Thesis tip

When you decide to be supportive of your classmate, and attend her thesis' defense ...

and you realize the only people in the room besides yourself are the degree candidate, and her 3 committee members ...

make sure you think of something really intelligent to ask at the end of the presentation.

So that when her advisor (who also happens to be yours) turns to you and asks, "So, at this point, we'd like to ask our guest if she has any questions" ...

you can whip out that great, insightful observation and impress a) your advisor and b) the other departmental prof sitting there, whom you want to have on your committee.

Weekly Fatalities

It's sad that they can actually report this by week. The U.S. Department of Labor has a Weekly Reports of Fatalities, Catastrophes, and Other Events. I wish there was a note as to which ones were fatalities. Especially since a few of the entries read:

• Victim was cleaning out a pit at a grain elevator. He was walking near the unguarded opening and fell through, 15-20 feet, to the bottom of the pit. - now this I assume is a fatality
• Victim fell from a 3-step ladder. -- how is this on the list at all, unless it was a fatality?

There is a note: There are 26 OSHA State Plan States. Since there is no reporting requirement, a number of states have elected not to report their fatalities to OSHA. .

Business OHS references

OSHA & other occ. health info. Links to news sources, presented from the business point of view

I often find it interesting reading the pro-business articles. Mostly what is left out or how the pro-IH position is presented. Now, mind you, the same goes for reading my own profession's publications.

[resource] Topics in German

From the Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizine (BAuA) - Topics from A to Z. This is the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, like our NIOSH. There's a version in English. .

[resource] NIOSH science blog

NIOSH has a science blog here. Finally a blog that has intelligent comments. Well, compared to the drivel I find on my local newspaper after something "scientific". An interesting collection of different topics. And, the posts are long, designed to be educational and informative to the occupational health & safety professional. Some of the last posts:

• horse racing safety & health
• second hand smoke and casino dealers
• no-nose bicycle saddles
• firing range exposures

There are only one or two posts per month.

[resource] MCOHS training list

Training programs from the Midwest Center of Occupational Health & Safety. MCOHS also has a monthly seminar on campus at Mayo Hall, usually 1-125.