Today's Safety News

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The consultants and staff of Mercer HSE Networks (formerly of ORC Worldwide) are moving into the final phase of their transition to ORCHSE Strategies, LLC, effective January 1, 2014.

The National Transportation Safety Board yesterday issued two “urgent” safety recommendations to the Federal Transit Administration as part of its ongoing investigation into the deaths of two Bay Area Rapid Transit track workers who were struck by a BART train near Walnut Creek, Calif., on October 19.

OSHA has cited Arlington Metals Corp. for 38 safety and health violations, which carry proposed penalties of $117,000. The agency initiated a safety and health investigation in June in response to a complaint filed by the United Steel Workers Union alleging unsafe working conditions at the Franklin Park metal strip and coil processing facility.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been ordered by the state’s Surface Mine Board to allow citizens to take part in an inspection of strip mining near an historic site.

Just in time for the holidays, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has kicked off its annual "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" winter crackdown on drunk and drugged driving. This year’s campaign comes with a technology theme: a "Model Guideline for State Ignition Interlock Programs" that will help states develop and implement a breath alcohol ignition interlock program.

Construction on half of the dozen stadiums being erected for Brazil World Cup 2014 is behind schedule – and those working on the projects say the pressure to work quickly is affecting their safety. The death of a 22-year-old worker who fell more than 100 feet on Saturday at Arena Amazonia resulted in a strike by the builder’s union and a court order halting all high work on the project, according to the BBC News.

Flu vaccination prevented an estimated 6.6 million influenza-associated illnesses, 3.2 million medically attended illnesses, and 79,000 hospitalizations during the 2012-2013 flu season, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

In a surprising finding, new research out of Great Britain shows that many employers in their 60s have a lower “relative vitality age” – and thus, lower health risks – than colleagues in their 30s. The Britain’s Healthiest Company Report* crunched numbers on nearly 10,000 people and concluded that the sexagenarians in the survey had lower health risks based on a “Vitality Age calculator” developed by PruHealth, a health insurer and wellness program provider.

An explosion in June at a Louisiana gas company that killed two workers and injured 80 people has resulted in $99,000 in fines for the company. Williams Olefins LLC in Geismar, La. was cited for six process safety management standard violations, including one willful.