National Jewish Health Awarded Training Grant to Reduce Health Risk Associated with Beryllium Exposure

National Jewish Health has been awarded a grant of $150,000 from the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to educate both workers and management about health and safety risks associated with workplace exposure to the metal beryllium.

The Susan Harwood federal safety and health training grant will allow the National Jewish Health Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) to continue developing training materials for both workers exposed to beryllium and for management staff responsible for developing beryllium medical surveillance programs for their employees.

Beryllium is a metal valued for its extraordinary combination of light weight and strength. It is used in a variety of industries, including aeronautics and aerospace, ceramic manufacturing, defense industries and electronics. Inhalation of beryllium dust created during production processes can cause chronic beryllium disease, a serious and potentially fatal inflammatory lung disease.

“The type of training we provide is critically needed for these newly regulated industries,” said Lisa Maier, MD, Division Chief, DEOHS. “National Jewish Health has more experience diagnosing and treating beryllium sensitization and chronic beryllium disease (CBD) than any hospital in the world. In addition to training, we offer diagnosis and treatment for individuals who are exposed to beryllium, and consultative services for industries to help develop medical surveillance programs to identify workers with beryllium sensitization.”

This training grant is timely as OSHA recently lowered beryllium exposure limits and issued a comprehensive standard for general industry, and expanded workplaces covered to include the construction and shipyard industries.

Learn more about the Beryllium Program at National Jewish Health DEOHS