12252010 Turkey. Proposal on disabled individuals puts Labor Ministry in hot seat: The most vocal critic was ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputy Lokman Ayva, who is himself visually impaired, as he asked his party to expel Minister of Labor and Social Security Ömer Dinçer for a violation of human rights....more....
12072010 US Labor Department's OSHA fines US Minerals facility in Illinois$396,000 for 28 violations, including exposure to hazardous dust: COFFEEN, Ill. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited U.S. Minerals LLC with willfully exposing its workers to dangerously high levels of hazardous dust, and not providing adequate breathing protection and training for workers at its facility in Coffeen. The company, headquartered in Dyer, Ind., has been issued a total of 28 health and safety citations with proposed penalties of $396,000....more...
12022010Turkey Jeans sandblasting said to endanger workers (News Feature): Istanbul - For more than four years, Abdulhalim Demir, a Turk who resides in Istanbul, sandblasted jeans to give them a faded, worn or bleached look. Jeans wearers in Europe may have been pleased with his work, but the dust that Demir inhaled on the job badly scarred his lungs...more...
12012010 Turkey Denim workers previously published a manifesto demanding an end to sandblasting in worldwide denim production at a press conference: Denim-industry employees demonstrated Monday outside the Petrol-Is Trade Union office in Ankara, protesting a proposed law they say would represent a step back in their fight to gain justice for workers suffering from silicosis. The most common occupational lung disease in the world, silicosis is often contracted by workers engaged in sandblasting jeans without proper ventilation or protection. It is non-curable and can be fatal. According to medical reports from Turkey, sandblasting operators can develop an acute form of silicosis in just six to 24 months of work....more...
11302010 Turkey Fashion victims - a report on sandblasted denim: Finishing of jeans by using the technique sandblasting is a dangerous method which has led to 50 deaths in Turkey. Garment companies on the Swedish market have low level of knowledge about the risks. The Fair Trade Center's study "Fashion victims - a report on sandblasted denim" shows that three companies out of seventeen continue to use the method. While Fair Trade Center was working on the study six companies decided to phase out the method. Just before publication of the report another two companies decided to stop using sandblasting in their production....more....
11182010Turkey INFORMATION ON JEANS SANDBLASTING: In particular, jeans sandblasting is defined as the erosive/abrasive process applied to denim by air compressors blowing out sand under pressure in order to bleach and to batter the denim. According to the Turkish Solidarity Committee of Sandblasting Laborers, the sand used to sandblast in Turkey contains up to 80% silica....more....
11102010 US Department of Labor's OSHA cites Fortune Plastic and Metal Texasin Dallas for allegedly exposing workers to lead poisoning: DALLAS – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Fortune Plastic and Metal Texas LLC with six alleged serious and six alleged repeat violations following a safety and health inspection at the company's work site in Dallas. Proposed penalties total $125,000....more...
09142010 Turkey Turkish denim workers wary of sandblasting prohibitions: Turkish workers believe two global fashion brands’ recent decision to ban sandblasting will not prevent workers from contracting silicosis because other large companies continue to employ subcontractors for sandblasting in emerging markets. Fashion brands Levi’s and H&M recently announced a decision to refrain from employing workers for denim sandblasting, a process by which many denim workers contract silicosis....more....
09122010 Turkey Levi’s, H&M ban sandblasting on jeans Sunday, September: Levi’s and H&M, two global fashion brands, have decided to ban sandblasting, a controversial technique used to make jeans look “worn,” the firms announced on their websites. Scientists, unionists and some nongovernmental associations, particularly in major manufacturer countries such as Turkey, India and China, say the widespread technique causes the lung disease silicosis....more....
09022010 US US Department of Labor's OSHA cites Blandon, Pa., brass foundry $550,400 for exposing workers to lead and other workplace hazards: BLANDON, Pa. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued citations to Kief Industries Inc., doing business as Excelsior Brass Works. The citations allege the company knowingly exposed workers to lead hazards and violated federal workplace safety and health standards at its Blandon facility. Proposed penalties total $550,400....more...
08182010 TurkeyEarly retirement recommended for denim workers in Turkey: A statement from the Labor Ministry’s Labor Inspection Board to the Social Security Institution, or SGK, recommends denim sandblasting workers with silicosis be classified as retired by disability, even if they do not any social security. The SGK does not currently follow this recommendation, and many workers still suffer from the disease without any social security rights. Manual sandblasting was banned in Turkey one-and-a-half years ago following the deaths of 43 workers. Many of these workers had said previously they were not warned about the disease and would not have continued to work there if they had been....more....
