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In honor of Breast Cancer awareness month, President Barack Obama issued a Presidential Proclamation calling for solidarity in the fight to eradicate this dreadful disease:

“This month, pink ribbons will be displayed around our country, adorning jackets and public spaces alike. A sign of solidarity, these ribbons remind us of our commitment to preventing and treating breast cancer, and to supporting those courageously battling this disease. Countless Americans will participate in events to raise awareness alongside survivors and their families, working together to support research that will save lives. …”

Read the entire Proclamation here.

From the CDC, three important steps to take in protecting yourself and others from the influenza virus:

Flu is a serious contagious disease that can lead to hospitalization and even death. CDC urges you to take the following actions to protect yourself and others from influenza (the flu):

Take time to get a flu vaccine.

• CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine as the first and most important step in protecting against flu viruses.
• While there are many different flu viruses, the flu vaccine protects against the three viruses that research suggests will be most common.
• The 2011-2012 vaccine will protect against an influenza A H3N2 virus, an influenza B virus and the H1N1 virus that emerged in 2009 to cause a pandemic….

Read the whole article here.

From the CDC, a terrific article on nail gun safety: 

Nail guns are widely used on many construction jobs, especially in residential construction. While they boost productivity they may also cause tens of thousands of painful injuries each year. This publication is intended to provide a resource for residential home builders and construction contractors, subcontractors, and supervisors to prevent these kinds of injuries.
The guidance was developed in response to a unanimous motion by industry, state, and labor stakeholders on OSHA’s Advisory Committee for Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) on the need to develop awareness and materials about nail gun risks. OSHA and NIOSH worked together to make sure the guidance reflects the most current information available…
View a message from the Directors of NIOSH and OSHA supporting the nail gun safety guidance. NIOSH-OSHA-Nail-Guns-Cover-Letter.pdf [PDF – 289 KB]

Nail Gun Safety: A Guide for Construction Contractors [PDF – 1,618 KB]

U.S. Department of Labor and OSHA issue 2011 annual inspection plan for protecting workers in high-hazard workplaces:

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued its annual inspection plan under the Site-Specific Targeting* 2011 (SST-11) program to help the agency direct enforcement resources to high-hazard workplaces where the highest rates of injuries and illnesses occur.
The SST program is OSHA’s main programmed inspection plan for non-construction workplaces that have 20 or more workers. High-hazard workplaces identified in the SST program reported above-average work-related injury and illness rates, based on data collected from a 2010 OSHA Data Initiative survey of 80,000 larger establishments in selected high-hazard industries. Establishments are randomly selected for inspection from a primary list of 3,700 manufacturing, non-manufacturing, and nursing and personal care facilities.
“By focusing our inspection resources on employers in high hazard industries who endanger their employees, we can prevent injuries and illnesses and save lives,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA David Michaels. “Through the SST program we examine all major aspects of these operations to determine the effectiveness of their safety and health efforts.”
Two changes have been made to this year’s SST program. In 2010, only those establishments in the selected industries with 40 or more employees were subject to inspections under the SST plan; this year, that number has been reduced to 20 or more. An evaluation study measuring the program’s impact on future compliance with OSHA standards has also been introduced for the 2011 program.