News - Articles - Page 84

Tech helps paralyzed race car driver get back on track

January 15, 2020

On Jan. 6, 2000, a racing accident left IndyCar driver Sam Schmidt paralyzed from the shoulders down. Twenty years later, Schmidt is driving again at speeds up to 192 mph. To help Schmidt reclaim his independence and drive again, engineers at Arrow Electronics modified a Chevrolet Corvette to create a smart, connected vehicle that he can operate safely and independently.

A FairWarning Story

Counterfeits hit home: Consumers are being foiled by fake water filters

January 15, 2020

For years, Montreal resident Brent George bought replacement water filters for his refrigerator from a local appliance store. Then one time he turned to Amazon, where he often shopped for other products. Besides being more convenient, the online filters he selected — sold by a third party and not by manufacturer Whirlpool — were also cheaper.

Calif. considers changing access to injury and illness prevention plans

January 15, 2020

California employers may soon be required to provide their workers with access to the company’s written workplace injury and illness prevention plans (IIPP), if the state’s Occupational Safety And Health Standards Board moves forward on a proposal that would mandate it. The change would amend a requirement that employers have IIPPs that has been in effect since 1991.

S.D. city sued over deadly construction incident

January 15, 2020

The South Dakota Supreme Court yesterday began hearing arguments in a lawsuit filed against the city of Sioux Falls in the case of a 2016 building collapse that killed a worker and seriously injured another person. The suit was brought by the family of Emily Fodness, who was trapped in debris for several hours when a building being remodeled by Hultgren Construction, LLC collapsed. Construction worker Ethan McMahon died in the incident.

Cleaner trucks, clearer air?

January 15, 2020

The EPA started the new year off with a move it says will ultimately reduce the emissions of gases that contribute heavily to air pollution, including the formation of smog and acid rain. On January 6, 2020, the agency issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rule (ANPR) soliciting pre-proposal comments on the Cleaner Trucks Initiative (CTI).

Two reprotoxic substances banned in the EU

January 14, 2020

The European Commission, on advice from the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), has banned two pesticides: chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-methyl and two organophosphates used as ingredients in a number of insecticides. Chlorpyrifos has been on the market since 1966 and is currently in use in some 80 countries.

2 million+ hours with no lost time incident at Ark. manufacturer

January 14, 2020

An Arkansas manufacturing facility has been recognized for logging two million working hours without a lost time incident. Utility Trailer Manufacturing Company, a manufacturer of refrigerated trailers, dry freight vans, flatbeds, and Tautliner® curtainsided trailers, was presented with a safety award by the state of Arkansas for the achievement at its Paragould manufacturing plant.

Suit filed against new pork company self-inspection rule

“The USDA is letting the wolf guard the hog-house”

January 14, 2020

Several food safety advocacy organizations have filed a legal action against the U.S. Department of Agriculture for issuing New Swine Inspection System (NSIS) rules that that they say undermine pork-safety inspection in slaughter plants. Food & Water Watch and the Center for Food Safety are calling the new NSIS rules “a draconian reversal to the swine slaughter inspection system that has existed in the United States since 1906, which required meat inspectors to examine each animal before and after slaughter.”

$500K grant to help NSC speed adoption of workplace safety tech

Work to Zero initiative helps employers understand, embrace life-saving safety innovations

January 14, 2020

The National Safety Council has received a second $500,000 grant from the McElhattan Foundation for the NSC Work to Zero initiative, launched last January to educate employers about technological safety advancements that promise to reduce and ultimately eliminate preventable deaths in the workplace. Since receiving the first grant last December, NSC has conducted research into emerging and existing technologies and will release a comprehensive report in February that details which technologies could reduce fatality risk in the most hazardous situations for workers.

A NIOSH Science Blog post

Industrial exoskeletons

Dr. John Howard Jack Lu PhD, CPE Vladimir Murashov PhD Brian D. Lowe Ph.D

January 13, 2020

Exoskeletons used in the workplace are referred to as “industrial exoskeletons.” Their purpose is to augment, amplify, or reinforce the performance of a worker’s existing body components—primarily the lower back and the upper extremity (arms and shoulders). Despite a lack of research, manufacturers of these devices claim productivity gains, work quality improvements, and a reduction of the risk of work‐related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs).