The Synergist

Biohacking and the Workplace

Advancing technology presents new industrial processes and agents to understand, new controls and materials to characterize, and new topics to master. The same approach applies to adapting evaluation techniques to protect workers who may be unusually vulnerable to certain risks, or who have been modified in a variety of emerging ways.

Critical Factors for Heat Stress Assessment and Prevention

Heat-related illnesses are insidious conditions that can affect almost anyone with little warning, especially since symptoms may affect one’s ability to recognize the danger. All that is needed for the onset of heat stress is for the energy and blood demanded by the muscles to compete with the body’s cooling mechanisms.

A Primer on Permeation, Penetration, and Degradation

IHs know the importance of chemical protective clothing, but not always the extent to which CPC materials can resist any of the numerous chemicals present in the workplace, particularly those new to the market. In these circumstances, IHs continually face the problem of how to select appropriate CPC while lacking data on the materials’ chemical resistance.

The Future Is Here—Introduce Yourself

As sensor technology advances and becomes more affordable, the integration of wearable sensors into PPE offers an opportunity to enhance capabilities for protecting workers and gives OHS professionals new tools for keeping pace with changing paradigms of worker protection.

Lessons Learned from the Surveillance for Anti-Cancer Drugs Exposure Study

Despite the dissemination of safe handling practices and guidelines over the past three decades, environmental contamination of chemotherapy drugs remains stubbornly persistent. Consequently, healthcare workers continue to be exposed through surface contamination and dermal uptake.

Using Cognitive Science to Improve Communication with Workers

A working day is a series of small decisions. Our job as industrial hygienists is to recognize situations where workers' hardwired bias is likely to impair decision-making and result in exposure to hazardous conditions.

Sponsored by Lion Technology Inc.

In a 2019 Letter of Interpretation, OSHA re-asserted its position on the effectiveness of online safety training. The letter was a response to an employer who asked, “Are online training programs acceptable for compliance with OSHA’s worker training requirements?”