Update: Industrial Hygiene and Safety Blogs I Follow

I figured it was time to update the published list of industrial hygiene and safety blogs I follow regularly. These blogs are written by practicing industrial hygienists and/or safety professionals and do not include curated blogs from large companies or industry publications.

• OSHA Training Services Blog 
• Industrial Hygiene in Construction
• The Young Occupational Hygienist Blog 
• Theatre Safety Blog (#theatresafety)
• Indoor Air Nerd

Take a look and consider adding some of these to your reading list. If I've missed any interesting bloggers, please leave a comment and I'll update the list.

Improve Your Understanding of Science - Through a Blog!

The Industrious Hygienist has recently become aware of a fun science blog called "Things I Tell My Mom: Biology and Health for Real People." 

It's written by a colleague of mine, Cathy Seiler, PhD. Her tagline is: "Helping you understand today's science for better living."

Some posts that the safety and industrial hygiene realm might find interesting:

• Sci Snippet - Do iPhones Kill People? (Understanding causation and correlation)
• How do we know the genome sequence? (DNA review and sequencing explanation)
• Five Ways for You to Participate in Science - Citizen Science
• What is that? A liquid nitrogen freezer

So, check it out and share the love - she has a Facebook page if you'd prefer to follow the blog that way. 

Code Pink Hijinks

Healthcare institutions throughout the United States use a standardized color code system to communicate emergencies within the organization. Here are some examples of the color code system, which can differ from hospital to hospital depending on what state you are in.

Code Blue – medical emergency

Code Red – fire

Code Orange – hazardous material spill or incident

Code Pink – infant or child abduction

Code Yellow – bomb threat

Code Gray – combative person

Code Triage – internal or external disaster

There was a Code Pink incident this January in Arizona where a new father smuggled his baby out of the hospital by placing the baby in a shopping bag and wrapping the baby in blankets. He first tried to exit through a locked fire door, and then walked out of the main entrance of the hospital, making it back to his home with the baby. The baby was retrieved by the police and placed under protective custody in the department of child safety. Interestingly, some of the most thorough news coverage was from DailyMail UK.

Based on this incident, many hospitals in the Phoenix metro area staged their annual Code Pink drill this year with the scenario of a family member trying to remove a baby from the hospital using a shopping or tote bag, to test their staff response in the women’s and children’s units, as well as security response.

Hospitals frequently use infant abduction protection systems like Hugs® or Cuddles or MyChild®. These infant tag systems are designed to integrate with a hospital’s existing security technology and raise an alarm if the tag is altered or if the infant moves outside of the approved pre-set perimeter.

HICSCenter.org has developed an infant/child abduction scenario, including a planning guide, response guide, and incident command chart. The Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) differs slightly from “normal” ICS in that it is written for hospitals and includes components of continuing medical care in an emergency situation.

Some of my favorite movies and TV shows have had baby stealing as a component of the story: Willow (1988), Labyrinth (1986), and Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Season 3, Episode 6: Band Candy (1998). Not sure what that says about my movie tastes. 

In Season 3, Episode 6 (Band Candy) of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1998), the adults of Sunnydale start behaving like teenagers after ingesting magically modified chocolate candy bars sold by the students to raise money for the marching band to get new uniforms. Yes, I was in marching band. I played the clarinet. Yes, I also sold candy and wrapping paper and a host of other things to support the band. The adults have been more or less incapacitated by demons and vampires so that the leading baddie (the Mayor of Sunnydale) can complete a tribute to a local demon named Laconis. Laconis lives in the sewers and eats babies. Buffy and her team go to the hospital to see if any babies are missing, and the staff and parents are acting like unconcerned, self-absorbed teenagers, so much so that they didn’t notice four babies being taken. The babies are rescued by Buffy after the demon is defeated and returned to the hospital.

The tribute of babies for the demon Laconis in "Band Candy" from Buffy S3 E6.

Lesson learned? Chocolate can be used for evil.

Labyrinth (1986) involves the Goblin King, Jareth, stealing the little brother of the main character, Sarah. Sarah is irritated that she’s been left home to babysit and that her little brother won’t stop crying. She wishes him away to a fantasy world ruled by Jareth and a cadre of muppet characters.  Jareth sings a song about it that’s pretty awesome. Sarah has 13 hours to solve the labyrinth before Jareth turns her brother into a goblin. Sarah ends up saving her brother at the last minute and returns to the real world.

