The opioid epidemic’s toll on the U.S. workforce, retaliation against an undocumented worker leads to his arrest and federal worker safety agencies get a look at what could be their budgets next year. These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

The goal behind the digital oilfield is to optimize oilfield operations through the provision and implementation of data and analysis tools. These digital methodologies are becoming more common in logistics and machinery monitoring - areas that can be translated from other industries. The Holy Grail still remains providing real-time, reliable production data.

"We see big opportunities to deploy innovative strategies and technologies to monitor, measure and ultimately prevent emissions," said Matt Kolesar, regulatory manager at ExxonMobil’s XTO Energy affiliate, Since 2017, ExxonMobil has expanded its U.S. methane leak detection program, committed to its first global methane target, supported methane monitoring technology innovation and encouraged EPA to regulate methane emissions at new and existing sources.

Ethylene oxide (EtO) is a common, highly hazardous industrial chemical linked to breast cancer and immune system cancers like non-Hodgkin lymphoma and lymphocytic leukemia (see EPA IRIS Exec Summary, Dec 2016). Concerned community members in Illinois made it a 2018 campaign issue after two federal agencies released studies showing elevated cancer risks outside Chicago.

Chemical processing facilities that produce high concentrations of fine, hazardous, combustible and nuisance dust need an industrial dust collector that is cost effective to operate and easy to maintain on the plant floor. The Quad Pulse Package 2 (QPP2) dust collector from Camfil Air Pollution Control (APC) has two main filter cartridges designed for 590-1765 cubic-feet-per-minute air volumes to increase filtration capacity.

The integration of the social determinants of health paradigm by occupational and public health researchers and institutions is leading to a recognition of the need for a more holistic and nuanced perspective on work and its impact on population health (Ahonen et al 2018; Schulte and Vainio, 2010; WHO 2008). Fundamental to this transformation is the need to complement traditional approaches to occupational health with new conceptual and methodological perspectives that can better account for the social aspects of health and well-being.

Software that uses AI to conduct ergonomics risk assessments, a fume extraction system and fall prevention devices were the top occupational safety and health products featured on ISHN.com this week.

Dennis Mason's body was found, face down, between his truck and a crude oil tank at a well site near Kingfisher, Okla. Investigators immediately suspected he was killed by toxic vapors from the oil. But they weren't able to prove it, because state medical examiners didn't test Mason's blood for petroleum chemicals before declaring his death natural, the result of heart failure. OSHA inspectors had quickly sent word to the medical examiners that they suspected his death was related to his job hauling oil for Sunoco Logistics Partners.

The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH®) has released Industrial Ventilation: A Manual of Recommended Practice for Design, 30th Edition, which is one of over 25 titles featured in the ACGIH® Signature Publications Series.

The effect of plastic on workers in the plastic industry, Apple’s efforts to resist curbs on distracted driving and amateur video helps a state OSH agency crack down on asbestos violators. These were among the top safety stories featured this week on ISHN.com.