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There is a triple disease burden on South African mines; occupational disease, communicable disease and non-communicable disease (NCD) are all of concern. The Mine Health and Safety Act No 29 of 1996 introduced for the first time, worker elected health and safety representatives (HSRs). Globally, although arrangements for HSRs are associated with better health and safety outcomes, employers increasingly dominate their activities. In-depth interviews (n = 40) were conducted with HSRs (n = 10) and OHS practitioners (n = 15) on four underground mines (gold, platinum and diamond) over 12 to 18 months in 2015-16, to understand how HSRs engaged with health issues, and how the employer responded. Activities across the triple disease burden were categorized as either employer or worker-led activities. While the employer supported HSRs working under their instruction, HSRs faced impediments to their statutory representative role. Employers took advantage of gaps in regulatory guidance. As a consequence of health complexity, and employer dominance, where HSRs acted independently, it was as the compassionate voice to workers. HSRs in middle-income countries take on a meaningfully different role to their counterparts in highly industrialised nations. There are implications, for both regulatory policy and trade union strategy.

Research on human health and safety impacts of wire arc additive manufacturing is often overshadowed by the need for weld quality and mechanical strength improvements. To address this gap, a review of research literature is conducted focusing on the influence of welding process parameters, welding fumes, and fume exposure on worker health. The review uses a causal graph to classify research literature into two domains: manufacturing technology and public health. The graph serves as a precursor to development of a Bayesian network model, whose expected benefits, steps for implementation, and likely challenges that would be encountered during implementation are discussed. publishedVersion

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in millions of employees working from home (“WFH”), a development that is challenging public and private standards for reporting and reducing greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions. Under these standards, corporations disclose the emissions from large buildings and the power plants that supply them with energy, but most do not report other types of emissions. When employees shift from working at an office to working at home, the corporate emissions appear to have decreased even though they simply have shifted beyond the boundary of the reporting requirement. This creates greenwashing risks—the ability to claim that corporate GHG emissions have declined when they have just shifted to non-reporting sources—and undermines incentives for corporations to induce employees to reduce emissions. The WFH transition accelerated dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has been underway for some time and may lead to permanent shifts in the workplace for millions of employees. Using an efficiency and justice lens, this Article examines the standards regarding WFH emissions and concludes that undercounting could occur, could unfairly burden workers, and could increase net emissions. The Article proposes changes in emissions reporting standards to address these concerns, including amending or interpreting the standards to require employers to include employee WFH-related emissions in corporate emissions reports. The Article focuses on GHG emissions, but it has implications for other types of emissions as well as worker health and safety, taxation, and other fields that have been affected by the WFH transition.

This paper explores practices and policies for managing information communication technologies (ICTs) and ensuring healthy and productive work environments in higher education settings. This was informed by: (1) semi-structured interviews with 12 senior Human Resource and Wellbeing personnel recruited from 11 public Australian universities; and (2) a review of policy documents that address ICTs/digital communication sourced from 37 Australian public universities. Analyses revealed that ICT management involved balancing flexibility and boundaries and expectations around responsiveness. Findings from interview data revealed that to improve ICT management it is important to develop university guidance material, detangle the notion of responsibility, establish boundaries around expectations of responsivity, provide more education and develop positive working practices. Thematic analysis and subsequent quantification of 654 policy documents revealed gaps in the university policy context on the topic of digital communication. The largest proportion of policies focused on privacy and security, followed by media representation of the university (e.g., throughout branding), then bullying, harassment and discrimination. We make recommendations for policy and practice improvement. It would be beneficial for future research to assess the impact of enacted digital communication management strategies (e.g., policy interventions) on worker wellbeing and work practice outcomes. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Controversy remains on the use of Sub-Sea Dispersant Injection (SSDI) during the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) spill to minimize the exposure of responders on surface vessels to volatile organic compounds (VOC). Here, we use extensive evidence (90,000 VOC measurements) collected near the oil well MC252 site during the DWH spill and demonstrate at a high level of statistical confidence that SSDI enhanced the safety and health conditions of the responders at the water surface through the reduction of airborne VOC concentrations in a dose-dependent manner. VOC levels on ships' decks were clearly diminished (p 0.001) during subsea dispersant use, and incidents of peak concentrations (50 ppm VOC) that could have been an immediate concern to worker health were reduced by a factor of ~6 to 19 when dispersants were delivered at the intended rate. SSDI thus played an important role in minimizing potential exposure to VOC, and should be embedded in guidelines and regulations for dispersant use.

