard awareness training for women in the impacted communities, and provided training and mentorship to state level government employees. The success of these efforts has been documented in two articles in the peer-reviewed literature.Throughout his five years in Nigeria, he was away from his family for extensive periods of time and based in remote villages where his movements were restricted due to insecurity. Despite these hardships he has proven his dedication and returned to Nigeria to work with these communities.Leslie Nickels International Health and Safety AwardLeslie Nickels (1953-2017) used her training as an educator and industrial hygienist to advance social justice for disenfranchised workers. This award recognizes individuals with outstanding achievement in the field of occupational health and safety outside the United States.
Skin Cancer Hazard to Oil Refinery Workers in the 1940s, Standard Oil, 1954 markdcatlin 2021-02-23 | This clip is from the 1954 film, Medical Service for Industry, produced by the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. The 26-minute film describes the corporation's approach to company-provided medical services for employees in its hundreds of locations around the world. This clip shows the research and action after the company learned that some petroleum oils, from their new fluid catalytic cracking process, caused cancer when applied to the skin of mice. In this clip, Standard Oil ends by explaining that measures for minimizing worker exposure to carcinogenic oils have been implemented. However, that was not the end of this story. The following is taken from the 1974 article Oil Refineries by Rick Engler in the HEALTH/PAC Bulletin published by the Health Policy Advisory Center No. 61 November/December 1974 and available at http://www.healthpacbulletin.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/1974-Nov-Dec-61.pdf . Rick Engler is a past Board member of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (2015 – 2020) and founder and past Director of the New Jersey Work Environment Council (WEC). Catalytic cracking found its first application during World War II in the manufacture of aviation gasoline. In 1942 Standard Oil (New Jersey) built the first commercial fluid catalytic cracker (FCC). That same year, scientists found that samples of some high boiling catalytically cracked oils caused cancer when applied to the skin of mice. In 1947, scientists in the Medical Department of Jersey Standard Oil concluded that ".. . a potential cancer hazard existed where man came in contact with these oils." And in 1951 Standard reported that measures for minimizing worker exposure to carcinogenic oils, such as better personal hygiene practices, keeping units closed and painting pipelines containing these oils had been instituted. While it is unclear to what extent carcinogen exposure was really minimized at Jersey refineries, it is certain that other oil companies did little or nothing to prevent contact with such potentially hazardous hydrocarbons. The American Petroleum Institute (API), the industry's trade association, funded a study in 1949 at the University of Cincinnati's Kettering Laboratory to find out the cancer-causing potential of intermediate and finished petroleum products. To do this, the Kettering researchers experimented with mice and surveyed company medical departments to find whether cancer was a problem afflicting refinery workers. Mice rapidly developed cancer from some fractions, confirming the results of previous research by Standard. The primary carcinogenic agents in these oils were found to be certain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In 1950 the Committee sponsored an epidemiological study to determine the number of workers who had developed cancer. However, most oil companies refused and/or were unable to cooperate with the study. In 1956, the Medical Advisory Committee ended the survey, concluding that there was ". . . no evidence of occupational cancer within the population surveyed." The conclusion also reflected the fact that, whereas it may take 20 or even 30 years after exposure for cancer to be detected, the study ended in 1956, ten years or so after the widespread use of catalytic cracking began. But the scientists who had worked on the project remained concerned. Despite their healthy suspicion that certain hydrocarbons were likely to produce cancer, their abiding faith in the good intentions of industry resulted in their falsely assuming that ".. . high engineering standards and good housekeeping, with respect to this modern automatic equipment has, in general, restricted the contacts of workmen with these products." But had the scientists spoken to oil workers, their suspicions would have been heightened. They would, for example, have discovered that cat crackers were not, as the industry had claimed, totally closed systems. Pumps and other equipment leaked oil mists and vapors during normal operation. They also would have discovered that during maintenance shutdown, workers enter vessels and clean pipelines where sludges or residues containing potent carcinogens remain. Today, Oil refinery workers are still exposed to several well-established carcinogens and working in this industry has been classified as probable cancer-causing to humans. The entire 1954 film, Medical Service for Industry, can be viewed and downloaded from the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s wonderful collection of historic films at collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-8600095A-vid .
Airborne transmission of Tb, 1966, Communicable Disease Center, Public Health Service markdcatlin 2021-02-21 | This clip is from the 1966 film, Airborne transmission of tubercle bacilli, from the Communicable Disease Center and Public Health Service. This clip illustrates the airborne transmission of tuberculosis and the study used to verify this. Many other respiratory diseases are likely spread in a similar way, including the coronavirus. The question of transmission by droplet vs airborne routes has major implication for which public health control measures are needed to protect workers and the public. This is an old debate that has been argued for decades.There is little, if any, direct evidence for the transmission of the coronavirus via any specific route. The evidence is admittedly incomplete for all the steps in COVID-19 transmission, but it is similarly incomplete for the large droplet and fomite modes of transmission. The airborne transmission mechanism operates in parallel with the large droplet and fomite routes that are now the basis of guidance. Following a precautionary approach, every potentially important pathway to slow the spread of COVID-19 must be addressed. The measures that should be taken to mitigate airborne transmission risk include: provide sufficient and effective ventilation (supply clean outdoor air, minimize recirculating air) particularly in public buildings, workplace environments, schools, hospitals, and aged care homes. supplement general ventilation with airborne infection controls such as local exhaust, high efficiency air filtration, and germicidal ultraviolet lights. avoid overcrowding, particularly in public transport and public buildings. Such measures are practical and often can be easily implemented; many are not costly. The lack of recognition of airborne transmission of COVID-19 and the lack of clear recommendations on the control measures against the airborne virus will have significant consequences: people may think that they are fully protected by adhering to the current recommendations, but in fact, additional airborne interventions are needed for further reduction of infection risk, including enhanced building ventilation. This matter is of heightened significance now, when countries are reopening following lockdowns: bringing people back to workplaces and students back to schools, colleges, and universities. For more on this debate, read, It is Time to Address Airborne Transmission of COVID-19 ( ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7454469/pdf/ciaa939.pdf ), by Drs. Morawska and Milton. This clip shows the mechanics involved in airborne transmission, from the expiration of the pathogen by the positive case, through the transmission of these bacilli in drops of mucus, and on to the subsequent inspiration of the microscopic particles by a susceptible person. A four-year study initiated in 1956 at the Veterans Hospital in Baltimore to verify this transmission pattern for Tb is illustrated in detail. In this study, the exhausted air from the six-patient pilot ward was circulated through an animal exposure chamber. The number of infections which occurred among the test animals indicates that the tubercle bacilli were present in the air. The entire six-minute film can be viewed and downloaded at the excellent National Library of Medicine’s website of historical audiovisual materials at medicineonscreen.nlm.nih.gov .
SEIU Action Alert: Asbestos in Schools, in Hospitals, in Office Buildings, in Shipyards 1983 markdcatlin 2021-02-02 | In the 1980s, no one has pressed the EPA on asbestos harder than the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represented custodians and other types of building-service personnel. In 1983, the union filed suit against the EPA in an attempt to force the agency to establish minimum regulations on how to remove asbestos properly. This video is clipped from the 1983 SEIU Action Alert: Asbestos. In 1980, Sweeney had been elected president of the national SEIU. Under Sweeney's tenure, SEIU made rapid gains in membership. The union began pushing for stronger federal laws in the area of health and safety, sexual harassment, and civil and immigrant rights.. Sweeny was later elected as President of the AFL-CIO in 1995 and served until 2009.
Protecting Coke Oven Workers in the 1970s, from 1989 Video Those Who Know Don’t Tell markdcatlin 2021-02-01 | This clip, about the fight by labor unions to protect workers from the hazards of working around coke ovens, is from Abby Ginzberg’s 1989 award-winning documentary. Exposure to coke oven emissions may occur for workers in the aluminum, steel, graphite, electrical, and construction industries. Chronic (long-term) exposure to coke oven emissions in humans results in conjunctivitis, severe dermatitis, and lesions of the respiratory system and digestive system. Cancer is the major concern from exposure to coke oven emissions. Epidemiologic studies of coke oven workers have reported an increase in cancer of the lung, trachea, bronchus, kidney, prostate, and other sites. Animal studies have reported tumors of the lung and skin from inhalation exposure to coal tar. Coke-oven workers are exposed to coke oven emissions, complex mixtures of dust, vapors, and gases that typically include carcinogens including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), amines, arsenic, cadmium, and nickel. Coke oven emissions come from large ovens that are used to heat coal to produce coke, which is used to manufacture iron and steel. Coke-oven emissions are known to be human carcinogens. The primary routes of exposure to coke-oven emissions are by inhalation and skin contact. Occupational exposure may occur during the production of coke from coal or the use of coke to extract metals from ores, to synthesize calcium carbide, or to manufacture graphite and electrodes. Workers at coking plants and coal tar production plants, as well as people who live near these plants, have a high risk of possible exposure to coke-oven emissions. Unions fought to protect workers on these jobs in the 1950s and 60s. After the passage of OSHA in 1970, the United Steel Workers petitioned OSHA for an enforceable coke oven standard in 1971. The USWA petitioned the Department of Labor for a more stringent standard to limit worker exposure to the toxic emissions generated during the steel-making process from coke ovens. The USWA’s petition was denied, but in 1974 a standards advisory committee was established to work on the rule. Dr. Eula Bingham, future head of OSHA, served on the advisory committee The advisory committee largely failed in its work, and the steelworkers had to fight every step of the way to make their case for a strong standard. The standard, issued in 1976, set a Permissible Exposure Limit for coke oven emissions and requires that employers regularly monitor workers for exposure. It also mandates corrective measures by the employer if workers are exposed to an unacceptably high level of toxic emissions. The steel companies challenged the standard and the steelworkers, along with the AFL-CIO, successfully defended it in court. To learn more, go to Thanks to filmmaker Abby Ginzberg for permission to post her wonderful film. To see more of her amazing work, visit the website http://www.socialactionmedia.com/.
