Today's Safety News

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A 19-year-old female construction worker was killed last month in a work-related accident in west Bexar County, Texas. A sheriff's deputy at the scene said that a backhoe operator didn't know the victim was at the bottom of a 15-foot hole when he dropped the digger into the hole, killing her.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has announced the availability of up to $1 million in grants for education and training programs to help identify, avoid and prevent unsafe working conditions in and around the nation’s mines.

If you have ever opened a dry-cleaning bag and put on a freshly laundered garment, you know that dry-cleaning can make clothes look and smell almost new. That freshness, however, is created using chemicals that may be potentially harmful to employees who work in the dry-cleaning process. Although today’s dry-cleaners are moving away from using perchloroethylene, a toxic chemical that may cause cancer, the work-related health effects of the chemicals taking its place are unknown.

A physically demanding job or work schedules outside normal office hours may lower a woman's ability to conceive, suggests research published in Occupational & Environmental Medicine. Researchers say women who work nights and irregular shifts have fewer eggs capable of developing into healthy embryos than those who keep regular daytime hours.

Wildland fire fighters are required to pass an “arduous duty” physical fitness test annually to help ensure that they are prepared for the physical nature of the job. Unlike structural fire fighting, wildland fire fighting often requires long work shifts that may last up to 14 continuous days, and often takes place in environments that are challenging with regard to temperature and terrain.

Airport traffic enforcement employees at the Palm Springs (CA) International Airport are concerned because they haven’t received training in handling emergencies or disasters. Take, for example, workplace violence. A gunman opened fire in the baggage claim area of Fort Lauderdale International Airport, leaving five people dead.

There are many things about the workplace that we think are current but are, in fact, already grossly outdated. Gone are the days when decisions were bellowed from the top of the ladder, subjecting those of us languishing on the lower rungs to simply accept whatever a superior inflicts upon us.

The United States has thousands of workforce development and training programs, run by the public, social, and private sectors. Some are excellent; others, not so much. The problem is that we don’t know which are which.

According to Bersin by Deloitte, a leading research and advisory services firm, talent development is the second biggest challenge facing HR executives at organizations today. Bersin estimates companies spend more than $130 billion per year on employee development, with leadership development taking up the single largest area of spending.