NIOSH News

Miners Tell Trump Silica Dust Rule ‘Desperately’ Needed to Curb Black Lung Disease

The head of the national coal miners’ union on Thursday urged the Trump administration to impose regulation on silica dust in mines, which researchers believe is responsible for a resurgence of black lung disease in central Appalachia. The demand from …

Safety Agency Finds 10% of Veteran Coal Miners Have Black Lung Disease

More than 10 percent of America’s coal miners with 25 or more years of experience have black lung disease, the highest rate recorded in roughly two decades, according to a government study released on Thursday that showed cases concentrated heavily …

Coal Industry Tax Cut Threatens Miners’ Benefits Fund as Black Lung Cases Surge

As a young man, Barry Shrewsbury dug coal in the West Virginia mines and spent his time off hunting and fishing in the rolling hills. Now, at 62, he struggles to breathe and accomplish basic tasks such as shopping and …

Amazon, Lowe’s, Tesla Make ‘Dirty Dozen’ Unsafe Workplace List

Amazon, Lowe’s and Tesla are among the firms on a list of employers with unsafe workplaces published by a federation of labor, health and safety groups. The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) released its annual “The …

Study Finds 36% of Forestry Workers with Noisy Jobs Suffer Hearing Loss

About 15 percent of noise-exposed workers in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (AFFH) sector experience hearing loss, according to a new NIOSH hearing loss study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine. While the 15 percent figure is …

Law Enforcement Officers 3 Times More Likely to Be Injured Than Other Workers

An estimated 669,100 law enforcement officers were treated in emergency departments across the nation for nonfatal injuries between 2003 and 2014, according to a study by researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Law enforcement officers …

How the U.S. Can Improve Workplace Injury and Illness Data

Federal agency officials involved in reducing work-related injuries and illnesses believe there is still a lot to learn about the relationship between work and injuries. According to the experts, the government needs smarter workplace surveillance and data collection practices. The …

Workplace Injuries Less Likely Where Employers Provide Paid Sick Leave

Workers with access to paid sick leave are 28 percent less likely overall to suffer nonfatal occupational injuries than workers without access to paid sick leave, according to a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) study. The study …

Suspect Air Packs Still Being Used at Coal Mines

Two years of testing have found a critical defect in a certain model of emergency breathing devices used in U.S. coal mines, but federal regulators have no immediate plans to remove the more than 70,000 air packs that could remain …