Unions & COSH Groups Improve Workplace Health and Safety, from 1989 Video Those Who Know Don’t Tell markdcatlin 2021-01-31 | This clip, about the role of COSH groups and unions in improving occupational health and safety, is from Abby Ginzberg’s 1989 award-winning documentary. First established in 1972, COSH groups unite workers with labor, community, legal and health allies to win decent, just working conditions and build a powerful movement encompassing racial, economic, and environmental justice. When the OSH Act first became law in 1970, worker safety and health advocates realized that the new law and the new agency created to protect worker safety—OSHA—would only be effective if workers knew about their rights under the law and how to use them. These advocates began forming COSH Groups - Committees or Coalitions on Occupational Safety and Health - with the goal of providing workers with the information and skills they needed to protect their safety and health on the job. The first COSH was formed in Chicago in 1972, followed over the next several years by new organizations in Philadelphia (PhilaPOSH mentioned in the clip), New York City, North Carolina, Maine, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts. In 2003, a national organization was established, the National COSH, with its leadership and membership drawn from local COSH organizations. Now with through a network of 23 state and local non-profit COSH Groups, National COSH engages and impacts workers in communities across the country. National COSH convenes, builds capacity, and promotes collaboration of this diverse network to advance efforts to improve conditions in workplaces, across industries and in public policies. To find the COSH Group near you and learn more about the work of National COSH, go to their website, coshnetwork.org . Thanks to filmmaker Abby Ginzberg for permission to post her wonderful film. To see more of her amazing work, visit the website http://www.socialactionmedia.com/.
Coal Mine Safety and Health, from 1989 Video Those Who Know Don’t Tell markdcatlin 2021-01-23 | This clip about coal mine safety and health is from Abby Ginzberg’s 1989 award-winning documentary which traces the history of the struggle to rid the workplace of occupational hazards. Her documentary was narrated by Studs Terkel. In 1898, coal miners banded together to form the United Mine Workers of America in 1890, primarily to stop the loss of life caused by dangerous working conditions. With the formation of the UMWA an essential component of every wage agreement has always been those provisions directed toward the protection of the miners' lives, limbs, and health. In 1947 the union established a Safety Division which, since then, has been responsible for the development of the union's safety program. In 1969, the UNWA established a Department of Occupational Health, with a goal to improve the total health and well-being of the miners and their dependents by: eradicating coal workers' pneumoconiosis (black lung); controlling and preventing other occupational diseases occurring among coal miners; and serving as a focal point for other unions wanting to join an all-out campaign to establish an effective occupational health program in every industry in America. Dr. Lorin Kerr was appointed as the first director of the department, a position he held for years. Dr. Kerr was a leader in the field of occupational health for more than four decades. Thanks to filmmaker Abby Ginzberg for permission to post her wonderful film. To see more of her amazing work, visit the website http://www.socialactionmedia.com/.
The Asbestos Tragedy and Dr. Selikoff, from 1989 Video Those Who Know Don’t Tell markdcatlin 2021-01-20 | This clip on the asbestos tragedy is from Abby Ginzberg’s 1989 award-winning documentary which traces the history of the struggle to rid the workplace of occupational hazards. Her documentary was narrated by Studs Terkel. More than anyone else, Dr. Irving Selikoff is responsible for bringing the irrefutable dangers of asbestos to national attention and changing the world’s perception of the so-called “miracle mineral.” Selikoff died of cancer in 1992. In the asbestos prevention community, Selikoff is regarded as a hero, but during his life, the doctor was vilified by industry insiders in medicine, academia, and the press. His research on the health risks of asbestos exposed a dangerous truth that companies wanted to be covered up. Because of his quest to promote safety for workers, Selikoff found himself in a head-to-head battle with a deep-pocketed asbestos industry that would stop at nothing to keep its products on the market. Stubborn, media-savvy, and whip-smart, Selikoff refused to back down. His story began in the clinic Selikoff opened in Paterson, New Jersey. As he began to treat workers from an asbestos plant, he noticed that a relatively large number of them had supposedly rare illnesses. He monitored these workers and tried to treat them, but “it became clear as we were following these people that they were dying of cancer,” Selikoff said. He began studying the impact of asbestos on lung health and mortality. He orchestrated larger and larger studies, including a groundbreaking survey of 17,800 asbestos insulation workers, which confirmed the deadly connection between asbestos and deadly lung disease. Even before Selikoff started calling for the regulation of asbestos, the companies that sold asbestos knew about the associated respiratory risks. As early as the 1920s, executives at major asbestos corporations had clear medical evidence that their workers were getting sick. In 1964, Selikoff organized an international conference on asbestos in New York City. He gathered the foremost researchers on the subject, and while there was little new scientific evidence presented, the conference raised widespread public awareness about the dangers of asbestos and mesothelioma. For more information on asbestos hazards and their elimination, go to the website of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) at asbestosdiseaseawareness.org . Thanks to filmmaker Abby Ginzberg for permission to post her wonderful film. To see more of her amazing work, visit the website http://www.socialactionmedia.com/.
Unions and Workplace Health and Safety History, from 1989 Video Those Who Know Don’t Tell markdcatlin 2021-01-20 | This clip, describing the role of unions in advancing workplace health and safety, is from Abby Ginzberg’s award-winning 1989 documentary, tracing the history of the struggle to rid the workplace of occupational hazards. In 1935, the Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act (known as the Wagner Act for Senator Wagner) creating a new national labor policy for the United States. The NLRAct created a new independent agency—the National Labor Relations Board, made up of three members appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate-to enforce employee rights rather than to mediate disputes. It gave employees the right to form and join unions, and it obligated employers to bargain collectively with unions selected by a majority of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit. In 1936 Congress passed the Walsh-Healey Act, which included a section that authorized the secretary of labor to promulgate safety standards for firms doing more than $10,000 of business yearly with the federal government. During the 1930s Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, who had become an expert on industrial hazards and workers’ compensation during her long tenure on the New York State Industrial Commission (1919-1933), charted an unprecedented course of activism for the Division of Labor Standards (DLS) of the United States Department of Labor. The DLS promoted trade union organization because it understood that organized workers had a better chance of pressing management for workplace health and safety. The DLS also began providing information to union safety councils and other union bodies and training state health and safety inspectors.The labor movement has always led the charge to protect working people from workplace injury, illness and death. Working with allies, labor won strong protections against hazards and stronger rights for workers. Through organizing and collective bargaining, unions have gained even stronger protections and rights that have given workers a real voice in safety and health at the workplace. The labor movement fought to pass the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 that promises working people the right to a safe job. Workplace deaths and injuries have declined dramatically. In fact, the lives of more than half a million workers have been saved by strengthening workplace protections. But too many working people still work in unnecessarily unsafe conditions. Thousands of workers are killed each year—and millions more suffer injuries or illnesses—because of their jobs. There is much more work to be done and unions continue to advocate for safe workplaces. Thanks to filmmaker Abby Ginzberg for permission to post her wonderful film. To see more of her amazing work, visit the website http://www.socialactionmedia.com/.
