In the face of global competition, fabricators are looking for new ways to lower per-piece costs. While automation is one option, another attactive opportunity is machine safeguarding. Having proper safetyguarding in place can not only reduce accidents, it can increase a fabricator's overall productivity and profitability, eliminate costly OSHA violations and legal expenses, and lower insurance premiums.

The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH), a nationwide training and advocacy organization for workers and families, is accepting nominations for its “Dirty Dozen” list of employers who fail to provide safe conditions for their workers.

Patented in 1945, the “original” Lewis Hooded Safety Knife has been selling for over 80 years. This knife is an economical step up in safety over a typical utility knife that can be left with the blade exposed if the user forgets to retract it.

Two organizations dedicated to fire prevention have chosen a day on which a technology that can do just that will be the focus. The National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) and the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC) have designated May 19, 2018 as Home Fire Sprinkler Day. Home fires claim the lives of seven people each day.

The deadline by which underground coal mine operators must equip continuous mining machines with proximity detection systems is fast approaching. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has issued an alert to remind the mining industry that the deadline for installing the life-saving technology is March 16, 2018.

Safety professionals, “electrical safety ambassadors” and would-be electrical workers may want to tune into a Twitter Chat next week hosted by the Electrical Safety Foundation International’s (ESFI) Communications Committee.

Preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council indicate motor vehicle deaths dipped slightly – 1% – in 2017, claiming 40,100 lives versus the 2016 total of 40,327. The small decline is not necessarily an indication of progress as much as a leveling off of the steepest two-year increase in over 50 years.

Two train accidents within 13 weeks of each other – one in New Jersey and the other in New York – had the same root causes, says the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB): the undiagnosed sleep apnea of the trains’ engineers. Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. It can result in a sufferer feeling tired even after a full night's sleep.

The percentage of crashes involving drowsiness is nearly eight times higher than federal estimates indicate, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The travel organization is touting the study as the most in-depth drowsy driving research ever conducted in the U.S. using footage of everyday drivers.

The Organization for Standardization (ISO) has announced the release date for the global occupational safety and health management standard it’s been working on for five years. ISO 45001, Occupational health and safety management systems – Requirements, will be available starting March 12, 2018. The global death toll from work-related accidents or diseases is 600 people die each day, or more than 2.78 million a year.