Evaluating the impact of occupational noise exposure on workplace fatal and nonfatal injuries in the U.S. (2006-2020).

Objectives: This study assessed the relationship between occupational noise exposure and the incidence of workplace fatal injury (FI) and nonfatal injury (NFI) in the United States from 2006 to 2020. It also examined whether distinct occupational and industrial clusters based on noise exposure characteristics demonstrated varying risks for FI and NFI.

Methods: An ecological study design was utilized, employing data from the U.

Workplace Exposures Vary Across Neighborhoods in the US: Implications on Social Vulnerability and Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities.

Ignoring workplace exposures that occur beyond the local residential context in place-based risk indices like the CDC's Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) likely misclassifies community exposure by under-counting risks and obscuring true drivers of racial/ethnic health disparities. To investigate this hypothesis, we developed several place-based indicators of occupational exposure and examined their relationships with race/ethnicity, SVI, and health inequities. We used publicly available job exposure matrices and employment estimates from the United States (US) Census to create and map six indicators of occupational hazards for every census tract in the US.

A pilot study on psychosocial factors and perceptions of organizational health among a sample of U.S. waste workers.

Solid waste workers encounter a number of occupational hazards that are likely to induce stress. Thus, there are likely to be psychosocial factors that also contribute to their overall perceptions of organizational health. However, attitudes regarding the aforementioned among solid waste workers' have not been assessed.

Risk perception or hazard perception? Examining misperceptions of miners' personal exposures to noise.

While perceptions of risk have been examined in the workplace to understand safety behavior, hazard perception has been overlooked, particularly for chemical, physical, and biological agents. This study sought to establish the prevalence of one type of mismatch in hazard perception, - noise misperception - among miners, to examine whether different types of noisy environments (e.g.

Cancer incidence among workers in soft paper mills: A cohort study.

Objectives: To elucidate whether occupational exposure to soft paper dust increases the incidence of cancer.

Methods: We studied 7988 workers in Swedish soft paper mills from 1960 to 2008, of whom 3233 (2 187 men and 1046 women) had more than 10 years of employment. They were divided into high exposure (>5 mg/m for >1 year) or lower exposure to soft paper dust based on a validated job-exposure matrix.

Occupational exposure to noise and dust in Swedish soft paper mills and mortality from ischemic heart disease and ischemic stroke: a cohort study.

Objective: To elucidate whether occupational noise exposure increases the mortality from ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke, and if exposure to paper dust modified the risks.

Methods: We studied 6686 workers from soft paper mills, with occupational noise exposure, < 85 dBA, 85-90 dBA and > 90 dBA, and high (> 5 mg/m) exposure to paper dust. Person-years 1960-2019 were stratified according to gender, age, and calendar-year.

Characterization of perceived biohazard exposures, personal protective equipment, and training resources among a sample of formal U.S. solid waste workers: A pilot study.

In the United States, the majority of waste workers work with solid waste. In solid waste operations, collection, sorting, and disposal can lead to elevated biohazard exposures (e.g.

Associations between Poorer Mental Health with Work-Related Effort, Reward, and Overcommitment among a Sample of Formal US Solid Waste Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: Effort-reward imbalance (ERI) and overcommitment at work have been associated poorer mental health. However, nonlinear and nonadditive effects have not been investigated previously.

Methods: The association between effort, reward, and overcommitment with odds of poorer mental health was examined among a sample of 68 formal United States waste workers (87% male).

Linking environmental injustices in Detroit, MI to institutional racial segregation through historical federal redlining.

Objectives: To identify the most pervasive environmental exposures driving environmental disparities today associated with historical redlining in Detroit.

Methods: We overlaid Detroit's 1939 Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) shapefile from the Mapping Inequality project onto the EPA EJScreen and the DOT National Transportation Noise maps to analyze differences in current demographic and environmental indicators between historically redlined (D-grade) and non-redlined neighborhoods using simple linear regression and a boosted classification tree algorithm.

Results: Historically redlined neighborhoods in Detroit experienced significantly higher environmental hazards than non-redlined neighborhoods in the form of 12.

Evaluating Occupational Noise Exposure as a Contributor to Injury Risk among Miners.

Objectives: This study: (i) assessed the relationship between noise exposure and injury risk, comprehensively adjusting for individual factors, psychosocial stressors, and organizational influences; (ii) determined the relative importance of noise on injuries; (iii) estimated the lowest observed adverse effect level (LOAEL) of noise on injury risk to determine the threshold of noise considered hazardous to injuries; and (iv) quantified the fraction of injuries that could be attributed to hazardous noise exposure.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study at 10 US surface mine sites, traditional mixed effects, Poisson regression, and boosted regression tree (BRT) models were run on the number of reported work-related injuries in the last year. The LOAEL of noise on injuries was identified by estimating the percent increase in work-related injuries at different thresholds of noise exposure using a counterfactual estimator through the BRT model.

Effort-Reward Imbalance among a Sample of Formal US Solid Waste Workers.

Background: Solid waste workers are exposed to a plethora of occupational hazards and may also experience work-related stress. Our study had three specific hypotheses: (1) waste workers experience effort−reward imbalance (ERI) with high self-reported effort but low reward, (2) unionized workers experience greater ERI, and (3) workers with higher income have lower ERI. Methods: Waste workers from three solid waste sites in Michigan participated in this cross-sectional study.

Integrating Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Into Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety Education: Results of a Feasibility Study.

