A new study suggests employee safety could be improved through use of Virtual Reality (VR) in Health and Safety training, such as fire evacuation drills. The Human Factors Research Group at the University of Nottingham in the U.K. developed an immersive VR system to stimulate participants' perception of temperature, and senses of smell, sight and hearing to explore how they behaved during two health and safety training scenarios.

The legalization of recreational and medical marijuana in more and more states is posing a quandary for employers. Traditional methods of drug testing can determine if someone has tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the marijuana ingredient that causes a “high” - in their system, but not when they ingested it. THC can be found for weeks in the blood and urine of regular users.

It’s probably something you don’t want to think about when you board a plane: whether or not the aircraft you’re traveling in is mechanically sound. The Federal Aviation Administration has leveled a half million dollar fine against a company it said deliberately falsified documents attesting to the airworthiness of the ball bearings it was selling.

Workplace fatigue and stress is a growing topic for worker safety and health research. For instance, workplace studies have shown that the nature of retail industry work may cause fatigue and stress. Nonstandard work schedules such as irregular and extended shifts, long periods of standing, and reduced staffing are a few reasons for health issues related to job fatigue and stress.

We all know that washing our hands can keep us from spreading germs and getting sick. But a new Rutgers-New Brunswick study found that cool water removes the same amount of harmful bacteria as hot. “People need to feel comfortable when they are washing their hands but as far as effectiveness, this study shows us that the temperature of the water used didn’t matter,” said Donald Schaffner, distinguished professor and extension specialist in food science.

A fatal fall was among the OSHA enforcement cases finalized over the past few days – violations that show a persistent failure among some construction industry employers to address fall hazards. Falls are the leading cause of fatalities in construction. In Dayton, Ohio, a company that has been cited for fall protection violations five times since 2014 was cited once again.

Employees who must work in cold temperature environments, such as food processing, pharmaceutical manufacturing or outdoors during the winter just got a bit more protection, in the form of a revision in a workwear standard. The ISEA has released the newly revised standard — ANSI/ISEA 201-2019 American National Standard for Insulation and Wash Durability Classification of Apparel Used in Cold Work Environments.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prediabetes is a serious health condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to meet the threshold for type 2 diabetes. The federal agency says that some 84 million Americans ages 18 or older — more than one out of three — have prediabetes but 90% don’t know it.

OSHA reveals the most-cited safety and health violations of the year, research links flavored e-cigarettes to the youth vaping epidemic and the NSC announces plans to issue an opioid help kit for employers. These were among the top occupational safety and health stories featured this week on ISHN.com.

A former employee of a subcontractor at Brookhaven National Laboratory has filed a $25 million lawsuit against the lab manager and the manufacturers of a cleaning solvent he claims caused his cancer. Joseph Marino, who worked as a computer technician at the Upton, New York lab in 1999 and 2000, has been diagnosed with clear cell renal carcinoma.