MIOSHA relaxes COVID-19 workplace orders for businesses

Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced on Tuesday that Michigan businesses have more discretion on COVID-19 measures for employees with new emergency rules from Michigan OSHA. The rules allow employers outside the healthcare industry to use their judgment on whether to continue daily health screenings, face covering requirements and social distancing orders for employees. WJRT (Flint, Mich.)

 

HIOSH fines transit agency for not properly training on COVID cleaning sprays

Hawaii OSHA has fined TheBus more than $26,000 for not properly training employees who used coronavirus cleaning sprays and for not conducting an assessment for hazardous materials before conducting the spraying. The disinfectants, intended to prevent spread of the virus in city buses, contain chemicals that can irritate or corrode the skin or cause eye damage or eye irritation. The city of Honolulu and Oahu Transit Services said the problems cited by HIOSH have since been addressed. HawaiiNewsNow

 

How much exhaled air is building up in your office?

If you don’t have a real CO2 monitor, this tool can help you guess how much the air is moving in places you frequent. Fast Company

 

Study: Disparities in respiratory health have persisted or widened in last 60 years

Socioeconomic disparities in respiratory health and smoking prevalence have not only persisted during the last six decades, but in some cases have gotten wider, according to a new study recently published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Poor lung health reduces quality of life and is associated with an increased risk of death due to disease or harmful exposure, so a widening gap in lung function based on income and education can also mean a widening gap in life expectancy between poorer and richer Americans, the authors write. Generocity

 

NIOSH: Indiana fire captain suffers fatal heart attack after training

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health investigators have concluded the physical exertion associated with a multi-unit training scenario in an abandoned restaurant in September 2017 triggered a heart attack in a fire captain with underlying cardiovascular disease during the training. Firefighter Nation

 

Texas family in legal battle with fair over sexual assault of young employee

A Texas mother says her daughter was sexually assaulted at a longtime, popular North Texas fair in 2018, and she does not believe the festival did enough to protect young employees. A former employee has pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault of a child in the incident. The parents of the victim, who was 14 years old at the time, say fair organizers never did a background check on the perpetrator, were negligent in hiring him, failed to supervise employees and did not provide security. Times News Express