Copyright

(c) 2010-2024 Jon L Gelman, All Rights Reserved.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

NIOSH Announces That 9/11 Cancers Are to be Covered Under Zadroga Act

The National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety today announce publication of a Rule that will allow for medical treatment coverage for 9/11 cancers suffered by 1st responders and residents of lower Manhattan as a result of September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center.


"This rule modifies the List of WTC-Related Health Conditions 
in 42 CFR 88.1 to add the following conditions (types of cancer 
identified by ICD-10 code are specified in the discussion 
below): 
▪  Malignant neoplasms of the lip, tongue, salivary gland, 
floor of mouth, gum and other mouth, tonsil, oropharynx, 
hypopharynx, and other oral cavity and pharynx 
▪  Malignant neoplasm of the nasopharynx  
▪  Malignant neoplasms of the nose, nasal cavity, middle 
ear, and accessory sinuses 
▪  Malignant neoplasm of the larynx  
▪  Malignant neoplasm of the esophagus 
▪  Malignant neoplasm of the stomach 
▪  Malignant neoplasm of the colon and rectum 
▪  Malignant neoplasm of the liver and intrahepatic bile 
duct 
▪  Malignant neoplasms of the retroperitoneum and 
peritoneum, omentum, and mesentery 6 
▪  Malignant neoplasms of the trachea; bronchus and lung; 
heart, mediastinum and pleura; and other ill-defined 
sites in the respiratory system and intrathoracic organs 
▪  Mesothelioma 
▪  Malignant neoplasms of the soft tissues (sarcomas) 
▪  Malignant neoplasms of the skin (melanoma and nonmelanoma), including scrotal cancer 
▪  Malignant neoplasm of the breast 
▪  Malignant neoplasm of the ovary  
▪  Malignant neoplasm of the urinary bladder 
▪  Malignant neoplasm of the kidney 
▪  Malignant neoplasms of renal pelvis, ureter and other 
urinary organs 
▪  Malignant neoplasms of the eye and orbit 
▪  Malignant neoplasm of the thyroid 
▪  Malignant neoplasms of the blood and lymphoid tissues 
(including, but not limited to, lymphoma, leukemia, and 
myeloma) 
▪  Childhood cancers 
▪  Rare cancers  
    The Administrator developed a hierarchy of methods (detailed 
in Section IV of this preamble) for determining which cancers to 7 
propose for inclusion on the List of WTC-Related Health 
Conditions. "


Mar 29, 2012
Zadroga Benefits Proposed By NIOSH for Some Cancers. A scientific committee has released a draft report recommending [Zadroga Act] compensation for 9-11 first responders. Those cancers include: esophagus, stomach, ...
Jun 08, 2012
The New York Times is reporting this afternoon that The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has approved for compensation payments 50 types of cancers from the $4.3 Billion Zadroga 9-11 Fund.
Feb 08, 2012
Jon Stewart advocates for the Zadroga 9-11 Bill to cover cancer claims. The legislation enacted over a year ago provides benefits for those who were in the vicinity of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Jun 29, 2012
Mesothelioma is a rare but highly fatal cancer of the thin membranes surrounding the chest cavity or abdominal cavity. The only well-established risk factor for mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos fibers. Prior asbestos ...
Jul 20, 2012
An increased risk of developing asbestos related disease, including mesothelioma, was identified in a recent study. Asbestos exposure has caused an epidemic of claims for workers' compensation benefits in the United ...

.....
For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered work related accident and injuries.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Register To Vote Now

In the United States, voter registration is the responsibility of the people, and only 70 percent of Americans who are eligible to vote have registered. RegistertoVote.org is a nonpartisan organization committed to reaching the remaining 30 percent. RegisterToVote.Org simplifies the voter registration process, making it faster and easier for you to get involved and become an active voice in our democracy.

Click Here to RegisterToVote

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

US Department of Labor notifies former New Jersey nuclear weapons employees of energy workers’ compensation program


The U.S. Department of Labor is notifying former workers of 26 New Jersey facilities about benefits that may be available to them under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act administered by the department's Office of Workers' Compensation's Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation. Survivors of qualified workers also may be entitled to benefits.

Former employees of the following sites may be eligible for EEOICPA compensation and medical benefits if they worked at the facility during a period of covered employment: International Nickel Co. Bayonne Laboratories in Bayonne, Westinghouse Electric Corp. and Bloomfield Tool Co. in Bloomfield, U.S. Pipe and Foundry in Burlington, Aluminum Company of America in Garwood, National Beryllia in Haskell, Kellex/Pierpont in Jersey City, Chemical Construction Co. and Standard Oil Development Co. of New Jersey in Linden, Middlesex Municipal Landfill, Middlesex Sampling Plant and United Lead Co. in Middlesex, Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Brunswick Laboratory in New Brunswick, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in Princeton, Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, Maywood Chemical Works in Maywood, American Peddinghaus Corp. in Moonachle, Baker and Williams Co. and Wykoff Steel Co. in Newark, Bowen Laboratory in North Branch, J.T. Baker Chemical Co. in Phillipsburg, Callite Tungsten Co. in Union City, Tube Reducing Co. in Wallington, Rare Earths/W. R. Grace in Wayne and Vitro Corp. of American in West Orange.

