Artificial stone countertops, also known as "quartz stone countertops," are made by polymerizing quartz aggregate and resin binder. These materials look similar to natural stone and are increasingly used in residential construction and home furnishings. Between 2010 and 2018, imports of quartzite countertops in the United States have increased by nearly 800% (US International Trade Commission).
Environmental cold can affect any worker exposed to cold air temperatures and puts workers at risk of cold stress. As wind speed increases, it causes the cold air temperature to feel even colder, increasing the risk of cold stress to exposed workers, especially those working outdoors, such as recreational workers, snow cleanup crews, construction workers, police officers and firefighters.
The European Roadmap on Carcinogens – an initiative first launched in May 2016 in Amsterdam under the Dutch EU Presidency – was extended last week in Helsinki by organizations that included the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). The roadmap is a voluntary effort to raise awareness among workers and employers about the risks of exposure to carcinogens in the workplace.
From 2006 through 2016, injury and illness rates declined overall for private industry, including the wholesale and retail trade sectors. For its size, the WRT workforce experienced a disproportionately 5% higher burden or share of serious work-related injuries and illnesses. WRT is one of the largest economic sectors in the United States – even a small increase in the burden affects large numbers of workers, their families, employers, and communities.
For the first time since 2012, the national injury rate for U.S. workplaces did not decline in 2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
There were 2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported by private industry employers in 2018, unchanged from 2017. In both years the total recordable injury case rate (TRC) per 100 full-time workers was 2.8 cases.
The National Safety Council (NSC) is concerned with the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing no change in the number of workplace injuries and illnesses between 2017 and 2018. This marks the first year since 2012 that the total recordable cases rate for workplace injuries and illnesses did not decline. Every employee deserves a safe work environment and to return home safely at the end of each work day.
A company based in Anson, Maine has been cited by OSHA for an employee fatality that occurred at a jobsite in Inman, Nebraska.
Smith Mountain Investments LLC is a professional pole inspection company that inspects and treats some of the 150,000,000 wood utility poles in North America to ensure structural integrity.
An employee of the company became ill while performing extreme physical activity in excessive temperatures in July 2019 and later died.
The Spanish government’s recent proposal to double the occupational exposure limit value (OELV) for silica is being met with opposition by worker safety advocates. The current limit is 0.05 mg/m³. Under a draft decree presented to the national occupational health and safety commission earlier this month, OELV would be raised to (0.1mg/m³).
Contrary to previously announced plans, OSHA will not revoke all of the ancillary provisions in its Beryllium Standards for Construction and Shipyards. Beryllium is a strong, lightweight metal used in the aerospace, telecommunications, information technology, defense, medical, and nuclear industries. Workers who are exposed to beryllium – by inhaling or contacting it in the air or on surfaces - are at risk for developing beryllium disease and lung cancer.
On-the-job exposure to high levels of pesticides raised the risk of heart disease and stroke in a generally healthy group of Japanese American men in Hawaii, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the open access journal of the American Heart Association (AHA).
