OSHA has cited roofing company Aspen Contracting Inc. – based in Lee’s Summit, Missouri – and subcontractor J Cuellar LLC – based in West Bend, Wisconsin – for exposing employees to dangerous fall hazards at a Fountain, Colorado construction site. The companies face proposed penalties totaling $147, 998.

The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) Foundation today released a fatigue research report that shows the value of wearable technology in the workplace, encouraging employers to make a New Year’s resolution to monitor the fatigue levels of its workers to reduce injuries and increase productivity.

With a new year dawning, it’s a good time to review the rights and requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act), which was passed to prevent workers from being killed or otherwise harmed at work. The OSH Act gives workers the right to safe and healthful working conditions. In order to ensure their protection from job hazards, workers can:

A staffing company fraudulently sells OSHA training certificates, how to use training to get your workers in “The Zone” and how virtual reality is being used to train first responders were among the top safety training stories of 2018.

Now is the time for occupational safety professionals to check that the safety and hygiene practices in place at their workplaces are compliant with regulatory bodies — like OSHA — and will safeguard workers' wellbeing. Data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates that workplace accidents show a prolonged downward trend, but that's no reason to get complacent.

The lack of effective protection on industrial machines is a leading safety concern, ranking among the top ten most frequently cited violations by OSHA, and one that puts thousands of operators at risk for catastrophic injuries.

Thirty-five years ago in a downtown St. Paul (MN) hospital, Ergodyne founder Dr. Thomas W. Votel sparked an industrial safety revolution with a unique solution to a widespread — and costly — problem. “I always had a concern about the injuries we saw in work comp claimed in the health services industry,” recalls Dr. Votel. “Most of those complaints were due to injuries which occurred on the job.

The comment period is now open for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed objectives for Healthy People (HP) 2030. This includes proposed core objectives for Occupational Safety and Health (OSH).

OSHA and its Alliance partner, the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA), in cooperation with the Grain Elevator and Processing Society, will hold Stand-Up for Grain Safety Week, March 25-29, 2019. The event will focus on grain bin entry, machine guarding, respiratory protection, falls, heat, lockout/tagout, and other industry issues.

With the recent focus on robots and worker safety, it may be surprising to learn that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) first addressed this issue 34 years ago. In 1984, the agency released safety recommendations for working with robots after an experienced operator of an automated die-cast system died when he became pinned between the back end of an industrial robot and a steel safety pole.