The goblins from Labyrinth - image courtesy of muppet.wikia.com.

Lesson learned? Puppets are awesome. 

In Willow (1988), the main character Willow has become responsible for a Daikini baby found by his children by the riverside. A member of the diminutive Nelwyn people, Willow gives the baby to a disgraced Daikini warrior, Madmartigan, after Madmartigan convinces Willow that taking care of the baby would give him a reason to live and turn his life around. Not long after they part ways, Willow is dismayed to discover that Madmartigan’s child care skills were, in a word, awful. The baby, named Elora Danan, is whisked away from Madmartigan by a couple of brownies named Rool and Franjean. The brownies are working to save Elora Danan from being captured by an evil queen who wants to kill Elora to attain unmeasurable power. Willow and Madmartigan eventually team up with the brownies and lose/regain Elora Danan several times during the movie.

Lesson learned? Don’t leave an infant with unqualified caregivers. And Madmartigan is the greatest swordsman that ever lived.

To commemorate our Code Pink drill this year, I drew the following cartoon/manga of a possible Code Pink incident based on the events of Willow. 

Code Pink planning with Willow, Madmartigan, Rool, and Franjean. 

We're hard at work on our new Sock Puppet Safety videos and will share when they are completed. Thanks for your continued reading!

A close-up of the "We stole the baby!" moment since it is my favorite part of the manga:

Rool and Franjean steal Elora Danan from Madmartigan. 

Low odor does not mean low hazard - mastic removers in asbestos abatement

So, I recently completed a cursory review of several different low-odor mastic or adhesive removers that were proposed for use in an asbestos abatement project.

Like many safety professionals, I always specify "low odor" or "no odor" chemicals to be used, but I had not previously encountered the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for most of the mastic removers that were proposed by the contractor. I'd heard anecdotal evidence that the soy-based mastic removers were less effective for asbestos abatement, but understood they were intended to be an environmentally-friendly option.

I was not surprised to find that most of the SDS were wholly unhelpful in assessing the hazards associated with the chemicals. Many of them were one page, in tiny font, and had not been converted to the new Globally Harmonized System for the Classification and Labelling of Chemicals - Safety Data Sheet required format yet.

Based on the lack of information, I threw together a table for each proposed chemical to evaluate them and did some preliminary research on the hazards of each mastic remover. 

The following mastic removers were evaluated:

• AMR 100 Mastic Remover
• Neugenic 4175 Mastic Remover
• Sentinel 770 Odorless Degreaser and Adhesive Remover
• Sentinel 909 Soybean-Based Mastic Remover and Degreaser
• Sentinel 805 Envirowash
• Chem-Safe® Clear 57770 No Odor Mastic Remover
• Chem-Safe® 310-C Soy-Based Mastic Remover
• Concentrate Division – Natural FR Concentrate (Olyolefin Compounds) – SDS not widely available on the internet

This evaluation is provided below and should not be construed to be "official" occupational or environmental health guidance; readers are encouraged to do their own assessment and research to evaluate the hazards associated with these chemicals. Hopefully other safety and health professionals may find this useful in conducting asbestos project design activities when deciding which mastic remover should be used at an owner's site.

Also keep in mind that the hazard statements and precautionary statements were adapted from the manufacturer's existing language on the SDS. Too little data was present on the percent (%) of each chemical present to conduct a full Hazard Communication Standard Assessment and verify the needed pictograms or hazard classification. 

