Thanksgiving remains the leading day for cooking fires, with three times as many cooking fires as an average day. That’s according to statistics by the nonprofit National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), which also found that cooking equipment fires are still the leading cause of U.S. home fires and fire injuries, and the third leading cause of fire deaths. On Thanksgiving 2008, U.S. fire departments responded to 1,300 home cooking fires compared to 420 such fires on an average day.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration recently announced that federal inspectors issued 380 citations and orders during special impact inspections conducted at 13 coal and six metal/nonmetal mine operations last month.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration has launched the second phase of a program designed to strengthen efforts to prevent mining fatalities. According to a press release, "Rules to Live By II: Preventing Catastrophic Accidents" was developed from data gathered by reviewing accidents that resulted in five or more fatalities, as well as from incidents caused by fires or explosions that had the potential to result in more fatalities.
Experts say that in the past two to three years, bedbug infestations have increased around the world. In an effort to educate its 32,000 occupational safety, health and environmental members about the threat of bedbugs, especially during the holiday travel season, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) is distributing information aimed at reducing the threat of bedbugs at work and at home.
The holiday season is a wonderful time for family, friends and building fond memories. But it’s also a time to remember safety when it comes to drinking alcohol. The nation’s emergency physicians, in a recent press release, are warning against excessive alcohol consumption and urging people to use good judgment.
OSHA, according to a recent press release, has cited Schiller Park-based Interstate Brands Corp., a manufacturer of bakery products, with 20 alleged safety violations for failing to properly train workers who operate powered industrial trucks, and protect workers from electrical shock hazards and dangerous high-speed rotating equipment. Proposed penalties, from two OSHA inspections at the company's plant, total $274,500.
OSHA will hold an informal public hearing starting Jan. 18, 2011, on the proposed rule revising the Walking-Working Surfaces and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) standards to improve worker protection from slip, trip, and fall hazards, according to an agency press release.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration announced in a recent press release that it will hold six public hearings on the proposed rule "Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust Monitors." The notice will be available in the Federal Register on Nov. 15. The proposed rule was published Oct. 19 and is available at http://www.msha.gov/REGS/FEDREG/PROPOSED/2010Prop/2010-25249.pdf.
Presenteeism — defined as “reduced productivity at work due to health conditions” — is increasingly recognized as a contributor to health costs for employers. But more work is needed to develop reliable tools to measure presenteeism and its economic impact, according to a paper in the November Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).
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