Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Screening in Occupational Health Surveillance Exams Is Associated With Decreased CRC Mortality.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is recommended for adults aged 45 to 75. Using data from a national screening program, we examined the impact of CRC screening in a population with occupational exposures.

Methods: Since 1998, the Building Trades National Medical Screening Program (BTMed) has offered CRC screening every 3 years.

Pre-task planning for construction worker safety and health: Implementation and assessment.

Background: Compared to other industry sectors, construction workers experience a disproportionately high rate of occupational injuries and fatalities. As research findings suggest, most of these incidents could be prevented if hazards were proactively recognized and properly addressed. In the construction industry, pre-task planning (PTP) is a preventive process intended to describe each step of work, identify associated safety and health hazards, and recommend controls to eliminate or mitigate the hazards before work begins.

Characterizing applications, exposure risks, and hazard communication for engineered nanomaterials in construction.

Background: Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) may pose health risks to workers. Objectives were to characterize ENM applications in construction, identify exposure scenarios, and evaluate the quality of safety data sheets (SDSs) for nano-enabled construction products.

Methods: SDSs and product data were obtained from a public database of nano-enabled construction products.

Mortality of older construction and craft workers employed at Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear sites: Follow-up through 2021.

Background: To determine if construction and trades workers formerly employed at US Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons sites are at significant risk for occupational diseases, we studied the mortality experience of participants in the Building Trades National Medical Screening Program (BTMed).

Methods: The cohort included 26,922 participants enrolled between 1998 and 2021 and 8367 deaths. Standardized mortality ratios were calculated based on US death rates.

Using motor vehicle crash records for injury surveillance and research in agriculture and forestry.

Problem: Fatal injuries in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector (AgFF) outweigh those across all sectors in the United States. Transportation-related injuries are among the top contributors to these fatal events. However, traditional occupational injury surveillance systems may not completely capture crashes involving farm vehicles and logging trucks, specifically nonfatal events.

Hearing impairment and tinnitus among older construction workers employed at DOE facilities.

Background: Few studies have defined the risk of hearing impairment and tinnitus after retirement. This report measures hearing impairment and tinnitus prevalence among older construction trades workers.

Methods: The study cohort included 21,340 participants in a national medical screening program (www.

Pain and Prescription Opioid Use Among US Construction Workers: Findings From the 2011‒2018 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

To examine prescription opioid and nonopioid analgesic use among US construction workers and their associations with pain conditions and sociodemographic factors. We analyzed data for about 9000 (weighted 11.5 million per year) construction workers who responded to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey from 2011 to 2018.

Occupational exposure risk during spraying of biocidal paint containing silver nanoparticles.

The study assessed potential to exceed occupational exposure limits while spraying paint with and without a silver nanoparticle biocidal additive. A tradesperson performed the tasks in a sealed chamber with filtered air supply. Integrated air sampling entailed transmission electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis, direct-reading of particle number concentrations, and determination of silver mass concentration by NIOSH Method 7300.

COPD risk among older construction workers-Updated analyses 2020.

Background: A 2010 study of construction workers participating in medical screening programs at the Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear facilities demonstrated increased chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) risk. The current study of a larger worker cohort allowed for a more nuanced analysis of COPD risk, including for employment beginning after the mid-1990s.

Methods: Study participants included 17,941 workers with demographic and smoking data and spirometry with a minimum of three recorded expiratory efforts and reproducibility of forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV ) of 0.

Injury inequalities among U.S. construction workers.

This study explores racial/ethnic inequalities in work-related injuries among U.S. construction workers.

Proportionate mortality study of unionized maintenance of way railroad workers.

Background: Railroad maintenance of way (MOW) workers are exposed to many workplace hazards, including diesel fuel and exhaust, ballast (silica) dust, asbestos, solvents, herbicides, welding fumes, heavy rolling equipment, vibration and extreme weather.

Aims: Due to the number of excess deaths we found in a companion standardized mortality ratio (SMR) study for union members <65 years, we hypothesized that these workers may have elevated mortality risks among all ages for many chronic conditions.

Methods: Proportionate mortality ratios (PMRs) were calculated for 37 661 male MOW workers ages 20 and older who were members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED).

Change in frontline supervisors' safety leadership practices after participating in a leadership training program: Does company size matter?

Introduction: The majority of construction companies are small businesses and small business often lack the resources needed to ensure that their supervisors have the safety leadership skills to build and maintain a strong jobsite safety climate. The Foundations for Safety Leadership (FSL) training program was designed to provide frontline leaders in all sized companies with safety leadership skills. This paper examines the impact of the FSL training by size of business.

Musculoskeletal Disorders and Prescription Opioid Use Among U.S. Construction Workers.

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and opioid use are a combined burden for construction safety and health. This study examines both issues among construction workers using a large population-based survey.

Methods: The prevalence of MSDs in construction was estimated using multi-year data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

Health Risk Behavior Profile of Construction Workers, 32 States, 2013 to 2016.

Background: Research has suggested that several health risk behaviors were more prevalent among construction workers than among the general workforce.

Methods: The prevalences of six health risk behaviors among construction workers were compared with workers in other industries using data from 32 states in the 2013 to 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

Results: Smoking, smokeless tobacco use, binge drinking, no leisure-time physical activity, and not always using a seatbelt were significantly more prevalent (P < 0.

Prescription opioid use and associated factors among US construction workers.

Background: Construction workers are among the segments of the US population that were hit hardest by the opioid prescription and overdose deaths in the past decades. Factors that underlie opioid use in construction workers have been compartmentalized and isolated in existing studies of opioid use and opioid overdose, but they ignore the overall context of their use. This study examines prescription opioid use and its association with a variety of occupational and nonoccupational factors in construction workers in the United States.

Designing Occupational Safety and Health Training Materials for Clear Communication.

Introduction: Printed materials are an essential part of occupational safety and health programs. Public health professionals at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have created a Clear Communication Index (CCI) to guide design of health education materials for the general public.

Methods: We revised an existing handout on heat exposure hazards in construction using the CCI and tested the old and new versions of the handout with an audience of 425 construction apprentices and journey-level workers.

Leadership skills for strengthening jobsite safety climate.

Introduction: Construction foremen may lack the leadership skills needed to create a strong jobsite safety climate. Many construction companies address this by sending their lead workers to the OSHA 30-h course; however the course does not include a leadership training module. This article describes the development and pilot testing of such a module and evaluation surveys designed to address this training gap.

A training intervention to improve frontline construction leaders' safety leadership practices and overall jobsite safety climate.

Introduction: The 2.5 h Foundations for Safety Leadership (FSL) training program teaches construction supervisors the leadership skills they need to strengthen jobsite safety climate and reduce adverse safety-related outcomes.

Methods: Using a quasi-experimental prospective switching replications study design, we examined (1) if FSL-trained jobsite safety leaders would report improved understanding and practice of the FSL leadership skills, safety practices and crew reporting of safety related conditions, and (2) if their crew perceived a change in (a) their supervisors' practices, (b) their own safety practices and reporting of safety-related conditions, and (c) overall jobsite safety climate.