Weekly news round-up
New York moves to revoke contractors’ licenses after worker fatalities; more OSHA violations for Dollar Tree stores and a runaway train raises concerns about air brakes. These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.
A NIOSH Science Blog post
Older wholesale and retail workers in nonstandard work arrangements
Adrienne Eastlake MS, RS/REH Donna Pfirman Jeanette Novakovich PhD Juliann Scholl PhD Bermang Ortiz BA Deborah Hornback MS Harpriya Kaur PhD, MPH
September 27, 2019
National Employ Older Workers Week takes place the final week in September and recognizes the vital role of older workers [U.S. DOL 2019]. By 2020, workers aged 55 and over will likely make up about 25 percent of the U.S. workforce [BLS 2018]. Within the Wholesale and Retail Trade (WRT) Sector alone, in 2017 almost 4.5 million workers (more than 22 percent) are over age 55, up from 3.8 million workers in 2011 [BLS 2018].
Oregon company improves safety with machine guarding, LOTO, repetitive stress changes
September 27, 2019
For Kevin Emerick, workplace safety is no mere box to be checked on a To-Do List. It is about people. It is about family. It is about sending members of your work family home safe after each and every workday. “With the median tenure at our company at almost 25 years, we are family, and the last thing you want to see is someone in your family get hurt or worse,” said Emerick (shown above), risk manager for Woodfold Mfg., Inc., a Forest Grove, Oregon-based company that makes custom-crafted accordion doors, roll-up doors, and hardwood shutters.
FAA pledges transparency in Boeing 737 Max actions
September 27, 2019
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is promising to share information about its efforts to ensure that proposed changes to the automated flight control system on the 737 MAX meet certification standards. The aircraft was taken out of service since the March 13, the second of two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people.
Fishing vessel crew loses fight with fire, abandons ship
September 27, 2019
An electric arc has been identified by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as the cause of a fire in the engine room aboard a fishing vessel – a blaze that put the crew’s lives at risk when they were unable to extinguish it. The four crew members of the Rose Marie, a 77-foot trawler 65 miles off the coast of Chatham, Massachusetts, abandoned ship and got into a life raft.
Positive relationships boost self-esteem, and vice versa
September 26, 2019
Does having close friends boost your self-esteem, or does having high self-esteem influence the quality of your friendships? Both, according to a meta-analysis of more than two decades of research, published by the American Psychological Association. "For the first time, we have a systematic answer to a key question in the field of self-esteem research: Whether and to what extent a person's social relationships influence his or her self-esteem development, and vice versa, and at what ages."
Report from abroad
French employees feel overworked, managed by IT systems
September 26, 2019
More than 1.8 million employees in France (some 10 percent of all workers) are exposed to at least one carcinogenic product on the job, according to a recent SUMER 2017 survey. SUMER is the acronym for the French “surveillance médicale des salariés aux risques professionnels”, i.e. the medical monitoring of employees’ exposure to occupational risks.
California chem companies violated chemical safety reg
September 26, 2019
U.S. EPA requires eight California facilities to improve chemical safety Eight industrial facilities in California have reached a settlement with the EPA after the agency found they violated the federal Clean Air Act’s Chemical Accident Prevention regulations. EPA inspectors determined that the companies failed to: review and update facility Risk Management Plans; design and maintain safe facilities...
Here’s what caused a neighborhood to blow up
September 26, 2019
The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that Columbia Gas of Massachusetts’ deficiencies in management and oversight led to overpressurization of a natural gas distribution system which resulted in a series of fires and explosions in Merrimack Valley, Massachusetts.
Pesticide exposure may increase heart disease, stroke risk
September 25, 2019
On-the-job exposure to high levels of pesticides raised the risk of heart disease and stroke in a generally healthy group of Japanese American men in Hawaii, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the open access journal of the American Heart Association (AHA).
New research center will focus on psychedelic drugs
September 25, 2019
Timothy Leary may get vindication yet, if a new research center at Johns Hopkins Medicine yields results. Leary, a Harvard psychologist and 1960s counter culture figure, came under intense criticism for advocating the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs like Lysergic acid diethylamide – otherwise known as LSD.
A NIOSH Science Blog post
Small business international travel: NIOSH has you covered
September 25, 2019
Your company just landed a business deal overseas. It’s an exciting opportunity for the company and for your employees. But you are a small company with limited resources. What are the next steps for international business travel? Travel visas, vaccinations, import restrictions. How do you ensure your employees’ safe and healthy travel?
Obese kids are suffering from grown-up health problems
September is Child Obesity Awareness Month
September 24, 2019
With obesity among children and adolescents in the U.S. nearly tripling since the 1970s, many of those affected are dealing with health problems that previously weren't seen until adulthood. These include: High blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and elevated blood cholesterol levels. There are psychological effects as well.
Falling boxes endanger Dollar Tree employees
September 24, 2019
OSHA has cited Dollar Tree Stores at four Idaho locations for exposing employees to unsafe storage of merchandise, and blocked walkways and exit routes. The company faces $898,682 in proposed penalties. OSHA inspectors initially responded to a complaint alleging that a Dollar Tree store in Boise was exposing employees to unstable stacks and piles of boxes in the store’s stockroom.
Hog inspection lines with no speed limits raise alarms
September 24, 2019
Safety advocates warn that a final rule published last week by the USDA will endanger workers who already suffer some of the highest rates of occupational injury and illness in the country. The “Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection” rule promulgated by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) lifts speed restrictions from hog slaughter inspection lines.
NYC may revoke construction licenses after fatalities
September 24, 2019
The recent deaths of employees during construction projects may cost three New York contractors their special rigger licenses – if the city’s Buildings Department’s prevails in its effort to revoke them. The special rigger licenses of Wayne Bellet of Bellet Construction and Mohammad Bhutta of Zain Contracting were suspended following the June death of 44-year-old Carlos Olmedo Lala, who plunged from the second level of scaffolding at a Harlem job site.
After runaway train kills engineer & conductor, NTSB urges brake inspections
September 23, 2019
An ongoing investigation into an October 4, 2018 train collision that claimed the lives of two railroad employees has resulted in calls for greater scrutiny of train air brakes by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). That key piece of equipment was singled out in a report issued by the agency last week about the Granite Canyon, Wyoming incident.
6 safety certifications all industrial businesses should have
Kayla MatthewsSeptember 23, 2019
Optional industrial safety certifications can help improve workplace safety and preparedness – and communicate the fact that a company goes above and beyond to keep their employees safe. Here are six safety certifications that industrial businesses should strongly consider getting.
A personal story of human errors
Remember: You can’t change the human condition
Dave JohnsonSeptember 23, 2019
Yes, this is a story about errors – plural -- made by one person, me. I’m not going to beat myself up here. James Reason, professor emeritus at the University of Manchester (UK), and one of the seminal authorities on human error, reminds us that most errors are caused by good, competent people who are trying to do the right thing.
Safety intervention less effective for low-wage workers
September 23, 2019
A safe patient-handling intervention decreased injuries among nurses, but not among lower-wage workers employed as patient care associates, according to a recent study in the American Journal of Public Health. This study at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health compared self-reports of safe patient-handling practices and hospital injury rates at two large Boston area hospitals from 2012 to 2014.
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