Construction workers are at risk of death or serious injury if they enter an unprotected trench and the walls col¬lapse. A trench is defined as a narrow underground excavation that is deeper than it is wide, and is no wider than 15 feet or 4.5 meters [OSHA]. Hazards associated with trench work and excavation are well defined and preventable.

Cal/OSHA is reminding all employers to protect their outdoor workers from heat illness as temperatures rise throughout California. The National Weather Service has issued heat advisories for triple-digit temperatures today in Fresno, Kern, Kings and Tulare counties and forecasts high heat throughout inland parts of the state next week.

What happens when an electrical lineman is working on a transformer from the bucket truck and accidentally drops a tool that results in what would otherwise be thought of as a simple spark? It could easily trigger a dangerous release of energy known as an arc flash (aka arc fault and arc blast). This release of energy, created when electrical current leaves its intended path and travels from one conductor to another, or from one conductor to the ground, can have serious—sometimes tragic—consequences.

A worker in New Jersey escaped injury after a power line fell to wet ground and arc flashed. How much energy is there? Probably very low from an arc flash perspective since the fault current would be low. The arc gap length was VERY small from the side of the line to the ground, but the clearing time was long. The worker moved in less than 2 seconds.

For clients and HR officers, employees' mental health is often a top concern. But how can you convert your workforce into a self-serving support system? Tramaine El-Amin is an energetic advocate of mental health first aid, a relatively new system of providing employees with basic training on spotting signs of emotional distress and engaging with the troubled individual in what could be a potentially crucial intervention to help the person find treatment.

A report on workers comp claims by Colorado teens sheds some light on what are common workplace injuries for young workers across the U.S. Pinnacol Assurance, which provides workers’ compensation protection to 57,000 Colorado employers, analyzed its claims history for workers under 20. The company found that more than 380 Colorado teens were injured or became ill last year because of their summer jobs.

Are you born with it? Or do you develop it over time? Although a new study on preferred learning styles was intended to make childhood education more efficient, its findings could hold some lessons for those who design safety training for adult workers.

The opioid overdose epidemic continues to claim lives across the country with a record 47,600 overdose deaths in 2017[i]. The crisis is taking an especially devastating toll on certain parts of the U.S. workforce. High rates of opioid overdose deaths have occurred in industries with high injury rates and physically demanding working conditions such as construction, mining, or fishing[ii],[iii].