Immigrant workers are a growing share of the U.S. labor force and are overrepresented in certain occupations. This much is well documented, yet few studies have examined the consequences of this division of labor between foreign-born and native-born workers. This research focuses on one of the consequences of occupational segregation—worker health. We merge data from the 2004–2014 National Health Interview Surveys with occupational-level data from the Occupational Information Network 20.1 database and the American Community Surveys to examine the relationship between occupational segregation and health. First, logistic regression models show that working in an occupation with a higher share of immigrants is associated with higher odds of poor physical and psychological health. This relationship is more pronounced among native-born workers than among foreign-born workers. Second, we propose two explanations for the association between occupational segregation and health: (1) workers with less human capital are typically sorted into culturally devalued occupations with a higher concentration of immigrants, and (2) occupations with a higher percentage of immigrants generally have relatively poor work environments. We find sorting variables play a major role, whereas the smaller contribution of occupational environments to the segregation-health link is partly because of the heterogeneous (i.e., both positive and negative) indirect effects of different exposure measures. With the sustained high levels of immigration to the United States, the implications of integrated or segregated experiences in the labor market and their impact on workers are important avenues for health policies and future research.

The tanning industry is considered a source of major environmental pollution and hazard to the health of workers. The greasing stage is mainly performed to improve the softness of leather while the degreasing one serves to optimize the distribution in fatliquoring leather and eliminate its excess. To produce mink fur commercially attractive the tanning-oil-greasing method is used, which requires a large excess of both grease and solvents. Tanning-alum-water greasing method which greatly simplifies machining cycles using less solvent in the degreasing stage could be harnessed. However, the fur absorbs only small tanning-greasing quantities resulting a poor quality product. Laboratory tests were carried out on mink fur to understand how to extend on a large scale the tanning-alum-water greasing method. Experimental results, obtained irradiating the soaking bath with ultrasound at different powers, show that the cavitation is triggered in the range of 20–30 W and develops for larger powers. Results provides the basis for changing the tanning-alum-water greasing method to produce mink fur in a single stage . Particularly, enhanced optical microscopy indicates that fat globule diameters are reduced by 50% whilst skin absorption improves by 25%. How to rearrange the method on large-scale is also discussed. The method, considered as a whole must be considered ”best available technology”

There is considerable interest in understanding the broader effects of the opioid crisis on labor supply and social insurance programs in the United States. This paper examines how the recent transition of the opioid crisis from prescription opioids to more prevalent misuse of illicit opioids, such as heroin and fentanyl, altered labor supply behavior and disability insurance claiming rates. We exploit differential geographic exposure to the reformulation of OxyContin, the largest reduction in access to abusable prescription opioids to date, to study the effects of substitution to illicit markets. We observe meaningful reductions in labor supply measured in terms of employment-to-population ratios, hours worked, and earnings. We also find significant increases in disability applications and beneficiaries. These labor supply and disability insurance shifts begin immediately after reformulation and are uniquely associated with pre-reformulation rates of OxyContin misuse, not rates of broader pain reliever misuse. Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at www.nber.org.