Objective: Although occupational health and safety programs are expected to prepare graduates to function in an interprofessional collaborative environment, research to support training in this area is far less common in this discipline than among clinical programs. We incorporated interprofessional education (IPE) competencies into an occupational health and safety course for graduate students in diverse disciplines (public health, engineering, nursing) and evaluated effectiveness.

Methods: We assessed course offerings for content learning and attitudes toward IPE and analyzed data using a mixed-methods approach.

Beware the Grizzlyman: A comparison of job- and industry-based noise exposure estimates using manual coding and the NIOSH NIOCCS machine learning algorithm.

Recently, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) released an updated version of the NIOSH Industry and Occupation Computerized Coding System (NIOCCS), which uses supervised machine learning to assign industry and occupational codes based on provided free-text information. However, no efforts have been made to externally verify the quality of assigned industry and job titles when the algorithm is provided with inputs of varying quality. This study sought to evaluate whether the NIOCCS algorithm was sufficiently robust with low-quality inputs and how variable quality could impact subsequent job estimated exposures in a large job-exposure matrix for noise (NoiseJEM).

Noise exposure and mental workload: Evaluating the role of multiple noise exposure metrics among surface miners in the US Midwest.

This study examined associations between metrics of noise exposure and mental workload. In this cross-sectional study, five occupational noise metrics computed from full-shift dosimetry were evaluated among surface mine workers in the US Midwest. Mental workload was evaluated using a modified, raw NASA-TLX and clustered with a k-means clustering algorithm.

Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 in air and on surfaces and estimating infection risk in buildings and buses on a university campus.

Background: Evidence is needed on the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in various types of environmental samples and on the estimated transmission risks in non-healthcare settings on campus.

Objectives: The objective of this research was to collect data on SARS-CoV-2 viral load and to examine potential infection risks of people exposed to the virus in publicly accessible non-healthcare environments on a university campus.

Methods: Air and surface samples were collected using wetted wall cyclone bioaerosol samplers and swab kits, respectively, in a longitudinal environmental surveillance program from August 2020 until April 2021 on the University of Michigan Ann Arbor campus.

Retrospective assessment of the association between noise exposure and nonfatal and fatal injury rates among miners in the United States from 1983 to 2014.

Background: Mining is a significant economic force in the United States but has historically had among the highest nonfatal injury rates across all industries. Several factors, including workplace hazards and psychosocial stressors, may increase injury and fatality risk. Mining is one of the noisiest industries; however, the association between injury risk and noise exposure has not been evaluated in this industry.

Fraction of acute work-related injuries attributable to hazardous occupational noise across the USA in 2019.

Introduction: The contribution of hazardous noise-a ubiquitous exposure in workplaces-to occupational injury risk is often overlooked. In this ecological study, the fraction of US workplace acute injuries resulting in days away from work in 2019 attributable to hazardous occupational noise exposure was estimated.

Methods: Using the NoiseJEM, a job exposure matrix of occupational noise, and 2019 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data, the proportion of workers experiencing hazardous occupational noise (≥85 dBA) was estimated for every major US Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) group.

Work Task Association with Lead Urine and Blood Concentrations in Informal Electronic Waste Recyclers in Thailand and Chile.

The informal recycling of electronic waste ("e-waste") is a lucrative business for workers in low- and middle-income countries across the globe. Workers dismantle e-waste to recover valuable materials that can be sold for income. However, workers expose themselves and the surrounding environment to hazardous agents during the process, including toxic metals like lead (Pb).

Metal Exposures, Noise Exposures, and Audiometry from E-Waste Workers in Agbogbloshie, Ghana.

Metals, such as lead, may be ototoxic, but this property is not well understood, especially in conjunction with noise. This cross-sectional study investigated hearing, noise, and metal biomarkers in informal electronic waste (e-waste) recycling workers in Accra, Ghana. Workers (N = 58) participated in audiometric testing, a survey, blood collection, and personal noise dosimetry.

Pesticide Spraying and Reduced Cholinesterase Activity among Hill Tribe Farmers in Thailand.

Background: Farming is an important occupation in Thai hill tribe communities, which are often remote, and lack other economic opportunities along with basic educational, health care, and occupational health and safety services. Additionally, these communities have a unique culture and language.

Objectives: The present study was conducted in northern Thailand to evaluate pesticide exposures and associated health impacts among hill tribe farmers, and to compare them to Thai farmers.

Road safety situation of electric bike riders: A cross-sectional study in courier and take-out food delivery population.

Objective: Almost all courier and take-out food delivery riders in China use electric bikes as the main transport mode. This study aims to understand their riding behaviors and road traffic injury information of this population.

Methods: A cross-sectional field study focused on this population was conducted, including roadside observation and face-to-face retrospective street intercept interviews.

Dust Exposures in Swedish Soft Tissue Paper Mills.

Objectives: Paper dust has previously been linked to adverse health effects. However, a comprehensive dataset of paper dust exposures does not appear to have been published previously. Our study was intended to address this need by describing a large dataset of measurements made in Swedish soft tissue paper mills.

Feasibility of a daily noise monitoring intervention for prevention of noise-induced hearing loss.

Background: Despite the existence of hearing conservation programmes complying with regulatory standards, noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) remains one of the most prevalent occupational diseases. Compulsory daily monitoring of noise exposure has been associated with decreased NIHL risk. We report on the experience of a voluntary daily noise monitoring intervention among noise-exposed workers.