Working in a manufacturing setting requires many people to perform the same task repeatedly every day. That can mean eight hours or more a day on your feet, as well as straining your back, hips, knees and hands. For those who hope to retire from manufacturing jobs, repetitive-motion injuries — also called repetitive-stress injuries — could prove a bigger risk than a catastrophic workplace accident.

National Fire Prevention Week (FPW) is just ahead – October 6 – 12 – and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) wants you to take small but important actions to keep you and your family safe. The theme for this year’s FPW is, “Not Every Hero Wears a Cape. Plan and Practice Your Escape!” It’s easy to dismiss the possibility of a fire in your home as an unlikely occurrence.

Like most of us, Leo Bridges and Edward Bryant left for work one day in September 2014, probably thinking about some rest and relaxation when the shift ended. Like many, they figured their managers and employer would ensure they were safe at work. Bridges and Bryant were wrong; they were caught in a fiery explosion in the Flux Building, which OSHA inspectors said occurred because U.S. Steel Corp. put workers at risk, so as not to slow production at its Fairfield facility.

New restrictions on how long injured federal workers can get prescription opioids have been implemented by the DOL's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, as a way of protecting the workers from the risks of long-term opioid use. The DOL controls – which impose a 7-day limit on the initial fill of an opioid prescription - will apply to injured federal workers receiving benefits under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act.

Contrary to previously announced plans, OSHA will not revoke all of the ancillary provisions in its Beryllium Standards for Construction and Shipyards. Beryllium is a strong, lightweight metal used in the aerospace, telecommunications, information technology, defense, medical, and nuclear industries. Workers who are exposed to beryllium – by inhaling or contacting it in the air or on surfaces - are at risk for developing beryllium disease and lung cancer.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is encouraging the drone community to help spread the word on drone safety with the first National Drone Safety Awareness Week taking place, Nov. 4-10, 2019. The FAA’s highest priority is to ensure the safety of the National Airspace System (NAS), and during National Drone Safety Awareness Week, the FAA reminds drone pilots and stakeholders that airspace safety is everyone’s responsibility.

National Employ Older Workers Week takes place the final week in September and recognizes the vital role of older workers [U.S. DOL 2019]. By 2020, workers aged 55 and over will likely make up about 25 percent of the U.S. workforce [BLS 2018]. Within the Wholesale and Retail Trade (WRT) Sector alone, in 2017 almost 4.5 million workers (more than 22 percent) are over age 55, up from 3.8 million workers in 2011 [BLS 2018].

For Kevin Emerick, workplace safety is no mere box to be checked on a To-Do List. It is about people. It is about family. It is about sending members of your work family home safe after each and every workday. “With the median tenure at our company at almost 25 years, we are family, and the last thing you want to see is someone in your family get hurt or worse,” said Emerick (shown above), risk manager for Woodfold Mfg., Inc., a Forest Grove, Oregon-based company that makes custom-crafted accordion doors, roll-up doors, and hardwood shutters.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is promising to share information about its efforts to ensure that proposed changes to the automated flight control system on the 737 MAX meet certification standards. The aircraft was taken out of service since the March 13, the second of two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people.

An electric arc has been identified by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as the cause of a fire in the engine room aboard a fishing vessel – a blaze that put the crew’s lives at risk when they were unable to extinguish it. The four crew members of the Rose Marie, a 77-foot trawler 65 miles off the coast of Chatham, Massachusetts, abandoned ship and got into a life raft.