Product Name	GHS Classification	Pictograms	Hazard Statements	Precautionary Statements	Ingredients	Health Effects
AMR 100 Mastic Remover	Flammable liquid, Category 4 Acute Toxicity: Oral, Category 4 Acute Toxicity: Inhalation, Category 4 Acute Toxicity: Dermal, Category 4 Skin irritation, Category 2 Eye irritation, Category 2A Aspiration hazard, Category 1 STOT, Category 3 (narcotic effects) Chronic hazards to the aquatic environment, Category 2	Environment Health Hazard Exclamation Mark	H315 – Causes skin irritation. H304 – May be fatal if swallowed and enters airways. H336 – May cause drowsiness or dizziness. H411 – Toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects. H227 – Combustible liquid. H302 – Harmful if swallowed. H312 – Harmful in contact with skin. H332: Harmful if inhaled. H319 – Causes serious eye irritation.	P210 – Keep away from flames and hot surfaces. No smoking. P280 – Wear protective gloves/eye protection/face protection. P403 – Store in a well-ventilated place. P235 – Keep cool. P264 – Wash skin thoroughly after handling. P362 – Take of contaminated clothing and wash before reuse. P261 – Avoid breathing gas/mist/vapor/spray. P271 – Use only outdoors or in a well-ventilated place. P233 – Keep container tightly closed.	64742-47-8 Petroleum Distillates, Hydrotreated Light (low odor paraffinic solvent / deodorized kerosene) ________ 111-76-2 2-butoxyethanol	Inhalation: Dizziness, Headache, Drowsiness, Nausea, Unconsciousness.  Skin: Dryness. Eyes: Redness. Ingestion: Cough, Diarrhea, Sore Throat, Vomiting. The vapor is seriously irritating to the eyes. The substance may cause effects on the central nervous system. Exposure to high concentration of vapors may result in unconsciousness. Swallowing the liquid may cause aspiration/chemical pneumonitis.
Neugenic 4175 Mastic Remover	Flammable liquid, Category 4 Eye irritation, Category 2A STOT, Category 3 (narcotic effects) Aspiration hazard, Category 1	Exclamation Mark	H227 – Combustible liquid. H319 – Causes serious eye irritation. H336 – May cause drowsiness or dizziness. H304 – May be fatal if swallowed and enters airways.	P210 – Keep away from flames and hot surfaces. No smoking. P264 - Wash skin thoroughly after handling. P280 - Wear protective gloves/ eye protection/ face protection. P261 – Avoid breathing gas/mist/vapor/spray. P271 – Use only in a well-ventilated area/outdoors.	69430-33-7 Aliphatic hydrocarbon blend ________ 112-34-5 Diethylene glycol butyl ether	Inhalation: Dizziness, Headache, Drowsiness, Nausea, Unconsciousness.  Skin: Dryness. Eyes: Redness. Ingestion: Cough, Diarrhea, Sore Throat, Vomiting. Do not induce vomiting. May cause aspiration pneumonia. CNS depressant.
Sentinel 770 Odorless Degreaser & Adhesive Remover	Flammable liquid, Category 4 Eye irritation, Category 2B Skin irritation, Category 3 STOT, Category 3 (narcotic effects) Aspiration hazard, Category 1	Exclamation Mark	H227 – Combustible liquid. H316 – Causes mild skin irritation. H320 – Causes eye irritation. H336 – May cause drowsiness or dizziness. H304 – May be fatal if swallowed and enters airways.	P261 – Avoid breathing gas/mist/vapor/spray. P271 – Use only outdoors or in a well-ventilated place. P210 – Keep away from flames and hot surfaces. No smoking. P280 - Wear protective gloves/ eye protection/ face protection. P264 – Wash skin thoroughly after handling.	69430-33-7 Aliphatic hydrocarbon blend	Causes eye irritation, may cause skin irritation with prolonged skin contact. Irritation of ENT and signs of CNS depression. May experience additional breathing difficulties if impaired lung function, due to irritant properties of chemical. Do not induce vomiting, may cause aspiration pneumonia.
Sentinel 909 Soybean-Based Mastic Remover	Eye irritation, Category 2B Skin irritation, Category 3	N/A	H316 – Causes mild skin irritation. H320 – Causes eye irritation. H304 – May be fatal if swallowed and enters airways.	P261 – Avoid breathing gas/mist/vapor/spray. P271 – Use only outdoors or in a well-ventilated place. P280 - Wear protective gloves/ eye protection/ face protection. P264 – Wash skin thoroughly after handling.	Emulsified methyl esters (no hazardous ingredients with CAS#)	Causes eye irritation, may cause skin irritation with prolonged skin contact. Irritation of ENT and signs of CNS depression. May experience additional breathing difficulties if impaired lung function, due to irritant properties of chemical. Do not induce vomiting.
Sentinel 805 Envirowash (used after 909 to clean surfaces)	Eye irritation, Category 2B Skin irritation, Category 3	N/A	H316 – Causes mild skin irritation. H320 – Causes eye irritation.	P261 – Avoid breathing gas/mist/vapor/spray. P264 – Wash skin thoroughly after handling. P280 - Wear protective gloves/ eye protection/ face protection.	10101-89-0 Trisodium phosphate dodecahydrate (1.2%)	Causes eye irritation, may cause skin irritation with prolonged skin contact. Irritation of ENT and headaches. May experience additional breathing difficulties if impaired lung function, due to irritant properties of chemical. Do not induce vomiting.
Chem-Safe® Clear 57770 No Odor Mastic Remover	Eye irritation, Category 2B Skin irritation, Category 3 Aspiration hazard, Category 1	Exclamation Mark	H315 – Causes skin irritation. H304 – May be fatal if swallowed and enters airways. H320 – Causes eye irritation.	P261 – Avoid breathing gas/mist/vapor/spray. P264 – Wash skin thoroughly after handling. P280 - Wear protective gloves/ eye protection/ face protection.	64742-47-8 Petroleum Distillates, Hydrotreated Light (low odor paraffinic solvent / deodorized kerosene) ________ 112-34-5 Diethylene glycol butyl ether	Causes eye, skin, and respiratory irritation. Do not induce vomiting, may cause aspiration pneumonia. Primary symptoms = headache, dizziness, and nausea.
Chem-Safe® 310-C Soy-Based Mastic Remover	Eye irritation, Category 2B Skin irritation, Category 3	N/A	H316 – Causes mild skin irritation. H320 – Causes eye irritation.	P261 – Avoid breathing gas/mist/vapor/spray. P264 – Wash skin thoroughly after handling. P280 - Wear protective gloves/ eye protection/ face protection.	112-34-5 Diethylene glycol butyl ether (5-12%) ________ Soy-based nonhazardous component	Causes eye, skin, and respiratory irritation. Do not induce vomiting. Primary symptoms = headache and dizziness.
Concentrate Dvision Natural FR Concentrate	Eye irritation, Category 2B Skin irritation, Category 3	N/A	H316 – Causes mild skin irritation. H320 – Causes eye irritation.	P261 – Avoid breathing gas/mist/vapor/spray. P264 – Wash skin thoroughly after handling. P280 - Wear protective gloves/ eye protection/ face protection.	None listed as hazardous	May cause mechanical skin irritation (pellets) and eye irritation if dust from pellets gets in eyes.

