Page 58 - Occupational Health & Safety, December 2018

INDUSTRY UPDATE
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■ Radians, a manufacturer of high- performance PPE, recently finished con- struction of a new warehouse at its North Carolina facility, increasing the square footage by almost 50 percent. The Radi- ans® complex in Thomasville is currently responsible for manufacturing high-vis ap- parel, custom vests and T-shirts, and most of the Radians public safety vests for first responders.
The new warehouse is 14,200 square feet and has expanded pallet storage from 90 pallets to 420 pallets. “The new manu- facturing space will allow Radians to streamline production and increase effi- ciency in several key areas including cut- ting, sewing, screen printing, heat sealing, and inspection,” said Philip Young, VP of operations. Other improvements include new systems for heating and cooling 30,000 square feet, embroidery capabilities, and the addition of new sewing machines and a new large-format heat press.
“Employment opportunities are often a byproduct of expansion,” Young said. “We are happy that our employee headcount in North Carolina is up approximately 22 per- cent in the last 12 months. This is an excit- ing time for Radians and the Thomasville community.”
FDA Approves Controversial
New Opioid
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month approved the marketing of an opioid named Dsuvia, with FDA Commis- sioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb posting a state- ment defending the decision and citing its usefulness on battlefields to treat wounded soldiers. “The FDA has made it a high pri- ority to make sure our soldiers have access to treatments that meet the unique needs of the battlefield, including when intrave- nous administration is not possible for the treatment of acute pain related to battlefield wounds,” he wrote. “The military applica- tion for this new medicine was carefully considered in this case. We understand the concerns about the availability of a high
potency formulation of sufentanil and the associated risks. The FDA has implemented a [Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy] that reflects the potential risks associated with this product and mandates that Dsu- via will only be made available for use in a certified medically-supervised heath care setting, including its use on the battlefield.”
Dsuvia, made by a company named AcelRx, is a tablet form of sufentanil that is meant to be dissolved under a patient’s tongue. Last month, FDA’s Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Com- mittee voted 10-3 that Dsuvia be approved. But U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., sharply criticized that vote, saying the com- mittee voted when its chair, Dr. Raeford Brown, who has publicly opposed the ap- plication, was not present, and FDA also failed to have the full Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee partici- pate in the advisory committee meeting.
“An opioid that is a thousand times more powerful than morphine is a thou- sand times more likely to be abused, and a thousand times more likely to kill,” Mar- key said Oct. 18. “Even in the midst of the worst drug crisis our nation has ever seen, the FDA once again is going out of its way to approve a new super-charged pain- killer that would only worsen the opioid epidemic. It makes no sense to approve an opioid painkiller that has no benefits over similar medications and against the advice of experts.”
Canada’s TSB Issues Call for
Action on Fatigue
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada released its Watchlist 2018 on Oct. 29 and simultaneously called for action to address fatigue as a contributing factor in incidents. The Watchlist identifies seven key issues requiring the government’s and industry’s attention to make Canada’s transportation system even safer in the air, marine, and rail sectors. This fifth Watchlist edition, like the previous ones, builds on hundreds of inves- tigations, findings and data, and active TSB recommendations.
The board is comparable to the Na- tional Transportation Safety Board in the United States, which also has reducing fa- tigue-related accidents on its current Most Wanted List.
The TSB said employee fatigue is a ma- jor safety hazard crossing all three trans- portation modes and is pervasive, espe-
cially in a 24/7 industry where crews can work long and irregular schedules across multiple time zones. It has been found to be a risk or contributing factor in more than 90 TSB investigations since 1992. “At the TSB, we recognize that fatigue can af- fect performance. We see it in one investi- gation after the other, across all modes of transportation,” said TSB Chair Kathy Fox. “Transport Canada, operators, unions, and employees all share the responsibility for preventing and managing fatigue at work. This also calls for a profound change in at- titudes and behaviors, both at the manage- ment and operational levels.”
Awards & Recognition
■ The Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare (AOHP) an- nounced the winners of its annual recog- nition program for leaders and innovators in the field of occupational health in health care. The award winners were recognized in early September at the AOHP Annual National Conference in Glendale, Ariz.
The Ann Stinson President’s Award for Association Excellence, named for the third president of AOHP and recognizing a chapter that has demonstrated outstand- ing performance and enhanced the image of occupational health professionals, went to the AOHP CA Northern Chapter. Busi- ness Recognition Awards—acknowledging a health care organization, business, corpo- ration, or government agency that actively supports occupational health profession- als and encourages their participation in AOHP programs and activities—went to three organizations:
■ Bon Secours Richmond Employee Wellness Services (Richmond, Va.), which operates six offices with a staff of 40 and provides care for about 9,000 employees in five hospitals and more than 120 physi- cian practices, diagnostic, and ambulatory facilities.
■ Children’s Mercy Kansas City, which promotes a culture of safety and wellness through an array of services.
■ Northwell Health Employee Health Services, which provides occupational health services to 66,000 employees in the Northwell Health system of 22 hospitals and more than 450 ambulatory locations across the New York area.
54 Occupational Health & Safety | DECEMBER 2018
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