Occupational Safety

RSS

OSHA's updated General Industry Digest – a booklet that summarizes General Industry safety and health standards to help employers, supervisors, workers, health and safety committee members, and safety and health personnel learn about OSHA standards in the workplace – is now available

With more and more Americans finding themselves in low wage work due to the effects of the recession, two public health experts have produced a policy brief that focuses on the financial impact of injuries and illnesses to that segment of the workforce.

In a decision applauded as a victory for miners' rights, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit rejected an appeal by Cordero Mining LLC of Gillette, Wyo., in a worker discrimination case. The worker, a shovel operator with 28 years of experience as a miner, filed a complaint with the Mine Safety and Health Administration in May 2010, claiming she was terminated in retaliation for her repeated safety complaints.

OSHA has cited ATW Automation Inc. for nine safety violations after a worker sustained blunt force trauma injuries at the company's machine manufacturing facility in Dayton, Ohio. The worker was caught and pinned by a conveyor that had lowered during a "power down" process, and he died from his injuries a few days later.

After three months of picture submissions and voting, the Ladder Association’s Idiots on Ladders campaign has discovered the biggest “ladder idiot” in the UK.

NIOSH researchers involved in an effort to characterize chemical hazards in the oil and gas extraction industry have found elevated levels of silica exposure during hydraulic fracturing operations.

A dramatic increase in oil and natural gas production in the U.S. has been accompanied by a rise in the fatality rate among industry workers, according to NIOSH Director Dr. John Howard, who says a new NIOSH study finds a direct relationship between the number of drilling rigs and the industry’s fatality rate.

Can OSHA survive annual budget cuts of 8% as projected in the cliff scenario? Like any organization, budget cuts at OSHA will be difficult.  Cuts to OSHA are likely to have a disproportionate effect on workers in small workplaces, workers with English as a second language and non-union workers.  All workers have the right to a safe workplace and OSHA’s job is to make certain that workplaces are safe from recognized hazards.

A new report published American Journal of Industrial Medicine reveals a widespread practice in the construction industry of hiding injuries rather than reporting them and risking retaliation.

The United Steelworkers’ (USW) Health, Safety and Environment Department has been awarded the Tony Mazzocchi Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health for its efforts to improve workplace health and safety.