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Beth Rosenberg

Publications and source records attributed to Beth Rosenberg.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Ergonomics of abrasive blasting: a comparison of high pressure water and steel shot.

Abrasive blasting with silica sand has long been associated with silicosis. Alternatives to sand are being used increasingly. While NIOSH has done extensive investigations of the respiratory effects of the substitutes for sand, the ergonomic effects of the substitutes have not been examined. Too often, hazards are shifted, and technologies that might save workers' lungs could do so at the expense of their musculoskeletal systems. Hence, the objective of this study was to examine the ergonomic effects of alternatives to sand. Multiple methods, both qualitative and quantitative, were used to yield numerous kinds of data for the analysis of exposures to abrasive blasters. PATH, a method for quantifying ergonomic exposure in non-routine work, was combined with interviews with workers, biomechanical modeling and noise level readings to assess the ergonomics of two abrasive blasting operations: high-pressure water and steel shot. Advantages and disadvantages of each medium are discussed. High-pressure water was slightly less ergonomically stressful, environmentally cleaner, much quieter and less dusty that steel shot, and it was reported to be slower on those tasks where both media could be used.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗
PubMed2005

Change in the world of occupational health: silica control, then and now.

To control silicosis, we need to understand how change happens in occupational health. Science alone does not drive policy, because we have known the causes of silicosis, and how to prevent it for decades, yet the disease persists. To control occupational disease, we need to enter the social realm of work. To investigate the determinants of a successful silicosis control program, we wrote a social history of the Vermont Granite Industry from 1938 to 1960, examining union journals, newspapers, industry journals, scientific literature and government documents, and interviewing key informants. The crucial factor of the successful program was a strong public health movement to control tuberculosis, rather than pressure to control the occupational disease. Using this lesson, to protect workers from silica exposure now, we chose to regulate silica under an environmental law, the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Act. Science is but one small factor, necessary but insufficient, in policy change. We in occupational health need to hitch onto a stronger movement, currently the environmental movement. Where unions are too weak to demand safe technologies, we need to learn to speak the language of employers, because they may have little idea of the costs of interventions. We need to gather more economic information about the costs of interventions.

Dust↗
PubMed2003

Second thoughts about silicosis.

The decisions that a society makes can lead to workplace and environmental illness and injury. After some years working on the hazards related to exposures to silica and studying interventions to prevent them, the author assesses the results of her efforts. She succeeded in getting silica added to the list of substances regulated under the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Act, though not easily. And she found some of the obstacles to doing so nonsensical or stubbornly resistant. The next step, she foresees, is leveraging that outcome to ban or limit the use of sand in blasting operations. But in the course of her work, she also has seen that interest in mitigating the dangers of silica, which is strong among medical and public health professionals who rightfully argue that nobody should be made ill today by this completely preventable problem, is tepid among the workers most affected by it. Although they understand the dangers of silica, it is not their main concern, and she understands why. In future work, she concludes, it may be more worthwhile to allow the community of workers to set the agenda and to help them achieve their goals.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Home-based exercise improves functional performance and quality of life in women with diastolic heart failure.

BACKGROUND: Diastolic heart failure (DHF) is common in older women. There have been no clinical trials that have identified therapies to improve symptoms in these patients. A total of 32 women with New York Heart Association class II and III DHF (left ventricular ejection fraction >45% and symptoms of dyspnea or fatigue) were randomized into a 12-week home-based, low-to-moderate intensity (40% and 60%, respectively) exercise and education program (intervention) or education only program (control). Methods and results The intervention group improved in the 6-minute walk test from 840 +/- 366 ft to 1043 +/- 317 ft versus 824 +/- 367 ft to 732 +/- 408 ft in the control group (P =.002). Quality of life also improved in the intervention group compared with the control group as measured by the Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (41 +/- 26 to 24 +/- 18 vs 27 +/- 18 to 28 +/- 22 at 12 weeks, P =.002; 24 +/- 18 to 19 +/- 18 vs 28 +/- 22 to 32 +/- 27 at the 3-month follow-up, P =.014) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (6 +/- 4 to 4 +/- 4 vs 5 +/- 3 to 7 +/- 5 at 12 weeks, P =.012; 4 +/- 4 to 4 +/- 4 vs 7 +/- 5 to 7 +/- 5 at the 3-month follow-up, P =.009). CONCLUSIONS: Women with DHF exhibit significant comorbidities and physical limitations. Home-based, low-to-moderate intensity exercise, in addition to education, is an effective strategy for improving the functional capacity and quality of life in women with DHF. Further study is needed to assess the long-term effect of exercise on clinical outcomes.

Aged↗