BROOKHAVEN, Miss. — Two police officers were shot and killed following an early Saturday morning confrontation in Mississippi, authorities said. Warren Strain of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety said at a news conference that the officers were called to a house in the city of Brookhaven at about 5 a.m. for a report of shots fired.

After a yearlong delay that OSHA said it needed to address stakeholder concerns, employers in the construction industry must comply with a requirement for crane operator certification in the Cranes and Derricks Construction Standard as of November 10. Crane operators are certified (29 CFR 1926.1427), demonstrating sufficient knowledge and skill of the machines they’ll operate through both written and practical tests.

OSHA is seeking members to serve on its Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health. The group advises the Secretary of Labor on developing standards and policies affecting the construction industry. OSHA is seeking employee, employer, state safety and health agency, and public representatives with experience and expertise in construction-related safety and health issues to fill 14 vacancies.

Petroleum refineries are laden with various thermal and chemical hazards. Adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) is instrumental in providing a safe work environment for employees to complete the task at hand.

A starkly worded tweet from the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) spelled out the fate of a construction worker buried under rubble last Wednesday: “The incident is transitioning from a rescue to a recovery.” The tweet came after first responders dug for three hours in heavy rain through a mixture of mud and concrete for hours in an effort to find the worker who disappeared when a retaining wall cracked and collapsed.

A shortage of skilled workers is the number one factor affecting jobsite safety, according to a report by the Q3 2018 USG Corporation + U.S. Chamber of Commerce Commercial Construction Index (Index). The report revealed a widespread concern among commercial construction businesses about anticipated labor shortages over the next three years, with 88 percent of contractors expecting to feel at least a moderate impact from the workforce shortages in the next three years.

A construction worker was among those killed in the Cincinnati bank shooting; pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. continue to increase and some surprising data on young people who use marijuana every day. These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

OSHA has several ways in which it interacts with companies in programs that address industry-specific hazards or that help enhance worker safety on specific projects. The OSHA Strategic Partnership Program (OSPP) focuses on focus on improving safety and health in major corporations, government agencies, at large construction projects and private sector industries where OSHA has jurisdiction.

Working at road construction sites can be dangerous. Between 2011 and 2016, 532 construction workers lost their lives at road construction sites, an average of 89 workers each year. CPWR's Data Center recently explored road construction fatality trends and causes using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Two Colorado construction companies have been cited by OSHA after an employee fell to his death at a Greenwood Village worksite. The worker fell while installing metal roofing panels on a storage unit building. OSHA cited Hammers Construction Inc. and Montes Construction LLC for failing to use adequate fall protection and restrict employees from standing on the mid-rails of scissor lifts.