The new guideline, unexpected perhaps to the layman who is more used to seeing ISO standards in the industrial and manufacturing setting, shows the pervasiveness of and near-universal need today for ISO standards and the training associated with them (for instance, Quality Management Systems Training and ISO 27001 Training).

ISO 3758 standard is based on current cleansing practices, which includes new bleach systems, technical developments, and a substitute for conventional dry cleaning.

At the same time, the new standard contains a wide choice of care treatments from which the user can select an appropriate solution for a particular need.

Besides providing a safe cleaning method, care labels also present warning about the cleaning method. For instance, the label must specify if any step of the care method—washing, bleaching, drying, ironing, and professional textile care—could damage the textile.

“The variety of fibers, materials, and finishes used in the production of textile articles together with the development of cleansing and care procedures makes it difficult and often impossible to decide on the appropriate cleansing and care treatment for each article simply by inspecting it,” said the authors of ISO 3758 in a press statement. “This international standard has been made sufficiently flexible to accommodate the needs of practically all who wish to use it.”

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The new standard, although not as immediate in its effect on everyday life as is the impact of, say, ISO 9001 or of ISO 27001, demonstrates how truly widespread the need is today for ISO standards and the training associated with them (for instance, ISO 9001 training and Information Security Management System Training).

ISO 26324:2012 (Information and documentation — Digital object identifier system) provides an efficient way to identify an entity (physical, digital or abstract) on the Internet. It is chiefly used for sharing with a user community or for managing as intellectual property. A DOI name provides information about that object—for instance, where the object, or information about it, can be found on the Internet.

ISO 26324 supplies the syntax, description, and resolution functional components of the digital object identifier system. It also lays down the general principles for the creation, registration, and administration of DOI names.

Dr. Norman Paskin, convenor of the ISO group that developed the standard, noted that “The DOI system is designed for interoperability: that is to use, or work with, existing identifier and metadata schemes. DOI names may also be expressed as a URL, an e-mail address, other identifiers and descriptive metadata.”

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The Energy and Green Building Week comes on the heels of the latest SmartMarket Report released by McGraw-Hill Construction forecasting the unprecedented growth in market share of green construction within the next four years. The report is a major boost for real estate agents with a real estate license or real estate continuing education (a Texas real estate MCE or a New York real estate CE, for example) considering the vast, untapped market of green homes.

“With the new International Green Construction Code, we’re going to see more builders offering energy-efficient packages and upgrades,” predicted Mike Holmes, a contractor and the 2012 honorary ambassador for Building Safety Month. “We’re going to see more homeowners choosing renovations that will bring their homes to higher performance levels and make them more durable.”

Developed by the International Code Council, the IgCC is expected to enhance the energy efficiency of structures by providing direction to and solutions for green design and green construction. The IgCC is for communities seeking the kind of sustainable construction that goes beyond the traditional building-code requirements. IgCC is the first model code to incorporate sustainability measures for an entire construction project through its whole lifespan—from design, through construction, and beyond–while providing minimum green requirements for buildings.

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Although four years out, the forecast nevertheless signals a good year for the real estate sector because a new, scarcely tapped market means great opportunities for agents who already have a real estate continuing education—a Texas real estate MCE, for instance, or a New York real estate CE—or a real estate license in the states that embrace green construction.

“In the current residential market, there is an enormous need to differentiate your homes for consumers. When builders are able to offer homes that not only are green, but also offer the combination of higher quality and better value, they have a major competitive edge over those building traditional homes,” pointed out Harvey Bernstein, a vice president of Industry Insights and Alliances at McGraw-Hill Construction.

The report determined that consumers now strongly lean toward green houses because they are cost savers in the long haul and they are perceived to be of higher-quality construction. It also found that two-thirds of builders surveyed reported having customers seeking green homes because of their lower energy costs.

McGraw-Hill noted that the higher costs of building green are no longer the deterrents they were in 2008. Because of the current market’s supply of green products, prices have come down to levels usually seen with conventional projects.

“These findings confirm the shift we’ve seen in the market,” stated Jim Halter, vice president of  Construction Solutions for Waste Management at McGraw-Hill. “Builders and remodelers are placing more emphasis on energy efficiency, increases in sustainability focused waste management practices and more products made from post-consumer materials. These important factors are pushing our industry forward.”

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Despite OSHACampus 10 training and OSHACampus 30 training being pre-employment requirements in many workplaces, many workers are still exposed to unnecessary worksite dangers because of employer negligence, ignorance, or plain disregard of legislated safety protocols.

“Johnson Controls Battery Group has a responsibility to protect the health of its employees by assuring they operate in a manner to eliminate or minimize lead hazards and other hazardous substances used in the work environment,” emphasized Denise Keller, assistant area director of the OSHA Toledo Area office. “Employers who are cited for repeat violations demonstrate a lack of commitment to employee safety and health.”

Following a complaint, OSHA inspectors verified that workers were overexposed to lead, a toxic metal known to cause neurological damage and to elevate cancer risk if ingested in sufficient amounts, at the company’s Holland plant. OSHA determined that the absence of engineering controls and poor housekeeping practices lead to the overexposure.

The investigation found that workers instead of being required to vacuum lead particles were allowed to sweep them with brooms and brushes, a method that increased lead exposure. The infraction constituted a willful violation.

The other violations included lack of adequate personal protective equipment, improperly worn respirators, lead-contaminated work boots stored in locker rooms, and failure to ensure that workers washed their hands before meals to rid them of contaminants.

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Despite OSHA training qualifications such as OSHACampus 10 training and OSHACampus 30 training now being required for employment in many places, a lot of workers are still exposed to unnecessary worksite hazards because of employer negligence, ignorance, or plain disregard of basic safety protocols.

