A workplace violence incident claims two lives, a new global OSH standard is approved and the head of the CDC steps down over ethical concerns. These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.
Angry ex-employee kills former bosses at Mich. companies
February 2, 2018
Two people are dead at Metro Detroit companies after a disgruntled former employee went on a rampage yesterday, returning to three companies where he’d worked and shooting at people with an AK-47. The shooter was eventually apprehended by police, but not before carjacking a semi-truck and leading law enforcement officials on a chase.
Kansas manufacturer exposes employees to carcinogen
February 1, 2018
OSHA investigators have determined that Spirit Aerosystems Inc. exposed employees to airborne concentrations of hexavalent chromium nearly double the permissible exposure limit. Hexavalent chromium is a known carcinogen. The Kansas-based aircraft manufacturer faces proposed penalties totaling $194,006 for one willful and five serious violations.
NTSB to investigate Amtrak-truck accident involving GOP lawmakers
February 1, 2018
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has sent a full go-team to Crozet, VA to investigate yesterday’s grade-crossing accident involving an Amtrak passenger train and a truck. The chartered train, which was carrying Republican lawmakers headed to a retreat in West Virginia, collided with what news sources say was a garbage truck.
New global OSH standard is ready for roll-out
February 1, 2018
After five years in development, a new standard that provides a framework for improving employee safety, reducing workplace risks and creating better, safer working conditions, all over the world has been approved by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems, which was developed with support from the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), is a voluntary consensus standard intended to help combat the global toll of work-related fatalities, which currently number about 7,600 a year.
A Confined Space blog post
Weekly Toll: Falls, shootings, explosions — and two more tow truck drivers
February 1, 2018
Man found dead, pinned underneath Bobcat in York County- PARADISE TWP., PA — A New Oxford man died Monday afternoon after being pinned underneath a piece of construction equipment. Shane Hockensmith, 30, was found unresponsive — and determined dead — under a Bobcat in the first block of Beaver Creek Road around 4:12 p.m., according to the York County Coroner’s Office.
Long-term effects of e-cigarettes unknown
January 31, 2018
E-cigarettes are less harmful than regular cigarettes, but they are not harmless, according to a report by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine (NAS), Public Health Consequences of E-Cigarettes. The report acknowledges continuing concerns with the harms associated with e-cigarettes, particularly as they relate to youth, finding an association between the use of e-cigarettes by youth and the eventual use of combustible tobacco cigarettes.
Trump’s CDC chief resigns over tobacco stock purchase
January 31, 2018
The Trump administration’s top health official resigned today after revelations surfaced that she bought stock in a tobacco company one month into her tenure as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – an agency whose responsibilities include reducing tobacco use among Americans.
USDA refuses to lift speed limits from poultry lines
January 31, 2018
In a move that surprised and pleased food and worker safety advocates, the USDA has denied a bid by the U.S. poultry industry to allow inspection lines to speed up. It was the second defeat for the National Chicken Council (NCC), which had attempted to get the limit raised under the Obama administration.
Defect caused engine failure, emergency evacuation
January 31, 2018
An internal defect in a commercial airliner engine caused an uncontained engine failure resulting in a fire and the emergency evacuation of all aboard, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said yesterday. American Airlines flight 383, a Boeing 767 bound for Miami, was on its takeoff roll at Chicago O’Hare International Airport Oct. 28, 2016, when a turbine disk in the right engine failed, sending metal fragments through a fuel tank and wing structure.
NTSB finds safety issues with hazmat highway cargo tanks
January 30, 2018
The National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) investigation of a crash involving a semitrailer cargo tank loaded with propane has identified safety issues that while unrelated to the probable cause, pose a substantial risk to the driving public.
Antibiotic resistance is now worldwide problem
January 30, 2018
A high level of antibiotic resistance reveals to a number of serious bacterial infections has been found in both high- and low-income countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The organization’s new Global Antimicrobial Surveillance System (GLASS) reveals widespread occurrence of antibiotic resistance among 500 000 people with suspected bacterial infections across 22 countries.
I-O psychologists predict top 10 workplace trends for 2018
January 30, 2018
Learning to deal with automation, millennials and diversity in the workforce will be among the top workplace trends for 2018, according to the prognosticators at the Society for Industrial and Occupational Psychology (SIOP). Industrial-organizational psychologists study workplace issues of critical relevance to business, including talent management, coaching, assessment, selection, training, organizational development, performance, and work–life balance.
A Confined Space blog post
Indiana OSHA cuts penalty 94% for fatality at Indiana auto parts facility
January 30, 2018
Last October, Melissa Stephens went to work on third shift at Autonium in Jeffersonville, Indiana. She never came home to her husband of 20 years or her four children. Stephens had apparently gone through the interlocked gate, to put a fiber pad over a broken seal. But a spinning belt and pully dragged her into a machine where she was crushed to death.
Feds take aim at drugged driving
January 29, 2018
The national opioid epidemic and the growing number of states legalizing marijuana is prompting the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to launch a new initiative aimed at drugged driving. The agency says combating drugged driving has become “a top priority” in its bid to improve safety and reduce motor vehicle crashes on the nation’s roadways.
Lawsuit filed over OSHA’s failure to post injury, illness data
January 29, 2018
The Trump administration’s refusal to fulfill a provision of OSHA’s injury and illness tracking rule has resulted in a lawsuit by Public Citizen. The advocacy group filed the suit Friday in federal court against OSHA and the U.S. Department of Labor, claiming that an exemption the agency cited in its denial of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request does not apply.
2 fatal falls at 2 construction sites on 1 day in NYC
January 29, 2018
Last Tuesday was a bad day in New York City’s construction industry. According to news sources, two workers at fell to their deaths at two different construction projects in the city. 33-year-old Ju Cong Wu fell nine stories down an elevator shaft at a hotel development in the Flatiron District.
Poultry workers face machine, other hazards
January 29, 2018
A Georgia poultry processor exposed its employees to amputation, fall and noise hazards, according to OSHA, which has cited Gainesville-based Koch Foods for multiple safety and health violations at its poultry processing plant. The company faces proposed penalties of $208,977.