Remembering the Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster in the 1930s, from 1989 Video Those Who Know Don’t Tell markdcatlin 2021-01-20 | This clip is describing the infamous Hawk's Nest Tunnel disaster is from Abby Ginzberg’s award-winning 1989 documentary, tracing the history of the struggle to rid the workplace of occupational hazards. This disaster is one of the worst industrial tragedies in the history of the United States. In 1930, construction began on a three-mile tunnel through Gauley Mountain located between near Gauley Bridge, West Virginia. When finished, the Hawk’s Nest Tunnel would divert water from the New River to a hydroelectric plant to produce electricity for Union Carbide’s metals plant at Alloy, West Virginia. To build the tunnel through solid rock, hundreds of unemployed men were recruited for construction jobs on the project. At least two-thirds of these workers were African Americans. These workers drilled and blasted a 32-36-foot tunnel through rock that contained high levels of silica. The dry drilling technique that was used released large amounts of silica dust into the air. This made working in the tunnel very dangerous. Black diggers emerged from the hole in the mountain covered with layers of white dust. The interior of the tunnel was a white cloud of silica, impairing vision and clogging the lungs of workers. Because the Hawk’s Nest Tunnel was licensed as a civil engineering project, even the most modest forms of safety were not applied. Workers labored in confined spaces with poor ventilation, a lack of dust control, and limited use of personal breathing protection. Within months, workers became sick from breathing silica dust. They showed signs of a lung disease called silicosis but were treated for a new disease called “tunnelitis”. Silicosis is a disease that infects the lungs leading to a shortness of breath and eventually death. Silicosis cannot be cured. Employment in the tunnel rarely lasted more than a year. The dangerous working conditions and silica dust rendered many of the men unable to work. Excavation of the Hawk’s Nest Tunnel led to the greatest death toll ever from silicosis in the United States. Of the approximately 5,000 men that worked on the project, an estimated 2,900 worked inside the tunnel. Of these men, silicosis claimed the lives of at least 764 workers. A majority of the dead were African Americans. In the years after the project was completed, many more would die due to their exposure to silica dust while working in the tunnel. With the death of so many black workers, the problem of where to bury them became an issue. There was no burial sites nearby for black workers. To solve the issue, a funeral parlor in Summersville, West Virginia located an open field on Martha White’s farm. This field became the burial grounds for many of the African Americans who died working on the tunnel project. Today, the tunnel continues diverting water from the New River to produce hydro-electricity for the Alloy plant. Silicosis has been designated as an occupational disease with compensation for workers. However, tunnel workers at Hawk’s Nest were not protected by these laws. A National Park Service memorial on Highway 19 was established to remember and honor the many victims of the Hawk’s Nest Tunnel tragedy. For more on this tragedy, visit wvencyclopedia.org/articles/338 . Thanks to filmmaker Abby Ginzberg for allowing me to post clips from her wonderful 1989 film, Those Who Know Don’t Tell which is posted to this channel. To see more of her amazing work, visit the website http://www.socialactionmedia.com/.
Dr. Harriet Hardy, Occupational Health Pioneer, from the 1989 film Those Who Know Dont Tell 1989 markdcatlin 2021-01-16 | Harriet Hardy was a pioneer in the field of Occupational Medicine. In 1946 Harriet Hardy, physician and industrial toxicologist, identified beryllium as the cause of a chronic respiratory disease. In 1952, she established the National Beryllium Registry, one of the first registries to collect long-term data on a chronic health disorder. She worked with the Atomic Energy Commission, the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union, United Mine Workers, and Coal Workers' Safety Board. Committed to social reform, she hoped science would solve workplace hazards and improve the well-being of workers. Harriet Hardy was born in Arlington, Massachusetts in 1906. She wanted to be a doctor from a very young age, and after graduating from Wellesley College with a bachelor's degree in science, she enrolled at Cornell University Medical School, one of the first coeducational medical schools in the country. In 1945 Dr. Hardy took a position at the Massachusetts Division of Occupational Hygiene. After her first assignment, studying lung disease in fluorescent light bulb factory workers, she spent two years documenting and arguing the harmfulness of exposure to beryllium. In 1948, she was invited to bring her research and worker protection policies to the Health Division of the Atomic Energy Scientific (and later National) Laboratory in Los Alamos. She spent the year documenting more cases of beryllium poisoning and lecturing on "man-made disease." Alice Hamilton, M.D., the first woman on the faculty at Harvard and a leading authority on occupational illness invited her to help revise her textbook Industrial Toxicology, and after completing her research in California and the work on the book Dr. Hardy returned to the Division of Occupational Hygiene. In 1949, the fluorescent lamp industry agreed to eliminate beryllium, and Hardy opened a clinic for workers with occupational illnesses, funded by the newly formed National Institutes of Health (NIH). The medical director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) invited Dr. Hardy to serve as a consultant to the university, and from 1949 to 1970 she directed the Occupational Medicine Service (later, the Environmental Medical Service) which she founded there. It was one of the first programs of its kind in a academic setting. Hardy traveled widely for research and for pleasure and investigated respiratory disease in factories and mines around the world. In 1958 she was the first woman to be appointed associate clinical professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Over the next decade she was a well-respected researcher and advocate in the field of occupational health. She retired due to ill health in the early 1970s, but continued to publish and work as a consultant on a number of projects. Her autobiography, Challenging Man-Made Disease, was published in 1983. Her biographic information above is from the website cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_138.html . Thanks to filmmaker Abby Ginzberg for allowing me to post clips from her wonderful 1989 film, Those Who Know Don’t Tell which is posted to this channel. To see more of her amazing work, visit the website http://www.socialactionmedia.com/.
Alice Hamilton, Pioneer of Occupational Health in the USA, from 1989 film Those Who Know Dont Tell markdcatlin 2021-01-16 | Many of the first laws and regulations passed to improve the health of workers were the direct result of the work of one dedicated and talented woman, Alice Hamilton, MD. Born into a prominent family in Indiana (her sister is the well-known classicist, Edith Hamilton), Dr. Hamilton graduated from medical school at the University of Michigan in 1893. After accepting a teaching position at the Women’s Medical School of Northwestern University in 1897, she moved into Jane Addams’ Hull House in Chicago. There she opened a well-baby clinic for poor families in the local settlement house neighborhood. As she acquainted herself with the families, she learned of their pains, strange deaths, lead palsy, “wrist drop,” and of the high numbers of widowed women. Encouraged by the reformers of Hull House, she began to apply her medical knowledge to these social problems and thus began her scientific inquiry into occupational health for which she became known. Dr. Hamilton quickly realized that while some progress in understanding occupational illness and disease was being made in Europe, little was written or understood about occupational disease conditions in the U.S. In 1908, she published one of the first articles on occupational disease in this country and was soon a recognized expert on the topic. Starting in 1910, under the sponsorship initially of a commission of the State of Illinois, and later the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, she conducted a series of brilliant explorations of occupational toxic disorders. Relying primarily on “shoe leather epidemiology,” and the emerging laboratory science of toxicology, she pioneered occupational epidemiology and industrial hygiene in the U.S. Her findings were so scientifically persuasive that they caused sweeping reforms, both voluntary and regulatory, to improve the health of workers.In 1919, Dr. Hamilton was appointed Assistant Professor of Industrial Medicine at Harvard Medical School and became the first female faculty member at Harvard University. There she served two terms on the Health Committee of the League of Nations. When she retired from Harvard at the age of sixty-six, she became a consultant to the U.S. Division of Labor Standards and served as President of the National Consumers League. Thanks to filmmaker Abby Ginzberg for allowing me to post clips from her wonderful 1989 film, Those Who Know Don’t Tell which is posted to this channel. To see more of her amazing work, visit the website http://www.socialactionmedia.com/.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, March 25 1911, from 1989 video Those Who Know Don’t Tell markdcatlin 2021-01-16 | This video clip discusses the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in the United States in 1911.On March 25, 1911, fire spread through the cramped Triangle Waist Company garment factory on the 8th, 9th and 10th floors of the Asch Building in lower Manhattan. Workers in the factory, many of whom were young women recently arrived from Europe, had little time or opportunity to escape. The rapidly spreading fire killed 146 workers. The building had only one fire escape, which collapsed during the rescue effort. Long tables and bulky machines trapped many of the victims. Panicked workers were crushed as they struggled with doors that were locked by managers to prevent theft, or doors that opened the wrong way. Only a few buckets of water were on hand to douse the flames. Outside, firefighters' ladders were too short to reach the top floors and ineffective safety nets ripped like paper. The catastrophe sent shockwaves through the city, beginning in the communities of immigrant workers on Manhattan's Lower East Side, where families struggled to identify their lost in makeshift morgues. Family grief turned to citizen anger as the causes of the fire – including the abhorrent working conditions at the time – were exposed. The public outcry over what was clearly a preventable tragedy brought a renewed sense of urgency to the labor movement and to other groups working to improve women's and immigrants' rights in the workplace. Frances Perkins, who became the Secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, witnessed the horror from Washington Park, recalling later that what she saw convinced her that "…something must be done. We've got to turn this into some kind of victory, some kind of constructive action." Perkins and other leaders with direct experience of the Triangle fire, like New York Governor Al Smith, soon helped marshal new workplace safety standards into law in the State of New York, setting an example for the rest of the country. The Triangle factory fire remained the deadliest workplace tragedy in New York City's history until the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center 90 years later and the coronavirus pandemic of 2020-2021. To learn more about this tragic fire, visit the website http://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/index.html , which much more detail including original sources on the fire held at the ILR School's Kheel Center, an archive of historical material on labor and industrial relations. Thanks to filmmaker Abby Ginzberg for permission to post clips from her wonderful 1989 film, Those Who Know Don’t Tell which is posted to this channel. To see more of her amazing work, visit the website http://www.socialactionmedia.com/.
