Weekly news round-up
A major government reorganization, a union drops its health and safety program and the AIHA gets a new Board of Directors. These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.
Trump proposes merging Labor, Education departments
June 22, 2018
The Trump administration wants to merge the Departments of Labor and Education into one entity that would be called the Department of Education and the Workforce, according to news sources. The proposal was announced at a cabinet meeting yesterday.
Don't just wait until heat illness strikes
June 22, 2018
With triple digit temperatures heating up parts of California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona and temperatures in the 80s and 90s in other states, employers need to take measures to protect their outdoor workers from heat illness.
A Confined Space blog post
Dispatches from the front lines of the battle for workplace safety and health: Short stuff
June 22, 2018
Death by Trench: Equipment World has just completed a special report on trench hazards and the dozens of preventable deaths that happen ever year. Most chilling is the piece on survivors who tell of the terror they felt being buried under tons of soil.
Inside NIOSH
“Machine learning” targets prevention of musculoskeletal injuries, and slips, trips, and falls
June 22, 2018
Low back strains, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other soft-tissue musculoskeletal injuries are the most frequent causes of missed workdays in the United States, and most result from ergonomic, slip, trip, or fall hazards, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Worker suffocates in rail car
June 21, 2018
OSHA has cited EnviroTech Services Inc. – based in Greeley, Colorado – after an employee died due to lack of oxygen while cleaning the inside of a railcar. A second employee who tried to rescue the co-worker was also overcome, but survived. EnviroTech Services Inc. faces $64,857 in proposed penalties.
TVA determines cause of arc flash at Tenn. nuke plant
June 21, 2018
An arc flash that burned two contract workers at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant near Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee was not was not due to any equipment or plant-related issues, according to an investigation by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
Why flight lasted only 13 seconds
June 21, 2018
A fatigue crack was the cause of engine failure and a fire on a British Airways flight that ended prematurely, with passengers and crew fleeing a cockpit that was filling with smoke. The September 8, 2015 flight from Las Vegas to London came to an abrupt end, after its pilot heard a loud “bang” during takeoff and aborted the flight.
A Confined Space blog post
SEIU retires its safety and health program
June 21, 2018
A recent study by Harvard University professor Michael Zaroob showed that unionization saves lives. That’s the good news. But it doesn’t happen automatically when you sign the union card. The beneficial effect of unions on worker safety is the result of action by educated union members supported by union staff.
CSHS supports proposal for companies to disclose human capital metrics
June 20, 2018
The Center for Safety and Health Sustainability (CSHS), whose member organizations represent more than 100,000 workplace safety and health professionals around the world, has filed one of many letters of support of a petition from the Human Capital Management Coalition.
A Confined Space blog post
Weekly toll: The last shift
June 20, 2018
FLINT, MI – An employee died in an industrial accident at the Genesee Power Station last week. CMS Energy, which owns the facility, released a statement Monday confirming the worker’s death. The worker’s name and the circumstances leading to his death were not released.
Pyrotechnics safety a must for 4th of July celebrations
June 20, 2018
A favorite tradition that goes along with Independence Day celebrations is not without hazards for the workers who must make it happen. OSHA’s archives contain several stories of fatal incidents involving fireworks. In a 1997 one in Alton, Illinois, four employees were putting on a fireworks display from a barge.
Portrait of a serial safety violator
June 19, 2018
A Maine roofing contractor could face prison time if he ignores that latest court order to pay his OSHA fines and correct safety violations that endanger his workers – as he did previous court orders. Between 2000 and 2011, OSHA cited Lessard Roofing & Siding Inc. and Lessard Brothers Construction Inc. for safety violations at 11 different work sites in Maine.
AIHA welcomes new Board of Directors
June 19, 2018
The American Industrial Hygiene Association® (AIHA) welcomed its new Board of Directors during its annual business meeting at the recent American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition (AIHce EXP) in Philadelphia, PA.
Are you in compliance with OSHA’s silica standard?
June 23 is effective date
June 19, 2018
Most of the provisions of OSHA’s standard for respirable crystalline silica in general industry and maritime become enforceable on June 23, 2018. The standard establishes a new 8-hour time-weighted average permissible exposure limit, action level, and associated ancillary requirements.
Kids separated from parents at border face serious health risks, warn the experts
June 19, 2018
The American Public Health Association (APHA) is predicting a public health crisis ahead due to the Trump administration’s policy of separating parents and children at the U.S.-Mexico border. The group issued a statement spelling out the immediate and long-term health consequences that children living without their parents are liable to experience.
Coal companies to pay less to in-debt black lung program
June 18, 2018
The Black Lung Benefits Program is more than $4 billion dollars in debt, and a 55 percent reduction scheduled at the end of 2018 in the production tax paid by coal companies will cause that deficit to nearly quadruple over the next 30 years, according to a recent report by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Stakeholders get more time to comment on crane operator certification
June 18, 2018
OSHA announced Friday that it will extend the comment period on the proposed rule on crane operator certification. Comments will now be accepted through July 5, 2018. This extension allows stakeholders more time to review the proposed rule.
A NIOSH Science Blog post
NIOSH in Alaska: Improving worker safety
June 18, 2018
Before he became an epidemiologist, Devin Lucas grew up in a fishing family. His grandfather moved to Anchorage in 1953 and purchased a commercial fishing vessel. Then his dad grew up in the business. So did Lucas and all his siblings. He fished for salmon off the Kenai Peninsula from the outlet of the Kenai River to the Cook Inlet of the Pacific Ocean.
Today Is Motorcycle and Scooter Ride to Work Day
June 18, 2018
If you see a lot more motorcycles and scooters on the road today than usual, there’s a reason. It’s the 27th annual Motorcycle and Scooter Ride to Work Day, a day meant to demonstrate the benefits of getting to work via something other than a car or SUV.
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