According to figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, work-related fatalities claimed 4,547 lives in 2010, compared with 4,551 fatal work injuries in 2009.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced yesterday that nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses among private industry employers declined in 2010 to a rate of 3.5 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers, down from a total case rate of 3.6 in 2009.

The term willful blindness refers to an individual who could have known the facts of a situation, and should have known the facts, but deliberately blinded himself to the existence of the facts.

Health experts writing on the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Science Blog strengthened the case for combining both work and personal factors when designing programs to maintain a well-functioning workforce -- an approach NIOSH recommends in its total Worker Health program.

OSHA kicked off the new year by reaffirming its commitment to injury and illness prevention programs (I2P2), in the form of a White Paper that characterizes them as "effective, flexible, commonsense" tools that will help reduce occupational injuries and fatalities and increase productivity."