Spoggles Redux

They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, right?

A friend of mine recently noted that if you search for "spoggles" on Google, my blog post from April 23, 2013 was one of the first things to pop up. This was a very exciting thing - I thought I would test it out today.

Imagine my surprise when a FlexiCrew blog post from August 27, 2013 popped up as the first item on Google. 

Me: "Dang, I'm not the first one anymore! Let's see what they have to say. I'll bet mine is better! Mine has cartoons!"

I clicked on their post and immediately realized most of the post was very familiar, because I wrote it last year. I almost always cite my sources or link to original works when "borrowing" material from other blogs or websites. I guess it's silly of me to expect the same effort from other bloggers.

See below for the most obvious examples.

Theirs: So, for those of you not in the environmental health and safety field, Spoggles is an industry term for safety eyewear designed to prevent airborne dust and debris from getting in our eyeballs. Airborne dust and debris is a leading cause of eye injuries in today’s workplaces. Spoggles = Safety + Goggles, with a random “p” thrown in there since “sgoggles” or “sagoggles” or “safoggles” sound even weirder."

Mine: So, for those of you not in the environmental health and safety field [...] Spoggles is an industry term for safety eyewear designed to prevent airborne dust and debris from getting in our eyeballs. Airborne dust and debris is a leading cause of eye injuries in today's workplaces. Spoggles = Safety + Goggles, with a random "p" thrown in there since "sgoggles" or "sagoggles" or "safoggles" sound even weirder.

And it continues...