The department urges all potential eligible former workers and their survivors to contact its New York Resource Center at 800-941-3943 or visit DEEOIC's website at http://www.dol.gov/owcp/energy for more information.

On July 31, 2001, the Department of Labor began administering Part B of the EEOICPA. Part B covers current and former workers diagnosed with cancer, beryllium disease or silicosis caused by exposure to radiation, beryllium or silica while working directly for the U.S. Department of Energy, that department's contractors or subcontractors, a designated Atomic Weapons Employer or a beryllium vendor. Individuals or their survivors found eligible under Part B may receive a lump sum compensation payment of $150,000 and medical expenses for their covered conditions. Part E, created by an amendment to the EEOICPA on Oct. 28, 2004, and administered by the Labor Department, provides federal compensation and medical benefits to DOE contractors and subcontractors who worked at covered facilities during a covered time period and sustained an illness as a result of exposure to toxic substances.

In support of the Labor Department's implementation of the EEOICPA, DOE maintains a list of covered facilities under the EEOICPA, which is periodically updated and published in the Federal Register. DOE also maintains a searchable covered facility database, which contains additional information pertaining to each of the facilities, including years of covered activity and an overview of the type of work performed. The database can be accessed online athttp://www.hss.doe.gov/healthsafety/fwsp/advocacy/faclist/findfacility.cfm.

It is the Department of Labor's goal to disseminate information concerning EEOICPA benefits to potentially eligible claimants across the country. To aid in this effort, the department maintains 11 resource centers nationwide to provide in-person and telephone-based assistance to individuals regardless of where they live. To date, the department has delivered more than $10 million in EEOICPA compensation and medical benefits to 114 eligible claimants living in New Jersey and more than $7.7 billion nationwide.

More articles about the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation  Act

Jan 13, 2012
... 17 facilities associated with the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act about compensation and medical benefits potentially available to them under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program ...
Feb 28, 2012
The recently amended Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act is explained in detail and forms are furnished and discussed.The recent Supreme Court decisions concerning the high judicial threshold for ...
Feb 12, 2011
The recently amended Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act is explained in detail and forms are furnished and discussed. The new administration and management of claims arising from insolvent ...
Jul 02, 2009
... of employees for the Standard Oil Development Company in Linden, New Jersey, as an addition to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Asbestos Ban In Canada Gets Boast - Parti Quebecois Wins Election!

 "...the Parti Quebecois (PQ) said this week that, if it's elected, it would cancel a $58-million loan Quebec's Liberal government approved to help reopen the Jeffrey Mine, one of Canada's last asbestos mines."

Click here to read:
Quebec separatists win election, say TV networks

Read more about the battle to Ban Asbestos in Canada
Feb 18, 2010
The Canadian Journal of Medicine had also endorsed a ban on Canadian asbestos production. "Canada's government must put an end to this death-dealing charade. Canada must immediately drop its opposition to placing ...
Aug 01, 2011
Our northern neighbor, Canada. Asbestos has not been mined in the US since 2002. The US imports 99% of the asbestos it consumed from Canada. In fact the US consumed 1,040 metric tons in 2010 which was an increased ...
Sep 05, 2011
The documentary, directed by Ontario filmmaker Kathleen Mullen, is “a personal investigation into the continued use of asbestos” and details her father's tragic death due to exposure to asbestos from Canadian mining.
Dec 11, 2011
To this day there is no asbestos ban in effect in the US. The Canadian asbestos industry still exports asbestos fiber used in the US and other parts of the world. On Thursday, The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization ...

Saturday, September 1, 2012

California Takes an Austerity Axe to Workers Compensation

English: Jerry Brown's official picture as Att...
Governor Jerry Brown
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Tonight the California Legislature took an axe to its ailing workers' compensation system, as part of major election year austerity measures. Targeting both medical and legal costs of operating the program, at the encouragement of Governor Jerry Brown,  Democratic legislators pushed through changes (SB863) with little public discussion.

Click here to read: California Lawmakers Overhaul Workplace Insurance (Reuters)

Thursday, August 30, 2012

OSHA cites Brick, NJ-based contractor for continuing to expose workers to falls and other hazards at Secaucus work site

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Brick-based La Conti Concrete & Masonry Inc. for nine safety and health, including two repeat, violations at a Secaucus work site. OSHA's March investigation was initiated in response to an imminent danger complaint alleging employees were working on the fifth level of a supported scaffold without fall protection. Proposed penalties total $74,830.

