Last data update: Jun 03, 2024. (Total: 46935 publications since 2009)
Records 1-7 (of 7 Records) |
Query Trace: Conway GA [original query] |
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Air Pollution in Major Chinese Cities: Some Progress, But Much More to Do
Lowsen DH , Conway GA . J Environ Prot (Irvine, Calif) 2016 7 (13) 2081-2094 BACKGROUND: Ambient (outdoor) air pollution has been implicated as a major cause of acute cardiovascular and pulmonary illnesses and increased risk for acute and chronic effects after chronic exposures, including mortality and morbidity. In 2008, due to persistent health concerns about its workforce and their dependents, the US Mission in China began monitoring air quality at the US Embassy in Beijing. Subsequently, monitoring stations were also established at US consulates at Shanghai (2011), Guangzhou (2011), Chengdu (2012), and Shenyang (2013). OBJECTIVES: To determine whether there have been definable trends in air quality in these five Chinese cities. METHODS: Air monitoring results from each locale for accumulated PM2.5 particulate matter were calculated hourly. Accumulated data were organized, culled using a standardized set of heuristics, and analyzed for trends. RESULTS: China's capital city, Beijing, experienced decreased PM2.5 from 2013 through 2015, but no significant long-term downward trend from 2008 through 2015. Shanghai has not shown any definable air quality trend since 2012. Chengdu experienced some improvement in air quality since 2013, but none discernible from 2012 through 2015. Guangzhou had generally better air quality, and a downward trend since 2012. Shenyang experienced increasingly severe air pollution from 2013 through 2015. CONCLUSION: There appear to have been recent tangible, though modest, improvements in air quality in three large Chinese cities: Beijing, Chengdu, and Guangzhou, but no apparent progress in Shanghai, and a worrisome decline in air quality observed in Shenyang. Despite recent progress, there is a long way to go before even the cities which show improvement reach Chinese standards. |
Renewable energy and occupational health and safety research directions: a white paper from the Energy Summit, Denver Colorado, April 11-13, 2011
Mulloy KB , Sumner SA , Rose C , Conway GA , Reynolds SJ , Davidson ME , Heidel DS , Layde PM . Am J Ind Med 2013 56 (11) 1359-70 Renewable energy production may offer advantages to human health by way of less pollution and fewer climate-change associated ill-health effects. Limited data suggests that renewable energy will also offer benefits to workers in the form of reduced occupational injury, illness and deaths. However, studies of worker safety and health in the industry are limited. The Mountain and Plains Education and Research Center (MAP ERC) Energy Summit held in April 2011 explored issues concerning worker health and safety in the renewable energy industry. The limited information on hazards of working in the renewable energy industry emphasizes the need for further research. Two basic approaches to guiding both prevention and future research should include: (1) applying lessons learned from other fields of occupational safety and health, particularly the extractive energy industry; and (2) utilizing knowledge of occupational hazards of specific materials and processes used in the renewable energy industry. |
Occupational fatalities in Alaska: two decades of progress, 1990-1999 and 2000-2009
Lincoln JM , O'Connor MB , Retzer KD , Hill RD , Teske TD , Woodward CC , Lucas DL , Somervell PD , Burton JT , Mode NA , Husberg BJ , Conway GA . J Safety Res 2012 44 105-10 INTRODUCTION: Alaska had the highest work-related fatality rate of any state during 1980-1989. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health established the Alaska Field Station (AFS) to address this problem. METHODS: AFS established surveillance systems to provide scientific assessments of occupational hazards. Interventions were developed in collaboration with partners and evaluated. RESULTS: During 2000-2009, Alaska experienced a 42.5% decline in work-related fatalities over the previous decade of 1990-1999. In 2009, the workplace fatality rate for Alaska was 5.6/100,000 workers. Commercial pilot deaths were reduced by 50% and Bering Sea crab fishing death rates were reduced by 60%. Building on this success, AFS established national programs to improve safety in the commercial fishing and oil and gas extraction industries. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: A focused, epidemiological approach to reducing fatalities in high-risk occupations is effective. Ongoing commitment to this type of approach will assist in continued success in Alaska and elsewhere. |
A multifaceted public health approach to statewide aviation safety
Mode NA , O'Connor MB , Conway GA , Hill RD . Am J Ind Med 2011 55 (2) 176-86 BACKGROUND: During the 1990s, Alaskan pilots had one of the most hazardous occupations in the US. In 2000, a multifaceted public health initiative was launched, focusing on Alaskan air taxi/commuter (AT) operations, including risk factor identification, improved weather information, and the formation of an industry-led safety organization. METHODS: Effectiveness was assessed by comparing rates of crashes using Poisson regression, comparing trends in annual numbers of crashes, and assessing changes in the number and type of controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) events. RESULTS: The greatest improvements were seen in Alaska fatal AT crashes with a 57% decrease in rates between time periods. While the number of AT crashes in the rest of the US steadily declined during 1990-2009, Alaska only showed significant declines after 2000. CFIT crashes declined but remained more deadly than other crashes. CONCLUSIONS: This coordinated effort was successful in reducing crashes in the Alaskan AT industry. (Am. J. Ind. Med. (c) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.) |
Does the small farm exemption cost lives?