Theirs: The glasses/goggles are supposed to seal up against your face (via the foam inserts at the interior edges of the lenses), and keep dust out of your eyes. There are potential issues with spoggles, and reasons why people sometimes choose not to wear their personal protective equipment (PPE) when doing work in a dusty environment:

• the glasses fog up 
• the glasses can get scratched so it is hard to see 
• the foam can get “smushed” (technical term) and be less effective 
• when you take off your glasses, the dust that was at the top and sides/edges of the glasses (and in your eyebrows) can fall right into your eye anyway 
• some people think they look nerdy (also a technical term) 
• the earpieces can irritate the heck out of the back of your ears 

Mine: The glasses/goggles are supposed to seal up against your face (via the foam inserts at the interior edges of the lenses), and keep dust out of your eyes. There are potential issues with spoggles, and reasons why people sometimes choose not to wear their personal protective equipment (PPE) when doing work in a dusty environment:

• the glasses fog up 
• the glasses can get scratched so it is hard to see 
• the foam can get “smushed” (technical term) and be less effective 
• when you take off your glasses, the dust that was at the top and sides/edges of the glasses (and in your eyebrows) can fall right into your eye anyway 
• some people think they look nerdy (also a technical term) 
• the earpieces can irritate the heck out of the back of your ears 

And then both blog posts end almost the same way.

Theirs: But looking nerdy and having to take care of your PPE and using good personal hygiene while at work are a small price to pay compared to losing your eyesight or getting a nasty infection in your eye from contaminated dust. So our Flexpert’s advice – Keep a supply of spoggles on hand. With some lanyards. And some no-fog. And to sum up: spoggles are real. Spoggles are good. Spoggles may save your eyesight. Wear them if you have them.

Mine: But looking nerdy and having to take care of your PPE and using good personal hygiene while at work are a small price to pay compared to losing your eyesight or getting a nasty infection in your eye from contaminated dust. [...] Keep a supply of spoggles on hand. With some lanyards. And some no-fog. [...] So, to sum up: spoggles are real. Spoggles are good. Spoggles may save your eyesight. Wear them if you have them.


I'm choosing to not be irritated (although, really, how hard would it have been to say something like, "Thanks, Industrious Hygienist in Arizona, for the original content!" with a link to my blog?). I'm choosing to remember that it doesn't matter how the information gets out to workers, as long as it is effective in helping them realize that PPE is important but has limitations.

And I'm choosing to be flattered. But I may continue to post about spoggles and throw the keyword into a bunch of my new posts just to keep the excitement alive. There will also be a new cartoon about spoggles coming up soon.

The Industrious Hygienist's Favorite Holiday Safety Tips: CDC/NIOSH

In honor of the holidays, the Industrious Hygienist would like to share her favorite holiday safety tips from recognized authorities. Today's tips are from the CDC and NIOSH.

This year, CDC/NIOSH has posted a "Wishes for Workers" campaign where you can post your wishes for occupational health and safety improvements. The Industrious Hygienist will think on this and post something thought-provoking. Or at least interesting.

The Industrious Hygienist's favorite wish from a CDC representative:

• "All of our nation’s emergency response workers are prepared and trained to respond effectively and safely to any disaster."
• CDR Lisa Delaney MS, CIH, Associate Director, NIOSH Emergency Preparedness and Response Office

CDC/NIOSH also developed a "12 Ways to Health Holiday Song" which can be sung to the tune of, you guessed it, "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

Download the audio podcast of the song here. 

The Industrious Hygienist's favorite pieces of the song are:

• The fifth way to health, said the CDC to me
  BE SMOKE-FREE, don't drink and drive, manage stress, bundle up for warmth, and wash hands to be safe and healthy.
• The tenth way to health, said the CDC to mePractice fire safety, monitor the children, get your vaccinations, get exams and screenings, fasten belts while driving, BE SMOKE-FREE, don't drink and drive, manage stress, bundle up for warmth, and wash hands to be safe and healthy.

In 2011 the Industrious Hygienist wrote a three-part comic of the "12 Days of Christmas: Preparation for the Holidays Industrious Hygienist (IH) Style!" If you want to read it again, part 1 is here, part 2 is here, and part 3 is here. 

Last year's CDC/NIOSH blog post about safety for Santa was probably my favorite post from CDC/NIOSH so far. Highlights below.

