Occupational Safety

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Recently, someone who is engaged in the DC political scene for safety told me that the failure of the current administration’s OSHA to issue an injury and illness prevention plan standard (or I2P2) was an historic lost opportunity for OSH professionals and ASSE members.

A winter safety warning, danger at a theme park and pulmonary hazards for workers at a coffee processing facility were among the top occupational safety-related stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

Know your limits. One step too close to an energized piece of equipment may cause burns that char deep into your flesh and blisters that reach beyond the second layer of your skin. In the event of an arc flash, personal protective equipment (PPE) is your last line of defense. But knowing your boundary limits just might save your skin.

NIOSH says OSHA is right about the frequency of respirator fit testing, a new study links soda to a particularly dangerous form of fat and coal miners are crying foul over millions in bonuses being paid to top executives at a bankrupt coal company. These were among the top occupational safety and health-related stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

Last year saw the fewest U.S. mining deaths since such data was recorded, but events so far this year suggest that 2016 will not be nearly as safe for coal miners.

A-1 Excavating Inc., of Bloomer, Wisconsin was issued its 15th violation since 2000 after OSHA conducted an inspection at the company’s Middleton worksite.

An OSHA inspection conducted under the agency’s local emphasis on logging safety program found employees exposed to falls and chain saws at a Clay, West Virginia worksite.

OSHA says its On-site Consultation Program provided safety and occupational health advice to 27,871 small and medium-sized businesses across the country in 2015.

Workplace injuries and accidents that cause employees to miss six or more days of work cost U.S. employers nearly $62 billion in 2013, the most recent year for which statistically valid injury data is available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the National Academy of Social Insurance, according to the 2016 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index.