What's New from the Occupational Health Branch
Feel Better, Work Better! – Preventing joint disorders in garment workers - newly revised factsheet
Uncomfortable work positions. Repeated or forceful movements, such as reaching, stitching, pinching and pulling fabric. Long hours with few breaks. These are just some of the factors that contribute to chronic, painful muscle and joint problems in sewing machine operators. Sewing Machine Operators: Feel Better, Work Better is a fact sheet designed to help workers and employers prevent these injuries. It contains many simple, economical changes at the sewing table that can dramatically reduce workers’ risk of muscle and joint injuries. This newly revised fact sheet, produced by OHB/HESIS in cooperation with the Labor Occupational Safety & Health Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, is designed to better reach Southern California workers and employers in the garment industry. Available in Spanish and English.
Sewing Machine Operators: Feel Better, Work Better (PDF)
Operadora y Operador de Máquinas de Coser: ¡Siéntase Mejor! ¡Trabaje Mejor! – hoja informativa (PDF)
For more publications on the prevention and management of workplace joint and muscle disorders, see the Ergonomics Series on Hazard Evaluation System and Information Service (HESIS) Publications.
Safer alternatives for pest control conference summary now available
On May 28, 2009, the California Department of Public Health – Occupational Health Branch (OHB), Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety, and the University of California Integrated Pest Management Program jointly sponsored a conference titled “Safer Alternatives for Pest Control in Agriculture: Making the Public Health Case for Change”. The conference brought together attendees and speakers from academia, the agricultural and insurance industries, non-governmental organizations, and state and local government. The varied speakers demonstrated the complex interactions of worker and community health, sustainable agriculture, and food production. A panel discussion followed the presentations and identified areas where future efforts should be focused.
Pest control conference webpage – conference objectives, presentations, partners
Conference summary with links to presentations (PDF)
For more information on OHB work in this area, see Tracking Pesticide-Related Illness and Injury
Solar energy installation hazards – fatal falls & electrocutions
The California Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program has investigated the deaths of two workers who were installing solar panels on rooftops. One worker was electrocuted and fell to his death after a 20-foot metal bracket made contact with a nearby high voltage power line. The other was carrying solar panels and fell through a skylight when he tripped. A FACE fact sheet and worker fatality alert were written to inform workers and industry about the hazards involved with installing solar panels. Links to the FACE fact sheet, worker fatality alert, and the two investigation reports are listed below:
FACE Fact Sheet - Solar Energy Technician Electrocuted (PDF)
Worker Fatality Alert - Two Solar Energy Installers Die From Electrical and Fall Hazards (PDF)
Fatality Investigation Report - Laborer dies from scaffold fall after being electrocuted (08CA006, PDF)
Fatality Investigation Report - Electrical worker dies from falls through skylight while installing solar panels (09CA003, PDF)
For more information on OHB work in this area, see California Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program.
New health-based medical guidelines for lead-exposed workers
Recent scientific research shows that both acute and chronic low-level exposures to lead in adults can result in adverse health effects. Levels of lead that were once thought harmless have now been shown to be toxic. There is also a concern that the current Cal/OSHA lead standards allow workers to be exposed to lead at levels now known to be harmful. Our Occupational Lead Poisoning Prevention Program’s newly revised Medical Guidelines review recent scientific information and make health-based recommendations on how to provide state-of-the-art care for lead-exposed adults. The guidelines will assist clinicians in providing the best possible care while working within existing regulations. Specific medical requirements of the Cal/OSHA lead standards are also included.
Medical Guidelines for the Lead-Exposed Worker (PDF)
For more information on OHB work in this area, including recent journal articles with the scientific background for the new guidelines, visit our website Medical Management of Lead-Exposed Adults.
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