• Going down the world's chimneys (when applicable) would definitely be considered a confined space entry - CDC/NIOSH has a topic page for confined spaces
• Are Santa's suits fire-resistant?
• Since his elves are super-busy leading up to the holidays, maybe Santa should consider NIOSH's research on shift work and sleep deprivation
• Hefting that bag of toys for all the good girls and boys is likely strenuous - Santa should evaluate his lifting technique using the NIOSH Lifting Equation

No worries, the Industrious Hygienist is working on her holiday/New Year card that will be posted before the end of the year. Look for more tips from FEMA, NFPA, NSC, and others in the days to come.

Emergency Preparedness and Response for Floods (e.g. Colorado)

In response to the incredible flooding in Colorado earlier this month, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) via their National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) published a new web page with information on emergency preparedness and response in flood situations.

See the web page here on floods.

NIEHS emphasized the preparedness factor for responders to flooding, cleanup workers and restoration workers, homeowners, and business owners. The training/information covers safety awareness and post-disaster hazards.

On the page, there's also preparedness information about:

• earthquakes
• H1N1 (swine) flu, avian flu, pandemics
• oil spills
• wildfires
• resiliency
• radiological dispersion devices (RDD) a.k.a. "dirty bombs"

The Industrious Hygienist is always excited to find new references to explore and share with others! Thanks to NIEHS for the useful tools and guidance from a variety of federal departments. 

Dangit, I missed "Happy N95 Day" on September 5th from NIOSH!

The Industrious Hygienist likes to stay abreast of interesting things in occupational health and safety. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) celebrated its second anniversary of N95 Day on September 5, 2013. 

NIOSH spent the day promoting its Epidemiological Global Health Project (Supercourse), which it developed with the University of Pittsburgh.  NIOSH also promoted their "Know It's NIOSH" campaign, which is dedicated to helping workers understand how to determine if their respirator is NIOSH-approved. The University of Pittsburgh Supercourse has an presentation about the "Know It's NIOSH" campaign, viewable here. 

Following my commitment to healthcare occupational health and safety, I quickly downloaded the new (June 2013) "Respirator Awareness: Your Health May Depend On It - Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Workers" from NIOSH. In a partnership with California Department of Public Health, NIOSH also developed an online toolkit for respirator program administrators in health care workplaces. 

Thanks to NIOSH for developing these helpful courses, toolkits, and helpful infographics, like the one shown below.

NIOSH N95 Day Infographic (c) NIOSH. 

NIOSH made sure to link to the awesome OSHA training videos on respirator protection.

The Industrious Hygienist looks forward to sharing this exciting new information with health care safety professionals for the next few months. 

A molasses spill in Hawaii? I hearken back to 1919 in Boston.

I was intrigued to see the following news story from Hawaii about the molasses spill that occurred in Honolulu Harbor (or was first noticed, accounts differ) on Monday. According to the article, approximately 224,000 gallons of molasses spilled into the harbor and the United States Environmental Protection Agency is sending two spill experts to help the state characterize the damage and work towards a sustainable solution.

This article from Hawaii News Now explains that the responsible party, Matson Navigation Company, released more than a ton of molasses into the harbor. An investigation was done by Hawaii Department of Health when dead fish started showing throughout the harbor on Monday, about "three days after a faulty Matson pipe discharged 233,000 gallons of molasses into the water, resulting in a mass kill."

According to Reuters, the release was first noticed on Monday after a ship pulled out to sea, loaded with molasses. On Tuesday, Matson discovered a leak in the pipeline used to fill the ship. The Reuters article contained a statement from the Department of Health that the molasses would likely not harm humans, but it was "polluting the water, causing fish to die and could lead to an increase in predator species such as sharks, barracuda and eels."

CNN already beat me to the punch (or some sort of molasses-based beverage) on making the comparison, but this is not the first time molasses has caused such widespread devastation. Courtesy of Wikipedia, in 1919 Boston, a molasses storage tank burst and approximately 2.3 million gallons of molasses were released from the storage area of the Purity Distilling Company into North End Boston. The "wave" of molasses ranged from 8 to 15 feet high and was estimated to had moved up to 35 miles per hour, sweeping buildings off their foundations, damaging railroad girders, and killing 21 people (150 injured).  

