Mining fatalities decrease, New Mexico ag workers exposed to pesticides and the reasons behind the construction industry’s resistance to using fall protection are among the week’s EHS-related stories as featured on ISHN.com:
Many of New Mexicos’s agricultural employers are excluded from the enforcement and oversight activities of OSHA, leaving many workers toiling in unsafe conditions – and often earning below minimum wage, says a new report.
The increase in grain bin deaths – despite a corresponding increase in official efforts to stop them – shows an “unconscionable” failure on the part of employers, according to the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH), a coalition dedicated to safe work conditions.
An explosion at an Indiana grain bin Monday afternoon claimed the life of 67-year-old James Swank, news sources report. Police believe Swank was on top of a tower when the blast – which may have been a grain dust explosion, caused him to fall approximately 175 feet.
Despite a decades-long effort to raise awareness about the importance of roll over protective structures (ROPS) in preventing injury and death from tractor roll overs, tractor overturns continue to be the leading cause of occupational agricultural death in the United States.
Farming, ranching most dangerous occupations in state
March 1, 2013
Minnesota experienced a significant drop in workplace fatalities in 2011, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor (BLS). Preliminary data from the BLS's Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries shows that there were 60 fatalities from work injuries in Minnesota in 2011.
An expert panel has awarded NIOSH’s research program to prevent work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths in the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Sector the highest rating – a five on a scale of 1-5 – based on its relevance.
A Washington state agricultural employer has agreed to pay $11,100 in penalties following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division that found multiple violations of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act's provisions regarding housing safety and health.