Fissured workplaces, getting the word out about construction industry fall prevention and an OSH settlement that goes beyond money were among the top occupational safety- and health-related stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

Pa. lawn care worker loses toes in accident

A serious injury on August 10, 2015 to a landscape company employee prompted an OSHA investigation and resulted in citations being issued for two willful, five serious, and one other-than-serious safety and health violations.

A DOL Blog post

Are you a joint employee?

Protecting workers in fissured workplaces – where there is increasingly the possibility that more than one employer is benefiting from their work – has been a major focus for the Wage and Hour Division in recent years.

NJ joins states with own OSH programs

OSHA has certified New Jersey's State Plan for protecting the safety and health of state and local government workers. The New Jersey Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health State Plan covers more than 530,000 state and local government workers. 

Software helps you accurately track incidents & injuries

By Claire Epstein

Health, safety, and industrial hygiene professionals are continually confronted with the challenge to gather, review, and act wisely based on various types of data.

21-year-old employee killed in fireworks accident

 “A 21-year-old worker, with three months of work experience under her belt, lost her life because Texas Panhandle Heritage Foundation failed to provide appropriate training and protective equipment to workers handling pyrotechnics.”

Millions of pregnant women may be exposing developing babies to alcohol

An estimated 3.3 million women between the ages of 15 and 44 years are at risk of exposing their developing baby to alcohol because they are drinking, sexually active, and not using birth control to prevent pregnancy, according to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vital Signs report released today. The report also found that 3 in 4 women who want to get pregnant as soon as possible do not stop drinking alcohol when they stop using birth control.

Construction fall prevention effort reaches 2.5 million workers

A broad-based effort to prevent construction industry falls reached millions of workers – many of them employees of small firms – according to a new report from the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR).

AEM produces new brush chipper safety manual

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) has produced a new brush chipper safety manual that outlines safe equipment operation, start-up and shutdown guidelines, and maintenance precautions for a variety of brush chipper machine types.

U.S. Department of Labor Blog post

Honoring Joe and John, fallen Massachusetts linemen

No one should ever have to worry whether a loved one will come home from work alive. The reality, however, is that too many workers in this country are exposed to deadly but avoidable hazards on the job every day.

NTSB opens accident docket on Philly Amtrak derailment

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday opened the accident docket and publicly released more than 2,000 pages of information as part of the NTSB’s ongoing investigation of the May 12, 2015, Amtrak passenger train derailment in Philadelphia.