An environmentally friendly diet proposed by scientists that would radically transform food production and the types of food we eat; how the shutdown is affecting federal workers’ mental health and a look back at one of the strangest and deadliest industrial disasters in U.S. history. These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

Worker dies from gas exposure in trench

January 18, 2019

OSHA has cited RKM Utility Services Inc. for failing to protect workers from hydrogen sulfide after an employee died after exposure to dangerous levels of the gas while working in a trench in Dallas, Texas.

Few emergency responders used respirators at toxic gas exposure scene

15 sought medical treatment

January 17, 2019

Most of the emergency responders dispatched to a serious incident involving a toxic gas exposure did not use required respirators for breathing protection, according to a NIOSH-funded investigation published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). The gas, phosphine, forms when pesticides containing aluminum phosphide mix with water.

Diet for a crowded, unhealthy planet

January 17, 2019

Want to be healthier and help save the planet at the same time? A “planetary health diet” unveiled yesterday in the medical journal Lancet will do both, according to the international team of scientists who developed it. The authors of the report say changes to the way we eat - across the globe - are urgently needed amid increasing obesity and climate change made worse by population growth, which is expected to reach 10 billion people by 2050.

Inside NIOSH:

Risk of mining-related lung disease varies by region, mine type, and safety observance

January 17, 2019

With the recent resurgence of the most severe form of black lung disease among coal miners, especially in central Appalachia, understanding and preventing exposure to the respirable, or inhalable, dust generated during the extraction of coal is paramount. Black lung is a form of pneumoconiosis, or scarring lung disease, caused by breathing in dust that can occur with exposure to respirable coal mine dust.

Oil tanker truck explodes in Nigeria, causing fatalities

January 17, 2019

A truck carrying oil overturned and exploded in Nigeria on Friday, killing at least a dozen people, and as many as 60, according to news reports. Another 22 people reportedly suffered burn injuries and were taken to local hospitals.

Utility contractors cited in blast that killed first responder

January 16, 2019

A volunteer firefighter in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, lost his life last July responding to an explosion and fire that resulted from two utility contractors failing to establish the location of underground utilities prior to beginning excavation work.

Shutdown is affecting mental health of federal workers, says APA

January 16, 2019

Some 800,000 furloughed federal employees – along with government contractors and business owners who rely on federal workers – are feeling increasingly stressed out by the partial government shutdown, according to the American Psychological Association (APA).

Report: Government is failing to protect kids from tobacco

January 16, 2019

Government is failing at both the federal and state levels to protect the nation’s children from tobacco-caused death and disease, according to the American Lung Association’s (ALA) 17th annual “State of Tobacco Control” report.

A Confined Space blog post

Weekly toll: Workplace deaths continue into new year

January 16, 2019

A supermarket employee, Duoc Tran, fell to his death at Comumbia Market when the ladder he was climbing to retrieve an object for a customer slipped and he fell and hit his head on the floor. A construction worker was killed Saturday in a fall at the Amazon fulfillment center construction site. The Kern County Fire Department said they received a call around 3:30 p.m. for a person who fell near the 1900 block of Petrol Road.

A look back at the Great Molasses Flood in Boston

January 15, 2019

One of the strangest – and deadliest – incidents in U.S. history occurred on this day in 1919, when millions of gallons of molasses poured into Boston’s North End, killing 21 people, injuring 150 more and laying waste to two city blocks.

Is the shutdown affecting the safety of air travel?

January 15, 2019

While unions representing air traffic controllers and aviation safety inspectors are warning that the partial government shutdown is endangering the flying public, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) – which is in partial function mode – is assuring the public that safety “is the top priority.”

Americans now more likely to die from accidental opioid overdose than a car crash

January 15, 2019

For the first time in U.S. history, a person is more likely to die from an accidental opioid overdose than from a motor vehicle crash, according to National Safety Council analysis. The odds of dying accidentally from an opioid overdose have risen to one in 96, eclipsing the odds of dying in a motor vehicle crash (one in 103). NSC unveiled the analysis on Injury Facts – the definitive resource for data around unintentional, preventable injuries, commonly known as “accidents.”

OSHA: Pa. company exposed its workers to trenching hazards

Trench was filling with water, had no cave-in protection

January 15, 2019

OSHA has cited Spear Excavating LLC – based in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania – for exposing employees to trenching hazards at a worksite in Malvern, Pennsylvania. The company faces $106,057 in proposed penalties. OSHA initiated an inspection on August 2, 2018, after receiving a complaint alleging the hazards.

Armed man takes employees at NJ UPS facility hostage

January 14, 2019

Two UPS employees were rescued this morning after being taken hostage by a gunman who was the ex-boyfriend of one of the hostages. The drama unfolded in the loading dock area at a UPS facility in Logan Township, New Jersey.

A Confined Space blog post

Yesterday in workplace safety: Pemberton mill collapse

January 14, 2019

I somehow missed the Pemberton Mill disaster that happened on January 10, 1860 when the large, 5-story factory in Lawrence, Massachusetts, collapsed without warning in what is likely “the worst industrial accident in Massachusetts history” and “one of the worst industrial calamities in American history.”

Contractor in crane accident cited for failing to ensure operator competence

January 14, 2019

A crane collapse that caused injuries in New York City last summer has resulted in citations against a Missouri-based contractor. Three construction workers were injured – one critically - when an unsecured mini-crane overturned and fell four stories from an East Harlem worksite on June 25, 2018. The injured included the worker who fell with the crane.

U.S. mining fatalities in 2018 were second lowest on record

January 14, 2019

The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reports that 27 mining fatalities occurred in 2018 - the second lowest number ever recorded. Eighteen fatalities occurred at surface operations; nine occurred in underground mines. 

NYC firefighter falls to his death

January 14, 2019

A New York City firefighter was killed in the line of duty last week when he fell more than 50 feet to his death while responding to a traffic accident in Brooklyn.