Here's a picture courtesy of the Boston Public Library Flickr account:

Firemen in Boston's North End standing in sometimes knee-deep molasses. (c) Boston Public Library.

The Wikipedia article notes that the "harbor was brown with molasses until summer" (spill happened in January 1919). I couldn't find any information on whether the molasses spill into the Boston harbor also resulted in a large fish and other marine life die-off.

Many news companies ran articles with indirect quotes from a senior executive for Matson stating that Matson had not really planned ahead of time for the possibility of a spill. The Honolulu Star Advertiser ran a story that Matson "did not have a response plan for a molasses spill, even though its vessels export as much as 2,000 tons of the viscous liquid each week to the mainland from a pipeline at Hono­lulu Harbor."

The response plan they're talking about would likely be similar to a Spill Countermeasures and Control Plan (SPCC). An SPCC Plan requires companies with the potential to release oil discharges (and possibly other toxic substances, I am not an SPCC expert) to prepare an SPCC Plan, amend the plan when conditions change, and of course implement the plan, so that prevention of spills is the primary objective. SPCC Plans also cover preparedness activities and response to spills. SPCC is intended to protect navigable waters and their adjoining shorelines. There's probably a maritime equivalent, but the Industrious Hygienist lives in Arizona, so my knowledge of maritime standards is limited.

Yay! for NIOSH's First Comic: "Straight Talk About Nail-Gun Safety"

So, no surprise, while surfing the 'net for something neat to post about, I came upon some exciting news: NIOSH released their first (ever) comic in June 2013. 

The comic is titled "Straight Talk About Nail-Gun Safety" and discusses pneumatic nail guns. FYI, careful while searching for images on Google re: "pneumatic nail gun" and "movie" - I tried to find a movie reference/still for visual emphasis, but all that showed up was "Nail Gun Massacre." Not hyper-linked since I am not overly fond of horror movies. 

According to the CDC NIOSH Science Blog, this comic is intended to raise awareness of nail gun safety measures, prevent injuries, and dispel some myths about nail guns circulating around the internet.

CDC NIOSH / Nick Thorkelson comic, "Straight Talk About Nail-Gun Safety"

The comic has a middle section with a nail gun safety checklist that explains nail gun trigger safety, nail gun use, concerns about lumber and building materials, and reminders about compressors and hoses.

It seems they're going for a "those crazy cowboys in the wild west" feel:

Nice 'stache there, buckaroo. :) "Straight Talk About Nail-Gun Safety" CDC NIOSH / Nick Thorkelson

I liked the CDC NIOSH Science Blog's authors' discussion about trying to find a scientific reference for the velocity of a nail shot from a nail gun:

"Most sites that appeared immediately were legal or medical, though they quickly digressed to include ‘theatrical’, paranormal, and vampire-hunting (using silver nails, we presume) interests.  Narrowing the search to “scholarly” sources, we found several peer reviewed papers that referenced a nail firing velocity of 1400 ft/sec and others that reported different velocities.  (Just to note, no articles were found using these search terms in PubMed or MedLine). All articles except one were medical journal case reports of nail gun injuries."

The CDC seems to be more interested in visual media, since the release of the CDC public health graphic novel, "Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic." Comics and graphic novels are a great way to engage the public and workers - telling a story in a way that can help memory retention while entertaining. Nice job, Nick Thorkelson (artist).

New Manga! Re-branding The Industrious Hygienist

Hiyo, loyal readers! Per the request of several of you, I bring you a new manga of the Industrious Hygienist. I haven't had a chance to learn my Anime Studio software or Bamboo Splash tablet yet, so this one is old-fashioned, hand-drawn goodness. 

I was going for spunky, but she turned out a little sassy. :)

The Industrious Hygienist - latest character art (manga) for rebranding!

Hope you like it - next time I get another four to six hours of free time, I'll draw another action-oriented and funny manga. This one only took about three hours. I'm trying to re-brand the Industrious Hygienist into the hero of the manga rather than the "person who things happen to" in the manga. As always, eternal thanks to Hiromu Arakawa for creating Fullmetal Alchemist and the style of manga I imitate. Wish me luck!