You can’t see, smell, or taste radon, but it could be present at a dangerous level in your home. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers in America and claims the lives of about 20,000 Americans each year. In fact, the EPA and the U.S. Surgeon General urge all Americans to protect their health by testing their homes, schools, and other buildings for radon. Exposure to radon is a preventable health risk, and testing radon levels in your home can help prevent unnecessary exposure. If a high radon level is detected in your home, you can take steps to fix the problem to protect yourself and your family.
MYTH: Scientists are not sure that radon really is a problem.
FACT: Although some scientists dispute the precise number of deaths due to radon, all the major health organizations (like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Lung Association and the American Medical Association) agree with estimates that radon causes thousands of preventable lung cancer deaths every year. This is especially true among smokers, since the risk to smokers is much greater than to non-smokers.
MYTH: Radon testing is difficult, time-consuming and expensive.
FACT: Radon testing is easy. You can test your home yourself or hire a qualified radon test company. Either approach takes only a small amount of time and effort.
MYTH: Homes with radon problems can’t be fixed.
FACT: There are simple solutions to radon problems in homes. Hundreds of thousands of homeowners have already fixed radon problems in their homes. Most homes can be fixed for about the same cost as other common home repairs; check with one or more qualified mitigators. Call your state radon office for help in identifying qualified mitigation contractors.
MYTH: Radon affects only certain kinds of homes.
FACT: House construction can affect radon levels. However, radon can be a problem in homes of all types: old homes, new homes, drafty homes, insulated homes, homes with basements, and homes without basements. Local geology, construction materials, and how the home was built are among the factors that can affect radon levels in homes.
NATIONAL RADON MONTH
MYTH: Radon is only a problem in certain parts of the country.
FACT: High radon levels have been found in every state. Radon problems do vary from area to area, but the only way to know your radon level is to test.
MYTH: A neighbor’s test result is a good indication of whether your home has a problem.
FACT: It’s not. Radon levels can vary greatly from home to home. The only way to know if your home has a radon problem is to test it.
MYTH: Everyone should test their water for radon.
FACT: Although radon gets into some homes through water, it is important to first test the air in the home for radon. If your water comes from a public water supply that uses ground water, call your water supplier. If high radon levels are found and the home has a private well, call the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1 800-426-4791 for information on testing your water.
MYTH: It’s difficult to sell homes where radon problems have been discovered.
FACT: Where radon problems have been fixed, home sales have not been blocked or frustrated. The added protection is some times a good selling point.
MYTH: I’ve lived in my home for so long, it doesn’t make sense to take action now.
FACT: You will reduce your risk of lung cancer when you reduce radon levels, even if you’ve lived with a radon problem for a long time.
MYTH: Short-term tests can’t be used for making a decision about whether to fix your home.
FACT: A short-term test, followed by a second short-term test* can be used to decide whether to fix your home. However, the closer the average of your two short-term tests is to 4 pCi/L, the less certain you can be about whether your year-round average is above or below that level. Keep in mind that radon levels below 4 pCi/L still pose some risk. Radon levels can be reduced in most homes to 2 pCi/L or below.
* If the radon test is part of a real estate transaction, the result of two short-term tests can be used in deciding whether to mitigate. For more information, see EPA’s “Home Buyer’s and Seller’s Guide to Radon“.
A new safety group called FocusDriven hopes to do for distracted driving what MADD has done for drunken driving and that is to increase awareness about the problem and influence action against it.
FocusDriven formed as a national nonprofit following the U.S. Department of Transportation’s summit on distracted driving held in September 2009.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and National Safety Council President Janet Froetscher made a joint announcement in support of the new group on Wednesday, Jan. 13. As readers may know, the National Safety Council is the group that is calling for a nationwide ban on all use of cellular phones while driving.
The members of FocusDriven appear to have similar goals. According to the group’s Web site, www.focusdriven.org, group members are rallying as “advocates for cell-free driving.”
The five-member board of FocusDriven consists of advocates and victims of tragedies involving distracted driving. Heading up the group is Jennifer Smith, whose mother was killed by someone talking on a cell phone while driving in 2008.
LaHood said that like what Mothers Against Drunk Driving has done to change society’s view of drunken driving, FocusDriven will work to change attitudes about distracted driving.
Congress is also considering legislation – HR3535 and H3994 in the House and S1536 and S1938 in the Senate – related to distracted driving especially text messaging. OOIDA supports the approach taken in H3994 and S1938.
Two dozen states have laws and penalties for distracted drivers and more are expected to follow.
Automakers, communications companies and manufacturers are also working on technological approaches including hands-free systems and locking software for mobile devices.
OOIDA believes driver education and the enforcement of existing laws pertaining to inattentive or negligent driving would go a long way to solving some of the worst problems on the road.
The Association said in October 2009 that because of the “vested interest” that truckers have in highway safety, OOIDA supports a ban on texting and e-mailing messages while operating a moving vehicle.