The Need for Occupational Health Training, from 1989 video Those Who Know Don’t Tell markdcatlin 2021-01-13 | This video clip describes the ongoing lack of occupational health training in US medical schools. Currently most medical students receive less than eight hours of instruction in occupational health in their three years of medical school. In the 1970s, a successful union-based internship program was established in the 1970s by Tony Mazzocchi, a former leader of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW – now merged with the United Steelworkers Union). In collaboration with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Montefiore Hospital, student interns investigated health and safety problems while immersed with workers in labor unions during the summer. Many of these former interns have become leading occupational and environmental health experts and credit their internship experience as formative in choosing their career path. The Montefiore and OCAW Internship Program ended in the early 1980s, but by the early 2000s it had become clear that the need for a new internship program was greater than ever. Jobs were shifting toward the service sector, the American workforce had become more diverse, and the number of new health and safety professionals had slowed to a trickle. With a grant from NIOSH, detailed interviews were conducted with the 1970’s internship students and leaders in the occupational safety and health field. Two national meetings were held to conceptualize the structure of a new program that had similar goals to the 1970’s internship: to inspire and train the “next generation” of occupational health professionals and prevent job injury and disease through a partnership with workers. Following the interviews and meetings, a report that assessed the impact of the 1970’s program on the careers of medical and public health students occurred. Soon thereafter, the Occupational Health Intern Program (OHIP) was established as a national program. In 2004, under the leadership of Robert Harrison (Principal Investigator), Gail Bateson (OHIP Advisory Board Chair), Katherine Kirkland (AOEC Executive Director), and a group of health professionals, including several former interns, OHIP recruited its first class. Thanks to filmmaker Abby Ginzberg for permission to post clips from her wonderful 1989 film, Those Who Know Don’t Tell. To see more of her amazing work, visit the website http://www.socialactionmedia.com/.
Those Who Know Don’t Tell: the ongoing battle for workers health, Abby Ginzberg, 1989 markdcatlin 2021-01-08 | This award-winning documentary by Abby Ginzberg traces the history of the struggle to rid the workplace of occupational hazards. Using archival footage, union songs and interviews, it tells its story both from the point of view of the labor activists and those within the medical profession who became their advocates. This video features interviews and archival footage, of occupational health risks and movements to decrease these risks, past and present, from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 to chemical hazards in the computer chip industry. The central theme is that company officials know, that company doctors know, but "those who know don't tell." That has been the history of occupational health. That could also be its future-unless workers, unions, health professionals and health care organizations continue to be active in the ongoing battle for workers' health. The fight for occupational health began almost one hundred years ago with Dr. Alice Hamilton's discovery of lead-caused industrial disease. She was followed by others such as Dr. Harriet Hardy of M.I.T., who discovered the dangers of beryllium. More recently, Dr. Irving Selikoff uncovered the danger of asbestos to workers and publicized his findings despite pressure from the asbestos industry to silence him. This documentary was narrated by Studs Terkel. Thanks to filmmaker Abby Ginzberg for permission to post her wonderful film. To see more of her amazing work, visit the website http://www.socialactionmedia.com/.
Dr. Umberto Saffiotti moderating & speaking on panel at occupational Cancer Conference Chicago 1979 markdcatlin 2021-01-02 | Dr. Dr Umberto Saffiotti moderated and spoke on a panel on Occupational Cancer at the 1979 Conference - Lost in the Workplace - Is There an Occupational Disease Epidemic? A Seminar for the News Media (Chicago, September 13-14, 1979). Sponsored by the Occupational. Safety-and Healthy Administration, Dr. Eula Bingham, Assistant Secretary for OSHA. UMBERTO SAFFIOTTI (January 22, 1928 – Sept 8, 2020) Dr. Saffiotti was born in Milan, Italy, into a family of educators, health professionals, and public servants. He completed classical lyceum and began medical studies in 1944. After post-doctoral cancer research in Chicago, he specialized in occupational medicine and experimental pathology in Milan and immigrated to Chicago in 1960 to join the Division of Oncology at the Chicago Medical School. In 1968, Umberto moved to the National Cancer Institute, in Bethesda, where he spent the rest of his professional life. His work on cancer causation included interdisciplinary efforts to regulate environmental carcinogens and contributed to the establishment of OSHA and EPA. As the "politics of cancer" during the Nixon administration increasingly undermined the scientific quality of research and contributions to regulatory and public health policies, Umberto resigned from leadership of NCI's Carcinogenesis program in 1976. He continued to head the Laboratory of Experimental Pathology at NCI until his retirement. Over sixty years, Umberto's work focused on respiratory carcinogenesis, especially risks from silica and asbestos. He cherished collaboration and friendships with colleagues in the lab and around the world, and was a dedicated mentor to several generations of young researchers. Umberto was a visiting lecturer at the University of Urbino and at the George Washington University.
Remembering the 50th Anniversary of the Signing of the OSHAct markdcatlin 2020-12-31 | This is the recording of a Zoom remembrance party to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Occupational Safety and Health Act on December 29, 1970. We viewed some historical footage of the 1970 signing ceremony and other images and heard reminiscences of those who have shaped the worker safety movement over the past five decades. Participants shared their fondest memory of an effective OSHA action and their most important wish for a future OSHA priority as we head into the New Year and a new Administration. Thanks to Chip Hughes, Joy Lee, Don Elisberg, Earl Dotter, Mark Catlin, and the many others who joined in this commemoration of this important agency.
Tony Mazzocchi Award 2020 Ramon Torres OHS Section of APHA markdcatlin 2020-11-12 | This award recognizes grassroots H&S activists in Local Unions or other local organizationsfighting for the H&S rights of workers. Ramon Torres is president of Familias Unidas por la Justicia, an independent farm worker union of indigenous families located in Burlington, WA, representing over 500 Triqui, Mixteco, and Spanish speaking workers at Sakuma Bros. BerryFarm. Ramon has been president of the union since 2013 and has negotiated some of the fairest contracts with growers in the history of farmworker rights in the US. More recently, Ramon has helped organize six concurrent strikes of farmworkers to demand better protections for farmworker members from COVID-19. Ramon’s work is best illustrated by this testimony he presented: “For many years we as farm workers have been ignored in the law. We will nolonger let this continue. We are the ones who produce the food you eat. We are the skilled workers who ensure that the agricultural economy in our state continues to grow. We as the farm workers members of Familias Unidas por la Justicia were told by many that farm workers could not start or much less sustain a union in this state that does not have an Agricultural Labor Relations Act to protect us. But we decided that we would form a union so that farm workers could work with a Union Contract with dignity and we accomplished that...We are proud that we were able to do this but it is only the beginning. This year in Sumas, Washington, a farm worker died, Honesto Silva Ibarra. He was 28 years old and the father of two children. His deathwould have been ignored but for the courage of his co-workers who walked off the farm and called us, the Union and had the courage to tell their stories of inadequate water, of substandard food, of the farm supervisors ignoring health and injury concerns and lack of adequate or timely wages.” This award is named for Tony Mazzocchi (1926-2002), a highly influential labor leader in the occupational health and safety field in the U.S. Tony played a key role in the legislative struggles of the 1960s and 1970s, including passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970. A founder of the Labor Party, he continued organizing support for the party's national health care program up until his death.
Leslie Nickels International Health and Safety Award 2020 Sanjiv Pandita OHS Section of APHA markdcatlin 2020-11-05 | This award recognizes individuals with outstanding achievement in the field of occupational health and safety outside the United States. Sanjiv Pandita has a long history of engaging on workers' rights issues in Asia, and is a well- known activist and recognized expert in occupational and environmental safety and health. Sanjiv has received several international awards, including from the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition in California, and recognition from EHS Today magazine as one of the “50 most influential Environmental, Health and Safety leaders” in 2008. He currently works as the Asian Regional Representative of the Swiss-based Solidar Suisse organization supporting grassroots organisations throughout Asia pursuing “decent and safe work.” Born and raised in Kashmir, Sanjiv started working with the Society for Participatory Research in Asia based in New Delhi, India, in 1997 on its Occupational and Environmental Health Programme. His work included providing support to workers in chemical industries in Gujarat, and the mines in Jharkhand and Rajasthan in India. In 2001, Sanjiv began work for the Asia Monitor Resource Centre, a regional labor organization based in Hong Kong and started to develop its regional OHSprogramme. He led the organization as its Executive Director from 2008 to 2016. Sanjiv played an important role in the establishment of the Asian Network for the Rights of Occupational and Environmental Victims (ANROEV), a unique grassroots health and safety network in Asia. He has been essential in building global collaboration on OHS by bringing the Asian network closer to other networks such as the COSH network in the US, the European Work Hazards network, and OHS organizations in Africa. Sanjiv is currently also a leading member of the EU-based Electronics Watch (an independent organization protecting workers in the global electronics supply chain), the Asian Ban Asbestos Network (ABAN), the International Campaign forResponsible Technology (a global OHS network working in the electronics sector), and the People’s Training and Research Center (a grassroots OHS network in India). Leslie Nickels (1953-2017) used her training as an educator and industrial hygienist to advance social justice for disenfranchised workers.
