The opioid crisis has led to significant challenges for Americans, and employers are not immune. Some have noted the crisis as being one of the greatest challenges currently facing the country. It has been documented that nearly as many Americans (50,000) died of opioid-related overdoses in the last year alone as Americans who died in the Vietnam War.

Although Safe + Sound Week began yesterday, there’s still time for your company to join the 900+ businesses in the U.S. that are participating in it. Safe + Sound Week is a nationwide event aimed at raising awareness and understanding of the value of safety and health programs that include management leadership, worker participation, and a systematic approach to finding and fixing hazards in workplaces.

At least 17 large fires are burning across California, and dozens more throughout other Western states, destroying hundreds of thousands of acres, sending toxic pollutants into the air and contaminating water supplies. The air quality in certain areas — particularly near California's massive Mendocino Complex Fire in the northern part of the state — is among the worst officials have ever seen.

The deaths of two Florida workers in a trenching incident have resulted in $33,259 in proposed fines for their employer, Archer Western Construction Inc. The two workers were crushed when a section of a concrete highway barrier collapsed on them as they removed a storm drain system at a Miami worksite.

The Environmental Protection Agency has a proposal on the drawing board that critics say could expand the use of asbestos — an industrial material known to cause cancer and lung disease. Since the health hazards of asbestos emerged 40 years ago, use of the material has dropped dramatically across the globe. By 2013, more than 60 countries had implemented partial or full bans of asbestos.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency issued a statewide air quality alert in early August due to smoke spreading across northern Minnesota and southern Minnesota. Smoke from wildfires in western Canada will continue to affect Minnesota. Air Quality Indices in the orange category spread eastward across northern Minnesota Friday, making air quality unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Most Americans know – by now – that exercising is good for you. What many of us don’t know – according to a new study – is that not exercising can raise our risk of certain types of cancer, such as colon and breast.

The ability of commercial aircraft to move safely through the skies – particularly in the vicinity of airports – is a prominent part of the test drone operators must take in order to get a Remote Pilot Certificate (RPC) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

While the dog days of summer mean slowing down for some people, sunshine brings the busy season for those in the grounds management professions, which includes landscaping, tree care and horticulture. This summer work means breaking out tools that can create loud noise: lawn mowers, edgers, chainsaws, chippers — just to name a few.

How do we define and measure worker well-being? A proposed conceptual framework, with implications for future efforts to improve occupational safety and health, is presented in the July issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.