Transportation safety was in the headlines this week, in stories about a decrease in traffic deaths, train crashes with an identical cause and a plane that lost a part in midair, terrifying its passengers. Those and other stories were featured on ISHN.com.

Electrical safety info takes to Twitter

February 16, 2018

Safety professionals, “electrical safety ambassadors” and would-be electrical workers may want to tune into a Twitter Chat next week hosted by the Electrical Safety Foundation International’s (ESFI) Communications Committee.

U.S. Army is a hearing hero

February 16, 2018

A military initiative is this year’s honoree in the prestigious Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award™ which is presented annually by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in partnership with the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA).

A Confined Space blog post

Trump’s worker safety & health budget again undermines worker safety & health

Jordan Barab

February 16, 2018

Earlier this week, President Trump submitted his Fiscal Year 2019 budget proposal. This is his second budget proposal, and like the first, although it left OSHA’s budget fairly flat, it once again proposes to slash or eliminate important safety and health programs and agencies.

Preliminary estimates: Motor vehicle deaths plateaued in 2017, but still up 6% from 2015

NSC preliminary figures show fatalities topped 40,000 for the second straight year

February 15, 2018

Preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council indicate motor vehicle deaths dipped slightly – 1% – in 2017, claiming 40,100 lives versus the 2016 total of 40,327. The small decline is not necessarily an indication of progress as much as a leveling off of the steepest two-year increase in over 50 years.

Worker’s leg amputated to free him from trenching machine

February 15, 2018

A team of surgeons were flown to the site of a construction accident in North Texas earlier this month, in order to amputate the leg of a worker who’d gotten caught in a trenching machine.

A NIOSH Science Blog post

I will survive! Air-purifying respirator cartridge/canister

Jaclyn Krah Cichowicz MAThomas Pouchot MS

February 15, 2018

We need to talk. Every year we use Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to talk about our love for respirators and personal protective equipment (PPE). We’ve had some good times frolicking through the standards and maintenance requirements. But today we need to address what happens when it’s just not working anymore.

After 62 violations, co. agrees to improve safety

February 15, 2018

A New York State paper milling company has agreed to improve safety and health conditions at its Carthage facility and pay $175,000 in penalties, under a settlement reached with OSHA. Carthage Specialty Paperboard Inc. was cited for 62 safety and health violations in June 2017.

Cause of two train crashes identical – and preventable

February 14, 2018

Two train accidents within 13 weeks of each other – one in New Jersey and the other in New York – had the same root causes, says the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB): the undiagnosed sleep apnea of the trains’ engineers. Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. It can result in a sufferer feeling tired even after a full night's sleep.

Passenger plane (loudly) loses a part midair

February 14, 2018

A United Airlines flight made an emergency landing yesterday after the protective cowling on one of its engines detached from the plane and fell away. Terrified passengers on board Flight 1175 from San Francisco to Honolulu reported a loud bang when the incident occurred, followed by severe shaking.

Nonfatal injuries to cops trending upward

February 14, 2018

Law enforcement officers (LEOS) are three times more likely to sustain a nonfatal injury than all other U.S. workers, according to a first-of-its-kind study that examines nonfatal injuries among the group on a national scale. Assaults and violent acts are the top cause of such injuries (36%), followed by bodily reactions & exertion from running or other repetitive motions (15%), and transportation incidents (14%).

Arc flash burns 3 Minn. energy industry workers

February 14, 2018

A Minnesota energy company says it will contest the $21,000 in fines leveled against it by the state’s OSHA for an incident at the company’s Becker power plant that left three workers with severe burns over large portions of their bodies.

TV show dramatizes home fire danger

February 13, 2018

Although Crock-Pot objected to one of its products being used as the cause of a fatal, if fictional, home fire, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) says the episode of the NBC TV show “This is Us” depicting the blaze provides valuable lessons. In the highly-rated drama, a defective slow cooker sparks a fire in the kitchen of a home that quickly spreads to curtains and then to the rest of the house. The family members are trapped in second floor bedrooms.

NYC construction worker gets $1.5 million for eye injury

February 13, 2018

A New York City construction worker who was permanently disabled on the job has settled a lawsuit for $1.5 million against a construction company and three real estate companies that owned the site. News sources report that 44-year-old James Morrow was partially blinded in one eye at a Manhattan construction site on Aug. 29, 2014.

Report reveals pharma donations to pain management groups that promote opioid use

February 13, 2018

The opioid epidemic that is causing devastation in many communities in the U.S. may be being worsened by financial payments made by pharmaceutical companies to advocacy organizations that help people cope with chronic pain, according to a new report released by Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. Fueling an Epidemic: Exposing the Financial Ties Between Opioid Manufacturers and Third Party Advocacy Groups exposes the cozy financial relationships between the pharmaceutical industry and groups that assist pain sufferers.

Drowsy driving a bigger problem than previously thought

February 13, 2018

The percentage of crashes involving drowsiness is nearly eight times higher than federal estimates indicate, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The travel organization is touting the study as the most in-depth drowsy driving research ever conducted in the U.S. using footage of everyday drivers.

CSB on the budget chopping block

February 12, 2018

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is one of the federal agencies slated for elimination under the 2019 budget proposal unveiled by President Trump today. The CSB is an independent agency whose mission is to investigate industrial chemical accidents, determine their causes and make recommendations to plants, regulatory agencies such as OSHA and the EPA, industry organizations, and labor groups about ways to reduce the risk of similar accidents in the future.

Fire preparedness, yes. Active shooter readiness, no.

February 12, 2018

Many companies are missing the mark when it comes to educating their employees about what to do in the event of an emergency. That’s the conclusion of a recent survey by Rave Mobile Safety, which found both generational and industry differences in employee perceptions about safety. Fire preparedness got high marks, with some 87 percent of respondents indicating an awareness of their workplace's fire drill policy and participation in fire drills practiced at work.

Wall collapse kills construction worker in New York state

February 12, 2018

The collapse of an unapproved retaining wall in Poughkeepsie, New York killed one worker and injured another – and resulted in more than a quarter of a million dollars in fines for a construction company. In the wake of the August 2017 incident, OSHA cited Onekey LLC, for exposing employees to crushing hazards, for failing to train employees to keep a safe distance from the wall and soil pile, and for failing to provide proper fall protection.

A Confined Space blog post

No protections: Children get hurt and die on family farms

February 12, 2018

What happens when financial pressures and fear of “big government” intrusion run into concerns about the safety of children. In the case of agriculture, the children lose. The New York Times ran heartbreaking story earlier this week about children as young as 5 getting hurt and killed working with heavy machinery on the family farm.