Keeping workers safe involves more than dealing with work-related hazards. The natural disasters that wreak havoc on homes – as we see so often in media reports – also affect businesses, and the people in them. Fortunately, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a wealth of resources to help EHS practitioners cope with disasters.

An online information source is reporting that the Williams Olefins chemical plant that exploded Thursday in southern Louisiana has not been inspected by OSHA in at least two decades.

Both OSHA and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) are investigating Thursday’s explosion at the Williams Olefins plant in south Louisiana -- which was followed a day later by another fatal chemical plant blast only a few miles away.

One person was killed and more than seventy injured in an explosion and fire this morning at a Louisiana chemical plant, according to news sources. The blast took place at the Williams Chemical Plant in Ascension Parish.

In the wake of a building collapse that killed six people and injured 13 others, Philadelphia has moved swiftly to tighten regulations on contractors who work on demolitions.

The safety inspector who surveyed a Philadelphia building before it collapsed last week has committed suicide, according to news sources. The collapse killed three workers and three patrons. Thirteen others were buried in rubble and were rescued.