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MSN Student Researches Health and Safety Hazards in Wind Industry

Mary Moynihan BS, RN, (MSN student in Community/Public Health Nursing) is doing an internship at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH). She is working with Dr. Letitia Davis and Michael Fiore, MS, in the Mass DPH Occupational Health Surveillance Program.

Mary is researching the occupational health and safety hazards which confront technicians and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance officers working in wind turbines.

While the wind industry is innovative in its approach to electricity generation, there are currently no occupational health and safety standards established for workers in wind technology. Companies are improvising with approaches borrowed from other groups that may not be adequate. DPH and OSHA aim to ensure that wind energy workers of any group are protected from preventable injuries and death. Mary’s internship includes the development of a white paper to supply DPH and OSHA with information necessary to inform the development of standards that will protect the health and safety of workers in the wind technology industry.