With recent bouts of extreme heat affecting large parts of the nation – and more likely up ahead - heat stroke – when the body’s cooling system fails - has gained considerable attention as a risk for outdoor workers. Symptoms include a rapid heartbeat, hot, red skin due to the inability to sweat and internal temperatures rising to dangerous levels.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined Tuesday that Amtrak’s and CSX Transportation’s failure to properly assess and mitigate the risk of conducting switching operations during a signal suspension, coupled with a CSX conductor’s error, led to the collision of an Amtrak train with a CSX train near Cayce, South Carolina.

IPIECA, a global oil and gas industry association for advancing environmental and social performance within the industry, has released 2018 data on health leading performance indicators for employees. According to IPIECA, “indicators for the health performance of the industry are a necessary part of effective health management and the promotion of improvements in health performance.

A lawsuit working its way through the federal court system claims that a contractor allowed inexperienced and unqualified industrial hygiene technicians (IHTs) to work at a hazardous nuclear materials site. News sources say lawsuit was filed by Kevin Newcomb, an IHT who worked at “tank farms” at the now-decommissioned Hanford nuclear production complex in Washington State for more than two decades.

Having cold hands – even if you’re not in a cold environment – could be perfectly normal, and no cause for concern. However, if you frequently have cold hands, accompanied by color changes, it could be a sign warning you that you have a serious health issue which should be addressed.

Even as it adds to its list of “no-fly zones” for drone operators, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is taking steps to expand its Low Altitude Authorization and Capability (LAANC) system to include recreational flyers. This action – which begins today - will significantly increase the ability of drone pilots to gain access to controlled airspace nationwide.

There is a broad scientific consensus that alcohol is a carcinogen, and that even moderate drinking increases one’s chances of getting cancer. But surveys show that most Americans remain unaware of that fact. Now a coalition of consumer and public health groups have launched a long shot effort to put a cancer warning on alcohol bottles and cans.

Three major transportation construction contractors are challenging their peers to reach a goal that could save lives: have at least 25 of their employees each year earn a Safety Certification for Transportation Project Professionals™ (SCTPP) credential Nearly 50,000 people are killed or injured annually while working on transportation infrastructure construction projects in the U.S.

The numbers are staggering: 76 billion pain pills distributed between 2006 and 2012 by the largest drugs companies in the U.S. Enough to supply every child and adult in the country with 36 pills each year. In the hardest hit rural communities, the pill-per-capita count reached into the hundreds.

A worker participating in an “aerial rescue drill” at the North Carolina Zoo died last week in a fall. News reports say 38-year-old Branson Joe Langley was killed when he fell 20-30 feet from a tree. The drill involved two arborists – one playing the role of a person trapped in a tree and the other performing a rescue.