September 15, 2010, was the 10th anniversary of National School Backpack Awareness Day and an ongoing effort to make parents and students more aware of safety concerns related to carrying heavy backpacks, according to a press release from the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress. Research published in the Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics, found that students carrying excessive weight in their backpacks may develop long-term back pain and other serious health conditions including numbness of the shoulder, muscle spasms and posture deterioration.
A Ronkonkoma, N.Y., painting and stucco contractor faces a total of $225,200 in proposed fines from OSHA for failing to properly erect scaffolds and provide fall protection for its workers at two Kings Point, N.Y., jobsites.
This just in from Harvard Medical School’s HealthBeat:
“Age affects every nook and cranny of the body. Along with the wisdom, experience, and accomplishments that come with getting older, there are changes that occur in our outward appearance. Changes in our faces are most at the forefront. Dozens of changes take place as the years add up, some of them obvious and familiar:
Foreheads expand as hairlines retreat
Ears often get a bit longer because the cartilage in them grows
Tips of noses may droop because connective tissue supporting nasal cartilage weakens.
OSHA is seeking nominations for individuals to serve on the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH). The committee advises the Secretary of Labor on developing standards and policies that affect the safety and health of construction workers.
“In 2008, there were 36,130 occupational musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) cases in private industry where the source of injury or illness was a health care patient or resident of a health care facility. This accounted for 11 percent of the 317,440 total cases of MSDs that resulted in a least one lost day from work in 2008. Almost all (98 percent) of the cases involving patient handling occurred within the health care and social assistance industry, composing 55 percent of the 64,300 total MSD cases in that industry.
“Mass shootings receive a great deal of coverage in the media, as we saw with the Orlando, Fla., office shootings in November 2009 and in the shootings at the manufacturing plant in Albuquerque, N.M., in July 2010. Out of 421 workplace shootings recorded in 2008 (eight percent of total fatal injuries), 99 (24 percent) occurred in retail trade. Workplace shootings in manufacturing were less common, with 17 shootings reported in 2008. Workplace shooting events account for only a small portion of nonfatal workplace injuries.
“In early August OSHA proposed citations and penalties to 17 employers involved in the explosion at the Kleen Energy plant that killed six workers. The deadly blast was caused by ignition of natural gas being used to clean out debris from pipes, a process called a "gas blow." OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels said the practice of using highly flammable methane gas for "gas blows" is inherently dangerous. He stopped short of saying that OSHA would (or could) ban it, a recommendation made earlier this summer to OSHA by the Chemical Safety Board. Instead, Dr. Michaels promised swift non-regulatory action in the form of a letter to power plant operators warning them of the risks associated with the practice. That letter, dated August 27, 2010, has now been sent to employers involved in the building or renovation of gas-powered electric generation plants.
“Nine years ago, Vito Friscia was just one of the thousands of first responders who were heroes when he rushed to the scene of the Twin Towers collapsing on Sept. 11, 2001. A Brooklyn homicide detective, he was only a block away when the second of the Twin Towers fell. Engulfed in a perilous cloud, he put his life on the line to try to find survivors. Now, Friscia and thousands of other heroes of that tragic day are facing their own tragedy of serious illness.
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