Weekly news round-up
Welding safety, a machine guarding fatality and frequently asked questions about OSHA’s new reporting regulations were among the top EHS-related stories featured on ISHN.com this week.
A NIOSH Science Blog post
The National Retail Federation forecasts that retailers and merchants will hire between 730,000 and 790,000 seasonal workers this holiday season. Many of these workers, such as sales associates and cashiers, have little, if any, opportunity to sit during their work shift.
Poor welds delay cleanup of Fukushima Nuke disaster contaminated water
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station disaster in March 2011 is still a “hot” story more than three years after the incident. The operating company TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Co.) is cleaning up the site and continues to battle problems with tons of contaminated water being stored at Fukushima.
Welding hazards can be lethal in offshore drilling
Despite an intensified focus on safety since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and oil spill, nearly 20 smaller oil companies continue to score poorly on safety inspections and have had their offshore platforms placed on a special watch list, according to data obtained by WWL-TV from the federal government.
Moving machinery citation in death at Colorado meat packing plant
A 54-year-old worker at a Greeley, Colorado was fatally injured in June, 2014 when his hair and arm were caught in an unguarded conveyor system. His employer, JBS USA LLC, failed to protect workers from moving machine parts by properly guarding or de-energizing the equipment, an inspection by OSHA found.
DuPont cited for hazmat hazards at NJ plant
Hazardous chemicals known to cause severe burns, respiratory and reproductive health issues leaked out of a tanker truck in May 2014, which exposed workers at E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Chamber Works in Deepwater, to health risks. A complaint filed with OSHA prompted an inspection of the company under the agency's National Emphasis Program on Chemical Process Safety.
A U.S. DOL Blog post
A New Year, new OSHA reporting requirements
OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels answers the questions that were asked most frequently during the agency's recent Twitter chat about the new severe incident reporting requirements that go into effect Jan. 1.
Deadline for earlybird registrations savings for NHCA 2015 convention is Dec. 19
2015 NHCA conference registration is open, and registering by Friday, Dec. 19 will yield significant savings.
A NIOSH Science Blog post:
What works best to prevent stress among healthcare workers?
Changing the organization or educating staff?
Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) professionals have to make many decisions on a daily basis. These decisions can involve risk assessment methods, preventive workplace measures, workers’ health surveillance or even rehabilitation or return-to-work practices.
Chronic low-back pain research standards announced by NIH task force
Better research may help address health issue that affects millions
Recommended standards for clinical low-back pain research hold promise for more consistently designed research and, in the long term, better treatment solutions to support those living with chronic low-back pain. The recommendations from the National Institutes of Health Task Force on Research Standards for Chronic Low-Back Pain were published in several leading back pain journals.
Final spending bill shortchanges health issues, says AHA
Although the $1.1 trillion federal spending bill passed by Congress last week avoided a government shutdown, it fell short on protecting the health of Americans - particularly children, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).
Bullying at work linked to increased depression risk
Employees who report being bullied on the job are at increased risk of developing depression, reports a study in the December Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).
21-year-old worker fatally crushed at auto parts supply plant
A 21-year-old machine operator was killed at Ventra Belvidere LLC while reaching into a machine to align parts made for Chrysler vehicles. Following an investigation into the June 10, 2014 incident, OSHA, OSHA cited the Belvidere, Illinois facility for one willful and four serious safety violations for exposing workers to dangerous machinery and other hazards.
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