Occupational injuries - Articles - Page 13

Fingers, hands at special risk in poultry processing operations

February 19, 2019

On July 3, 2015, an employee of Tyson Foods was preparing for work at the line 4B tender clipping station at the company’s poultry processing plant in Sedalia, Missouri. The stand slipped, pinching her middle finger between the frame and the processing line. Her finger was amputated between the nail-bed and first knuckle.

Wearable tech brings lithium battery explosion risk

February 18, 2019

If your employees wear small, wearable devices powered by lithium batteries – such as body cameras – they are potentially at risk from burns or other injuries if the devices catch fire or explode. Those outcomes may occur if the batteries are defective or become damaged. There were more than 25,000 overheating or fire incidents involving lithium battery-powered consumer products over a recent five-year-period, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

OSHA’s rulemaking procedure under scrutiny

Teenage health care worker regulation change prompted calls for review

February 1, 2019

The U.S. Department of Labor is investigating whether the U.S. Department of Labor under the Trump administration is following proper procedures when making regulatory changes to worker safety regulations. In a letter to Congressional Democrats, who’d requested an audit of the DOL’s rulemaking process, DOL Inspector General Scott S. Dahl said a review of the “integrity of the rulemaking process” at OSHA was already underway.

A FairWarning Story

Labor Department waters down injury reporting rule targeted by business

Eli Wolfe

January 31, 2019

A requirement that employers disclose more information about worker injuries to safety officials and the public has been scaled back by the Trump administration. The Labor Department action, reflecting the administration’s broad push to ease regulations on business, weakens an Obama-era initiative to improve safety enforcement and crack down on underreporting of job injuries. The 2016 rule, which had been hailed by safety advocates, drew the ire of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups.

Outdoor workers at heightened risk during bitter cold

January 30, 2019

With extreme cold spreading across a large section of the U.S., the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is reminding workers whose job requires them to work outdoors in cold, wet, icy, or snowy conditions to “be prepared and be aware” to prevent cold-related illnesses and injuries such as hypothermia and frostbite.

Advocacy groups file lawsuit against OSHA’s electronic reporting rule

January 29, 2019

A coalition of advocacy groups have filed a complaint (PDF) with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia over OSHA’s rollback of a provision in its final electronic injury and illness reporting rule, which was issued during the partial government shutdown. Public Citizen, along with the American Public Health Association and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists said in the suit that OSHA “failed to provide a reasoned explanation” for its decision to reverse a requirement that certain businesses electronically submit workplace injury and illness records to OSHA.

OSHA eliminates key provision in recordkeeping rule

January 25, 2019

Companies with 250 or more employees will not be required to electronically submit information from OSHA Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) and OSHA Form 301, under the final rule issued yesterday by OSHA. That Obama-era provision was eliminated after an unusually speedy review of the rule by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

New resources for safety professionals on workplace injury trends, winter & agricultural safety

January 22, 2019

The National Safety Council has posted an online version of the Injury Facts reference book for safety statistics. The free resource features a section on workplace safety that includes work-related injury and fatality trends, and how to benchmark an organization's injury and illness incidence rates with national averages.

Injury & illness tracking rule approved - but what's in it?

January 21, 2019

Despite being shut down during the partial federal government shutdown, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) last week approved OSHA’s final Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses rule. What are the details? The public doesn’t know and will not know until the rule can be published in the Federal Register, which is closed for business during the shutdown.

Contractor in crane accident cited for failing to ensure operator competence

January 14, 2019

A crane collapse that caused injuries in New York City last summer has resulted in citations against a Missouri-based contractor. Three construction workers were injured – one critically - when an unsecured mini-crane overturned and fell four stories from an East Harlem worksite on June 25, 2018. The injured included the worker who fell with the crane.