Environmental Health and Safety

RSS

Registration is open for the nation’s largest conference for occupational safety and health professionals. The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) expects to draw more than 5,000 attendees from 40 countries to its Safety 2020 Professional Development Conference and Exposition. The event takes place June 23-25 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.

Although sales of artificial trees have risen from 11.9 million in 2012 to 23.6 in 2018, sales of real trees have remained stable. Approximately 32.8 million real trees were sold in the U.S. last year. Lovers of real Christmas trees appreciate their scent and authenticity. However, without a simple maintenance measure, a real Christmas tree can pose a significant fire danger in a home.

Inadequate planning and communication were what led to the 2016 gas pipeline explosion and fire in Alabama that killed two workers and injured four others, according to an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The October 31 blast near Helena occurred when a contractor who was excavating damaged the Colonial Pipeline Company’s (Colonial) 36-inch diameter refined liquid petroleum transmission pipeline

Amazon operates on-site emergency clinics, named AmCare, for workers. The idea is that employees can go to those facilities, which have on-staff, licensed emergency medical technicians and injury prevention specialists, and get treated faster without needing to travel off-site. As convenient as this may sound, however, reports suggest there are some issues with that approach. Here are some of them.

Honeywell (NYSE: HON) today announced that it has acquired Rebellion Photonics, a Houston-based provider of innovative, intelligent, visual gas monitoring solutions that maximize safety, operational performance, emissions mitigation and compliance in the oil and gas, petrochemical and power industries.

After two separate inspections, OSHA has cited ArcelorMittal Cleveland LLC for exposing employees to falls. The agency has proposed $222,579 in penalties. OSHA inspected the steel plant after an employee suffered multiple fractures and a partial amputation of his right leg from a fall in June 2019.

Dollar Tree gets hit with a new set of the same old violations, Exxon loses a legal bid to keep refinery blast info from the CSB and nominations open for National Safety Council awards for safety professionals. These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

Air pollution is known to be a serious health risk –a cause of asthma, heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and a factor, according to the World Health Organization, in an estimated seven million deaths worldwide every year. A growing body of research suggests air pollution may also be harming our brains. In recent years, new areas of study have opened up into how air pollution might affect our minds and the way we think and feel.

The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) is holding a one-day virtual symposium on Wednesday, Jan. 15, that will focus on occupational health and safety management systems and how they can reduce injuries, illnesses and fatalities in any organization. The symposium will include four webinars and provide registrants with two standards for free.