Seventy-five percent of U.S. employers have been directly affected by opioids but – startlingly ¬– only 17 percent feel extremely well prepared to deal with the issue, according to a survey released today by the National Safety Council in recognition of Poison Prevention Week. Thirty-eight percent have experienced absenteeism or impaired worker performance, and 31 percent have had an overdose, arrest, a near-miss or an injury because of employee opioid use.

A Vermont state trooper collapsed after being exposed to an unknown substance during a traffic stop and was revived by colleagues who administered several doses of Narcan, a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses. News sources say Sgt. Brett Flansburg stopped a driver for a moving violation Friday night in Leicester, about 40 miles south of Burlington. The driver, 25-year-old Taylor Woodward, then reportedly swallowed a baggie that he later said contained cocaine.

Washington State and Missouri will get some help in combating the opioid crisis in the form of Dislocated Worker Grants (DWG) from the U.S. Department of Labor. The Missouri Division of Workforce Development will receive up to $4,090,306 and the Washington State Department of Employment Security will get $886,860 to fund disaster relief jobs and employment services in counties impacted by the health and economic effects of widespread opioid use, addiction, and overdose.

Thirty-four Congressional Democrats are calling for the reinstatement of the original Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses rule published on May 12, 2016, which required companies with 250 or more employees to electronically submit OSHA forms 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) and 301 (Injury and Illness Incident Report) each year. The Trump administration’s final rule, which was published during the government shutdown, only requires employers to submit a 300A – a summary of work-related injuries and illnesses.

The percentage of young Americans experiencing certain types of mental health disorders has risen significantly over the past decade, with no corresponding increase in older adults, according to research published by the American Psychological Association (APA). “More U.S. adolescents and young adults in the late 2010s, versus the mid-2000s, experienced serious psychological distress, major depression or suicidal thoughts, and more attempted suicide,” said lead author Jean Twenge, PhD.

OSHA currently has the lowest number of health and safety inspectors in the agency’s 48-year history, according to an analysis of recent government data by the National Employment Law Project. Conversely, the number of OSHA investigations following work-related fatalities reached a 10-year high, climbing to 929 inspections in FY 2018, up almost 100 from the previous year. This is the single-largest increase in such investigations in a decade.

A NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation report presented findings of an agency investigation at an engine machining plant where employees were exposed to metalworking fluids, or MWFs. The union representing the employees had requested the evaluation because of concerns that exposure to MWFs had caused respiratory symptoms and dermatitis among workers.

Justin Miller was 16 when he took his first ride on a recreational off-highway vehicle, or ROV. He came home missing a hand. The powerful 1,100-pound machine tipped over and landed on the Northridge, California, teen, mangling his hand so severely that seven surgeries couldn’t save it. At the time of the accident in 2008, similar reports of gruesome injuries and deaths were piling up at the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will be assisting the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in its investigation of a fatal, Feb. 23, 2018, natural gas-fueled explosion in Dallas, Texas. The USACE began taking soil samples this week in the area of Espanola Drive and Durango Drive in Dallas, to help the NTSB evaluate the technical accuracy of the preliminary geotechnical assessment report.

The new kid on the block – Tesla – is tops when it comes to equipping its vehicles with automatic emergency braking (AEB), although several other manufacturers aren’t far behind, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).