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Picnics. Family gatherings. Barbecues. Plenty of adult beverages and now, legal marijuana. During the long Labor Day weekend, many Americans will enjoy themselves in many different ways – some of which will hamper their ability to drive safely. That’s where tens of thousands of law enforcement officers across the U.S. (who won’t get days off over the holiday) come in. They’ll be enforcing a crackdown on impaired drivers, spearheaded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Despite a dozen OSHA inspections in the past four years, the Fuyao Glass America Inc. plant in Moraine, Ohio is still exposing employees to a variety of safety and health hazards. That’s according to the most recent OSHA action, which found that in addition to electrical safety violations, the company has failed to:

In a study that spanned two and a half decades and looked at data from more than 4,700 participants, Johns Hopkins researchers have added to evidence that abnormal blood pressure in midlife persisting into late life increases the likelihood of developing dementia. Although not designed to show cause and effect, the study suggests that maintaining a healthy blood pressure throughout life may be one way to help decrease one’s risk of losing brain function.

In the study, “Suicide and drug‐related mortality following occupational injury,” published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, researchers found that workplace injury significantly raises a person’s risk of suicide or overdose death. Earlier studies have shown that injured workers have elevated rates opioid use and depression.

Compared to small and "micro" businesses, larger companies have made more progress toward introducing the Total Worker Health (TWH) approach to worker health and safety, reports the August Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. "Our results indicate a need for intervention research that specifically targets microbusinesses and small businesses, especially in light of the outsized health and safety risks encountered in these sectors of the economy," write Liliana Tenney, MPH, and colleagues of Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado, Aurora.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has found Altor Inc. - a construction company based in Washington Township, New Jersey and its president Vasilio Saites in contempt of court for failing to pay $412,000 in penalties assessed by OSHA. The agency cited Altor for numerous safety violations, including multiple willful violations of OSHA’s fall protection standards.

A pollutant associated with climate change is sulfur dioxide, a component of smog. Sulfur dioxide and closely related chemicals are known primarily as a cause of acid rain. But they also reflect light when released in the atmosphere, which keeps sunlight out and creates a cooling effect. Volcanic eruptions can spew massive amounts of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, sometimes causing cooling that lasts for years.