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Currently featured in the May 2022 Synergist
Harnessing the Hidden Power of Empathy
Effective Leadership and Greater Compassion for OEHS Professionals
Many OEHS professionals focus extensively on regulatory compliance and other metric-based outcomes. But most workers do not care about injury and illness statistics and will not remember what OEHS professionals do or why. What they will remember is how an OEHS professional’s words and actions made them feel.
Rightsizing an EHS Workforce
How Many Professionals Are Needed in Your Organization?
As EHS professionals, few of us have felt adequately staffed, let alone overstaffed. With many of us feeling understaffed at some point in our careers, how can it be that we haven’t managed to find a solution? How do we not know the appropriate level of resources for EHS within an organization?
Banding Together
Making the Case for Occupational Exposure Bands
Setting occupational exposure limits can be resource intensive, and the number of chemical substances in use vastly exceeds the number of chemicals with OELs. So, OEHS professionals have begun searching for additional strategies for chemical risk assessment and management. One strategy gaining stronger acceptance and increasing utility is occupational exposure banding.
Features from the April 2022 Synergist
Engineering Controls for Respirable Crystalline Silica Hazards
Investigations by NIOSH’s Engineering and Physical Hazards Branch
Although engineering controls to reduce inhalation of respirable crystalline silica have been available for decades, people continue to succumb to its associated health effects. Researchers at NIOSH have extensively studied engineering controls for tasks that produce RCS.
Revealing Exposures
Health and Safety Concerns in Strip Clubs
The American strip club is a $7 billion industry with a rich history in the tradition of the circus, burlesque, cancan, go-go dancing, and striptease. Unfortunately, strip clubs and other businesses in the adult entertainment industry are often considered taboo workplaces; as a result, they may be hesitant to request outside help, including from safety and health professionals.
Worker Well-Being in the Great Resignation
A Story of Risks, Ills, and Cultures
Over 4.5 million American workers left their jobs in November 2021, the highest number since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began keeping these figures in December 2000. Many hourly, entry-level, minority, and low-wage workers—those who earn less than $60,000 per year—have seriously considered leaving or have left their jobs in search of better opportunities.