Keeping sufficiently warm during the winter months can prove challenging, particularly when frigid temperatures persist, as they have recently for much of the country. While portable space heaters can help generate heat, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is reminding the public that they do present potential fire hazards and must be used with caution.

Have you ever wondered if your job involves more standing, bending, or lifting than other jobs? Or if there are ways you could avoid injuries from these movements while on the job? Last week, NIOSH published an article on frequent exertion and frequent standing among US workers by industry and occupation group.

The latter half of 2017 saw The New York Times break the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the movie titan’s subsequent fall. Since then, victims have brought forth a seemingly endless barrage of allegations against numerous high-profile, and very powerful, men and women within Hollywood, politics, the media, and other industries. This movement has helped to purge organizations of longstanding sexual predators and has also ignited a fervent interest in changing the workplace cultures that have allowed such abuse to go on for so long.

The motion picture company behind the TV show, “The Walking Dead” has been cited and fined for a fatal fall that occurred on the Senoia, Georgia set last year. Stuntman John Bernecker died on July 12 of blunt force trauma to the head after plunging headfirst from a balcony to a concrete floor 22 feet below.

If you are getting the impression that the flu season is worse than usual this year, you’re right. The CDC, which tracks the number of people who seek treatment for the flu, confirms that the numbers are higher than last year in all regions of the country.

Neighborhood-level socioeconomic factors in low-income areas may significantly predict heart failure risk beyond individual health factors and socioeconomic status, according to new research in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.

Two unrelated railroad accidents – one of them fatal - have resulted in four new safety recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). In its investigation of a railroad employee fatality in Kansas City, Kansas that occurred on Sept. 29, 2015, the NTSB determined the probable cause of the accident was a foreman being in the gage of the track, for unknown reasons, while a train switching movement was being performed by another crew.

The fifth time was not a charm for a Holland, Ohio roofing company that was cited recently by OSHA for exposing employees to falls and other safety hazards. The contractor, Casey Bortles, has been cited for similar violations four times since 2014. The most recent round of citations comes with a penalty total of $91,629.