As a Distributor for SonicAire, we are proud to announce the new SA-XD2 Fan. We have been pleased with the previous fans that our customers appreciate in their Class I, Div 1 locations and our other customers in Class II, Division 2 locations have been patiently waiting for the release of this new fan. It is designed for highly hazardous environments that have ignitable fibers and handle heavier combustible particles.

A South Florida utility company has been cited for multiple violations, after an employee was killed by a steel plate that fell on him as he installed sewer lines at a Naples Park worksite. Douglas N. Higgins Inc. was cited by OSHA for permitting employees to work in a trench without adequate cave-in protection; failing to provide safe entry and exit from a trench, perform atmospheric testing, and train employees on signals used when moving trench boxes; and allowing employees to use defective equipment to hoist a compactor.

Honeywell (NYSE: HON) today launched a new connected portable gas detector designed to keep workers safe in dangerous confined spaces while featuring a simple and easy to use design. The new Honeywell BW™ Ultra monitors up to five different gases simultaneously, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), while leveraging Bluetooth connectivity to allow safety managers to collect and track valuable data.

New Pig, Grainger, Radians, Neese Industries, Motion Industries and Power Industries all made the ISHN news this week for acquisitions, programs and other changes that have an impact on the safety product industry. Here’s the latest:

Palo Alto, CA — A 36-year-old man died while working on trees at a Stanford University housing complex in Palo Alto on Saturday afternoon, Palo Alto fire officials said Monday. He has been identified as Jesus Silva Romero of San Jose, according to the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s office.

Cracks in the north and south ends of the pedestrian bridge that collapsed in Miami March 15th are being scrutinized by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in its ongoing investigation of the incident. One bridge worker and five other people - occupants of crushed cars - were killed when the 174-foot-long bridge fell onto an eight-lane street below.

Eighteen of the 21 workers injured in an explosion at a Texas chemical plant on Saturday have been released from hospitals after being treated for burn injuries and injuries from falling off a scaffold, according to news sources. Both the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) and OSHA are investigating the incident at the Kuraray America facility in Pasadena, which may have been caused by a leak of ethylene, a highly flammable gas used in the manufacture of plastics.

NIOSH wants you to think about occupational exposure in a different way. Several experts discussed the “under the radar” topic on Tuesday in three parts: the exposome, cumulative risk assessment and total worker health. Each of these initiatives contributes in complementary ways to the improvement of worker health and wellbeing.

Gary Clinton, EHS Manager of BEMIS Packaging in Missouri, talks about the safety challenges he encountered when he arrived at BEMIS, and how his company partnered with Grainger to help him make sure his employees stayed safe in the workplace.