Image: Mass removal of asbestos-containing debris after the Jasper, Alberta wildfire in October 2024. Credited to Pinchin Ltd.

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After a one-month hiatus for AIHA Connect 2026, “What You’re Reading” returns to share the topics that captured our readers’ attention during the early part of summer. As usual, this installment reviews the most-viewed posts and articles from Synergist publications, and provides updates if available.  

Most read in Synergist Newswire:

11 Dead as All Bodies Recovered After Washington Chemical Disaster

On May 26, a tank containing a chemical solution imploded at a paper mill in Longview, Washington, and the subsequent leak killed 11 workers. This article, published by The New York Times four days later, describes the efforts of search crews to recover victims. The chemical solution, known as “white liquor,” is a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide used to break down wood into paper pulp. An update published in The Times on June 11 reported that 10 of the 11 workers who died at the mill were killed by alkaline chemical burns. The exact cause of the implosion still has not been determined. The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board is investigating.

Most read in The Synergist Weekly:

Some Movement on OSHA Proposals to Amend Respiratory Protection Requirements

On June 3, OSHA published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would remove some medical evaluation requirements in the respiratory protection standard for filtering-facepiece respirators and loose-fitting powered air-purifying respirators. The Federal Register notice indicates that OSHA’s Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health, by a vote of five to four, recommended against removing the requirements. The agency is also proposing changes to respiratory protection requirements in several substance-specific standards, including methylene chloride, lead, ethylene oxide, asbestos, 1,3-butadiene, vinyl chloride, and formaldehyde. Notices reopening the rulemaking record for these proposed rules appeared just yesterday in the Federal Register.

Most read in the digital Synergist:

Early Action: Monitoring Approaches During the Jasper Wildfire Mass Demolition Recovery

The July 2024 wildfire damaged or destroyed an estimated 30 percent of the structures in Jasper, Alberta, which resides within a national park. This article describes protections put in place for workers who removed debris. Workers’ tasks involved potential exposures to asbestos, particulates, and other hazards. Conservative correction factors applied to measurements of particulate from real-time instruments helped identify potential problems, and the author explains the thinking behind his company’s approach to asbestos sampling. Other concerns that complicated the work included the proximity of Jasper residents and park visitors. Non-AIHA members can access a public version of the article for a limited time.

Most read on SynergistNOW:

Who Should Be Performing Fit Tests?

Formal accreditation schemes for fit testers in other countries include Fit2Fit in the United Kingdom, RESP-FIT in Australia, and Commit2Fit in New Zealand. But no such program exists in the United States, and so far, conversations among workplace health and safety organizations have not resulted in a commitment to create one. This post by OHD’s Stephanie Lynch discusses the training needs of fit testers and ways that managers of respiratory protection programs in the U.S. can strengthen fit-testing competence.

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