These outside links are provided for informational purposes. The United Steelworkers neither controls nor endorses the content of these third party websites.
Health Care General:
Center for Medicare Advocacy
Information on this site relates to nursing homes and home health; the Center makes available a number of publications and materials that can be useful to those working on Medicare issues.
National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC)
Information and materials useful for legal service attorneys and public policy specialists, including press releases about current public policy issues related to senior citizen concerns.
Families USA: The Voice for Health Care Consumers
Families USA is a national non-profit organization dedicated to the achievement of high quality affordable health and long term care for all Americans. The site contains up-to-date information on a wide variety of health care issues including Medicaid, managed care, children's health, and the uninsured as well as action steps and resources for getting involved in advocacy.
Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) [now called Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)]
HCFA (now CMS) is the federal agency that oversees the survey and certification of nursing homes and continuing care providers. This site provides direct links to specific information on nursing homes, such as manuals, guides, state operations manuals and fact sheets on issues such as nursing home inspections, paying for care and residents' rights.
Health Hippo
This site contains a collection of policy and regulatory materials related to health care. It provides direct links to federal law, regulations, the federal register, GAO reports, legislation/testimony, news and reports, and cases on a wide range of issues.
General Accounting Office (GAO) Publications
The GAO is the investigative arm of Congress. Studies and reports can be accessed about nursing homes and other health care topics of interest.
Office of Inspector General - Evaluations and Inspections (OIG/OEI)
The OIG/OEI conducts evaluations of programs within the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Health Care Financing Administration that oversees the public funding, inspection and certification of nursing homes. This site provides access to their evaluations and reports. Fraud Alerts and a fraud and abuse reporting hotline are also available through this site.
Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ)
This agency's research provides information on health care outcomes, quality, cost, use and access.
Center for Disease Control - National Center for Health Statistics
The Fastats A to Z link on this website goes to statistics on a wide range of issues, including nursing home care. It also leads to more comprehensive data on that particular issue. The site provides access to the statistical information gathered in the National Nursing Home Survey of 1995 and 1997.
Career Nurse Assistants
This site includes useful information for CNA's, including information on career development, workshops, and what CNA's say they need to provide quality care.
National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce
The National Clearinghouse collects, analyzes and disseminates information on the health care paraprofessional workforce. The site includes information on state initiatives to improve staffing in long term care.
Direct Care Alliance
This coalition of consumers, workers and concerned providers formed to improve the quality of care for consumers through the creation of higher quality jobs and working conditions for direct-care paraprofessional workers.
Health and Safety:
USW Health, Safety and Environment Department - USA
The United Steelworkers's Health, Safety and Environment Department provides support to our members in the area of health and safety. The department located in Pittsburgh, PA (USA) and has six main functions: assisting local unions with health, safety and environmental problems; assisting with and/or conducting education and training programs for local union committee officers and staff representatives; assisting local unions in electing party status or friend-of-the-court status in cases relevant to the safety and health of our membership; working by petitions and comments for better regulations and standards; helping to negotiate better health and safety language in Steelworkers contracts; and coordinating the Union's health, safety and environment efforts with the AFL-CIO, CLC, other unions, and worldwide labor bodies such as the International Metalworkers Federation and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions.
The USA site has information on the union's perspective on workplace health, safety and environmental issues such as ergonomics, Workers Memorial Day, behavior-based safety programs, overtime, news releases regarding safety and health for workers as well as training handouts providing information on issues important to workers for your review and printing.
OSHA
The mission of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is to save lives, prevent injuries and protect the health's workers. To accomplish this, federal and state governments must work in partnership with the more than 100 million working men and women, their representatives and their six and a half million employers who are covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. OSHA regulates workplace health and safety, and also provides a vast amount of technical information and resources on their web site.
This site has workplace inspection data, regulations, news reports, library of directives, information on the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act), interpretation letters, statistics, manuals and information about OSHA itself. All of the materials at this site are offered free of charge for your review or printing.
NIOSH
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is the Federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related disease and injury. The Institute is part of the Centers for Disease Control.
NIOSH is responsible for conducting research on the full scope of occupational disease and injury ranging from lung disease in miners to carpal tunnel syndrome in computer users and many other areas as well.
This site has publications, databases, safety and health topics, mining safety and health research, information from OCAS (Occupational Compensation Analysis and Support) and NORA (National Occupational Research Agenda) and emergency response resources. If you contact their office, they will mail the publications directly to you or you can review the site and print them yourself.
National Institute of Health
The NIH mission is to uncover new knowledge that will lead to better health for everyone. NIH works toward that mission by: conducting research in its own laboratories; supporting the research of non-Federal scientists in universities, medical schools, hospitals, and research institutions throughout the country and abroad; helping in the training of research investigators; and, fostering communication of medical information.
The NIH is one of eight health agencies of the Public Health Services which, in turn, is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
This site has information on health, grants and funding opportunities. There is also information on health news and events, scientific resources, and general information about NIH, the Institutes Centers and their offices.
Centers for Disease Control
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recognized as the lead federal agency for protecting the health and safety of people - at home and abroad, providing credible information to enhance health decisions, and promoting health through strong partnerships. CDC serves as the national focus for developing and applying disease prevention and control, environmental health, and health promotion and education activities designed to improve the health of the people of the United States.