The federal government’s worksite-safety watchdog Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited IHOP Restaurants for five alleged serious safety and health violations with proposed penalties totaling $25,000.

The OSHA investigation revealed that the restaurant failed to carry out the so-called personal-protective-equipment hazard assessment, failed to develop and implement a hazard-communication program, and failed to provide mandated training, eye protection, eye-wash facilities, and material safety data sheets for chemicals used in the restaurant.

“Because chemicals have the ability to react when exposed to other chemicals or certain physical conditions, it is vital that employers take the appropriate steps to protect workers from all related hazards,” stressed Prentice Cline, director of the OSHA Charleston Area office.

OSHA has revised its Hazard Communication Standard to accord with the United Nations’ global chemical labeling system and to prevent dangerous incidents, such as the one in South Charleston. Once in place, it is expected that the new standard will prevent an estimated 43 deaths and result in some $475.2 million in enhanced productivity for U.S. businesses annually.

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The transition to the new coding system of ICD-10 impacts medical facilities and practices, even providers of online medical coding training. in a number of ways. One of them is the potential for healthcare delivery to be considerably improved.

AHIMA contended in a letter to HHS that U.S. health data will continue to deteriorate in the midst of an increasing number of data-dependent healthcare initiatives. AHIMA said the value of these initiatives will be degraded if the data is coded in an “antiquated code set” like ICD-9, the current system in use.

AHIMA also said “the success of meaningful use will not be achieved until ICD-10-CM/PCS is an integral part of the advancement in EHRs and exchange.”

Supporters of AHIMA’s position maintain that the American healthcare industry will come into difficulties helping patients efficiently if they are not on the same page as far as ICD-10 implementation is concerned.  Said AHIMA: “HHS has the leadership position to assist the industry in this full conversion, and must take the lead, along with the healthcare industry, in ensuring a coordinated transformation that recognizes the cost of conversion if all segments of the industry are not moving forward in a coordinated fashion.”

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In the letter, CHIME president and CEO Richard Correll and board chairman Drex DeFord also advocated a “consistent compliance date across the provider community,” explaining that separating the two would be a “serious mistake” and that “all segments of the provider community need to be in lockstep.”

For many medical facilities and practices, as well as for providers of medical coding online training and courses, the proposed one-year delay in the implementation of ICD-10 gives additional time to transition to the new code set.

Correll and DeFord advised that any call for skipping ICD-10 in favor of ICD-11 should be dismissed. “While the maturity of ICD-11 may hold great benefits in the future, we believe such claims are speculative, at best, because so much is yet to be developed.”

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), which is against the proposed one-year delay, in its own letter to Sebelius said that the delay should not be extended, arguing that the healthcare industry has been aware for 15 years that ICD-10 needed to replace ICD-9 eventually. Delaying any longer, it said, would only result in deterioration of health data.

“The industry has had three years to prepare for the transition since the publication of the final rule … yet significant numbers of healthcare entities have not made adequate progress,” the AHINA letter contended. “Therefore, it does not seem as though provision of more time, by itself, is likely to be sufficient to ensure those lagging in … preparation are ready by a new compliance date.”

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The campaign, close on the heels of news of carcinogenic substances in beauty products, enjoins professional cosmetologists—such as those who have a Kentucky Cosmetology CE or a CosmetologyCampus WI Cosmetology CE, for instance—to participate in spreading breast-cancer awareness.

In the Chicago area, for instance, a “Mammograms for Mother’s Day” initiative will have nurses from Loyola University Medical Center and Loretto Hospital joining Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford and the senator’s 4th District Gentlemen’s Committee visit 16 beauty salons. Two teams will drop by beauty salons in Austin, Bellwood, Berwyn, Broadview, Forest Park, Oak Park, Westchester and other communities in Lightford’s 4th District.

Nurse educators and some members of the 4th District Gentlemen’s Committee will talk on the importance of regular breast exams and mammograms to cancer detection and prevention and will distribute educational materials to promote breast-cancer awareness among salon workers in hopes that they will help spread the word to their clients.

A study appearing in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved reported that hair salons “are a potentially important venue for promotion of health behaviors related to breast cancer detection.”

“Beauty salons are great places to get the word out about breast-cancer prevention and the critical need for early detection,” stressed Sen. Lightford, adding that in helping propagate messages that can save lives, men (referring to 4th District Gentlemen’s Committee) are “showing their love and concern for the women of our community.”

In return, according to Sen. Lightford’s office, on the day before Father’s Day, women from the 4th District will visit barbershops to talk on and promote prostate-cancer screenings and early detection. Loretto and Loyola nurses will likewise accompany the visiting team.

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Professional cosmetologists—such as those who have, for instance, a CosmetologyCampus KY Cosmetology CE or a Wisconsin Cosmetology CE—are apprised of the health issues associated with certain substances, tools, and procedures, including tanning, in cosmetology class. Unfortunately, tanning warnings are being ignored.

The survey found that among young (ages 18 to 21) white women, some 32 percent said they had tanned indoors in the previous year. The figure is much higher than the national average for adults of all ages of 6 percent. The survey also said women in their 20s reported tanning indoors at least 20 times in the previous year, on average.

In a landmark decision in 2009, the World Health Organization classified tanning devices as carcinogenic on the strength of studies that found a 75-percent increase in the risk of melanoma in people who began indoor tanning before they were 30.

“It’s not a question of whether tanning beds cause cancer anymore. We’ve been able to prove that,” emphasized Dr. Jerry Brewer, a Mayo Clinic dermatologist and researcher, in an Associated Press interview.

Indoor tanning became popular about 30 years ago. Today, close to 22,000 tanning salons across the country cater to 28 million customers, according to industry research firm IBISWorld.

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