The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released this week show that the incidence rate for non-fatal occupational injuries and illnesses in the meat and poultry packing and processing industry reached an all-time industry low.
OSHA cited wholesale auto and truck parts distributor Parts Authority Georgia, LLC, for exposing workers to smoke and fire hazards. Inspectors determined that the company allowed obstructed exits; exposed workers to struck-by hazards from damaged storage rack supports and shelves; and failed to provide training on recognizing chemical hazards.
Two-thirds of theater technicians and actors have experienced head impacts related to working in theater environments, according to a survey study in the March Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Apparently, though, the old adage, “the show must go on” is adhered to by theatre folk. Despite the fact that many of these injuries cause concussion symptoms, theater personnel usually continue their work onstage or backstage, according to the study by Jeffrey A. Russell, PhD, and Brooke M. Daniell, MEd, of Ohio University, Athens.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s NIOSH, between January, 2015 to February, 2017 oil and gas extraction workers were involved in 602 incidents, some resulting in multiple injuries. There were 481 hospitalizations and 166 amputations.
One state’s successful strategies for reducing the number of injured workers at risk for opioid addiction will be shared with workers compensation experts from around the country at the upcoming Workers Compensation Research Institute’s (WCRI) conference in Boston. In 2011, the OBWC found that more than 8,000 injured workers were opioid-dependent for taking the equivalent of at least 60 mg a day of morphine for 60 or more days. By the end of 2017, that number was reduced to 3,315, which meant 4,714 fewer injured workers were at risk for opioid addiction, overdose, and death than in 2011.
Fewer than half of all employers required to send their injury and illness information into OSHA last year sent in the information. “The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was expecting about 350,000 summaries to be submitted by Dec. 31, the agency numbers provided to Bloomberg Environment March 7 show. Instead, employers required to participate submitted 153,653 reports, OSHA said.”
Jim manages a manufacturing plant that makes office furniture using plywood and other engineered wood products. Their worksite takes worker safety seriously, and is interested to know if the rate of severe injuries they are experiencing is high compared to injuries occurring at other office furniture manufacturing plants.
Falls are one of the most common causes of death for ironworkers. But they also risk injuries from steel beam or reinforced concrete wall collapses, "struck-by" injuries from falling or swinging objects, and contact with live electrical lines.
That’s a good bit of risk for an average $45,000 salary.
Patients older than 18 years of age who suffered falls from ladders over a five and a half year period were identified for a study. Of 27,155 trauma patients, 340 (1.3%) had suffered falls from ladders. The average age was 55 years, with a male predominance of 89.3%. Average fall height was 9.8 ft. Increasing age was associated with a decrease in the mean fall height, an increase in the mean Injury Severity Score, and higher likelihood of hospital admission.
Analysis of data from three surveillance systems showed that in 2011, work-related ladder fall injuries (LFIs) resulted in 113 fatalities, an estimated 15,460 nonfatal injuries that involved more than one day away from work, and an estimated 34,000 nonfatal injuries treated in emergency departments. Workers who are male, Hispanic, older, self-employed, work in smaller establishments, and work doing construction and extraction or installation, maintenance, and repair experience higher LFI rates.
