OSHA’s Safe + Sound Week  may be over, but the Campaign is continuing all year long. To learn more visit https://www.osha.gov/safeandsound.

To order free hardhat stickers to use during your Campaign efforts, please complete this form.

A new article in Safety & Health Magazine focuses on results from a CPWR study on hearing loss looking at Building Trades Medical Screening Program data from more than 19,000 workers previously employed at Department of Energy nuclear power sites.  The researchers found that 58 percent of the former construction workers had some form of hearing loss and, overall, had “significantly increased risk of hearing loss compared to reference populations.” In addition, those who worked for more than 30 years were nearly four times more likely to experience hearing loss than workers with fewer than 10 years on the job.

The full study can be found in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.

Electrical hazards are a potential source of injury to workers in a wide array of work environments. Occupations that routinely involve electrical work are the most obvious populations at risk for electrical injury, but virtually any environment that utilizes electrical equipment or is conducted near electrical installations may involve exposure to hazardous energy. This report from the National Fire Protection Association provides an overview of non-fatal electrical injuries at work in 2012-2016.

Download the report at https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Fire-statistics-and-reports/Fire-statistics/Non-fire-incidents/Non-Fatal-Electrical-Injuries-at-Work.

See also: NFPA Report: Fatal electrical injuries at work

Hearing loss is a serious problem for workers in the construction industry, with three out of every four construction workers being overexposed to noise on a jobsite.  In order to understand more about noise exposure and hearing loss prevention, CPWR used its Trainers and Researchers United Network (TRU-Net) to conduct multi-trade surveys of trainers and workers.

The results of the trainer and worker surveys identified a need for additional training materials and new strategies to improve retention of training materials. Based on these findings, CPWR’s r2p and training staff developed the Construction Noise and Hearing Loss Prevention Training Program. This comprehensive program consists of several modules and exercises that can be used on their own or as part of OSHA training programs, including a 1-hour elective module, a 30-minute elective module, and in-class and hands-on refresher exercises.

Learn more at: https://www.cpwr.com/research/research-practice-library/r2p-and-p2r-work/preventing-hearing-loss

Occupations that routinely involve electrical work are the most obvious populations at risk for electrical injury, but virtually any environment that utilizes electrical equipment or is conducted near electrical installations may involve exposure to hazardous energy. This report from the National Fire Protection Association provides an overview of fatal electrical injuries at work in 2012-2016.

https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Fire-statistics-and-reports/Fire-statistics/Non-fire-incidents/Fatal-electrical-injuries-at-work

See also: NFPA Report: Non-Fatal Electrical Injuries at Work