Occupational health is an important determinant of workers' welfare. Existing mechanisms and evidence from the international trade and occupational safety literatures combine to predict that import competition impacts work place injuries, especially at small firms that are most affected by foreign imports. We examine this prediction with novel data on injuries at US manufacturers using Chinese import growth in 1996–2007 as a shock to competition. The data show that injury rates in the competing US industries increase over the short to medium run, particularly at smaller establishments. Back-of-the-envelope calculations show that injury risk increases by 13% at the smallest establishments, the equivalent of a 1% to 2% reduction in workers' wages.

This study examines the health effect of input tariff reductions on Chinese manufacturing workers and its heterogeneity across skill levels. We first provide a simple model to demonstrate the mechanisms. We then put the predictions of the model into a test using the China Health and Nutrition Survey data. Exploiting prefecture variations in input tariff shocks, we find that input tariff reductions following China's WTO accession adversely affect worker health through increased working hours. Moreover, input tariff reductions widen both the income and the health gaps between skilled and unskilled workers. Further welfare analysis indicates that ignoring health outcomes would substantially underestimate the welfare disparity between skilled and unskilled workers.

This paper examines the US Department of Labor’s proposed regulation to extend overtime pay to employees with base salaries of $23,660 to $50,440. We find that the department provides no evidence that an “underpayment” or “overwork” problem exists in the United States. Nonetheless, we evaluate the stated policy objectives. The Department of Labor indicates that the proposed regulation will meet three policy objectives: spread employment, improve worker health and well-being, and increase wages for employees. We find problems in the theoretical mechanisms by which these policy objectives are to be met and conclude that those mechanisms are not supported by economic theory. Furthermore, in a review of the empirical literature, we find no empirical support for achieving any of the policy objectives. That is, there is neither theoretical nor empirical support that the proposed regulation will meet its stated objectives; in fact, evidence suggests that moonlighting may increase in response to regulations. Finally, we anticipate that the proposed regulation would have a structural impact on the economy because salaried jobs may turn into hourly wage jobs. We believe such a shift will have a negative impact on certain labor contracts that would be ill suited to hourly pay—specifically, technology start-up and telecommuting jobs. Given that the birth of start-ups is on a decline and the death of start-ups is at a peak, we believe it would be unwise to further hamper the technology start-up market by adopting the proposed regulation.

The primary purpose of improving the working environment is to ensure that workers feel well in their organizations and are inspired to work more productively and creatively. Working environment improvements rely on solutions whose effects are sustained. To secure opportunities for changing and effectively improving the working environment, it is critical to strengthen factors which affect working conditions. By adopting solutions having the desired impact on the quality of the working environment, business organizations gain the ability to design processes that are resistant to disruptions, i.e. immune to factors that may adversely impact worker health and safety. The article identifies some of the key factors for working environment improvement in connection with worker needs, as derived from the Maslow's hierarchy of needs. As has been found, organizations which see workers as a valuable resource will find such efforts particularly helpful in ensuring their market survival. To ascertain whether specific conditions are proper, organizations need to refer to their internal and external signals and information. In working environments, such signals reflect factors which influence safety levels. A proper working condition may be viewed as an absence of unacceptable risks.

The manufacture of fibre-reinforced polymer matrix composites may release potentially harmful volatile organic compounds into the workplace and the environment. Styrene, in unsaturated polyester or vinyl ester resins, can be a significant source of emissions especially in open mould processes. The styrene monomer is implicated in a number of health issues. This paper compares conventional hand-painted gel-coating, in-mould gel-coating and in-mould surfacing processes to establish if styrene levels can be significantly reduced by the adoption of closed mould systems. The conventional hand-painted technology was found to have significantly higher levels of styrene emission than the two closed mould processes. For the open mould process, the average styrene levels were in the range 28–70 ppm. The two closed mould technologies significantly reduce the measured styrene levels to lie in the range 0.23–0.37 ppm. The new processes offer a reduction in average styrene emission levels of >98% (worst new/best old) with obvious benefits for worker health and the reduction of environmental burdens.