A pair of online surveys conducted by Land Line Magazine in the fall showed that 82 percent of respondents in favor of a national ban on texting while driving, but just 27 percent said they would favor an outright ban of cell-phone use while driving.
Many truckers conduct business from the road and use cell phones. Many already use hands-free devices
A new “Warehouse Safety Hazards and Solutions Guide” is now available free from Graphic Products, Inc. It lists common warehouse safety hazards, presents safety solutions and provides “Think Safety” checklists for avoiding certain hazards.
“Safety hazards in a warehouse like forklifts, electrical wiring, docks and use of poor ergonomics contribute to a myriad of injuries and deaths each year,” said Daniel Evans, assistant marketing manager at Graphic Products. “It’s so crucial not only to recognize warehouse safety hazards but to understand effective solutions for preventing them in the first place, and that’s where this new guide steps in.”
By listing up front 10 OSHA standards for which warehousing establishments are most frequently cited, the “Warehouse Safety Hazards and Solutions Guide” immediately speaks to the reality of working in such a potentially dangerous environment.
It then lists specific hazards presented to warehouse workers, including unsafe use of forklifts, improper stacking of products, failure to use personal protective equipment, failure to follow proper lockout/tagout procedures and repetitive motion injuries.
Safety solutions are presented in an orderly manner within the guide for each of the following hazards:
- Forklifts
- Docks
- Conveyors
- Materials Storage
- Manual Lifting/Handling
- Charging Stations
- Poor Ergonomics
- General Hazards
- Materials Handling
An excerpt from the guide introduces some of the solutions to fire and explosion hazards related to charging stations:
- Prohibit smoking and open flames in and around charging stations (mark these areas with signs)
- Provide adequate ventilation to disperse fumes from gassing batteries
- Ensure that fire extinguishers are available and fully charged (identify fire extinguisher locations with highly visible signs)
Another excerpt from the guide allows a peak into part of a “Think Safety” checklist for hazard communication safety:
- All hazardous materials containers are properly labeled, indicating the chemicals’ identity, the manufacturer’s name and address, and appropriate hazard warnings.
- The facility has written a program that covers hazard determination, including Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs), labeling and training
- Employees use proper personal protective equipment when handling chemicals
“What we’ve done is compiled pertinent information as a means to offer valuable safety insights to anyone working in warehouse operations,” said Evans.
The seven-page “Warehouse Safety Hazards and Solutions Guide” is available, free of charge, from Graphic Products. It may be requested by visiting http://www.duralabel.com/free-warehouse-safety-guide.php or by calling Graphic Products at 1-888-326-9244.
OSHA recently solidified leadership for the agency and has provided a clearer picture of the regulatory horizon.
First of all, David Michaels, PhD, MPH, assumed his position as head of OSHA when the Senate confirmed his nomination as assistant secretary of Labor for occupational safety and health. Nominated by President Barack Obama on June 28, the Senate acted on the nomination December 3.
Michaels, an epidemiologist, has been a professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in Washington, DC, and is also the author of Doubt is Their Product: How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens Your Health.
Agency watchers assumed that any work on new, and perhaps controversial, standards, would await the establishment of a permanent director.
While Michaels as settling in, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis held an online Q&A session Dec. 7 to discuss regulations at the Department of Labor.
Solis announced that OSHA is considering airborne infectious disease protection for healthcare workers and will publish a request for information in the Federal Register in March.
A standard would require healthcare employers to protect workers from tuberculosis, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and influenza, such as H1N1, on which OSHA recently issued an enforcement directive.
When asked if an airborne infectious disease standard would be modeled after the California version, which took years to achieve consensus among employers, labor and other stakeholders, Solis said the California standard “would certainly be one important piece of information that OSHA will consider in deciding whether to propose or issue a standard.” She would not predict how long it would take to issue a final standard.
Also, Solis confirmed that although OSHA has conducted several inspections, it has not yet issued any citations based on the H1N1 enforcement directive.
In an OSHA-specific session later that day, HealthLeaders Media asked OSHA interim director Jordan Barab, if the absence of airborne infectious disease standard has hampered the agency with regard to its H1N1 educational preparedness and enforcement activities?
“No, it has not hampered us,” said Barab. “While a standard on airborne transmissible diseases would have been preferable, we believe that we are responding to the issues effectively using existing standards and the General Duty Clause.”
On the matter of issuing an industry-wide ergonomics standard, both Solis and Barab reiterated—word-for-word in fact—”At this time, OSHA has no plans for regulatory activity.” Both said that a proposal to reinstate the work-related musculoskeletal disorders column on the OSHA 300 Injury Log was not a prelude to issuing such a standard.
Concerning an industry-specific ergonomic standard, such as one for safe patient handling standard, Barab said,” There are many options that OSHA might consider if the agency decides to pursue rulemaking in this area. Industry specific standards is one option that would be considered.”
David LaHoda, the managing editor of Medical Environment Update and OSHA Watch, has produced healthcare training videos and consulted for medical practices and ambulatory healthcare facilities.