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Hazardous Building Materials, Schools & Universities, Waterborne Pathogens
Review of Lead in Water Testing Requirements for California Childcare Centers
Lead in drinking water presents very real public health risks, especially for children. In children, lead exposure can cause damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth and development, learning and behavior problems, and hearing and speech problems. No safe level of lead exposure in children has been identified. The latest round in the battle to get the lead out has landed with the California Department of Social Services (DSS) Provider Information Notice (PIN) Summary 21-21-CCP. This notice and associated procedures require all licensed Child Care Centers (CCCs) in California that were constructed before January 1, 2010, to …
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Construction/General Contractor, Environmental Health & Safety Management, Hazardous Building Materials
Construction Site Safety Blind Spots
Projects need to be completed within the budget and on time. That pressure can contribute to overlooking risks and a failure to recognize or correct unsafe conditions. The consequences of succumbing to that pressure are real and can sometimes be catastrophic to the lives of workers and their families. Fatalities in construction occupations rose six percent in 2019 — the highest gain since 2007. Occupational injuries claimed the lives of 5,333 and injured or sickened 2.8 million workers in 2019. The National Safety Council (NSC) estimated the 2019 economic loss of work-related deaths and injuries was approximately $171 billion.
In …
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Environmental Health & Safety Management, Hazardous Building Materials, Schools & Universities
Managing Waterborne Pathogen Risks During Hospital Construction
All demolition, construction, and renovation activities in healthcare facilities — whether planned or unplanned — require a pre-construction risk assessment (PCRA). Some guidance documents refer to this procedure as an “Infection Control Risk Assessment” (ICRA). The Joint Commission’s Environment of Care Standard establishes the framework.
Certain concerns tend to get the most attention during renovation projects in occupied facilities:
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- Which patients or services will be impacted?
- How much dust will be generated?
- How long will the project take?
- What is the potential impact to utility systems performance (e.g. HVAC, plumbing)?
Environmental Health & Safety Management, Hazardous Building Materials, Schools & Universities
Have Schools Forgotten About AHERA?
Here’s an amazing fact: Many people — even those who occupy decision-making positions in school districts — have no idea what AHERA is, what is required of the school district to comply, the current status of their schools’ reports, or how to comply with AHERA in a cost-effective manner.
Chances are high that you’re either someone who needs to know about AHERA, or you can think of someone in your school district who should know about AHERA.
A report by Senator Ed Markey in December, 2015, warned that two-thirds of states surveyed “reported having schools that contain asbestos, most of …
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Construction/General Contractor
Silica in Construction, 3 Years Later: What We’ve Learned
OSHA announced the final rule concerning worker protection from occupational exposures to respirable crystalline silica in March of 2016. Enforcement of the standard began in September of 2017.
That rule provides two options for compliance: Employers can either assess exposure and implement controls on a task-by-task basis to ensure exposure falls below the permissible exposure limit (PEL) or use the engineering and work practice controls listed in Table 1 of the standard.
On August 15, 2019, OSHA released a request for information (RFI) to help the agency assess the effectiveness of the existing standards and seek comments on how it …
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Waterborne Pathogens
Legionella Treatment: Approaches to Disinfection
Prompted by the abundance of news coverage around COVID-19, a public radio station in Illinois recently broadcast a story about another threat to public health — one that’s often overlooked: 569 cases of Legionnaires’ Disease (Legionellosis) were reported in the state of Illinois alone in 2019. 43 of those patients died.
Nationwide, there were almost 10,000 cases of Legionnaires’ disease confirmed by health departments in 2018, but it is suspected that many other incidences of Legionella infection went unreported. In fact, some experts estimate that between 70,000 and 100,000 individuals may be affected by Legionellosis in the United States each …
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Cannabis Production & Manufacturing, Environmental Health & Safety Management
Cannabis Worker Safety: Equipment and Methods
Why be concerned about cannabis worker safety?
There are approximately 211,000 workers legally employed by cannabis operations in the USA and 2018 sales of cannabis products reached almost $12 billion according to the Cannabis Jobs Count report by Leafly and Whitney Economics.
A BDS Analytics study says 2027 worldwide sales will reach $57 billion — with the lion’s share of revenue coming from North America.
Even though the federal government still classifies cannabis as a controlled substance, 33 states and the District of Columbia say marijuana is okay for medical use, 11 have declared it legal for recreational use, and …
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General Industrial Hygiene, Schools & Universities
The Rising Danger of Fentanyl on Campus
What are the biggest threats colleges and universities face today? You might mention rising tuition rates or the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on classroom teaching – but there’s something else creeping onto campuses at an alarming rate.
Much too often, we’re hearing stories like these:
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- The Los Angeles Police Department stepped in during the fall of 2019 to help administrators at USC determine whether opiate overdose might be a common link in the deaths of nine students at the university.
