Docs Treating Silicosis Patients Urged to Report

The author of a new study that found occupational exposure to quartz dust is associated with the development of the lung disease silicosis is calling for great consumer and physician awareness of the risk.
“Now that engineered stone has become the most popular countertop material in the United States, it is important to raise awareness among consumers that the risk of silicosis is even greater to workers exposed to dust from engineered stone products,” said Richard Anthony Lee, MD,a pulmonologist at UCI Health and an associate clinical professor in the Division of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine at the UCI School of Medicine.
He called on doctors treating patients who have developed silica from workplace exposure, to report those cases to state or federal occupational safety and health programs and notifying local health departments.
READ MORE

Mississippi’s Washington County will add a local safety officer, more than four years after the accidental death of a county worker involving road equipment spurred consideration of the role.
The forthcoming job description will be similar to those that are utilized in various state agencies which range from “Safety Inspector I” to “Safety Inspector III”.
The largest employers in the county are the U.S. Department of Agriculture (302 employees), TROP Casino Greenville (252), USG Interiors (207), and Mars Food (169), according to the local chamber of commerce.
The county seat is Greenville, the largest city by population in the Mississippi Delta region.
READ MORE

Joel Sacks has been reappointed as director of the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), according to an announcement from the governor’s office.
L&I oversees Washington state workplace safety requirements, workers’ compensation insurance, wage and hour laws, and other key programs.
Sacks has served as L&I director since 2013.
Before becoming L&I director, Sacks served eight years at the state Employment Security Department as deputy commissioner and as assistant commissioner for the Budget, Policy, and Communication Division. He spent four years at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the U.S. Department of Labor.
READ MORE