Lorin Kerr Award 2020 Deborah Weinstock OHS Section of APHA markdcatlin 2020-11-04 | This award recognizes a younger activist for their sustained and outstanding efforts and dedication to improve the lives of workers. Deborah Weinstock has spent more than 25 years working to ensure that American workers are safe on the job through advocacy, consulting, and program management. Her long history in coordinating worker education projects, demonstrate her ability to collaborate with community-based organizations, labor unions, advocacy groups, and other front-line and first responder organizations. Additionally, as the Director of the NationalInstitute of Environmental Health Sciences’ National Clearinghouse for Worker Safety and Health Training since 2005, she has extensive experience working with government, academia, and the private sector. The Clearinghouse provides resources and support to nonprofit organizations to deliver training to a variety of workers who may face hazardous work environments. The National Institutes of Health honored her with a Merit Award for her leadership and management of multiple disaster response and recovery efforts. Deborah was first introduced to the NIEHS Worker Training Program in 1993 while working at the Department of Energy. The protection of workers in the nuclear weapons complex has since been a focus for her worker health advocacy. She continued learning about unions working for Ruth Ruttenberg & Associates, where she became Executive Director of the NIEHS National Clearinghouse and learned to evaluate safety and health training programs. In 1998, Deborah began work as the OSH Specialist for the AFL-CIO where she continued her advocacy efforts. Deborah is a member of MDB, Inc.’s SeniorLeadership Group based in Washington, DC. She leads MDB’s Occupational Safety and Health practice and is the company’s Director of Corporate Operations. Deborah has a Master of Science, Applied Behavioral Science/Organization Development from Johns Hopkins University and she has been an active contributing member of the Occupational Health and Safety Section since 1998 serving as Section Councilor, Secretary, Governing Councilor, and Treasurer. This award is named for Lorin Kerr (1909 -1991, a life-long activist and served for over 40 years as aphysician for the United Mine Workers. He was dedicated to improving access to health care for coal miners and other workers and to obtaining compensation for and preventing black lung disease.
Alice Hamilton Award 2020 Chip Hughes OHS Section of APHA markdcatlin 2020-11-04 | This award recognizes the life-long contributions of individuals who have distinguished themselves through a career of hard work and dedication to improve the lives of workers. Most members of the OHS Section have received the benefit of Chip Hughes' relentless efforts to expand worker health and safety training and education. Chip has directed the NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP) for 30 years. During this time, he has shepherded the program through significant expansion, multiple political attacks, and brought its influence to bear upon the health and safety needs of workers who were involved in response, recovery, and remediation efforts at the World Trade Center and along the Gulf Coast in areas devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Chip has worked closely with other Federal agencies in order to increase their commitment to the health and safety of workers in both the public and private sectors. He has advanced work for environmental justice and worked hard to advance participatory models of worker health and safety training. The WTP under his leadership has supported multiple areas of the national health and safety movement – including many union and community coalition programs. During the1970s, Chip served as the Research Director for the Institute for Southern Studies, and was the Director of Education and Training for the Carolina Brown Lung Association. During the 1980s, Chip conducted research for the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the North Carolina Safety and Health Project. He also worked on community and worker education and organizing projects with the Farmworkers Legal Services Corporation, the Workers Defense League (AFL-CIO), and the East Coast Farmworker Support Network. Chip has consistently brought his skill, knowledge, commitment and humor to many causes over the past 50 years. His approach emphasizes a multi-disciplinary approach to worker education; and he has had a profound effect on multiple generations of OHS advocates. He has been an active and creative member of the OHS section for decades. This award is named for Dr. Alice Hamilton (1869 -1970), considered the founder of occupational health in the United States, was a tireless activist and physician who dedicated her life to improving the health and safety of workers. She was committed to science, service, and compassion.
Introduction to the 2020 OHS Awards and Skit Oct 26 APHA markdcatlin 2020-11-03 | Each year the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA) celebrates the past year’s work at an awards luncheon at the APHA annual meeting. The Section honors with awards highly deserving individuals and organizations and enjoys the performance of a skit highlighting issues from the past year. In 2020, this celebration was done remotely, as was the APHA annual meeting, because of the coronavirus pandemic. The OHS Section is one of the oldest within APHA, advocating for the health, safety and wellbeing of workers, families, communities, and the environment since 1914. The OHS Section has more than 700 members. While many in the OHS Section self-identify as "OHS Professionals," we represent and recruit members from a multitude of disciplines that influence and improve work and working conditions from medicine, nursing, industrial hygiene, and safety engineering to epidemiology, toxicology, environmental health, statistics, community and labor organizing, social justice, injury prevention, education, history, law and journalism. The OHS Section recognizes the intrinsic link between the work environment and the health and safety of working people, their families, communities, and the environment at large. Over 145 million workers in the U.S. — and several billion people around the globe — face the risk of work-related injuries and illnesses that can cause serious immediate or long-term health problems. Members of the OHS Section are involved in preventing injuries, illnesses, disabilities, and deaths to those who work through advocacy, research, education and training, surveillance, designing preventive controls, diagnosis and treatment, policy, and regulatory compliance. The O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, states that every fifteen seconds, a worker dies from a work-related injury or disease. Every day, 6,300 people die as a result of occupational injuries or work-related diseases. Of the more than 300 million injuries or illnesses that occur on the job annually, many of these result in extended absences from work, and millions more are permanently or temporarily disabled. This means a loss of income and social protection for workers and their families and a loss of human resources for the national and international economies. Join the OHS Section to help ensure that every worker returns home safe, healthy, and well. Visit the OHS Section FaceBook page: facebook.com/search/top?q=occupational%20health%20and%20safety%20section%20of%20apha
2020 Annual Skit at the Award Luncheon of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Section of APHA markdcatlin 2020-10-30 | This skit was performed by the Occupational Health and Safety Thespian Collective at the October 26, 2020 Awards Luncheon via Zoom, because of the coronavirus pandemic. The OHS Section is a diverse and dynamic group of public health advocates committed to ensuring—-through research, practice and policy—-workers fundamental right to healthy and safe workplaces. Go to the website at http://www.apha.org/membergroups/sections/aphasections/occupational for more information and to join. OHS Section members are part of the larger 50,000 member American Public Health Association. One of the highlights of each years Annual Meeting is OHS Sections Award Lunch, with feature entertainment provided by the OHS Thespian Collective. So, although the OHS Section gets silly once a year —mostly to relieve our frustration at the current state of workplace health and safety in the U.S. and around the globe—the rest of the year, we value our APHA membership to advance a progressive agenda for health and safety.
Gerard Scannell interview about his time as head of OSHA 1992 DOL oral history markdcatlin 2020-10-17 | Gerard (Jerry) Scannell recalls his time as head of OSHAat OSHA. During OSHA first decade, he held several staff leadership positions. He was Special Assistant to the first OSHA Assistant Secretary from 1971 – 1972, was the Director of the Office of Standards for OSHA from 1972 – 1974 and was the Director of OSHA’s Office of Federal Agency Safety and Health Programs from 1974 - 1979. After leaving OSHA in 1979, he became the head of safety at Johnson & Johnson and became a leader in the National Safety Council. He returned to OSHA in 1989, appointed by President George H.W. Bush to become OSHA’s eighth Assistant Secretary, heading the Agency. The AIDS epidemic drove the bloodborne pathogens standard to completion in 1991, and a series of chemical and oil facility leaks and explosions led to the process safety standard in 1992. Scannell’s aggressiveness was supported by his boss, Secretary of Labor Elizabeth Dole, mirroring the activism of Eula Bingham that was backed by then Labor Secretary Ray Marshall. Explained one OSHA veteran: “The OSHA chief is only as effective as the Labor Secretary allows.” His proposals to regulate motor vehicle safety and workplace smoking were sweeping measures that failed to move forward. He also had plans to address ergonomics, medical surveillance, and exposure monitoring. After the departure of Elizabeth Dole in 1991, he felt a lack of support by the new DOL head Lynn Martin and left OSHA in 1992. Before moving to OSHA in 1971, Scannell had been the safety director at Rohm and Haas Co. in Bristol, PA, 1965 - 1971; safety manager at the Thiokol Chemical Corp. in Bristol, PA, 1962 - 1965; and supervisor of the safety engineering department at Aetna Casualty and Surety Company in Worcester, MA, 1958 - 1962. This interview was conducted by the DOL History office and is available at the US National Archive Sound Collection in College Park, Maryland.
Gerard Scannell interview on his years at OSHA in the 1970s markdcatlin 2020-10-16 | Gerard (Jerry) Scannell recalls his service in various leadership positions at OSHA during its first decade, from 1971 to 1979. He was Special Assistant to the first OSHA Assistant Secretary from 1971 – 1972, was the Director of the Office of Standards for OSHA from 1972 – 1974 and was the Director of OSHA’s Office of Federal Agency Safety and Health Programs from 1974 - 1979. After leaving OSHA in 1979, he became the head of safety at Johnson & Johnson and became a leader in the National Safety Council. He returned to OSHA in 1989, appointed by President George H.W. Bush to become OSHA’s eighth Assistant Secretary, heading the Agency. The AIDS epidemic drove the bloodborne pathogens standard to completion in 1991, and a series of chemical and oil facility leaks and explosions led to the process safety standard in 1992. Scannell’s aggressiveness was supported by his boss, Secretary of Labor Elizabeth Dole, mirroring the activism of Eula Bingham that was backed by then Labor Secretary Ray Marshall. Explained one OSHA veteran: “The OSHA chief is only as effective as the Labor Secretary allows.” His proposals to regulate motor vehicle safety and workplace smoking were sweeping measures that failed to move forward. He also had plans to address ergonomics, medical surveillance, and exposure monitoring. After the departure of Elizabeth Dole in 1991, he felt a lack of support by the new DOL head Lynn Martin and left OSHA in 1992. Before moving to OSHA in 1971, Scannell had been the safety director at Rohm and Haas Co. in Bristol, PA, 1965 - 1971; safety manager at the Thiokol Chemical Corp. in Bristol, PA, 1962 - 1965; and supervisor of the safety engineering department at Aetna Casualty and Surety Company in Worcester, MA, 1958 - 1962. This interview was conducted by the DOL History office and is available at the US National Archive Sound Collection in College Park, Maryland.
