Environmental Health and Safety - Articles - Page 208

Eye injuries account for 25% of welder workers’ comp claims

December 6, 2017

What activities and circumstances are proximal to a welding-related occupational eye injury? Researchers categorized and described the activity, initiating process, mechanism of injury, object and/or substance, and the use of protective eyewear from the narrative text data reported for each injury.

Gas buildup kills one, injures two in Augusta, Georgia

December 6, 2017

Welders in a shop in Augusta, Georgia, were welding a plate onto the outside of a non-pressurized waste water collection tank in preparation for installing a hand rail. The atmosphere was tested surrounding the tank, but the inside was not. The welders didn't know what the gas buildup was, but the air in the tank was combustible. One of the victims in the explosion that occurred at the DSM Resins plant in September, 2017, was working inside a tank when the explosion happened.

Welding torch ignites fire; one worker hospitalized

December 6, 2017

One person was transported to the hospital after an accident at a warehouse caused an explosion in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, fire officials say.

Retired miners may get to keep promised health care benefits

December 4, 2017

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals last week dismissed an appeal by CONSOL Energy that sought to overturn a federal judge’s decision requiring CONSOL to continue paying for health care benefits to some 3,400 retired miners, their dependents and widows. Judge David A. Faber of the Federal Court for Southern West Virginia in Bluefield found CONSOL was attempting to violate a collective bargaining agreement requirement to pay for lifetime health care benefits for retirees.

A Confined Space blog post

Hurricane recovery workers face safety, health and wage problems according to report

December 1, 2017

Substandard conditions in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey have impacted workers’ health and safety on the job, as well as their wages according to a devastating new report from from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and University of Illinois Chicago that surveyed 360 workers. The report also offers recommendations for improving working conditions during post-disaster recovery operations. Hurricanes and other disasters present a major challenge for OSHA and other local and national government agencies dedicated to protecting workers during recovery operations.

Mugno faces Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday

Jordan Barab

November 30, 2017

Scott Mugno, President Trump’s choice to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, will go before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee next Tuesday at 10:00 am for his confirmation hearing. Mugno is Vice President for Safety, Sustainability and Vehicle Maintenance at FedEx Ground in Pittsburgh and was formerly Managing Director for FedEx Express Corporate Safety, Health and Fire Protection in Memphis. You can watch it LIVE here.

Free medical screening offers chance for life-saving early detection

November 29, 2017

Hayden McClure didn’t know he had cancer – didn’t know he was even at risk – until he took the test offered by the Building Trades National Medical Screening Program. It saved his life. McClure, a member of Anchorage, Alaska, Local 1547, worked on a Department of Energy site at Amchitka Island that qualified him for the free medical screening.

Europeans ponder workplace v. home health inequalities

November 28, 2017

‘Workplaces are not merely spaces where people work – they are spaces where people live their lives. Anything which would be prohibited on grounds of consumer health or environmental protection should also be prohibited in workplaces.’ These were the words with which Laurent Vogel, a researcher at the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), closed the ‘Work and Cancer’ conference organised by the ETUI in November in Brussels.

A Confined Space blog post

Editorial board resigns after corporate takeover of worker-oriented public health journal

Jordan Barab

November 27, 2017

The entire 22-member Editorial Board of the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health resigned this morning after a months-long struggle with the Journal’s new owners who have “have acted in a profoundly unethical fashion” and have moved the worker-oriented publication to a more corporate focus.

Calif. solar project workers contract Valley Fever

November 24, 2017

Cal/OSHA has cited six employers $241,950 for workplace safety and health violations after reports that workers contracted Valley Fever on a solar project construction site in Monterey County. Valley Fever is caused by a microscopic fungus known as Coccidioides immitis, which lives in the top two to 12 inches of soil in many parts of the state. When soil is disturbed by digging, driving, or high winds, fungal spores can become airborne and may be inhaled by workers.