Somervell PD , Conway GA . Am J Ind Med 2011 54 (6) 461-6 BACKGROUND: Congress has exempted farms with fewer than 11 employees from enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Three states (California, Oregon, and Washington) do not observe the exemption. METHODS: We compared rates of fatal occupational injury in agriculture, by year, in 1993-2007, in California, Oregon, and Washington (aggregated), and the remaining states (as two aggregated groups): those with, and those without, state-designed occupational safety and health programs. RESULTS: Fatality rates were approximately 1.6 to 3 times as high in both groups of states observing the small farm exemption as in the group of three states not observing it. Comparisons excluding the agriculture industry showed weaker differences. CONCLUSIONS: The three states' opting out of the small farm exemption may have had substantial direct effects. They may also reflect and/or encourage a generally more effective approach to occupational health and safety. Although alternative explanations must be considered, the stakes are high in terms of injury and loss of life; further investigation seems urgently indicated. Am. J. Ind. Med. (c) 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc. |
A persistent high human cost of protein: commercial fishing and aquaculture
Conway GA . J Agromedicine 2010 15 (4) 335-6 Commercial fishing, despite many years of effort to make it safer, and some major regional successes in mitigation, remains a very hazardous type of work. Much more nuanced than the view provided by the current glare of electronic media, this special issue of the Journal of Agromedicine presents a collection of articles on the varied hazards of commercial fishing in the United States, as well as three articles on the rapidly expanding seafood farming industry. The scope of subjects from machinery to culture, and geography from Alaska to the southeastern US describes a complex landscape of human effort to better understand, in order to make this time-honored work safer. |
Bridging gaps in agricultural safety and health
Conway GA . J Agromedicine 2010 15 (3) 180-3 This special issue consists of 11 papers documenting scientific and industry interactions from the first joint Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health conference, “Be Safe, Be Profitable: Protecting Workers in Agriculture,” held January 27–28, 2010, in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. These articles cover topics that were selected by the conference organizers as being of compelling interest to the community of public health, safety professionals, and agricultural producers with a shared interest in the safety and health of America's farmers and agricultural workers. | This innovative conference focused on uniting agricultural leaders, safety practitioners, researchers and farm workers in determining the best practices to improve health and safety of the agriculture workforce. The program featured eight expert panels and six plenary speakers to identify research gaps and promising interventions, and an interactive research networking reception to help plant seeds of collaboration among attendees. Reducing occupational injuries and illness in agriculture will be most effective with active cooperation among producers, researchers, and farm health and safety advocates. This conference represents an important step forward in fostering relationships among these groups. It is our hope that this pattern of cooperation and collaboration will continue beyond the length of the conference. What follows is a synopsis of some of the highpoints mentioned by speakers and panels, offered in hopes of stimulating your interest in reading each of the articles in toto. As space available for each article in this issue was limited, the reader may also want to follow along or refer to some of the speaker's slide set and video, posted at: http://www.ashca.com/, then browsing via the “2010 Conference” option. |
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