06242010 Turkey 'Bleaching' denim blackens workers' lungs, Turkish federation chief says: When denim is lightened through the sandblasting process, people’s lives are darkened, Ali Çetin, the general director of the Federation of Consumer Associations, or TÜDEF, has said at a press conference in Ankara. The event was held to support denim workers with the lung disease silicosis who work without health and employment insurance at companies subcontracted by major denim brand companies, the Anatolia news agency reported Thursday....more...
06212010 Turkey Denim sandblasting workers in Turkey demand their rights: Workers who have contracted silicosis, a potentially fatal lung disease, due to their jobs sandblasting denim will camp out in Ankara’s Abdi Ipekçi Park on Tuesday to demand their rights. The workers will organize meetings with political leaders and deputies and members of parliamentary groups for three consecutive days to try and find a solution to their concerns....more....
04292010 US US Labor Department's OSHA proposes more than $130,000 in penalties against Chicago-based ERA Valdivia Contractors Inc. for health violations: CHICAGO — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited ERA Valdivia Contractors Inc., an industrial painting and sandblasting company in Chicago, with $130,300 in proposed penalties for exposing workers to dangerous lead materials....more....
04272010 El Salvador Battery Recycling brings Lead Poisoning in El Salvador ": On our trip to Central America in February one of the more disturbing problems we encountered was a community in El Salvador that has been contaminated with lead. When the company that set up the plant was selling the concept to the community way back when, they baked up a batch of cookies and went door to door handing out cookies and telling the people they were setting up a plant to make cookies like these.By the time the plant was up and running it was too late. At first blush the concept of setting up a battery recycling plant seems like a good idea but you have to remember that there are all kinds of heavy metals and toxins created in the process. Not handled correctly these would be a huge problem and of course handling the waste correctly would cut profits. It was unceremoniously dumped in a huge pile on the plant property....more....
03222010 China 19 hospitalized in lead poisoning case: This is the second case involving poisoning from lead pollution in Hunan within seven months. The 19 diagnosed with lead poisoning are undergoing treatment in the Chenzhou Hospital of Chinese Medicine in Chenzhou, a southern city in Hunan, Xinhua News Agency reported. Some of the sick children were still complaining of abdominal pains, but the majority did not have obvious symptoms, Wang Feixiong, a physician at the hospital, told Xinhua on Saturday.....more....
02122010 Canada Host city crowned home of 'world's best Chinese food': Schatzker raved about such delicacies as golden Dungeness crab at Ken's Chinese Restaurant, xiao long bao at Lin Chinese Cuisine and Tea House, and such unique only-in-British Columbia specialties as sauteed geoduck, a giant clam that can only be obtained by sandblasting it out from its traditional home on the Pacific Ocean floor....more....
01062010 China Lead poisoning cases 2009: Qingyuan, Guangdong province Twenty-five children were confirmed to have excessive levels of lead in their blood due to pollution from a nearby storage battery company in the Qingyuan Economic Development Zone. A few adults were also diagnosed with abnormally high lead levels....more....
2010 US Bullard Bullard-Sherwood Research-to-Practice (r2p) Awards: NIOSH presents the Bullard-Sherwood Research-to-Practice (r2p) Awards to recognize outstanding efforts by its scientists and their partners in applying occupational safety and health research to prevent work-related injury, illness, and death. The award is named in honor of two distinguished individuals who have made significant improvements in workplace injury and illness prevention. Edward W. Bullard designed the first "hard hat" as protective headgear for miners. He combined his experience with dough boy Army helmets during World War I and his understanding of customer needs to develop the "Hard Boiled Hat." The name was derived from the use of steam during the hat manufacturing process. Joseph Strauss....more....
2010 China China reports new lead poisoning case: More than 200 children living beside an industrial park in southwest China have been found to have excessive lead in their blood, state media said on Monday, in the third such case reported in the last month. Health authorities tested around 1,000 children in a neighborhood of the city of Kunming, the official China Daily said...more....
2009Turkey Documentary reveals deaths in sandblasting job: A 35-minute documentary, shot by three directors, reveals the story of many workers who caught a fatal occupational disease in a very short time due to the lack of secure working conditions in Turkey. The movie titled “Silicosis” displays the suffering of workers who caught silicosis, a disease caused by inhaling silica dust. Tens of young workers have died from silicosis and 550 workers have been diagnosed with the fatal disease in Turkey in the last few years. All of these workers caught the disease at small workshops where denim jeans undergo jet sandblasting to give them a "worn-in" appearance. They were working without taking any health precautions...more...
2008 UK Sandblasting company fined £26,000 = 40,333.8 US$ for using banned substance: The Health and Safety Executive has issued a reminder that the use of sand containing silica for dry sand blasting of vehicles is prohibited and of the need to have properly maintained protective respiratory equipment to prevent exposure to silicosis. Sand blasting involves launching an abrasive material at high speed to clean and smooth a surface...more...
