The EU toughens up OELs, U.S. adult smoking rates go down, workplace deaths in three Midwestern states go up. These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

Alleged drunk drives 30-ton construction crane on Long Island Expressway

July 13, 2018

A man is in custody after driving a crane drunk down the Long Island Expressway (LIE) on the evening of July 11. Forty-seven-year-old Brian Sinclair drove a 2000 Liebherr mobile crane drunk for nine miles on the eastbound side of the LIE, starting at the Ronkonkoma entrance at around 6 p.m. The equipment had logos for Bay Crane in Long Island City, N.Y., on the back and the sides.

Icing leads to loss of life, sinking of fishing vessel

July 13, 2018

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a marine accident brief and a related safety alert Thursday, warning mariners of the dangers of icing following the agency’s investigation of the sinking of the fishing vessel Destination.

USPS worker dies; heat suspected

July 13, 2018

A longtime United States Postal Service employee was found dead inside her mail truck last week in Southern California, as temperatures reached as high as 117 degrees in the area.

A FairWarning story

Johnson & Johnson hit with $4.69 billion loss in baby powder-ovarian cancer case

Myron Levin Stuart Silverstein

July 13, 2018

The legal assault on Johnson & Johnson and its signature baby powder reached new heights today, when a state court jury in Missouri found the company responsible for the ovarian cancers of 22 women, and ordered the drug and consumer products giant to pay $4.69 billion in compensatory and punitive damages to the cancer victims or their survivors.

American Cancer Society unveils blueprint for cancer control in the 21st century

Eliminating socioeconomic disparity could prevent one in four cancer deaths in the U.S.

July 13, 2018

The American Cancer Society (ACS) is outlining its vision for cancer control in the decades ahead in a series of articles that form the basis of a national cancer control plan. The ACS is calling it a blueprint toward the control of cancer and a mortality reduction goal for the year 2035.

Does your bicycle helmet really provide protection?

July 12, 2018

Bicycle helmets have been shown to reduce the risk of head injuries in cycling, but, until now, consumers who want to buy one that offers the best protection have had little information to go on. A new ratings program, based on collaborative research by Virginia Tech and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), fixes that.

Disconnected safety devices lead to forklift driver’s death

July 12, 2018

Cal/OSHA has issued citations to marine cargo handler SSA Pacific Inc. for willful and serious safety violations following the investigation of a fatal forklift accident at the Port of San Diego.

Stricter OELs proposed for EU workplace carcinogens

July 12, 2018

European Union (EU) legislators are considering adding or updating five binding occupational exposure limit values (OELs) to the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive (CMD), in an effort to decrease the number of occupational cancers that cause more than 100 000 deaths a year in the EU.

Workplace deaths sharply up in three states

July 12, 2018

An increase in workplace fatalities in three Midwestern states has OSHA concerned enough to ramp up the “Safe + Sound Campaign" it launched in 2017 – one which urges employers to develop and implement a safety and health program that includes management leadership, worker participation, and a systematic approach to finding and fixing hazards.

Fewer American adults are smoking

July 12, 2018

The adult smoking rate is at a historically low level, according to the 2017 National Health Interview Survey released recently by the CDC. The figures show that adult smoking rates decreased from 15.5 percent in 2016 to 13.9 percent in 2017 – numbers that “reflect enormous progress in fighting tobacco use and will yield tremendous benefit to lung health in this country,” according to Harold P. Wimmer, National President and CEO of the American Lung Association (ALA).

Wisc. firefighter dead in natural gas explosion

July 11, 2018

One firefighter is dead and six others hospitalized after battling a massive natural gas explosion in Wisconsin yesterday. One civilian was treated and released.

A Confined Space blog post

Kavanaugh: Threat to workers and to OSHA

Jordan Barab

July 11, 2018

While most of the discussion of President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court focuses on the possibility that he will be the deciding vote to repeal Rowe v. Wade or that the will bend over backwards to help Trump out of the Russia investigation, there is clear evidence that Kavanaugh is overly friendly to corporate America, and hostile to workplace safety, the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the environment.

A FairWarning story

Wireless industry using First Amendment as a cudgel in its battle against safety warnings

Lynne Peeples

July 11, 2018

Few people know that there are federal safety limits for exposure to the weak radiation emitted by cellphones and other wireless devices. There often is language about this embedded right in our phones, but finding it requires knowing where to look, wading through sometimes five or more steps and then making sense of the technical jargon.

It's Linemen Appreciation Day

July 10, 2018

Lineman Appreciation Day, which was founded to recognize the men and women who keep our country running and memorialize those who have been injured or killed doing their job, is being celebrated today.

A NIOSH Science Blog post

Workplace noise: More than just “all ears”

July 10, 2018

Noise is everywhere, but how loud does it need to be to cause harm? While many people know that loud noise can hurt their ears, they don’t know how loud is too loud or how long they can listen before it becomes harmful.

California groups to pursue statewide sugary drink tax

July 10, 2018

The California Medical Association (CMA) and the California Dental Association (CDA) are fighting back against a bill passed recently in the state that blocks local sugary drink taxes with a ballot measure of their own – one that would implement a statewide ban on sugar-sweetened drinks.

Three important questions manufacturers need to ask themselves

July 10, 2018

While 2018 has been a banner year so far for equipment manufacturers, the long-term future of the industry and the markets it serves is – and likely will remain – far less certain.

Electrical, hazmat hazards cited at Florida bakery

July 9, 2018

The variety of hazards for which a Miami, Florida bakery was cited may be surprising to some, but it illustrates the range of dangers to which workers in a large commercial bakery operations may be exposed.

Workers in high hazard jobs most likely to lack health insurance

July 9, 2018

People employed in farming, fishing, and forestry and construction and extraction – among the most hazardous occupations in the U.S. - have the highest prevalences of not having health insurance.

NIOSH confronts the opioid crisis

July 9, 2018

That the opioid crisis is wreaking havoc on individuals’ lives, tearing families apart and straining municipal emergency response resources is well documented. What is getting less attention is the effects opioid use and misuse may have in the workplace – and the role of work-related injuries in making a person susceptible to opioid addiction.

Fatigue crack cause of pipeline rupture, oil spill

July 9, 2018

A fatigue crack was the probable cause of a 2017 pipeline rupture in South Dakota that spilled thousands of gallons of crude oil, according to a pipeline accident brief released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).