A CBS policy change angers safety advocates; the final frontier is the target of government regulations and a mining safety rule change gets reversed in court. These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.
Fourth of July safety for fireworks industry employees
June 21, 2019
The pyrotechnics displays so popular during Independence Day celebrations pose serious hazards for the workers involved with setting them up and setting them off. OSHA offers some safety checklists for employers in the fireworks industry:
Appeals court denies review of fatal electrocution
June 21, 2019
A federal appeals court on Tuesday denied an appeal requested by a home contractor facing a serious U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration citation following the electrocution of two workers, one of whom died of his injuries. In 2016, on a residential construction site in Alpharetta, Georgia, a subcontractor employee supervised by Century Communities Inc. was operating a crane within 20 feet of live overhead power lines, resulting in an electrical arc flash that caused the injuries and fatality.
Rule would freeze fuel economy standards
June 21, 2019
Raising fuel economy standards will also raise the price of new vehicles and prevent families from purchasing newer, safer cars and trucks, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Deputy Administrator (NHTSA) Heidi King told Congress on Thursday. “We know that newer cars are safer and cleaner than older cars. We also know that consumers can choose whether to keep their older car or to purchase a newer, safer, cleaner car."
Calif. worker falls while installing solar panels on roof
June 20, 2019
A California solar panel installation company has been fined $193,905 by the state’s workplace safety watchdog agency, after one of its employees was seriously injured in a fall. Cal/OSHA cited Anaheim-based Nexus Energy Systems, Inc. for failing to provide required fall protection for its workers.
Public health groups blast EPA’s clean energy rule
June 20, 2019
The Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule finalized by the EPA this week is coming in for heavy criticism from leading health and environmental organizations, who are calling it “a dangerous replacement” for the Clean Power Plan. "EPA's decision to finalize the ACE rule means that more Americans will experience illness and early death – plain and simple. Furthermore, this rule will allow power plants across the nation to continue to be a major source of emissions that are driving climate change."
Safety groups to CSB: Name the dead
June 20, 2019
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board’s decision to reverse a policy of including the names of workers killed in the incidents it investigates is drawing fire from safety advocates. In a letter to the CSB, more than fifty organizations and individuals demand that the agency reinstate its policy of naming the fatally injured workers in its reports – something it had previously done since 2014. The CSB stopped the practice recently because doing so “may infer culpability on the part of the entity responsible for the operation of the facility where the incident occurred,” according to a spokesperson.
Three imperative acclimatization steps for heat-related illness prevention
June 19, 2019
Every year, thousands of workers are exposed to heat on the job created by environmental conditions, clothing and workload. This heat exposure can lead to costly mistakes, time lost due to illness and even death in extreme heat illness situations. Government organizations, like OSHA, implement guidelines and regulations to ensure that heat-related prevention practices are in place to protect these workers.
Prescribing fewer opioids not enough to combat epidemic
June 19, 2019
Solving the opioid epidemic requires a “whole person” approach that includes nonpharmacological treatment for pain, as well as ensuring that people have the employment, education and housing supports they need for long-term recovery, the chief executive officer of the American Psychological Association (APA) told a congressional panel.
Space, the final frontier, gets regulated
June 19, 2019
The U.S. Department of Transportation is in the midst of building a regulatory framework in order to “retain United States leadership and enable the limitless potential and possibilities of commercial space.” That’s the message delivered by Acting Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Daniel K. Elwell recently in Le Bourget, France, to an aerospace industry Commercial Space Panel at the Paris Air Show.
School bus driver's medical condition a factor in fatal crash, fire
June 19, 2019
By allowing someone with a known physical impairment to drive a school bus, an Iowa school district is partly responsible for a 2017 crash and fire that killed both the driver and a female student who was his passenger. That determination is part of the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) investigation into the Dec. 12 incident in Oakland, Iowa involving a bus operated by the Riverside Community School District.
Mining safety rule change reversed in court
June 19, 2019
The Trump administration’s efforts to weaken a mining safety rule was reversed last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. A three-judge panel ruled that allowing mine operators flexibility in when they can conduct inspections of mines for hazardous conditions would violate the Mine Act’s no-less-protection standard.
Texas tire facility cited after worker fatality
June 18, 2019
OSHA has cited Southern Tire Mart LLC – based in Columbia, Mississippi – for failing to protect employees from serious safety hazards after a worker suffered fatal injuries while attempting to mount a monster truck tire rim at the company’s retreading facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The company faces $341,195 in fines.
Activists claim fracking – cancer link in Pennsylvania
June 18, 2019
More than a hundred groups and hundreds of individuals from Pennsylvania have signed onto a letter to the state’s governor, calling for an official investigation into recent reports of rare cancers in counties heavily impacted by shale gas development over the last decade. The letter also calls for the Governor Tom Wolf to suspend all gas drilling permits until the investigation shows that fracking is not the cause of what appears to be an emerging public health crisis.
Train derailment kills horses, sends toxic chemicals into river
June 18, 2019
Flooding caused by heavy rainfall is one of the possible causes of a fiery train derailment earlier this year that killed and injured horses and leaked high-hazard, flammable chemicals into the environment, including a nearby river.
How employee engagement leads to better safety
June 18, 2019
Occupational health and safety professionals may not immediately see the link between employee engagement and safety, but it exists. If an employee doesn't feel engaged with their work, they also may not be sufficiently motivated to stay safe. Here's a look at why safer employers are engaged workers and vice versa.
How big a risk is rabies?
June 17, 2019
Although the U.S. has had considerable success at preventing and controlling rabies during the past 80 years, exposure to rabid animals sends approximately 55,000 Americans to hospital emergency departments each year. Dr. Anne Schuchat, Principal Deputy Director of the CDC, said that vaccination programs for dogs and the availability of post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP, the vaccine and medicine people get to prevent rabies if they may have been exposed to a rabid animal, have contributed to a 95% decrease in annual rabies deaths in people.
Report: Tokyo Olympics construction workers are being overworked
June 17, 2019
Work being done to prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo is raising concerns about worker safety. A report entitled, “The Dark Side of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics,” published last month by the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) union, claims that laborers – many of them foreign workers – are being overworked and discouraged from reporting poor employment conditions.
MSHA upgrades its compliance assist system
June 17, 2019
The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) says it has completed a major upgrade to its primary data system that will increase functionality and allow for more intuitive navigation. The agency’s Mine Data Retrieval System (MDRS) enables operators monitor their compliance with MSHA regulations. The system provides access to comprehensive mine location, status, ownership, employment, production, accident/inspection/violations history, and health sampling data.
Contractor’s defense in fatal fall: Victim was a subcontractor, not an employee
Dead worker was contractor's half-brother
June 17, 2019
A Maine contractor who was indicted on manslaughter charges after the death of an employee – his own half-brother – maintains that he is not culpable because his workers are not his employees and he cannot compel them to use fall protection. Shawn D. Purvis, owner of Purvis Home Improvement Co. in Saco, pleaded not guilty to the charges in April.
