It’s a new year, and in many ways a fresh start; but not for the NORA (National Occupational Research Agenda) councils that continue to build on the efforts of the past two years. The ten sector councils from the second decade of NORA carried forward their work to improve occupational safety and health in industry sectors.

OSHA has cited roofing company Aspen Contracting Inc. – based in Lee’s Summit, Missouri – and subcontractor J Cuellar LLC – based in West Bend, Wisconsin – for exposing employees to dangerous fall hazards at a Fountain, Colorado construction site. The companies face proposed penalties totaling $147, 998.

We like to keep the air in our homes as clean as possible, and sometimes we use HEPA air filters to keep offending allergens and dust particles at bay. But some hazardous compounds are too small to be trapped in these filters.

A new study looking at the share of cancers related to obesity finds an at least 1.5-fold difference between states with the highest and lowest proportions. The proportion of cancer cases that could be attributable to excess body weight ranged from a high of 8.3% in the District of Columbia to a low of 5.9% in Hawaii, reflecting variations in obesity rates in the states.

The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) Foundation today released a fatigue research report that shows the value of wearable technology in the workplace, encouraging employers to make a New Year’s resolution to monitor the fatigue levels of its workers to reduce injuries and increase productivity.

The ongoing federal government shutdown is posing a threat to public health, according to the American Public Health Association (APHA). The organization’s executive director, Georges C. Benjamin, identified the Indian Health Service, Food and Drug Administration, parts of the Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture as funding losers due to the shutdown.

A new report by EUROGIP presents an analysis of the extent to which occupational cancers are recognised in nine European countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland. It also looks at the schemes for identifying occupational cancers, especially via monitoring the health of people exposed to carcinogens in the course of their working careers.

A drinking fountain in Cleveland Hopkins International Airport may be the culprit behind a half dozen passengers falling ill on a Cleveland-to-Tampa flight yesterday. News sources say six people on a Frontier Airlines flight became sick en route to their destination. Health officials boarded the plane when it landed at Tampa International Airport.

As the recent nationwide ban on Romaine lettuce by the CDC shows, harmful pathogens have become an ever-increasing threat in our food supply, causing serious illness and even death among people with weaker immune systems such as young children and older adults.

FR protective clothing was a HOT topic in 2018 – from how to wear it during extreme heat and extreme cold, to what private industry can all learn from the Navy’s FR program. A back-of-the-hand protection standard for work gloves, how work boots are getting lighter (but staying strong) and the need to protect first responders from fentanyl exposure were among the top PPE stories of 2018: