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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB has determined that the pilot in a fatal 2013  plane crash in Thomson, Georgia lacked adequate system knowledge for the airplane he was flying. Consequently -- according to the NTSB’s report into the accident -- the pilot did not adhere to the airplane’s flight manual procedures for antiskid failure in flight and did not retract the lift dump -- a critical system to assist in stopping the aircraft -- immediately after making the decision to perform a go-around.

This morning, Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez announced the release of the department’s “Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor” report. The report is prepared annually by the department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs, and it assesses efforts by more than 140 countries to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.

Innovative measures have limited the spread of Ebola in a part of Liberia where Firestone Liberia Inc. had established an effective health care infrastructure, according to a report in this week’s CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Similar measures may be helpful in slowing the Ebola epidemic in other parts of West Africa.

A 39-year-old tree trimmer was killed when the mechanical arm supporting the bucket of an aerial lift suddenly collapsed, striking the cab of the truck and ejecting the worker onto the pavement. As a result of the fatality, OSHA cited Advanced Tree Service in Newberry for five safety violations.

The World Health Organization said tremendous progress was made on its Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) at a recent conference in Moscow, despite significant opposition from the tobacco industry.

“I had a reporter call me,” said an attendee at this week’s American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) annual Fall Conference, held in Arlington, VA. “He said he had spent three hours at the Congressional Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hearing last week, where CDC Director Tom Frieden was grilled, and not once was OSHA or NIOSH mentioned, according to this reporter. He wanted to know why.”

USA Today reports that “Hospital workers treating Ebola patients should wear double sets of gloves, disposable hoods with full face shields and special masks, according to strengthened guidelines issued” last night by the CDC. CDC Director Thomas Frieden “said all health workers also should undergo ‘rigorous training’ and practice in putting on and taking off PPE in a systematic way that reduces their risk of infection.

OSHA’s Injury and Illness Prevention Program (I2P2) was vigorously debated yesterday (10/20/2014) at the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s annual Fall Conference, held in Arlington, VA. The presidential-style debate featured I2P2 supporters James Thornton, CIH, CSP, director, health, safety and environment, Newport News Shipbuilding, div. of Huntington Ingalls Industries; and Charles Redinger, president of Redinger 306, Inc. I2P2 opponents were Tom Lawrence, Safety and Compliance Management; and David Sarvadi, Esq., Keller & Heckman, LLP, Washington, DC.

On October 9, 2014 OSHA announced the publication of a Request for Information (RFI) on Chemical Management and Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) in the Federal Register. With this publication, OSHA launched a national dialogue on preventing occupational illness through improved approaches to managing exposures to hazardous chemicals.

A 22-year-old man killed in a freeway crash near Detroit yesterday morning was found with a cell phone in his hand – suggesting that he may have been engaged in one of the five riskiest young driver behaviors at the time of the accident.