The massive warehouse explosion in China, smoke hazards faced by firefighters battling western wildfires and the MSHA’s respirable coal dust rule one year in were among the top occupational safety and health stories featured on ISHN.com this week.
Company threatened to fire workers who spoke with OSHA
August 21, 2015
As they did the hard work of removing floor tiles, insulation and other materials at what was once an elementary school, employees of two Illinois companies were unaware that they were exposed to deadly asbestos fibers.
Company did not report amputation, as required by OSHA
August 21, 2015
The first day on the job for a new employee ended tragically when the 21-year-old man suffered severe burns and the loss of four fingers on his right hand as he tried to clear a jam in a plastic molding machine. The man had been working for a few hours when the incident occurred at an Elyria manufacturer.
A crane owner was ordered this week to pay $24 million to the families of two workers killed in a 2008 crane collapse in New York City, according to news reports. The award raised total damages in the case to more than $96 million.
Improving work psychosocial factors may reduce mental health sick leave
August 20, 2015
Workers with high job demands and job strain are at increased risk of sick leave due to mental disorders, reports a study in the August Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has launched an annual challenge designed to identify and honor clinicians and health care teams that have helped their patients control high blood pressure and prevent heart attacks and strokes.
On behalf of healthcare workers across the nation and beyond, the Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare (AOHP) has released its 2015-2017 Public Policy Statement, which specifically targets health and safety concerns in healthcare.
Twin Towers to hire a specialized safety consultant to help improve workplace conditions
August 20, 2015
Employees at a Cincinnati nursing care facility will benefit from improvements the company is making to its policies and procedures for transferring residents at Twin Towers, a provider of skilled nursing care services.
No one disputes that smoking is the major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the difficulty breathing that strikes so many Americans in their twilight years. A new study by Duke University and CPWR researchers, however, reminds us that smoking is far from the only cause, and we still have a lot of work to do if we are going to protect construction workers.