This site has health topics (i.e., anthrax) from A-Z, discussions on medical issues (from flu shots to small pox). Publications are offered and this site also offers guidelines to follow.
U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is an independent, scientific investigatory agency, not a regulatory or enforcement body. The CSB was created by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. However, the Board was not funded and did not begin operations until January 1998.
The agency is governed by its Board, consisting of five members appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. One of the Board members is to serve as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the agency. Board members serve fixed terms of five years and may be reappointed.
Center for Worker Health and Safety Education
The ICWUC Center for Worker Health & Safety Education is a multi union safety training program that offers a wide range of courses. Operated by the International Chemical Workers Union Council, the Center was founded in 1987 in cooperation with the United Steelworkers (USW) through a grant from the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The Center Consortium also includes the University of Cincinnati and the Greater Cincinnati Occupational Health Center.
This site has information on training in chemical emergency response and prevention (rather than controlling workplace chemical emergencies). There is also information on "cool chemicals" and a section on "hot topics" (i.e., news releases regarding health and safety).
November, 2001 Detroit News Series on Understaffing in Health Care Facilities
Comprehensive series on issues related to understaffing of nurses in health care facilities.
Information on lifting devices
The Department of Vetran Affairs has developed material and resources addressing safe patient handling.
Workplace Injury and Illness Recordkeeping
New OSHA recordkeeping requirements are now in place. A summary of the requirements can be found at the link above.
Molds in Indoor Workplaces
Workers are exposed to molds in the air that we breath. However sometimes molds grow excessively in indoor workplaces to the point that they cause occupational health problems for workers. In health care settings this not only affects the health care workers, but also the patients and residents as well. Here is a fact sheet from the Hazard Evaluation System & Information Service of the California Department of Health Services Occupational Health Branch.
Natural Rubber Latex Allergies in the Workplace
Information from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) addressing allergic reactions to natural rubber latex has been summarized in a NIOSH ALERT document.
Tuberculosis
Occupational exposure to tuberculosis (TB) is a prevalent concern for health care workers. The New York committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) provides information on their website on workplace exposure to TB.
Additional information on TB exposure and OSHA enforcement can be found here.
Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus
Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become a prevalent health hazard to health care workers. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website provides information on MRSA including standard precautions, contact precautions, culturing of personnel and outbreak control.
Women’s Safety and Health Issues at Work
A factsheet prepared by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) titled, "Women’s Safety and Health Issues at Work" provides a variety of information on a range of topics.
Safer Needle Devises
A sentinel event alert from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations titled, "preventing needlestick and sharps injuries" (NOTE – as of March 2001 a September 28, 2001 revision to the alert is posted)
Safe Needle Devices
The Training for Development of Innovative Control Technology Project (TDICT) provides a number of tools for workers and unions to use to evaluate the effectiveness or their workplace
- A User-Based Performance Standard has been developed by the TDICT Project in conjunction with healthcare workers. This standard addresses overall procedures and fundamental standards that must be met by all products, in all phases of use in a health care workplace.
The State of Washington Department of Labor and Industries Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act Services has additional information on needlesticks that can be accessed.
Blame the Worker Safety Mis-Management
In many workplaces management implements programs which focus on worker behavior as the primary cause of injury and illness in the workplace. These programs include safety incentive programs, injury discipline programs and safety observation programs. Unions and workers know better. We know that injury and illnesses are a result of workers being exposed to unsafe conditions. The USW’s experience with and perspective of these programs can be found at Blame the Worker Safety.
New Jersey Fact Sheets
The New Jersey Worker and Community Right to Know Act, which became law in 1983, requires public and private employers to provide information about hazardous substances at their workplaces to: give public employees information about what hazardous substances are located at their workplace and how to work with these hazardous substances safely; help firefighters, police and other emergency response personnel to adequately plan for and respond to hazardous substance incidents such as fires, explosions or spills; and, provide data for monitoring and tracking hazardous substances in the workplace and the environment. The fact sheets are available at this web site.
This site has easy to use and understand hazardous substances fact sheets on various chemicals from A-Z for your review and printing. New substances are always being added and other are being updated as required. Information that is supplied on the fact sheets is identification, how to determine if you are being exposed, workplace exposure limits, ways of reducing exposure, health hazard information (i.e. acute health effects, chronic health effects, cancer hazard, reproductive hazard, other long terms effects), medical information, workplace controls and practices, personal protective equipment, questions and answers, definitions and then a whole section on emergency information.
Long-Term Care:
Consumer Coalition on Assisted Living
CCAL is a national organization focused on health care consumers that supports quality Assisted Living as an essential option in long term care. Site includes checklist of questions to ask when looking for quality assisted living facilities.
Medicare: Nursing Home Compare
This site includes information about specific nursing homes (certified by Medicare and/or Medicaid), providing information about number of beds, facility address, type of ownership, information on resident conditions, staff levels and inspection reports. The site includes national and state averages for resident conditions, staffing levels and facility deficiencies for comparison.
TLC in LTC
TLC in LTC is an Illinois coalition of family members and friends of long term care residents. This site addresses how to start family councils in Illinois nursing homes and how to get involved in legislative advocacy for improvements in quality of care. | 
HEALTH CARE WORKERS COUNCIL
