News - Articles - Page 398

How gift cards can work for safety programs

It’s in the cards

February 22, 2017

Amid the discussion about the types of safety incentive programs that are most effective, it is clear that safety incentive program recipients, much like other incentive program recipients, are leaning more and more favorably toward receiving gift cards as their preferred reward for safe behavior in the workplace.

Woman killed in construction accident

February 22, 2017

A 19-year-old female construction worker was killed last month in a work-related accident in west Bexar County, Texas. A sheriff's deputy at the scene said that a backhoe operator didn't know the victim was at the bottom of a 15-foot hole when he dropped the digger into the hole, killing her.

MSHA to award $1M in mine safety training grants

‘Brookwood-Sago’ grants honor 25 fallen Alabama, West Virginia miners

February 22, 2017

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has announced the availability of up to $1 million in grants for education and training programs to help identify, avoid and prevent unsafe working conditions in and around the nation’s mines.

Protecting dry-cleaning workers from hazmat

February 22, 2017

If you have ever opened a dry-cleaning bag and put on a freshly laundered garment, you know that dry-cleaning can make clothes look and smell almost new. That freshness, however, is created using chemicals that may be potentially harmful to employees who work in the dry-cleaning process. Although today’s dry-cleaners are moving away from using perchloroethylene, a toxic chemical that may cause cancer, the work-related health effects of the chemicals taking its place are unknown.

Shift work and heavy lifting may reduce women’s fertility

February 21, 2017

A physically demanding job or work schedules outside normal office hours may lower a woman's ability to conceive, suggests research published in Occupational & Environmental Medicine. Researchers say women who work nights and irregular shifts have fewer eggs capable of developing into healthy embryos than those who keep regular daytime hours.

A NIOSH Science Blog post

Using 3 data sources to create a single wildland fire fighter on-duty death surveillance system

February 21, 2017

Wildland fire fighters are required to pass an “arduous duty” physical fitness test annually to help ensure that they are prepared for the physical nature of the job. Unlike structural fire fighting, wildland fire fighting often requires long work shifts that may last up to 14 continuous days, and often takes place in environments that are challenging with regard to temperature and terrain.

Airport traffic enforcement employees complain of lack of safety training

February 21, 2017

Airport traffic enforcement employees at the Palm Springs (CA) International Airport are concerned because they haven’t received training in handling emergencies or disasters. Take, for example, workplace violence. A gunman opened fire in the baggage claim area of Fort Lauderdale International Airport, leaving five people dead.

How a Utah company reduced its recordable injuries by 60%

February 21, 2017

Jennmar Corporation is a family-owned company that develops and manufactures a broad range of quality ground control products designed to make mining and tunneling safer and more efficient. The Clearfield, Utah business has been in business since 1993 and has 60 employees.

Get ready for Ladder Safety Month

February 20, 2017

Falls from ladders account for about 20,000 injuries and 300 deaths in the U.S. each year, so it’s no surprise that ladder safety is getting its own month in March.

Sierra Club: Pruitt will be “most dangerous EPA administrator in history”

February 20, 2017

Last week’s Senate approval of Scott Pruitt as head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was met with dismay by a number of environmental groups.