Our study is the first to test if mandatory pollution disclosure programs, exemplified by the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program, reduce worker chemical exposure. We examine newly available measurements of personal exposure to air contaminants at 1333 plants in the US chemical manufacturing sector between 1984 and 2009. The maximum ratio of exposure to the legal limits per inspection declined substantially, by 11%, in the post-program period. This result provides the first evidence of a reduction in measured risks coinciding with the inception of the TRI program. We find suggestive, not conclusive, evidence to attribute this reduction in part to the TRI program. Our preferred specifications find that plants that are more responsive to the TRI program, as indicated by larger industry-level TRI emission reduction, had 6.5% to 8% lower exposure. However, not all models find statistically significant larger exposure reductions in plants that are more responsive to the TRI program.

Objective Changes to the microbial community in the human gut have been proposed to promote metabolic disturbances that also occur after short periods of sleep loss (including insulin resistance). However, whether sleep loss affects the gut microbiota remains unknown. Methods In a randomized within-subject crossover study utilizing a standardized in-lab protocol (with fixed meal times and exercise schedules), we studied nine normal-weight men at two occasions: after two nights of partial sleep deprivation (PSD; sleep opportunity 02:45–07:00 h), and after two nights of normal sleep (NS; sleep opportunity 22:30–07:00 h). Fecal samples were collected within 24 h before, and after two in-lab nights, of either NS or PSD. In addition, participants underwent an oral glucose tolerance test following each sleep intervention. Results Microbiota composition analysis (V4 16S rRNA gene sequencing) revealed that after two days of PSD vs. after two days of NS, individuals exhibited an increased Firmicutes:Bacteroidetes ratio, higher abundances of the families Coriobacteriaceae and Erysipelotrichaceae, and lower abundance of Tenericutes (all P, Highlights • Possibly the first results of how short sleep impacts the human gut microbiota. • Two nights of short sleep do not significantly impact beta diversity. • The Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio is significantly affected by sleep loss. • Fecal short-chain fatty acid levels do not change depending on sleep duration. • Increased insulin resistance after sleep loss is unrelated to alterations in the microbiota.

A large body of research describes the factors that influence a worker in the decision to retire. However, the decision processes used by employees have received far less attention. We propose a theoretical model, based on well-established turnover decision process research, which incorporates ergonomics as a critical factor in the decision to retire. Ergonomic factors are proposed as distal factors that play a role in a retirement decision. We propose that they influence worker health and job attitudes, which in turn influence more proximal antecedents of retirement, leading up to the act of retiring.

The current study determined the maximal voluntary isometric forces for a variety of finger pulling tasks. Twenty healthy females, with no history of upper extremity injuries, were asked to use the fingers from their dominant hands and apply their maximal voluntary pull forces for seven conditions that varied in the number of fingers, force application location and interface characteristics. All conditions were tested with and without the use of a glove. However, there was no significant effect of wearing a glove. As expected, the maximum force increased with the number of fingers used and decreased when forces were applied on the finger tip instead of the first distal inter-phalangeal joint. Maximum forces ranged from 59.5 ± 21.4 N when using the index finger tip on a thin ring, to 268.7 ± 77.2 N when using all four fingers on a straight bar. Relevance to industry Many industrial tasks require pulling with the finger(s). The current study provides a set of maximal finger pull force values that can be used to set force limits that will contribute to protecting worker health and safety and insuring manufacturing quality.