The repeat safety violations, with a $53,900 penalty, involve failing to provide safe access to a scaffold and ensure workers were not exposed to a 35-foot fall while working on an unguarded scaffold. A repeat violation occurs when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. The company was cited for similar violations in 2006, 2007 and 2011.

Six serious safety and health violations, with a $20,930 penalty, include failing to properly store propane tanks; ensure a competent person inspected a scaffold before employees worked on it; establish and implement a written respiratory protection program for workers required to wear respirators, including medical evaluations and respiratory protection training; develop and implement an effective written hazard communication program for workers exposed to hazardous chemicals, including crystalline silica; provide chemical hazard training to employees working with hazardous chemicals; and maintain material safety data sheets. A serious violation occurs when there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from dangerous tasks without proper safety measures.

"This employer continues to jeopardize the safety and health of its workers by failing to correct these hazards, which is unacceptable," said Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA's Parsippany Area Office. "Employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace, and will be held legally accountable when they fail to do so."

The company also has received one other-than-serious violation, with no penalty, for failure to provide respirator fit testing and evaluate employees for safe use of powered industrial truck. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

La Conti Concrete & Masonry Inc. employed 34 workers at the Secaucus work site and has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, ask for an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

In April, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced a campaign to provide employers and workers with life-saving information and educational materials about working safely from ladders, scaffolds and roofs in an effort to prevent deadly falls in the construction industry. In 2010, more than 10,000 construction workers were injured as a result of falling while working from heights, and more than 250 workers were killed. OSHA's fall prevention campaign was developed in partnership with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and NIOSH's National Occupational Research Agenda program. More detailed information is available in English and Spanish on fall protection standards at http://www.osha.gov/stopfalls.

Read more about scaffolding
Jun 11, 2012
The willful violations carry a $92,400 penalty and are due to a lack of fall protection for employees working on a scaffold that was not fully planked. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary ...
Feb 19, 2011
OSHA found employees exposed to fall hazards ranging from 27 to 41 feet while working without fall protection on a scaffold that was not fully guarded, climbing atop the scaffold's guardrails and standing on an empty plastic ...
Feb 07, 2012
The serious violations, with $36,960 in penalties, include failing to protect workers from fall and impalement hazards, ensure scaffold platforms were laid correctly, provide proper ladder rung construction, make sure guardrails...
May 23, 2012
"Whether working on a roof, a scaffold or in an aerial lift, all workers must have and correctly use the proper equipment to prevent falls," Kulick adds. In April, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced a new campaign to ...
.....
For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

The threshold length for fibre-induced acute pleural inflammation: shedding light on the early events in asbestos-induced mesothelioma

Recent research implicates nanoparticles or nanofibres as a potential health hazard:

"Suspicion has been raised that high aspect ratio nanoparticles or nanofibres might possess asbestos-like pathogenicity. The pleural space is a specific target for disease in individuals exposed to asbestos and, by implication nanofibres. Pleural effects of fibres depends on fibre length, but the key threshold length beyond which adverse effects occur has never been identified up to now since all asbestos and vitreous fibre samples are heterogeneously distributed in their length. Nanotechnology advantageously allows for highly defined length distribution of synthetically engineered fibres which enable for in depth investigation of this threshold length. We utilised the ability to prepare silver-nanofibres of five defined length classes to demonstrate a threshold fibre length for acute pleural inflammation. Nickel-nanofibres and carbon nanotubes were then used to strengthen the relationship between fibre length and pleural inflammation. A method of intrapleural injection of nanofibres in female C57Bl/6 strain mice was used to deliver the fibre dose and we then assessed the acute pleural inflammatory response. Chestwall sections were examined by light and by scanning electron microscopy to identify areas of lesion; furthermore cell-nanowires interaction on the mesothelial surface of the parietal pleura in vivo, were investigated. Our results showed a clear threshold effect demonstrating that fibres beyond 4 µm in length are pathogenic to the pleura. The identification of the threshold length for nanofibre induced pathogenicity in the pleura has important implications for understanding the structure-toxicity relationship for asbestos-induced mesothelioma and consequent risk assessment with the aim to contribute to the engineering of synthetic nanofibres by the adoption of a benign-by-design approach."

Toxicol. Sci. (2012)doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfs171First published online: May 12, 2012
.....
For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Read more about nanotechnology
Sep 20, 2011
U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative. Nano.gov: size of the nanoscale [http://www.nano.gov/nanotech-101/what/nano-size External Web Site Icon ]. U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative. Nano.gov: Nanotechnology and ...
Aug 25, 2009
... following the publication of the September issue of the “European Respiratory Journal, the first medical case series of workers with serious disease that the study authors associate with exposure to nano-sized particles has ...