Thorne Auchter 1984 Interview on leaving OSHA, Part 2 markdcatlin 2020-10-10 | In February 1981 President Reagan announced that he would nominate Thorne G. Auchter to be the Assistant Secretary for OSHA. Auchter was the 35-year old executive vice president of Auchter Co., a family owned construction firm based in Jacksonville, Florida. He had served in President Reagan's 1980 election campaign. One of the main goals of the Administration of President Ronald Reagan, who came into office on January 20, 1981, was to provide industry with relief from the government regulation. OSHA was a prime target and Auchter became a principal agent in this work. President Reagan set up a program of Regulatory Relief shortly after his inauguration and made it one of the main elements of his economic program. Young and politically conservative, Auchter was a logical choice to head OSHA under the Reagan Administration. Secretary Donovan planned a sharp change in policy and direction at the Labor Department and needed people who were energetic and philosophically compatible with the President. Auchter did not bring great expertise to Washington either in workers' health or in government administration, but he was intelligent and motivated, as well as being an experienced corporate manager. Shortly after OSHA's startup in 1971 Auchter had been appointed by the governor of Florida to help draft legislation for an OSHA approved state plan. Auchter wound up drafting most of the bill himself. It was subsequently enacted but the state never followed through to establish a program. The principal overall change in OSHA that Auchter sought was the eradication of the "prevailing adversary spirit" among labor, management and government. Auchter also wanted to encourage the states to develop OSHA approved plans. Overall, he claimed to want a more effective administration of the law. The major factor that shaped OSHA's agenda during Thorne Auchter's administration was Regulatory Relief. Stemming originally from the "deregulation" movement of the mid 1970s, this Reagan Administration program sought to reform government regulations in order to encourage greater investment, production and employment. Thorne Auchter had to get off to as fast a start as possible after taking office on March 19, 1981. Three hours after he walked in the door he started making decisions on the fiscal 1982 budget. Regulatory Relief had already begun with a temporary "freeze" on the last minute Carter regulations. These included proposals to amend the hearing regulations and the cancer policy and to require the labeling of hazardous substances (the "right to know" proposal). To begin implementing the longer term aspects of Regulatory Relief, Auchter quickly appointed special "task groups" to study existing rules on lead, cotton dust and noise and to develop a new labeling proposal. For more on Thorne Auchter’s time heading OSHA, link to the DOL history at Thorne Auchter Administration, 1981-1984: "Oh, what a (regulatory) relief" dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/osha13auchter
Thorne Auchter 1984 Interview on Leaving OSHA, Part 1 markdcatlin 2020-10-10 | In February 1981 President Reagan announced that he would nominate Thorne G. Auchter to be the Assistant Secretary for OSHA. Auchter was the 35-year old executive vice president of Auchter Co., a family owned construction firm based in Jacksonville, Florida. He had served in President Reagan's 1980 election campaign. One of the main goals of the Administration of President Ronald Reagan, who came into office on January 20, 1981, was to provide industry with relief from the government regulation. OSHA was a prime target and Auchter became a principal agent in this work. President Reagan set up a program of Regulatory Relief shortly after his inauguration and made it one of the main elements of his economic program. Young and politically conservative, Auchter was a logical choice to head OSHA under the Reagan Administration. Secretary Donovan planned a sharp change in policy and direction at the Labor Department and needed people who were energetic and philosophically compatible with the President. Auchter did not bring great expertise to Washington either in workers' health or in government administration, but he was intelligent and motivated, as well as being an experienced corporate manager. Shortly after OSHA's startup in 1971 Auchter had been appointed by the governor of Florida to help draft legislation for an OSHA approved state plan. Auchter wound up drafting most of the bill himself. It was subsequently enacted but the state never followed through to establish a program. The principal overall change in OSHA that Auchter sought was the eradication of the "prevailing adversary spirit" among labor, management and government. Auchter also wanted to encourage the states to develop OSHA approved plans. Overall, he claimed to want a more effective administration of the law. The major factor that shaped OSHA's agenda during Thorne Auchter's administration was Regulatory Relief. Stemming originally from the "deregulation" movement of the mid 1970s, this Reagan Administration program sought to reform government regulations in order to encourage greater investment, production and employment. Thorne Auchter had to get off to as fast a start as possible after taking office on March 19, 1981. Three hours after he walked in the door he started making decisions on the fiscal 1982 budget. Regulatory Relief had already begun with a temporary "freeze" on the last minute Carter regulations. These included proposals to amend the hearing regulations and the cancer policy and to require the labeling of hazardous substances (the "right to know" proposal). To begin implementing the longer term aspects of Regulatory Relief, Auchter quickly appointed special "task groups" to study existing rules on lead, cotton dust and noise and to develop a new labeling proposal. For more on Thorne Auchter’s time heading OSHA, link to the DOL history at Thorne Auchter Administration, 1981-1984: "Oh, what a (regulatory) relief" dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/osha13auchter
George Guenther 1973 Interview on leaving OSHA markdcatlin 2020-10-10 | George Guenther was appointed the first Assistant Secretary for OSHA in April 1971. He was an experienced public official who was then director of the Labor Standards Bureau. Guenther had come to the Labor Department from the post of deputy secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. Before that he headed a hosiery manufacturing firm in Pennsylvania. In 1971 the Department of Labor acquired one of its most important and demanding responsibilities ever with the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. This law requires the Secretary of Labor to set and enforce safety and health standards for almost all of the nation's workplaces. The Department set up the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to implement the law. New Federalism found expression in the provision that the Department would oversee, assist and partially fund the development and operation of state-operated safety and health programs. Eventually about half the states developed OSHA-approved plans, which meant OSHA did not have to enforce federal law in those states. During OSHA's start up phase some of its actions and policies were reasonably successful, others were less so. The organizing and establishment of the agency within the Labor Department went smoothly. A decision to seek voluntary compliance and avoid a punitive approach to enforcement was well received by the business community. Because of limitations on resources to protect workers in five million workplaces nationwide, OSHA loosely targeted its enforcement in a worst-case-first approach which emphasized investigation of catastrophic accidents and employers' compliance in the most dangerous and unhealthy workplaces. Partly at the urging of organized labor, OSHA tried to emphasize the "H" (for Health) in its name. The first standard that it set was for asbestos fibers. On the other hand, a move that brought OSHA long lasting notoriety as a "nit picker" was the verbatim adoption and sometimes unreasonable enforcement of a body of voluntary consensus standards developed by industry associations. While adoption was specifically mandated by the Act, OSHA chose to promulgate the rules en masse and immediately, having them take effect in August 1971 instead of using the full two year phase in period which the law allowed. Another unsuccessful early move was the decision to develop state programs as the primary means of realizing the goals of the Act. Counting on the bulk of the states to participate, OSHA limited the development of its own staff of enforcement officers. It quickly became apparent that the states were not going to participate as extensively as OSHA had hoped. As a result, the agency soon found itself inadequately prepared to directly enforce the law on a nationwide basis. A damaging legacy from the start up period came to light during the 1974 Watergate investigations in the form of an internal memorandum which sought ideas on ways to tailor OSHA's program that would increase business' support of President Nixon's reelection campaign in 1972. There is no evidence that this "responsiveness" program affected OSHA significantly at the time, but its revelation in 1974 did considerable damage to the agency's reputation. OSHA has been one of the most controversial programs in the Department's history. Early on, inspectors attempting to enforce privately developed safety and health regulations which the agency adopted hurriedly in 1971 ran into criticism, not all of it unfair, for being "nitpickers". As new health standards were developed, the costs of compliance caused much opposition from manufacturers. Attempts to accommodate them caused consternation among the unions. This interview was conducted by the DOL History office and is available at the US National Archive Sound Collection in College Park, Maryland.
Eula Bingham 1981 Exit interview on leaving OSHA markdcatlin 2020-10-10 | On March 11, 1977, Eula Bingham, Ph.D. was nominated to lead OSHA. Bingham, an occupational health scientist from the University of Cincinnati, was an authority on occupationaldisease and on cancer-causing substances. She also served on numerous national advisory committees. Prior to her nomination, Bingham was personally interviewed in the WhiteHouse by President Carter, who early in 1977 had told a town hall meeting of DOL employees that he wanted to appoint a woman to head OSHA. The announcement drew a round of applause.Bingham’s tenure focused on three key priorities: (1) dealing with serious health hazards; (2) assistance for small businesses; and (3) simplifying safety rules. Dr. Bingham's most important legacy was the creation of the New Direction grant program to help organizations find solutions to safety and health issues and disseminate this knowledge by training employers and employees. OSHA earned the support from key Congress members and received funding for the grants, for which unions, COSH Groups, trade associations, and educational institutions were eligible to apply. This exit interview was conducted by the Department of Labor Historian's Office in 1981 and is available in the US National Archives Sound Collection in College Park, Maryland.
