A stunning workplace violence incident, sexual harassment in the workplace and a top ranking that nobody wants for rural areas of the U.S. were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

U.S., Europe update aviation safety agreement

In updating its long-standing aviation safety agreement with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cited the importance in international partnerships between aviation regulators in securing safety in the global aviation market. The revised agreement, which was signed on September 22, 2017, includes changes to enhance the risk-based approach to safety by optimizing reliance on each authority’s expertise in aircraft certification through Revision 6 of the Technical Implementation Procedures (TIP). 

From NIOSH

Pilot program helps prevent bullying among nurses

While many of us think of bullying as something that happens in school, for many workers bullying remains a persistent problem in the workplace. At NIOSH, researchers study how to prevent work-related bullying, particularly in the nursing profession.

Circle the date: Next year’s National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls is set

Start planning now. The 2018 National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls will be held May 7-11. The Safety Stand-Down is a voluntary event for employers to talk directly to employees about safety. Employers are encouraged to take a break during the event and focus on fall hazards and fall prevention.

Survey: Safety, worker shortages are top contractor concerns

Improving the safety performance of both employees and contractors was identified as a top priority for driving organization's contractor management goals, according to a recent Contractor Management Survey by ISN, a global leader in contractor and supplier information management.

Insurance plays significant role in breast cancer disparities

Study concludes improving access to care could close much of racial gap

Differences in insurance account for a substantial proportion of the excess risk of death from breast cancer faced by black women, according to a new study. The study, appearing in Journal of Clinical Oncology, concludes that equalizing access to care could address much of the existing black/white disparity in breast cancer mortality.

Inside NIOSH:

Paid sick leave may help employers reduce costs

If you have recuperated from an illness or injury at home recently—or enjoyed the workplace quietude while your coughing, sniffling, and sneezing coworker stayed home—you probably know firsthand the benefits of paid sick leave. Unfortunately, many workers still do not have access to this job benefit, even though it may help employers reduce absenteeism-related costs, according to a recent NIOSH study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 

Gunman on rampage kills three, wounds three in two workplaces

A gunman opened fire at the Maryland company where he worked yesterday, killing three co-workers and critically wounding two others before driving to Delaware, where he shot another man. Radee Labee Prince, who had worked for four months at Advanced Granite Solutions, a kitchen countertop company in Edgewood, Maryland, arrived at the start of his 8:30 a.m. shift and opened fire with a handgun.

Around the U.S.: fall, trench, scaffold danger for workers

OSHA has cited the owner of a South Jersey construction company for exposing workers to serious scaffold hazards at a job site in Philadelphia. Inspectors found employees performing work using a scaffold that was dangerously close to power lines.

A Confined Space blog post

West Texas explosion: Four years later

Jordan Barab

Dan Zak of the Washington Post has written a long feature article on the impact and aftermath of the West fertilizer explosion that killed 15 people, injured 252 and damaged or destroyed 500 buildings in the small town of West Texas on April 17, 2013.

AIHceREPLAY wins 2017 Learnie Award

The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) has won a 2017 Learnie Award for its AIHce:REPLAY series. The Learnie Awards recognize associations who have pioneered a new way of learning. AIHce:REPLAY, is a virtual way attendees can relive important sessions and topics presented at prior AIHce EXP events, including full video, audio, and slides.
 

NTSB: Pilot caused Texas hot air balloon crash that killed 15

The pilot’s “pattern of poor decision-making” – which was likely exacerbated by the medications he was taking for multiple health problems – led to the July 30, 2016 hot air balloon accident in Texas that killed 15 passengers and the pilot.

A FairWarning story

Report spotlights nitrate contamination in drinking water across the U.S.

Paul Feldman

Scientists have known for decades that drinking water contaminated by fertilizer nitrates can pose a threat to infants by undermining the ability of their blood to carry oxygen. The condition, known as ‘blue baby syndrome,” led federal regulators to impose an environmental standard of no more than 10 parts per million, or ppm, for nitrates in public water supplies.

CSB releases safety video about 2016 ExxonMobil fire in La.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released an eight minute safety video entitled “Fire in Baton Rouge” detailing the agency’s Key Lessons stemming from the 2016 fire at the ExxonMobil Refinery that seriously injured four workers. The video includes a new four minute animation explaining the events leading up to the incident.

Labor Secretary tours an underground coal mine in W. Va.

Starting with a 30-minute mantrip ride to deep under the ground, U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta got a close-up look at a West Virginia coal mine recently – an experience Acosta said gave him an appreciation for the men and women who work in the nation’s 13,000 mines.

Proposed poultry line speed up has worker, food safety implications

The poultry industry and Republican lawmakers are urging the Trump administration to make a change that could have profound implications for both worker safety and food safety.

Americans in rural areas more likely to die by suicide

Rural counties consistently had higher suicide rates than metropolitan counties from 2001-2015, according to data released last week in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

A FairWarning story

First amendment claims seen as RX for drug makers, headache for consumers

Paul Raeburn

On Oct. 26, 2005, Alfred Caronia, a sales consultant for a little-known pharmaceutical company based in California, met with a doctor to discuss promotion of one of the firm’s drugs.

What to do if you are experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace

While the still-unfolding Harvey Weinstein story reveals a culture of sexual harassment that has long been tolerated within the entertainment industry, the problem goes far beyond famous studio moguls.

Five workers in critical condition after oil rig explosion in La.

Seven workers were injured last night – five of them critically -- when an oil rig exploded on Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana. News sources say the Coast Guard is searching for one person who is still missing. All of the workers suffered blast-type injuries and burns.

How to ensure food and water safety after a disaster

Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires. Food and water safety may not be the first things people think about when they’re trying to put their lives and homes back together after a disaster, but the two should be near the top of their priority list.