Death by Trench: Equipment World has just completed a special report on trench hazards and the dozens of preventable deaths that happen ever year. Most chilling is the piece on survivors who tell of the terror they felt being buried under tons of soil.

Low back strains, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other soft-tissue musculoskeletal injuries are the most frequent causes of missed workdays in the United States, and most result from ergonomic, slip, trip, or fall hazards, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

OSHA has cited EnviroTech Services Inc. – based in Greeley, Colorado – after an employee died due to lack of oxygen while cleaning the inside of a railcar. A second employee who tried to rescue the co-worker was also overcome, but survived. EnviroTech Services Inc. faces $64,857 in proposed penalties.

An arc flash that burned two contract workers at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant near Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee was not was not due to any equipment or plant-related issues, according to an investigation by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

A fatigue crack was the cause of engine failure and a fire on a British Airways flight that ended prematurely, with passengers and crew fleeing a cockpit that was filling with smoke. The September 8, 2015 flight from Las Vegas to London came to an abrupt end, after its pilot heard a loud “bang” during takeoff and aborted the flight.

A recent study by Harvard University professor Michael Zaroob showed that unionization saves lives. That’s the good news. But it doesn’t happen automatically when you sign the union card. The beneficial effect of unions on worker safety is the result of action by educated union members supported by union staff.

The Center for Safety and Health Sustainability (CSHS), whose member organizations represent more than 100,000 workplace safety and health professionals around the world, has filed one of many letters of support of a petition from the Human Capital Management Coalition.

FLINT, MI – An employee died in an industrial accident at the Genesee Power Station last week. CMS Energy, which owns the facility, released a statement Monday confirming the worker’s death. The worker’s name and the circumstances leading to his death were not released.

A favorite tradition that goes along with Independence Day celebrations is not without hazards for the workers who must make it happen. OSHA’s archives contain several stories of fatal incidents involving fireworks. In a 1997 one in Alton, Illinois, four employees were putting on a fireworks display from a barge.

A Maine roofing contractor could face prison time if he ignores that latest court order to pay his OSHA fines and correct safety violations that endanger his workers – as he did previous court orders. Between 2000 and 2011, OSHA cited Lessard Roofing & Siding Inc. and Lessard Brothers Construction Inc. for safety violations at 11 different work sites in Maine.