SUMMARY Within broiler production facilities, NH3 concentrations have always been of concern from a bird performance and worker health standpoint. However, NH3 emitted from poultry houses is receiving increased attention from the environmental and community nuisance perspectives. Studies on NH3 emissions from poultry operations found within the literature do not address how NH3 disperses or the actual concentrations observed at varying distances downwind from poultry houses. The objective of this study was to measure downwind NH3 concentrations emitted from broiler houses when ventilation rates would be at a maximum. Open-path laser spectrometers were utilized for this study and for period 1 were placed 100, 200, and 300 ft from the houses from 28 to 49 d and in period 2 were placed at 100, 200, and 500 ft from 50 to 56 d. Data were collected during the last 4 wk of a 56-d grow-out cycle in 2 periods during a summer flock on a 4-house broiler farm located in northeastern Georgia. Ammonia concentrations were lower as distance from the houses increased, with NH3 levels at 100, 200, 300, and 500 ft being less than 1 ppm in approximately 60, 75, 85, and 90% of the observations, respectively. Ammonia concentrations extending to 100 ft from the houses were influenced by the tunnel fans themselves. Wind direction and wind speed were the factors that significantly influenced downstream NH3 concentrations beyond 100 ft. At no time did measured NH3 levels meet or exceed established Occupational Safety and Health Administration-US Environmental Protection Agency NH3 odor-detection threshold values during this study.

The applications of ion mobility methods (e.g., ion mobility spectrometry (IMS), differential mobility spectrometry (DMS), and field asymmetric waveform IMS (FAIMS)) to quality assurance and process monitoring by the pharmaceutical industry have been burgeoning. Specifically, the uses of IMS and FAIMS for cleaning verification of manufacturing equipment, direct analysis of formulations, and maintenance of worker health and safety can help save money and increase overall efficiency of production. We review ion mobility methods currently employed in pharmaceutical companies and research that could further these methods.

Jennifer Markarian looks at some of the top worker health and safety issues in the plastics compounding industry - hazardous materials handling, ergonomics, machinery safety, and noise control – and summarizes some of the keys to success.

A psychophysical and electromyographical methodology was utilized to examine 24 female subjects while performing fastener initiation (FI) tasks on a simulation device. Three wrist postures (neutral, flexed and extended) and two fastener sizes (large: 10 mm depth×20 mm diameter; small: 5 mm×10 mm) were examined. The number of FIs per minute and the number of efforts per FI were the kinematic dependent variables, and posture and fastener size were found to have significant effects on both ( p 0.05 ). Maximal acceptable frequencies (MAF) of FI were calculated to be those acceptable to 75% of the female subjects. These ranged from a low of 6.1/min (extended wrist, small fastener) to a high of 7.4/min (neutral wrist, large fastener). EMG data showed a significant effect of posture for the FCU and Thenar muscles. The ECU was found to have the highest activity of all muscles regardless of the condition. Relevance to industry The current study provides recommended TLV guidelines for MAFs for the common manufacturing task of FIs. These guidelines can be used to both protect worker health and safety and insure manufacturing quality with tasks involving hand starts of fasteners.

Fish processing, especially squid, creates high strength biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) wastewater that must be pretreated prior to sewer discharge. This study evaluated (1) new squid processing techniques, (2) advanced biological/chemical treatment technologies to meet local wastewater discharge regulations, and (3) recycling opportunities for materials formerly discarded as waste. Low technology modifications such as improved housekeeping/management systems were implemented in order to obtain initial reductions in BOD loadings. Various high technology separation processes, aimed at removing soluble BOD from the process effluent, were evaluated. A first order cost‐benefit analysis based on capital and operating costs, BOD reduction efficiencies, and worker health risk factors indicated that a modified biological trickling filter was the best available pretreatment technology for squid processing wastewater. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

To illustrate how core function concepts might be useful in evaluation of specific local health department (LHD) programs, we analyzed preliminary results from a national questionnaire survey of LHD occupational safety and health (OSH) activities during 1992-1993 in categories corresponding to the three core functions: assessment, policy development, and assurance. Overall, 2,079 (71%) LHDs returned completed questionnaires. With regard to the first core function (assessment), the state health department was the most frequent source of data used by the respondent LHDs (47%) to assess worker health and occupational hazards. Concerning the second core function category (policy development), 5% of LHDs had conducted an appraisal in the past three years to summarize the OSH needs of their communities. With regard to the third core function category (assurance), 23% of LHDs directly provided worksite health promotion activities for workers in their communities. We conclude that core function concepts can be a useful adjunct in evaluation of specific LHD programs. Additional research is needed to further refine and improve core function indicators providing insights into specific LHD programs, as well as into overall LHD performance.

