OSHA has cited Jaime Martinez Hernandez – a residential framing contractor based in Phenix City, Alabama – for exposing employees to fall and struck-by hazards at two Alabama worksites. The contractor faces $240,880 in penalties. The agency conducted the inspections in conjunction with the agency’s Regional Emphasis Program for Falls in Construction after investigators observed employees working from heights without fall protection at worksites in Auburn and Opelika.

OSHA’s Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard (HAZWOPER) applies to five distinct groups of employers and their employees. This includes any employees who are exposed or potentially exposed to hazardous substances -- including hazardous waste -- and who are engaged in one of the following operations as specified by 1910.120(a)(1)(i-v) and1926.65(a)(1)(i-v).

Hazardous materials incident response planning and pipeline safety recently were enhanced as two more safety recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) 2019 – 2020 Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvementswere implemented.

A 51-year-old employee at the Molson Coors brewing facility in Milwaukee opened fire yesterday afternoon, killing five people before taking his own life. All five victims were employees of Molson Coors. The company sent an email to employees at 2:19 p.m., alerting them to an active shooter in or near the facility’s south packaging building.

For the second consecutive year, the U.S. experienced a small decline in roadway deaths, according to preliminary estimates released by the National Safety Council (NSC). In 2019, an estimated 38,800 people lost their lives to car crashes – a 2% decline from 2018 (39,404 deaths) and a 4% decline from 2017 (40,231 deaths).

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has released data following the first weeks of operation of its Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. The clearinghouse has detected and identified nearly 8,000 positive substance abuse tests of commercial drivers since January 6, 2020. The clearinghouse now has more than 650,000 registrants.

For most people, the benefits of aerobic exercise far outweigh the risks, however, extreme endurance exercise – such as participation in marathons and triathlons for people who aren’t accustomed to high-intensity exercise – can raise the risk of sudden cardiac arrest, atrial fibrillation (a heart rhythm disorder) or heart attacks, according to a new Scientific Statement published in the Association’s premier journal Circulation.

OSHA has cited Dana Rail Care for workplace safety and health hazards at the facility in Wilmington, Delaware. OSHA cited the company for electrical and explosion hazards, insufficient means of egress, use of defective powered industrial trucks, lack of medical clearance for respiratory protection use, improper use of respirators and inadequate secondary air supply, and lack of signage in a silica-regulated area.

"If the U.S. wants to remain fully prepared to protect its residents from diseases such as COVID-19, it must invest in public health readiness. Doing so will help shore up an already-taxed public health system,” according to a new editorial in the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) American Journal of Public Health.