A new OSHA rule for reporting fatalities and severe injuries; the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report on 2014 occupational fatalities and drugs in the workplace were among the top EHS-related stories featured on ISHN.com this week.
A NIOSH Science Blog post:
Emergency Preparedness Month
September is Emergency Preparedness Month. To mark this event, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announces the new NIOSH Emergency Preparedness and Response Directory web page.
Alabama workers exposed to dangerous fumes
Workers at Diversified Fabricating, Inc. were exposed to iron oxide fumes at levels higher than the permissible exposure limit and a host of other hazards, earning the Oneonta, Alabama company 23 OSHA citations and $73,000 in proposed penalties.
Preventing cooking fires: Report sets groundwork for guidelines
In an effort to help improve cooking safety, the Fire Protection Research Foundation (Foundation), an affiliate of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), has released a report to help establish future standard test protocols for new and emerging technologies designed to prevent cooking fires. Currently, no such standards exist.
Worker crushed by machinery at Youngstown, Ohio, steel mill
A worker at a Youngstown, Ohio steel mill suffered multiple fractures to his pelvis Feb. 27th when he was crushed between two machines because the company failed to protect workers from moving machinery parts, according to OSHA.
OSHA unveils new requirements for reporting severe injuries
Also updates list of industries exempt from record-keeping requirements
OSHA today announced a final rule requiring employers to notify OSHA when an employee is killed on the job or suffers a work-related hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye. The rule, which also updates the list of employers partially exempt from OSHA record-keeping requirements, will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2015, for workplaces under federal OSHA jurisdiction.
BLS: 4,405 killed on the job last year
A preliminary total of 4,405 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States in 2013, lower than the revised count of 4,628 fatal work injuries in 2012, according to results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Anatomy of an aviation accident
NTSB finds mismanagement, poor communication behind fatal 2013 UPS plane crash
Today the National Transportation Safety Board determined that UPS flight 1354 crashed because the crew continued an unstabilized approach into Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, Ala. In addition, the crew failed to monitor the altitude and inadvertently descended below the minimum descent altitude when the runway was not yet in sight.
Eating out = more calories, poorer nutrition
In a finding that should surprise no one, eating at both fast-food and full-service restaurants is associated with significant increases in the intake of calories, sugar, saturated fat, and sodium, according to a new study. The study, appearing early online in Public Health Nutrition, finds on days when adults ate at a restaurant, they consumed about 200 additional total daily calories whether they ate at fast- food restaurants or at full-service restaurants.
ASSE’s Professional Safety Journal:
A new view of the great safety pyramid
Since its creation 83 years ago by H. W. Heinrich, the safety triangle offered a ratio formula that encouraged safety professionals to focus on the causes of minor injuries as a way to reduce the probability of having major accidents. It sparked a new way of interpreting safety data that may be flawed.
OSHA injury and illness reporting rule moves forward
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has completed its review of OSHA's injury and illness recordkeeping rule, which would change the types of injury and illness events that must be reported to the agency by telephone or in person.
OSHA names new head of Standards and Guidance Directorate
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels has appointed Bill Perry as the new director of the agency's Directorate of Standards and Guidance, effective Aug. 24, 2014.
Transportation safety
More pilots using potentially impairing meds, illegal drugs
In a study on the prevalence of drug use by pilots who died in crashes, the NTSB found an upward trend in the use of both potentially impairing medications and illicit drugs. Almost all of the crashes – 96 percent – were in general aviation.
Is air pollution making you fat?
Higher exposure to one measure of traffic-related air pollution is associated with higher levels of a hormone linked to increased rates of obesity, heart disease and diabetes, reports a study in the September Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).
Oil industry association to develop alcohol & drug program guideline
IPIECA – the global oil and gas industry association for environmental and social issues – has begun developing a Contractor ‘Oil and Gas Alcohol and Drug Program’ Guideline through it’s OGP-IPIECA Health Committee, in collaboration with the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA).
Worker rescued from remote trench in Pennsylvania
The site of an injury work accident that occurred Friday in Pennsylvania was so remote that rescue workers had to use all-terrain vehicles to reach the accident victim.
EPA wants public’s feedback on labels for safer products
The EPA is redesigning its Design for the Environment Safer Product Label to better convey to consumers that products bearing the label meet the program’s rigorous standard to be safer for people and the environment.
Baggage handler killed at Detroit Metro Airport
The death of a contract employee at Detroit Metropolitan Airport Friday has been ruled accidental, according to Wayne County spokeswoman Mary Mazur. An autopsy has determined that said 24-year-old VonDre Gordon died of multiple injuries.
Plastering subcontractor repeatedly exposed workers to fall hazards
Roma Construction cited for 12 repeat and serious safety violations
Roma Construction Inc., a stucco plastering subcontractor of Monticello Homes, is being cited for five repeat and seven serious violations by OSHA. The Texas company exposed workers to falls hazards of up to 20 feet as a result of improper scaffolding at the Hastings Ridge at Kinder Ranch residential development. The proposed penalty is $79,200.
NIOSH updates list of drugs that pose a risk to healthcare workers
Healthcare workers who prepare or give hazardous drugs to patients, such as those used for cancer therapy, as well as support staff may face individual health risks when exposed to these drugs.
BP “strongly disagrees” with Gulf of Mexico court decision
In a prominent home-page statement on its web site, BP said it “strongly disagrees with the decision issued today by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and will immediately appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Public health
How fat is your state?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a visual, state-by-state illustration of the obesity level in the United States.