Honoring Eula Bingham, a Virtual Memorial Remembrance, September 21, 2020 markdcatlin 2020-10-09 | This is a recording of a Virtual Memorial Remembrance of Eula Bingham. The NIEHS Worker Training Program, the University of Cincinnati, and the Collegium Ramazzini convened the Memorial on Monday September 21, 2020 from 4-5:30 pm to honor a true giant of occupational health. Throughout the 90 years of her life, Dr. Bingham insisted tirelessly that workers had the absolute right to be safe on the job. Her thoughtful and generous wisdom shaped the entire field of occupational safety and health. To learn more of Dr. Bingham's life and work and view recent oral history interviews, link to https://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/2020/06/eula-bingham-1929-2020/
Eula Bingham From Toxic Earth 1984 markdcatlin 2020-06-24 | This is clipped from the 1984 video This film was made by the national OSHA Environmental Network in 1984. Dr. Eula Bingham had been head of OSHA during the Carter Administration and had worked closely with her colleagues at environmental agencies. In the 1980s, the Industrial Union Department that had helped start Earth Day initiated perhaps the first labor-environmental coalition, called the OSHA Environmental Network. The Network had active coalitions in 22 states with the Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth and IUD member unions. The connections between workplace, environmental, and community health become meaningful through practical work around issues of shared importance. Previous efforts (e.g., the Urban Environment Conference in the 1970s and the OSHA/Environmental Network in the 1980s) did not achieve lasting success. Recent promising developments include the New Jersey Work Environment Council campaign for safe design technology for chemical plants to protect workers, communities, and the environment, and the Blue Green Alliance (BGA). Before the mid-1970s, the relationship between labor and environmentalists was a largely friendly and reciprocal one. Leaders of most major unions regularly spoke about environmental issues with a fervor matched only by environmentalists themselves. But after the energy crisis and recession of the early to mid-1970s and economic policies stemming from Reaganomics during the 1980s, the relationship hit some rough patches from which it never fully recovered. Perhaps the most promising development in the last few years has been the formation of the Blue Green Alliance which has steadily brought both large unions and environmental organizations together with one strong voice. Today, the Blue Green Alliance unites 14 of our country's largest unions and environmental organizations. Acting together, through more than 15 million members and supporters, it is a powerful voice for building a cleaner, fairer and more competitive American economy. The Blue Green Alliance advocates the growth in the number and quality of jobs in the clean economy by expanding a broad range of industries, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, the substitution of safer, cleaner chemicals, modern transportation systems and advanced vehicle technology, domestic manufacturing, high-speed Internet and a smart, efficient electrical grid, green schools and other public buildings, improving our nation's water infrastructure, recycling, and sustainable agriculture. For more information, visit the BGA website at http://www.bluegreenalliance.org .
Eula Bingham Presentation OSHA Occupational Cancer Conference 1979 markdcatlin 2020-06-23 | A video of Dr. Bingham's presentation at the 1979 Seminar for the news media, Lost in the Workplace: Is There an Occupational Disease Epidemic? Dr. Bingham, the Assistant Secretary for OSHA spoke on September 14, the second day of this two-day conference in Chicago, Illinois. This seminar designed to give the media an opportunity to learn about occupational health problems. A full transcript of this conference is available on-line at files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED209503.pdf . Thanks to Dr. Bingham for preserving the video of this conference and for allowing me to digitize and post video from the conference.
Eula Bingham on the banned OSHA Films CPWR 2016 markdcatlin 2020-06-23 | Eula Bingham (July 9, 1929 – June 13, 2020), toxicologist and former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, looked back over her long career in this video, clipped from her 2016 interview by CPWR. A world class environmental scientist, Eula Bingham was a major contributor to public health through science-based advocacy and regulatory toxicology. During her tenure as head of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from 1977 to 1981, Bingham recognized that standards were not sufficient to protect workers. She empowered workers with new rules that opened access to information from employers, previously available only to the agency. Bingham understood the importance of worker training, whistleblower protections, extension of coverage to public employees, and stronger enforcement authority. Under Bingham, OSHA adopted more standards (including acrylonitrile, benzene, cotton dust, inorganic arsenic, and lead) than in any similar time before or since. This was clipped from the 2016 CPWR video Pioneers in Construction Safety & Health - Eula Bingham (20:31 mins) available at youtube.com/watch?v=uEtz5QhQiRk. CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training (formerly known as The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights) is an international leader in applied research, training, and service to the construction industry. CPWR is dedicated to reducing occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the construction industry. Through research, training, and service programs, CPWR serves the industry in cooperation with key federal and construction industry partners nationwide. To learn more about CPWR programs and work, visit their website at cpwr.com .
Eula Bingham on the Future of workplace health and safety CPWR 2016 markdcatlin 2020-06-23 | Eula Bingham (July 9, 1929 – June 13, 2020), toxicologist and former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, looked back over her long career in this video, clipped from her 2016 interview by CPWR. A world class environmental scientist, Eula Bingham was a major contributor to public health through science-based advocacy and regulatory toxicology. During her tenure as head of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from 1977 to 1981, Bingham recognized that standards were not sufficient to protect workers. She empowered workers with new rules that opened access to information from employers, previously available only to the agency. Bingham understood the importance of worker training, whistleblower protections, extension of coverage to public employees, and stronger enforcement authority. Under Bingham, OSHA adopted more standards (including acrylonitrile, benzene, cotton dust, inorganic arsenic, and lead) than in any similar time before or since. This was clipped from the 2016 CPWR video Pioneers in Construction Safety & Health - Eula Bingham (20:31 mins) available at youtube.com/watch?v=uEtz5QhQiRk. CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training (formerly known as The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights) is an international leader in applied research, training, and service to the construction industry. CPWR is dedicated to reducing occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the construction industry. Through research, training, and service programs, CPWR serves the industry in cooperation with key federal and construction industry partners nationwide. To learn more about CPWR programs and work, visit their website at cpwr.com .
Eula Bingham on the OSHA Carcinogen Standard Eula CPWR 2016 markdcatlin 2020-06-23 | Eula Bingham (July 9, 1929 – June 13, 2020), toxicologist and former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, looked back over her long career in this video, clipped from her 2016 interview by CPWR. A world class environmental scientist, Eula Bingham was a major contributor to public health through science-based advocacy and regulatory toxicology. During her tenure as head of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from 1977 to 1981, Bingham recognized that standards were not sufficient to protect workers. She empowered workers with new rules that opened access to information from employers, previously available only to the agency. Bingham understood the importance of worker training, whistleblower protections, extension of coverage to public employees, and stronger enforcement authority. Under Bingham, OSHA adopted more standards (including acrylonitrile, benzene, cotton dust, inorganic arsenic, and lead) than in any similar time before or since. This was clipped from the 2016 CPWR video Pioneers in Construction Safety & Health - Eula Bingham (20:31 mins) available at youtube.com/watch?v=uEtz5QhQiRk. CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training (formerly known as The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights) is an international leader in applied research, training, and service to the construction industry. CPWR is dedicated to reducing occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the construction industry. Through research, training, and service programs, CPWR serves the industry in cooperation with key federal and construction industry partners nationwide. To learn more about CPWR programs and work, visit their website at cpwr.com .
Eula Bingham on the Right To Refuse Dangerous Work CPWR 2016 markdcatlin 2020-06-23 | Eula Bingham (July 9, 1929 – June 13, 2020), toxicologist and former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, looked back over her long career in this video, clipped from her 2016 interview by CPWR. A world class environmental scientist, Eula Bingham was a major contributor to public health through science-based advocacy and regulatory toxicology. During her tenure as head of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from 1977 to 1981, Bingham recognized that standards were not sufficient to protect workers. She empowered workers with new rules that opened access to information from employers, previously available only to the agency. Bingham understood the importance of worker training, whistleblower protections, extension of coverage to public employees, and stronger enforcement authority. Under Bingham, OSHA adopted more standards (including acrylonitrile, benzene, cotton dust, inorganic arsenic, and lead) than in any similar time before or since. This was clipped from the 2016 CPWR video Pioneers in Construction Safety & Health - Eula Bingham (20:31 mins) available at youtube.com/watch?v=uEtz5QhQiRk. CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training (formerly known as The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights) is an international leader in applied research, training, and service to the construction industry. CPWR is dedicated to reducing occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the construction industry. Through research, training, and service programs, CPWR serves the industry in cooperation with key federal and construction industry partners nationwide. To learn more about CPWR programs and work, visit their website at cpwr.com .
