Industrial Hygiene and Safety Technology, Inc.

GreenWood, an integrated maintenance and construction solutions provider, announces their customer, Solvay Advanced Polymers, has maintained their status as a VPP Star certified plant. The select group of those who have earned this safety distinction only include companies that religiously comply with the various OSHA safety regulations and procedures, and have achieved injury and illness rates at or below the national average of their respective industries. GreenWood provides Solvay with on-going supplemental maintenance, operations support and special project resources and works with Solvay team members daily to ensure the highest safety standards are maintained in all executed work.

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Enhancing workplace safety and health for Vietnamese-American workers in Louisiana is the goal of a new alliance formed between the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Gretna, La., branch office of Boat People SOS. The signing ceremony was held today at OSHA's area office in Baton Rouge.This agreement provides an opportunity for partners involved to join together in promoting safety and health in the workplace, said Dorinda Folse, OSHA's area director in Baton Rouge. We are hopeful that the cooperative effort to maximize worker safety will prevent potential injuries.

This study used static posturography to investigate the neurotoxic effects on workers exposed to mixed organic solvents at low concentrations under the levels of the threshold limit values (TLV).Forty-one workers from four plants exposed to mixed solvents and 90 non-exposed referents were examined. The lifetime cumulative biological exposure (CE) was estimated according to subject's occupational history and biological monitoring results. Static posturography and questionnaire were the basis of data collection.The mean exposure index of mixed organic solvents of four plants was 0.47 (SD: 0.33, range: 0.08-1.39). The exposed group showed a larger sway area and length under the eye open condition than did the non-exposed group. In a multiple linear regression, a significant positive association was demonstrated between postural sway area and CE.This study results suggest that the exposure to organic solvents under TLV levels may cause disturbance in postural stability. Am. J. Ind. Med. 2009 © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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The U.S. Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has designated Monsanto Aviation Inc., Chesterfield, Mo., as a Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) star site, the agencys highest recognition for meeting or exceeding workplace safety and health standards.Monsanto Aviation, which has 25 employees who operate and maintain four company aircraft, earned VPP star recognition following a comprehensive onsite evaluation by a team of OSHA safety and health experts.