Ebola featured prominently in the EHS-related news featured on ISHN this week – including an article on how employers can prepare to safeguard their workers from the illness. In other news. OSHA opened the comment period on its PELs update and federal agencies joined forces with a top telephone carrier to reduce communications tower worker deaths.
Dozens injured in Arkansas train accident
October 16, 2014
A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) go-team is en route to northwest, Arkansas to investigate a train crash that reportedly injured 44 people – five of them critically. News sources say a freight train collided with a stalled passenger train that it had been sent to assist.
Ohio worker dies while clearing reactor drain
Company placed in Severe Violator Enforcement Program
October 16, 2014
Following the death of an employee at Haverhill Chemicals LLC, OSHA has cited the manufacturer for 21 serious and two other-than-serious safety violations. Many of the violations involve OSHA's Process Safety Management Standards, which contain specific requirements for managing highly hazardous chemicals used in work.
Employers urged to prepare for Ebola
October 16, 2014
In a message that will resonate across the country, the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) and the New York State Nurses Association are urging employers in their state to make Ebola preparedness a top priority.
ACGIH® announces 2015 election results
October 16, 2014
ACGIH® is pleased to announce new members for its 2015 Board of Directors and its 2015 Nominating Committee. In accordance with a 2013 amendment to the ACGIH® Bylaws, ACGIH®’s membership elected three (3) members to serve as Directors on the Board of Directors.
Philly tackles alarming increase in pedestrian fatalities
October 16, 2014
Philadelphia is hoping that a $525,000 grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will help it reverse a three year trend of increased pedestrian fatalities. A total of 31 pedestrians were killed in motor vehicle crashes during 2012, representing 29 percent of the city's total traffic fatalities.
CDC, Frontier Airlines notify passengers of Ebola threat
October 16, 2014
On the morning of Oct. 14, the second healthcare worker reported to the hospital with a low-grade fever and was isolated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirms that the second healthcare worker who tested positive last night for Ebola traveled by air Oct. 13, the day before she reported symptoms.
New worker killed at Mississippi lumber mill
Safety guard had been removed
October 15, 2014
A Graham Lumber Co. employee was killed after he became entangled in a conveyor belt at the company's lumber mill in Fulton. The worker, employed at the company for less than two weeks, was cleaning up sawdust and bark around an unguarded conveyor when the entanglement occurred.
A NIOSH Science Blog post
Drive Safely Work Week 2014
October 15, 2014
The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) is calling on leaders of companies and organizations to emphasize road safety for all employees—not just those who drive company vehicles— as a core component of the organization’s safety culture.
DOL, FCC form working group to prevent fatalities in telecom industry
October 15, 2014
Kathy Pierce expected her son, Chad Weller, to come home on March 19, 2014, at the end of his shift as a cell tower climber. But Weller, always ready with a smile for his mother, never came back. He was sent up alone to fix a communication signal on top of a water tower in the rain while wearing a harness two sizes too big - and he lost his life in a fatal fall.
“Triple gloving” violates CDC Ebola protection protocol
October 15, 2014
The nurse in Texas stricken with the Ebola virus, the first transmission of the disease in the United States, seemed to have taken all the precautions needed to protect herself from Ebola, according to press reports.
Aluminum plant showed 'total disregard for worker safety and health'
October 15, 2014
Employees at Matalco US Inc. in Canton were exposed to amputation, fall hazards and unsafe crane operations, according to an OSHA inspection which resulted in two willful, one repeat and two serious safety violations, carrying proposed penalties of $130,200.
CSB wants changes in emergency response guidebook
October 14, 2014
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is recommending changes to the widely-used Emergency Response Guidebook published by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for emergency responders to use when confronting chemical fires, explosions and releases of hazardous materials.
Michaels on PELs rule: “We have an opportunity”
October 14, 2014
In formally requesting input from stakeholders about its bid to update chemical permissible exposure limits, OSHA is “initiating a national dialogue” about ways to prevent work-related illness caused by exposure to hazardous substances.
How was the Texas nurse exposed to Ebola?
October 14, 2014
An Ebola diagnosis for a healthcare worker at Texas Presbyterian Hospital who cared for a patient with the disease has the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) scrambling to determine how she was exposed despite wearing a protective gown, gloves, mask and shield.
Worker fatally engulfed in South Dakota grain elevator
October 14, 2014
A 51-year-old worker was fatally injured when he became engulfed in flowing grain in a railcar load-out elevator at Prairie Ag Partners. The worker was killed when attempting to remove a jam from a chute while the auger was moving.
The Ebola threat: How scared should you be?
Psychologists say being prepared can help us feel more in control
October 13, 2014
The possibility of a catastrophic incident, such as a pandemic, severe weather or a terrorist attack, creates unease for many people. Psychologists who study risk perception and people’s potential reactions to unpredictable threats say that people can prepare themselves psychologically and therefore feel more in control if such an event were to occur.
Teams from West Virginia, Virginia take top prizes in mine rescue skills championship
October 13, 2014
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has announced the winners of the Nationwide Coal Mine Rescue Skills Championship, hosted by the Mining Technology and Training Center, which took place recently in Prosperity, Pennsylvania.
Construction worker dies after being struck-by an excavator bucket
OSHA cites Van Kirk Sand and Gravel for 2 serious violations after fatal incident
October 13, 2014
Two workers were injured, one fatally, after being struck-by an excavator bucket while installing stormwater drainage in a trench in Holdrege, Nebraska on July 17, 2014. OSHA cited Van Kirk Sand and Gravel, which operates as Van Kirk Brothers Contracting, for two serious safety violations related to the incident.