Eula Bingham on the OSHA Cotton Dust Standard CPWR 2016 markdcatlin 2020-06-23 | Eula Bingham (July 9, 1929 – June 13, 2020), toxicologist and former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, looked back over her long career in this video, clipped from her 2016 interview by CPWR. A world class environmental scientist, Eula Bingham was a major contributor to public health through science-based advocacy and regulatory toxicology. During her tenure as head of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from 1977 to 1981, Bingham recognized that standards were not sufficient to protect workers. She empowered workers with new rules that opened access to information from employers, previously available only to the agency. Bingham understood the importance of worker training, whistleblower protections, extension of coverage to public employees, and stronger enforcement authority. Under Bingham, OSHA adopted more standards (including acrylonitrile, benzene, cotton dust, inorganic arsenic, and lead) than in any similar time before or since. This was clipped from the 2016 CPWR video Pioneers in Construction Safety & Health - Eula Bingham (20:31 mins) available at youtube.com/watch?v=uEtz5QhQiRk. CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training (formerly known as The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights) is an international leader in applied research, training, and service to the construction industry. CPWR is dedicated to reducing occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the construction industry. Through research, training, and service programs, CPWR serves the industry in cooperation with key federal and construction industry partners nationwide. To learn more about CPWR programs and work, visit their website at cpwr.com .
Eula Bingham on the Benzene and Labeling Standards CPWR 2016 markdcatlin 2020-06-23 | Eula Bingham (July 9, 1929 – June 13, 2020), toxicologist and former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, looked back over her long career in this video, clipped from her 2016 interview by CPWR. A world class environmental scientist, Eula Bingham was a major contributor to public health through science-based advocacy and regulatory toxicology. During her tenure as head of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from 1977 to 1981, Bingham recognized that standards were not sufficient to protect workers. She empowered workers with new rules that opened access to information from employers, previously available only to the agency. Bingham understood the importance of worker training, whistleblower protections, extension of coverage to public employees, and stronger enforcement authority. Under Bingham, OSHA adopted more standards (including acrylonitrile, benzene, cotton dust, inorganic arsenic, and lead) than in any similar time before or since. This was clipped from the 2016 CPWR video Pioneers in Construction Safety & Health - Eula Bingham (20:31 mins) available at youtube.com/watch?v=uEtz5QhQiRk. CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training (formerly known as The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights) is an international leader in applied research, training, and service to the construction industry. CPWR is dedicated to reducing occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the construction industry. Through research, training, and service programs, CPWR serves the industry in cooperation with key federal and construction industry partners nationwide. To learn more about CPWR programs and work, visit their website at cpwr.com .
Eula Bingham on the1978 Willow Island Disaster CPWR 2016 markdcatlin 2020-06-23 | Eula Bingham (July 9, 1929 – June 13, 2020), toxicologist and former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, looked back over her long career in this video, clipped from her 2016 interview by CPWR. A world class environmental scientist, Eula Bingham was a major contributor to public health through science-based advocacy and regulatory toxicology. During her tenure as head of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from 1977 to 1981, Bingham recognized that standards were not sufficient to protect workers. She empowered workers with new rules that opened access to information from employers, previously available only to the agency. Bingham understood the importance of worker training, whistleblower protections, extension of coverage to public employees, and stronger enforcement authority. Under Bingham, OSHA adopted more standards (including acrylonitrile, benzene, cotton dust, inorganic arsenic, and lead) than in any similar time before or since. This was clipped from the 2016 CPWR video Pioneers in Construction Safety & Health - Eula Bingham (20:31 mins) available at youtube.com/watch?v=uEtz5QhQiRk. CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training (formerly known as The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights) is an international leader in applied research, training, and service to the construction industry. CPWR is dedicated to reducing occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the construction industry. Through research, training, and service programs, CPWR serves the industry in cooperation with key federal and construction industry partners nationwide. To learn more about CPWR programs and work, visit their website at cpwr.com .
Eula Bingham on the New Directions Training Program CPWR 2016 markdcatlin 2020-06-23 | Eula Bingham (July 9, 1929 – June 13, 2020), toxicologist and former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, looked back over her long career in this video, clipped from her 2016 interview by CPWR. A world class environmental scientist, Eula Bingham was a major contributor to public health through science-based advocacy and regulatory toxicology. During her tenure as head of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from 1977 to 1981, Bingham recognized that standards were not sufficient to protect workers. She empowered workers with new rules that opened access to information from employers, previously available only to the agency. Bingham understood the importance of worker training, whistleblower protections, extension of coverage to public employees, and stronger enforcement authority. Under Bingham, OSHA adopted more standards (including acrylonitrile, benzene, cotton dust, inorganic arsenic, and lead) than in any similar time before or since. This was clipped from the 2016 CPWR video Pioneers in Construction Safety & Health - Eula Bingham (20:31 mins) available at youtube.com/watch?v=uEtz5QhQiRk. CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training (formerly known as The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights) is an international leader in applied research, training, and service to the construction industry. CPWR is dedicated to reducing occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the construction industry. Through research, training, and service programs, CPWR serves the industry in cooperation with key federal and construction industry partners nationwide. To learn more about CPWR programs and work, visit their website at cpwr.com .
Eula Bingham on her 1977 OSHA nomination CPWR 2016 markdcatlin 2020-06-23 | Eula Bingham (July 9, 1929 – June 13, 2020), toxicologist and former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, looked back over her long career in this video, clipped from her 2016 interview by CPWR. A world class environmental scientist, Eula Bingham was a major contributor to public health through science-based advocacy and regulatory toxicology. During her tenure as head of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from 1977 to 1981, Bingham recognized that standards were not sufficient to protect workers. She empowered workers with new rules that opened access to information from employers, previously available only to the agency. Bingham understood the importance of worker training, whistleblower protections, extension of coverage to public employees, and stronger enforcement authority. Under Bingham, OSHA adopted more standards (including acrylonitrile, benzene, cotton dust, inorganic arsenic, and lead) than in any similar time before or since. This was clipped from the 2016 CPWR video Pioneers in Construction Safety & Health - Eula Bingham (20:31 mins) available at youtube.com/watch?v=uEtz5QhQiRk. CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training (formerly known as The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights) is an international leader in applied research, training, and service to the construction industry. CPWR is dedicated to reducing occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the construction industry. Through research, training, and service programs, CPWR serves the industry in cooperation with key federal and construction industry partners nationwide. To learn more about CPWR programs and work, visit their website at cpwr.com .
Eula Bingham on her early research CPWR 2016 markdcatlin 2020-06-23 | Eula Bingham (July 9, 1929 – June 13, 2020), toxicologist and former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, looked back over her long career in this video, clipped from her 2016 interview by CPWR. A world class environmental scientist, Eula Bingham was a major contributor to public health through science-based advocacy and regulatory toxicology. During her tenure as head of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from 1977 to 1981, Bingham recognized that standards were not sufficient to protect workers. She empowered workers with new rules that opened access to information from employers, previously available only to the agency. Bingham understood the importance of worker training, whistleblower protections, extension of coverage to public employees, and stronger enforcement authority. Under Bingham, OSHA adopted more standards (including acrylonitrile, benzene, cotton dust, inorganic arsenic, and lead) than in any similar time before or since. This was clipped from the 2016 CPWR video Pioneers in Construction Safety & Health - Eula Bingham (20:31 mins) available at youtube.com/watch?v=uEtz5QhQiRk. CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training (formerly known as The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights) is an international leader in applied research, training, and service to the construction industry. CPWR is dedicated to reducing occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the construction industry. Through research, training, and service programs, CPWR serves the industry in cooperation with key federal and construction industry partners nationwide. To learn more about CPWR programs and work, visit their website at cpwr.com .
Every Drop Counts markdcatlin 2020-02-27 | This six-minute documentary was written and produced by Alexander Colman. Voiceovers are done by Samuel Landsman. In our study of America's water pollution crisis, we interview local expert Bill Lucey, at his home in Killingsworth, CT. We also get insight from our town's representative Jonathan Steinberg and Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal. The Senator was filmed at the Weston Town Hall, and the Representative was interviewed at the Westport Library. Intro and ending scenes were filmed at our local reservoir.
The Leslie Nickels International Health and Safety Award, OHS Section of APHA markdcatlin 2018-12-11 | The Occupational Health and Safety Section (OHS) of the American Public Health Association (APHA) in 2018 renamed its International Health and Safety Award in honor of long-time member Leslie Nickels, Ph.D. (1953-2017). This annual award recognizes individuals and organizations with outstanding achievement in the field of OHS outside the United States. Friend and colleague, Robyn Robbins recalls her work as an as an educator and industrial hygienist to advance social justice for disenfranchised workers around the world. Dr. Nickels was the heart of the Global Network of WHO Collaborating Centres for Occupational Health; she brought her love and enthusiasm for connections, innovations and learning for protecting and promoting the health of working people and for primary prevention of occupational diseases and injuries. Dr. Nickels coordinated work with the Collaborating Centres on strengthening health systems for workers’ health and developed training materials on occupational health for primary care providers. She created the global GeoLibrary and developed WHO training materials for occupational health in high risk sectors. Lastly, she facilitated the WHO/MOPH workshop on health coverage for workers in August 2016 in Bangkok and wrote wonderful articles about reaching out to poor workers with occupational health interventions. Ms. Robbins presentation was at the OHS Section’s awards luncheon on Tuesday, November 13, 2018 at the San Diego Convention Center, during the APHA’s 146th Annual Meeting & Expo from Nov. 10-14, 2018.
