Today's Safety News

RSS

Now that the weather in many parts of the country has warmed up, more people will be working outdoors, whether professionally or on projects of their own. The American Petroleum Institute (API) is reminding homeowners and anyone else who’ll be doing a digging project to call 811 first.

Combustible dust, mine safety and silica are some of the subject of bills that are currently making their way through – or are stuck in – the legislative and regulatory pipelines. Aaron Trippler, Government Affairs Director for the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), provides a rundown in his “Happenings on the Hill:”

OSHA has cited Rothe Welding Inc. of Saugerties for alleged failure to abate and repeat and serious workplace health violations, some of which refer to a previous 2012 OSHA inspection.

In the United States, physicians lead all major occupational groups in overall wellbeing, followed by school teachers and business owners. Transportation workers have the lowest wellbeing scores, behind manufacturing and production workers.

At 11 a.m. EST on April 10, OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Occupational Research Agenda Construction Sector Council will co-moderate a free webinar on preventing deadly falls in construction.

An OSHA investigation following the death of two workers at a crude oil refinery in Wynnewood, Oklahoma resulted in fifteen serious citations against Wynnewood Refining Company – earning the company a spot in the agency’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP).

Respirator manufacturers, industries that rely on NIOSH-approved respiratory equipment and other stakeholders can present information on the potential impacts of a proposed amendment to the Respirator Certification Fees rule at an upcoming public meeting.

Last year’s national education ad campaign, "Tips from Former Smokers," was so successful that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched a new series of ads along the same lines.

Working all day in front of a computer screen can result in eye fatigue but a U.S. optometrist says breaks and blinks helps combat computer vision syndrome, according to UPI. The American Optometric Association defines computer vision syndrome as the complex of eye and vision problems related to near work that are experienced during or related to computer use.

Felony charges for some violations and higher penalties for others are among the provisions in a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Patty Murry (D-Wash.). If enacted, Senate Bill 665 -- the Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA) – would make significant changes in the Occupational Safety and Health Act.