One of the fathers of occupational health, Irving Selikoff, once said that “statistics are people with the tears wiped away.”
Today, the statistics look bad. This week we learned that coal mining deaths doubled in 2017, and rose to their highest point in three years. Fifteen miners died on the job in 2017, compared with eight in 2016, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
Although miners with evidence of black lung on their chest X-rays are eligible to request a job transfer, few do so, according to a recent study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Black lung disease refers to a group of lung diseases caused by breathing in coal mine dust. The disease can cause severe problems like shortness of breath, and can even be fatal, but limiting exposure to coal mine dust can prevent it.
It wasn’t distracted driving that caused last month’s fatal Amtrak derailment in Washington State, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which has released preliminary details in what is expected to be a lengthy investigation. Exactly what did cause the accident has yet to be determined.
A chemical release that sent 140 people to the hospital was caused by a truck driver who mistakenly connected the hose for one chemical to the line for another. The Oct. 21, 2016 incident in Atchison, Kansas also provides valuable lessons in chemical safety, according to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), which used it as the basis of a case study titled “Key Lessons for Preventing Inadvertent Mixing during Chemical Unloading Operations.”
With a large swath of the nation in the grip of icy cold temperatures, frostbite is a very real hazard for anyone who must spend time outdoors.
Frostbite is a serious condition that’s caused by exposure to extremely cold temperatures - a bodily injury caused by freezing that results in loss of feeling and color in affected areas.
Up to 650,000 deaths annually are associated with respiratory diseases from seasonal influenza, according to new estimates by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), WHO and global health partners.
A former OSHA inspector who worked at the 9/11 Ground Zero site, now diagnosed with a terminal 9/11 illness, is battling with the Labor Department for his workers’ compensation benefit, according to an article in the New York Daily News.
"First, EPA proposed to revoke the Clean Power Plan, and now they have signaled their intention to replace the Plan with far weaker standards. The Clean Power Plan would have prevented up to 90,000 childhood asthma attacks and 4,500 premature deaths every year once fully implemented. Instead of implementing these lifesaving standards, EPA is moving toward...
If you have gone to the doctor recently with flu-like symptoms, your doctor may have advised you to stay home from work until you have recovered. But, do you know if your doctor and other health care workers also follow that advice?
A Maine lumber mill has seen lower injury rates, lower turnover better employee morale and an improved safety culture since partnering with government agencies to help make inherently high-hazard work tasks safer.