Weekly news round-up
OSHA releases a controversial new rule, hotel workers allege hospital hazards in their workplace and – is there a link between low wages and occupational illness? These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.
From the Director’s Desk
How climate change will affect workers
On April 4, 2016, the U.S. Global Change Research Program released a new assessment of the growing public health threat of climate change. The report, “The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment,” identified the many ways in which climate change is already threatening the health of all Americans and the significant public health challenges it is expected to create.
Worst employers may report even fewer incidents
The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) says the final rule requiring employers in high-hazard industries to submit injury and illness data for posting on the OSHA website will not achieve the goals the agency has set for it.
ATF offers $50,000 reward
In a startling development, federal investigators have determined that the deadly and destructive 2013 fertilizer plant blast in West, Texas was no accident.
Raising minimum wage would have health benefits, evidence suggests
Low wages should be recognized as an occupational health threat, according to an editorial in the May Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).
OSHA today issued a final rule requiring employers in high-hazard industries to send the agency injury and illness data for posting on the OSHA website. Currently, little or no information about the three million worker injuries and illnesses a year is made public or available to the agency.
The hotel that is the subject of a complaint filed by some of its housekeeping employees with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) was “quite surprised” to learn of the concerns in the complaint.
Robot safety, 24/7 connectivity, aging workforce are hot topics
Workers Memorial Day, 2016: Statement by John Howard, M.D., Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH):
An Ohio ethanol production facility faces $149,800 in federal penalties after OSHA inspectors found multiple violations of chemical and grain-handling standards during three separate inspections.
The United States Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is expanding and accelerating the recall of Takata air bag inflators. The decision follows the agency’s confirmation of the root cause behind the inflators’ propensity to rupture. Ruptures of the Takata inflators have been tied to ten deaths and more than 100 injuries in the United States.
Feds: He's a threat to public safety
On March 17, 2016, tractor-trailer driver Jason L. Flynn made an illegal turn across traffic, causing an accident that left a passenger car wedged underneath his trailer and its driver in the hospital.
ASSE: New recordkeeping rule is “a step backward”
Feds: West Fertilizer fire was an act of arson
Are low wages an occupational health hazard?
OSHA issues final rule to collect injury, illness data for online posting
SoCal hotel disputes employee safety claims
NIOSH chief updates safety & health challenges
30 violations, $149K in fines for Ohio ethanol facility
DOT expands Takata air bag recall
After crash, Tenn. trucker found with beer, heroin and Xanax
Roofer ignores OSHA inspectors, exposes workers to 3-story falls
Two times in three days, OSHA inspectors witnessed Premier Roofing Company LLC and its sub-contractor Walter Construction LTD exposing workers to falls. On Dec. 21, 2015, OSHA responded after receiving a complaint about employees in danger of falling as they installed shingles on a three-story, multi-family building.
The massive wildfire that has forced the evacuation of 90,000 Canadians and burned an area about the size of Houston has taken a toll on the region’s firefighters.
Housekeeping department employees of the Sofitel Los Angeles have filed a complaint with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) alleging that they do not have the proper equipment to safely handle linen contaminated with blood or to remove used syringes and needles they encounter in guest rooms.
May is a busy month. In addition to being Mental Health Awareness Month and National Electrical Safety Month, May is also Healthy Vision Month.
Canadian firefighters battle blaze, cope with hazards
Hotel housekeepers alarmed by bloodborne pathogen exposure
Workplace a special focus during Healthy Vision Month
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