Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/990149
palletcentral.com PalletCentral • May-June 2018 19 noise levels which trigger expensive OSHA citations, and (for abatement) require the use of personal protective equipment or reengineering the work environment. NIOSH interventions can reduce the number of workers who must be enrolled in hearing conservation programs and can reduce the compensable cases of work-related hearing loss; • Immune, Infectious and Dermal Disease Prevention – NIOSH is looking at issues including Zika transmission, which can affect workers who spend significant time outdoors; • Musculoskeletal Health – NIOSH addresses ergonomic hazards such as repetitive stress disorders, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other workplace design issues that can result in back and other injuries that hike worker's compensation costs and result in recordable injuries and illnesses. The cross-sector council on traumatic injury prevention may yield results that can greatly benefit the pallet and logistics industries. Comments closed in February 2018 on the proposed revisions to the work plan, but the council's key objectives in the draft included: prevention of work-related motor vehicle crashes and injuries; reduction of falls; reduction of workplace violence; prevention of injuries related to human-machine interactions; promotion of safety in non-standard work arrangements (such as temporary workers, prison labor etc.), and promotion of occupational injury prevention programs and efforts. NORA's other cross-sector councils address respiratory health and healthy work design and well-being. NIOSH's sector-specific councils are in the process of reviewing and revising their occupational safety and health research agendas to face the needs of industry and workers and to address recurring and emergent hazards into the next decade. The Manufacturing sector has finalized its agenda, the first to do so, and it was released after review of public comments submitted during 2017. The full report is at: bit.ly/2IDgGs8. This sector covers employers in NAICS code groupings 31 through 33, which includes most pallet companies. Establishments in this sector often use power-driven machines (band saws, dismantlers, conveyors fall into this category) and materials-handling equipment (e.g., forklifts). The manufacturing agenda's key objective is reduction of acute and chronic occupational illnesses, injuries and fatalities in manufacturing by enhancing knowledge of occupational safety and health hazards and their effects, and developing effective interventions to reduce exposure to known occupational safety and health hazards.