The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has published a new webpage on Suicide and Occupation. The page includes factors that are linked to increased risk of suicide among occupations, ways to prevent suicide in the workplace, and a host of other resources. There were more than 47,000 deaths by suicide in the U.S. in 2017. It was the second leading cause of death among people 10 to 34 years of age.
Although a decades-long decline in the breast cancer death rate continues (with a slowdown in recent years), breast cancer incidence rates are on the rise. These trends are outlined in Breast Cancer Statistics, 2019-2020, the latest edition of the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) biennial update of breast cancer statistics in the United States, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, and the accompanying Breast Cancer Facts & Figures.
As the keynote speaker at the American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) Fall Conference, safety expert Richard Hawk presented "The Future of Safety in Manufacturing Plants: A Hawk-Eye View of What's on the Safety and Health Horizon." Hawk, who has more than 35 years of experience in the health and safety field, offered tips for how to energize on-site safety trainings at manufacturing plants and facilities.
A new report from the CDC sheds some possible light on the spate of lung injuries associated with e-cigarette use. Although the exact cause of the injuries is unknown, the latest findings – which were published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) – suggest that THC products are playing a role in the outbreak.
OSHA is investigating two workplace deaths that occurred last Thursday – in Pennsylvania and Illinois.
News reports say 38-year-old Luke Marzano was part of a crew cleaning up the site of the former Bethlehem Steel Corp. headquarters – which was demolished four months ago – when he was killed in an incident.
The weight of scientific evidence has not linked cell phones with any health problems. Cell phones emit low levels of radiofrequency energy (RF). Over the past 15 years, scientists have conducted hundreds of studies looking at the biological effects of the radiofrequency energy emitted by cell phones.
Sleeping on the job was once considered taboo, but today, more companies are encouraging employees to take a mid-shift snooze. And it’s a wise practice: 29 percent of workers report falling asleep or becoming very sleepy at work, and a lack of sleep costs the United States $63 billion each year in lost productivity.
The following are recent OSHA enforcement cases around the country, including a Florida roofing company, an Ohio roofing contractor, a Michigan pipeline company, a Florida tortilla company, a New York frozen foods packager, a Wisconsin manufacturing company, and a Pennsylvania manufacturing company.
Yes, this is a story about errors - plural - made by one person, me. I’m not going to beat myself up here. James Reason, professor emeritus at the University of Manchester (UK), and one of the seminal authorities on human error, reminds us that most errors are caused by good, competent people who are trying to do the right thing.