Today's Safety News

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On behalf of healthcare workers across the nation and beyond, the Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare (AOHP) has released its 2015-2017 Public Policy Statement, which specifically targets health and safety concerns in healthcare.

No one disputes that smoking is the major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the difficulty breathing that strikes so many Americans in their twilight years. A new study by Duke University and CPWR researchers, however, reminds us that smoking is far from the only cause, and we still have a lot of work to do if we are going to protect construction workers.

The U.S. Worker Fatality Database, an open access volunteer research effort, yesterday released new data about deaths on the job during the first seven months of 2015.

Labeling is quite popular in modern business.

The Chinese government yesterday has ordered a nationwide review of workplace safety, after last week’s warehouse explosion that killed at least 114 people and destroyed dozens of buildings in the port city of Tianjin.

The summer of 2015 has scorched the western U.S. with thousands of wildfires. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), exposure to excessive wildfire smoke even at a distance can harm eyes, lungs and heart. The CDC advises that to avoid illness caused by wildfire smoke exposure, seven steps should be taken:

The Department of Homeland Security can’t verify threat level reports from thousands of chemical plants across the country, reducing Homeland’s ability to respond to a chemical attack or emergency, according to a new government report.

A county employee who works at the Lucas County (Ohio) Job and Family Services building has been hospitalized for nearly two weeks with pneumonia while some 19 others have called in sick with upper respiratory problems over the past six weeks, county officials told the Toledo Blade.

NIOSH is celebrating N95 Day on Sept. 4, 2015. N95 is a category of respirators commonly used by healthcare personnel tested and certified by NIOSH. The agency is partnering with the Joint Commission to highlight two new educational products, Hospital Respiratory Protection Program Toolkit: Resources for Respirator Program Administrators (National Toolkit), and Implementing Hospital Respiratory Protection Programs: Strategies from the Field.

Safety at work can depend on an effective or comfortable fit between the physical workplace or the tools of work, and the worker. A seatbelt becomes impractical if it can’t be latched securely or comfortably. The safety that firefighters’ gloves provide is compromised if the gloves are too big, hampering dexterity and movement in a hectic and physically risky situation.