Occupational Safety

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The death of a railroad foreman who was struck by a train last month has led to urgent recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for ways to improve safety for track maintenance crews to provide signal protection.

Patients in healthcare facilities are in danger when they’re being moved or lifted because of institutional resistance to using available technology, according to a new report from an advocacy group. And patients aren't the only ones at risk of injury.

An online information source is reporting that the Williams Olefins chemical plant that exploded Thursday in southern Louisiana has not been inspected by OSHA in at least two decades.

A young caseworker was stabbed to death with a butcher knife last December by a patient she was meeting with for a required face-to-face hospitalization risk assessment.

Undeterred by cease and desist orders issued by the Long Island Power Authority, three New York contractors exposed their employees to electrocution hazards from working in close proximity to power lines, according to OSHA.

A mine worker who died because of a missing part on a circuit breaker was the subject of a $211,002 settlement reached last month with the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the U.S. Lime Co., the worker’s employer.

An engineer in Scotland who was fired after being injured on the job has been awarded £70,000 (about $100,000) by a court in Edinburgh. David Hynds suffered a spinal injury when a one ton cutting tool fell on him, trapping him between a girder support and the ground.

Each year, 2000 workers are admitted to burn centers for extended injury treatment caused by arc flash. Arc flash is an electric current that is passed through the air when insulation or isolation between electrified conductors is not sufficient to withstand the applied voltage. The flash is immediate, but the results can cause severe injury.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has announced the formation of the NIOSH Center for Workers’ Compensation Studies (CWCS) that will coordinate data in an effort to reduce the burdens of work-related injuries and illness on workers, their families and communities and the economy.

Wind Energy workers are exposed to hazards that can result in fatalities and serious injuries. Many incidents involving falls, severe burns from electrical shocks and arc flashes/fires, and crushing injuries have been reported to OSHA. One example: