Manual material handling (MMH) work contributes to a large percentage of the over half a million cases of musculoskeletal disorders reported annually in the United States. Musculoskeletal disorders often involve strains and sprains to the lower back, shoulders, and upper limbs. They can result in protracted pain, disability, medical treatment, and financial stress for those afflicted with them, and employers often find themselves paying the bill, either directly or through workers' compensation insurance, at the same time they must cope with the loss of the full capacity of their workers....

Ionizing radiation and its sources are used every day in medical, industrial and governmental facilities around the world. Although some health risks from ionizing radiation exposures are widely recognized, the association of these exposures to specific diseases, especially various types of cancer, remains uncertain. Workers at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facilities have produced nuclear weapons, provided nuclear fuel materials for power reactors, and conducted a wide spectrum of research related to nuclear safety and other scientific issues. While completing this work, many of the...

In March 1999, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) cosponsored a Chemical and Biological Respiratory Protection Workshop with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Department of Defense, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM). The objectives of this meeting were to: (1) identify and understand the hazards associated with a terrorist chemical and biological incident, (2) identify the different civilian responders and their respiratory protections needs, (3) determine which respirators and selection criteria are...

This publication is a revised edition of the NIOSH document Histoplasmosis: Protecting Workers at Risk, which was originally published in September 1997. The updated information in this publication will help readers understand what histoplasmosis is and recognize activities that may expose workers to the disease-causing fungus Histoplasma capsulatum. The publication also informs readers about methods they can use to protect themselves and others from exposure. Outbreaks of histoplasmosis have shared similar circumstances: People who did not know the health risks of breathing in the spores of...

Public awareness of the potential for healthcare to actually be the source of harm to patients through exposure to infectious agents, unintended error or known side effects of hazardous treatments has spawned a highly visible "patient safety" movement. Less visible, however, is the risk this same environment and these same hazards impose on the health of the women and men who work there. Although often thought of as clean and safe, workplaces in the Healthcare and Social Assistance (HCSA) sector are associated with many of the same types of exposures to chemicals and hazards found in "blue...

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has reviewed data characterizing occupational exposure to airborne refractory ceramic fibers (RCFs) and information about potential health effects obtained from experimental and epidemiologic studies. From this review, NIOSH determined that occupational exposure to RCFs is associated with adverse respiratory effects as well as skin and eye irritation and may pose a carcinogenic risk based on the results of chronic animal inhalation studies. When the U.S. Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (Public Law...