- Early last year, the parents of Madeline Globe announced they were going public with the story of their daughter,
Cannabis Production & Manufacturing, Environmental Health & Safety Management
Protecting the Health of Cannabis Workers
According to the cannabis jobs report (2019), there are more people now working in legal cannabis operations than dental hygienists, coal miners, or textile workers. Jobs within the cannabis industry grew by 44 percent in 2018 over the prior year, pushing the current total cannabis workforce in the U.S. to about 211,000 in 2019.
Cannabis employment is rising sharply. However, are the workers flocking to the industry being provided the training and equipment they need for protection against on-the-job hazards?
The answer: Not yet.
Widespread changes in marijuana legalization, leading to the rapid expansion of cannabis growing operations and cannabis …
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Hazardous Building Materials, Schools & Universities, Waterborne Pathogens
Lead in School Drinking Water: Are Students at Risk?
You’re attending an event at a public school, and you’re thirsty. Your choices are to buy a soft drink from the machine or refill your empty water container at the drinking fountain in the hallway. You’d prefer a cold bottle of spring water, but that selection is sold out.
Question: Would you have any fear at all about the safety of the water in the school fountain? You’ll probably want to run the water a little before you use it, and you surely wouldn’t place your mouth over the outlet — but you’re at a public school. The water is …
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General Industrial Hygiene, Incident Response, Mold & Moisture, Property Management
Trends in Multi-Family Property Maintenance During the Pandemic
Multi-family apartment communities have always presented unique challenges to the people who own them, work at them, and live in them, but the COVID-19 pandemic created situational difficulties on a scale most of us have never before witnessed.
FACS works with multi-family management teams nationwide, so we’re positioned to not only help staff navigate the normal maintenance issues but advise them on how to respond to special problems brought about by the virus.
Our aim is to share knowledge the FACS team has gathered during these trying times in the hope that the observations we’ve made will give owners and …
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General Industrial Hygiene
Home (Alone?) for the Holidays – Tips for Safer Family Gatherings this Holiday Season – FACS COVID-19 Update #18
While many of us endured the disappointment of significantly limited gatherings over Thanksgiving, the case rates are climbing. We are heading into the holidays where friends and family get-togethers are even more important and are often for extended periods of time. Thanksgiving dinners are usually limited to a few hours together, while Christmas gatherings could have family members traveling greater distances and staying overnight for extended periods. The best way to eliminate the risk of infections, by having everyone stay in their own homes, is likely to be more than disappointing. So what, if any, are the alternatives? In this…
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General Industrial Hygiene
When Disasters Collide – FACS COVID-19 Update #17
While in the continued grip of a global pandemic and the need for the public to follow significant preventative measures, the US is faced with the onset of other natural disasters. On the West Coast and along the Continental Divide there are a rash of wildfires that have erupted this month, and on the East and Gulf Coasts hurricanes and severe weather storms have threatened several states. The steps taken to prevent injury or worse during these events may not always be in perfect alignment with the COVID-19 preventative measures. Social distancing becomes a challenge when people are evacuated to…
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Wildfire
Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) and Wildfire Smoke Preparation Planning
Wildfire preparation plans are essential for helping staff at schools, hospitals, and other commercial buildings prepare for smoke intrusion and other complications that may arise from wildland fires, but they often fall short on covering something that can be just as critical: power outages.
Last year’s fire season in California provided real-life examples of the tremendous impact an extended power loss can deliver to communities. A major take-away was that power blackouts can occur as a precaution during heavy winds, even when there are no fires nearby and the threat doesn’t seem to exist. Many people and businesses were not…
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General Industrial Hygiene
Getting a Handle on COVID-19 Case Response – FACS Update #16
As more businesses reopen and the number of cases of COVID-19 climb in the community, organizations are having to navigate the challenges, twists and turns of managing a proper response to a known or suspected case. In this discussion we talk about the fundamentals of case response in non-healthcare settings and some of the lessons learned from the front line which can inform the development of an effective and efficient response protocol.
Case Response Fundamentals
A COVID-19 case response protocol can be broken down into five basic steps:
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- Identification & Reporting. What triggers a case response action? The short
General Industrial Hygiene
Six Months of COVID-19 – What Have We Learned? – FACS Update #15
While some may wonder where the time has gone, others may feel like they have been stuck in a continual time loop, living the same day repeatedly with no end in sight. What started in late 2019 and moved around the globe rapidly in early 2020 has now entered a new, less than desirable stage as we head into summer.
Our access to information has been extraordinary. Numerous public health-focused websites have become go-to sources for information, we get regular reports containing volumes of data, and public health sites provide many recommendations and guidance. In the US, Federal, State and…
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