CDC Making Green Jobs Safer for Employees

Green jobs are good for the environment and good for the economy but are they also good for workers? These eco-friendly occupations, often defined as jobs that help improve the environment and enhance sustainability, in fact pose new health concerns. To curb these issues, the CDC and NIOSH held a workshop that considered how to emphasize that green jobs should be safe and healthy for workers. It solicited input from stakeholders representing industry, labor, academia, government agencies and nongovernment organizations. Some conclusions show that it is beneficial to integrate OSH data collection and monitoring into codes and standards of practice and to invest more time into training exposed populations. Other recommendations included fixing broken regulations and making OSH a priority by leveraging the power government and industry already have, be it via contacts or grant authority. To learn more about the results of the workshop, click here.