As brutal heat continues this summer, a report published in August by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) says outdoor workers in the United States could face four times as many days with hazardous heat by mid-century if action isn't taken to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.
- The National Safety Council (NSC), the nation’s leading workplace safety advocate, urged all employers to implement a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for their workers and unveiled a guide outlining four levels of requirements for various workplace risk profiles.
On OSHA’s Top 10 list of the most frequently cited standards in fiscal year 2020, Hazard Communication (HazCom) took the no. 2 spot, as it has for the last eight years. Although the HazCom standard has numerous requirements, training violations are among the most common for employers.
Not only does OSHA have regulations for the forklifts themselves, they also have specific requirements for forklift operators. The Powered Industrial Truck Standard outlines the topics that must be included during training, as well as requirements for refresher trainings.
Heat illness is 100% preventable, yet 11 workers suffer serious heat-related injury or death every day in the United States. Without federal standards for preventing heat illness on the job, the problem persists and stands to increase dramatically as the climate warms.
Long working hours are now considered by the WHO/ILO to be the occupational risk factor with the largest attributable disease burden. WHO/ILO advise, “Protecting and promoting occupational and workers’ safety and health requires interventions to reduce hazardous long working hours.”
AIHA voices its support for employers who find innovative ways to encourage vaccination among workers or develop workable programs to mandate vaccination in the workforce where warranted
Federal workplace safety regulators on Wednesday, August 18, 2021, proposed $1.3 million in penalties for the construction company that employed two men who died when they were struck by a dump truck and pushed into a 9-foot (2.75-meter) deep trench at a sewer project in Boston in February, according to the Associated Press.
OSHA on August 13, 2021 issued updated guidance to help employers protect workers from the coronavirus. The updated guidance reflects developments in science and data, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's updated COVID-19 guidance issued July 27.
It’s not yet common for companies to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations. However, with the Delta variant spreading rapidly in the United States and elsewhere, there’s a growing number of companies taking that route. Here are five of the related manufacturing and industrial organizations doing it and the specifics associated with each.