Los Angeles – Pesticide exposure may increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, and individual risk varies based on a person’s genetic makeup, according to a new study from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Washington – The Environmental Protection Agency on Feb. 20 proposed new safety measures intended to protect farmworkers from the harmful effects of pesticide exposure.

Sacramento, CA – Federal agency statistics vastly undercount the number of nonfatal injuries and illnesses in the agricultural industry, according to a new study from the University of California Davis School of Medicine.

Washington – After a recent visit with workers in tobacco fields and labor camps in North Carolina, members of an international delegation said they were shocked and saddened to see widespread worker abuse.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s controversial final rule on its New Poultry Inspection System is set to be published and, in response to public comment, will not increase the maximum speed of processing lines.

Santa Fe, NM – The New Mexico Occupational Health & Safety Bureau has teamed up with the Consulate of Mexico to provide the state’s Spanish-speaking employees with workplace safety training.

Washington – A new voluntary program from the Environmental Protection Agency aims to protect agricultural workers from pesticide drift.

The Center for Construction Research and Training (also known as CPWR) is now offering several of its resources in Spanish.

Washington – OSHA and NIOSH have published recommended practices to help tobacco workers and employers avoid a potentially deadly combination of illnesses.

Washington – Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress are proposing legislation that would prohibit children younger than 18 from working directly with tobacco plants or dried tobacco leaves.

San Diego – Immigration reform can directly improve the safety and health of Latino workers, the only demographic group to experience an increase in fatalities in 2013, according to the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health.

Hispanic and Latino workers were the only demographic to see its fatality figures increase from 2012 to 2013. Experts explore why Latinos are at a higher risk of workplace injuries and death, and provide potential solutions to reverse the growing trend.

Washington – A recent blog post by NIOSH sheds light on the thought process that goes into choosing the most effective art for safety materials.

Cincinnati – Rates of occupational injury and illness from pesticides are much higher among agricultural workers than workers in other industries, according to NIOSH research.

Washington – Immigrant workers who report unsafe or unfair work practices would become eligible for a type of visa reserved for victims of criminal activity, under legislation recently reintroduced by House Democrats.

Washington – The Chemical Safety Board is including Spanish language translations of some of its safety materials, the independent agency announced Nov. 20.

Washington – The Environmental Protection Agency once again has extended the comment period for a proposed rule that would create stronger standards for workers who handle “restricted use” pesticides.

Washington – A new resource from the Environmental Protection Agency aims to help regulators and the public learn more about pesticide exposure incidents among agricultural workers.

Washington – The Environmental Protection Agency and the Pesticide Educational Resources Collaborative have released a guide intended to help agricultural pesticide handlers, workers and managers comply with 2015 revisions to the federal Worker Protection Standard.

Washington – United Farm Workers and several community health groups have petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately suspend widespread use of chlorpyrifos, a neurotoxic pesticide already acknowledged to pose poisoning risks to workers.

Los Angeles – Latino immigrants and African-American men are most at risk for being injured on the job, according to a study from the University of Southern California.

Washington — The Environmental Protection Agency has released a draft of its human health and ecological risk assessments for glyphosate, a commonly used herbicide, and stated that it intends to seek public comment on the draft.

Olympia, WA — Pesticide spray tanks are considered confined spaces if they’re big enough to enter (through a manhole cover or access port) and occupy, and require a permit for full or partial entry, emphasizes a new hazard alert from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries’ Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

Washington — Immigrant construction workers employed by small companies do not receive the same amount of safety and health training as their counterparts at larger companies, according to a recent study from NIOSH and the American Society of Safety Engineers.

Albany, NY — Attorneys general from New York, California and Maryland have filed a lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to indefinitely delay a requirement for employers to provide enhanced training intended to protect farmworkers, pesticide handlers and their families from exposure to pesticides.

Washington — The Environmental Protection Agency on June 14 announced its intent to publish a Federal Register notice establishing the availability of expanded pesticide safety training materials, in accordance with 2015 revisions to the federal Agricultural Worker Protection Standard.

