“Fugitive” natural gas and an error by local authorities were behind the April 17, 2017 explosion that destroyed a home in Colorado and killed two people. Those findings are from a brief recently released by the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigated the incident. The homeowner and a plumber who was working at the house died in the explosion, and two other residents were injured.

A company based in Anson, Maine has been cited by OSHA for an employee fatality that occurred at a jobsite in Inman, Nebraska. Smith Mountain Investments LLC is a professional pole inspection company that inspects and treats some of the 150,000,000 wood utility poles in North America to ensure structural integrity. An employee of the company became ill while performing extreme physical activity in excessive temperatures in July 2019 and later died.

Salt Lake County, Utah this week became the eighth community in the state to commit to achieving 100% renewable electricity by 2030. The county’s council passed a resolution on Tuesday establishing a goal of powering the county with 100% renewable electricity by that year – one which requires local utility Rocky Mountain Power (RMP) to replace fossil fuel generation with renewable energy resources to meet the new commitment.

The American Industrial Hygiene Foundation (AIHF) has established the President's Leadership Award. This award, to be given annually by AIHF, will be the foundation's highest scholarship and professional development honor. The award consists of a considerable scholarship as well as a professional development opportunity to attend a British Occupational Hygiene Society, Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists, or comparable international conference on occupational health and safety.

In a study which has implications for occupational health, European researchers have found that certain non-toxic substances can have a negative impact on neuronal development when mixed with other substances. The in vitro research project conducted by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) examined this “cocktail effect” by using chemical products belonging to different classes.

A series of workplace incidents in Indiana and Illinois last week claimed the lives of two workers and left another hospitalized. In Mooresville, Indiana, 22-year-old Sean Merrell died of blunt force injuries after being trapped in a machine he was cleaning that was re-energized before he could get out.

Nearly two years ago, Jeremiah Mock heard a student in Marin County, California, complain that her school was littered with e-cigarette waste. A health anthropologist by training, Mock did some shoe-leather investigating in a student parking lot, where he found a significant amount of e-cigarette and tobacco trash. Surprised, Mock went further.

Most adults are unprepared or lack confidence to help if a medical emergency occurs, according to a new public poll from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). And, that confidence wanes as medical emergencies become more serious. “Anyone can become a first responder in an emergency,” said William Jaquis, MD, FACEP, president of ACEP.

A bill that would require employers to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers had a hearing by the House Education and Labor subcommittee last week. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (H.R. 2694), sponsored by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), would mandate that employers make minor job modifications, if needed, to allow a pregnant worker to continue employment. Accommodations could include different seating, more frequent bathroom breaks, or lighter duty.

Thirty percent of workers who wear hand protection don’t wear the right kind of glove for the task, according to the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA), which has just released a resource designed to help safety managers select the application-appropriate impact protection gloves for their employees. Why does hand protection matter so much? Hand injuries accounted for more than 40% of nonfatal occupational injuries to upper extremities in private industry in 2017 that involved days away from work.