The precise relationship between the positive psychological state of work (i.e. engagement) and the negative psychological state (i.e. burnout) has been receiving an increased attention. Some view these as opposite states on the same or similar continuum, while others take the position that they represent different biobehavioral spheres. Both states exhibit significant correlations to job demands and resources, elements of physical and mental well-being, and to each other. This study expands our knowledge of the phenomena of engagement and burnout by analyzing their separate and joint manifestations. Using a large sample of 2,094 nurses, respondents were segmented into quadrants that represent a 50/50 (median split) of Engagement and Burnout. The four resulting quadrants were examined in a series of analyses including logistic regression and ANOVAs. This configurational approach allowed us to examine both inverse and concurrent states of Engagement and Burnout. The findings suggested that engagement and burnout were generally inversely related (67% of the sample) but could be manifested concurrently at either extreme (33% of the sample). Burnout was chiefly driven by work demands as both quadrants of low burnout had lower demands and both quadrants of high burnout had higher demands. Engagement was primarily driven by resources and affinity. Social support acted independently by aligning with states of burnout. Worker health was primarily driven by burnout wherein both states of low burnout exhibited better health and both states of high burnout exhibited poorer health.

Summary Internationally, environmental concerns, public opinion, and government regulation have initiated extensive controls on the use and disposal of industrial products including grinding fluids. As a result, waste disposal costs have increased as has manufacturer liability for the effect of wastes upon the environment and for the impact of manufacturing processes upon worker health. In the case of grinding fluids, these trends have resulted in an emphasis on fluid maintenance in order to minimize the amount of waste generated, to extend the life of the fluid, and to mitigate negative effects on worker health. The concept of fluid management encompasses fluid selection, maintenance of fluid concentration and emulsion stability, control of microbial levels, and removal of impurities. Upon failure, used fluids must be treated either to reduce toxicity or to render them suitable for recycling. Although techniques and equipment have been developed for fluid maintenance and waste disposal, more research is warranted accurately to determine the extent and forms of the impact of grinding fluids on the environment, given that government regulation shall become increasingly stringent and that the impact upon manufacturing processes promises to be far reaching.

Atypical work, or alternative work arrangements in U.S. parlance, has long been criticized for providing poorly-compensated employment. Although one group of atypical workers (contractors) seems to enjoy a wage premium, our cross-section results from the CPS and NLSY for the better-known category of temporary workers point to a negative wage differential of some 7-12 percent. It emerges that much of the latter disparity stems from unobserved worker heterogeneity (accounting for which supports a wage advantage for contracting work). Turning to fringes, the appearance in cross section of a potentially large deficit in atypical worker health benefits is again reduced after accounting for permanent unobserved individual heterogeneity. But on this occasion the reduction is very modest. Further, there is now some indication that the wage advantage of contract workers partly compensates for their reduced access to such benefits.

A modified-Squire carcinogen ranking system has been developed by the Worker Health and Safety Unit of the California Department of Food and Agriculture to deal with pesticides which pose carcinogenic potentials. For pesticide products that have been adequately tested with sufficient data for such evaluation, this system can provide an in-depth review which is necessary for the better understanding of a chemical under investigation. Only with such understanding can a product be placed in its proper perspective with respect to its carcinogenic potency. When applying this rather intensive tumor data evaluation system, a total scoring point and carcinogenicity categorization may be provided, which, in conjunction with human exposure information, may be adequate for regulatory decision making. Based upon the adequacy of tumor data, seven pesticides were investigated using the current tumor data evaluation system. These pesticides were chosen to demonstrate the stepwise evaluation procedure for carcinogenicity evaluation.