Washington — By publishing the availability of expanded pesticide safety training materials after previously resisting the move, the Environmental Protection Agency will reduce risks of injury and illness among employers, farmworkers, pesticide handlers and their families, the EPA Office of Inspector General asserts in an audit report released Aug. 30.

Kansas City, MO — OSHA has launched a Regional Emphasis Program addressing hazards stemming from exposure to fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate and agricultural anhydrous ammonia.

Washington — OSHA has released a guide intended to protect farmworkers from tractor rollovers, which result in about 130 fatal injuries a year.

Houston — Filipino seafarers often delay or completely avoid medical care – despite their rights to it under maritime law – for fear of retaliation from employers, including potentially losing their jobs, results of a recent study show.

Washington — Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) has reintroduced legislation that would provide temporary protection from deportation to immigrant workers who are victims of, or witnesses to, unsafe working conditions and other labor rights violations.

Información Rápida (Quick Information) will feature regular updates on workplace safety and workers’ rights.

San Francisco — A recent study of stone fabricators in California who have been diagnosed with silicosis shows that virtually all of them were immigrant, Latino men.

Washington — A new Department of Labor website – available in English and Spanish – features information on immigrant worker rights and other job-related resources.

Houston — Migrant roofing workers are more likely to experience poor sleep quality, which may put them at increased risk of injury, Rice University researchers say.

Washington – The ruptured steel pipe at the center of the 2012 hydrocarbon release and fire at the Chevron U.S.A. Inc. refinery in Richmond, CA, was corroded and should have been replaced, concludes a report released by the Chemical Safety Board and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

Sacramento, CA – Reacting to a Chevron refinery fire last year that resulted in thousands of people seeking medical attention after breathing toxic emissions, a California lawmaker has introduced legislation to require abatement of unsafe conditions during any appeals process.

Washington – The Chemical Safety Board is scheduled to host a public meeting on April 19 in Richmond, CA, to present interim findings and safety recommendations from the investigation of the hydrocarbon release and fire at a Chevron refinery.

Washington – Failure to apply inherently safer design principles, conduct damage mechanism hazard reviews and implement safeguards led to the hydrocarbon release and fire at a Chevron refinery in August 2012, concludes a draft report from the Chemical Safety Board.

Richmond, CA – The Richmond City Council in California recently adopted a resolution to implement recommendations from a Chemical Safety Board interim report on the August 2012 Chevron refinery fire and explosion.

Richmond, CA – Agencies tasked with overseeing refinery safety in California need better coordination and stronger regulation, concludes a new report from the state’s Interagency Working Group on Refinery Safety.

Washington – A corroded pipe that had not been inspected for years was the source of the hydrogen release and subsequent explosion at the Silver Eagle Refinery in 2009, according to a new analysis from the Chemical Safety Board.

Washington – California should strengthen its process safety management regulations for refineries, the Chemical Safety Board stated in a final report on a fire at a Chevron refinery in 2012.

Richmond, CA – Chemical Safety Board members unanimously approved a set of recommendations as part of the agency’s third and final report on a fire and vapor release that affected thousands of residents near a Chevron refinery in 2012.

Washington – Large facilities that store and sell chemicals may no longer be exempt from OSHA’s Process Safety Management Standard, the agency announced July 22 in a revised interpretation of its rules.

Morgantown, WV – Despite robbery-related violence being the leading cause of death in the retail industry, many Texas convenience store owners fail to take precautions that could prevent robberies and protect workers from violence, according to a new NIOSH study.

Washington – OSHA will delay enforcing a new interpretation of its Process Safety Management Standard, prompting a bipartisan group of lawmakers to call for the agency to withdraw that interpretation.

Washington – Simple changes to the store environment can help convenience store owners protect their employees from work-related violence, NIOSH researchers claim in a recent blog post.

Washington – OSHA failed to follow federal rulemaking requirements when it used a memorandum to announce a revised definition of retail facilities exempt from the Process Safety Management Standard, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled.

Los Angeles – The Los Angeles garment manufacturing industry – the nation’s largest cut-and-sew apparel base – is “plagued by workplace violations and marked by a lack of worker protections,” according to a new report released by the Garment Worker Center, the UCLA Labor Center and UCLA Labor Occupational Safety and Health.