It started with a series of conference calls and emails, which led to a draft list of relevant topics. That list was then refined and grouped into seven broad objectives, and working subgroups were formed for each of those objectives. The result? The Healthy Work Design and Well-Being (HWD) Agenda, released last month by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Warehouses are home to all sorts of technology and machinery, but their most valuable occupant is also perhaps the most vulnerable: human employees. When it comes to ensuring the safety of warehouse workers, shortcuts aren't an option. Warehousing has a higher fatal injury rate than the national average across all industries.

During the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA) awards luncheon on February 22, 2020 at the NHCA Annual Conference in Destin, FL, Elliott H. Berger, M.S., FAIHA, INCE, will be recognized for his outstanding leadership and service to the organization with the Michael Beall Threadgill Award.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released of $562 million in grants for highway safety programs to Offices of Highway Safety in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, United States territories, and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. “These highway safety grants will help save lives by addressing impaired driving, promoting seat belt use, improving pedestrian and bicyclist safety and funding other important traffic safety efforts,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

The operator of a crane involved in the death of a worker at an Australia construction site has pleaded guilty to reckless conduct exposing persons to a risk of serious injury or death. Michael Watts entered the guilty plea last week to the offense under the country’s Work Health Safety Act 2011. Watts had originally been charged with manslaughter under the Crimes Act.

OSHA has cited a New York cookie maker for exposing employees to falls and other hazards at the Ferndale, New York, facility. Nonni’s Foods LLC, manufacturer of premium cookies, faces $221,257 in penalties. OSHA opened an inspection on Aug. 22, 2019, after learning that an employee fell on Aug. 7, 2019, and was hospitalized.

According to OSHA, health care employees experience nearly as many serious injuries due to workplace violence as do employees in all other industries combined. As a result, dating back to at least 2015, the agency has continued to strongly encourage health care employers to maintain robust programs to safeguard against workplace violence.

Longer sitting times were associated with higher levels of heart disease risk among overweight and obese post-menopausal women overall, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the open access journal of the American Heart Association.

Research from the University of Kentucky’s Superfund Research Center (UK-SRC) shows that a diet high in fiber could possibly reverse the adverse effects that environmental toxins have on cardiovascular health. The findings are part of UK-SRC’s “Project #1,” which examines how nutrients affect toxicity caused by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in vascular tissues.

The widow of a worker who suffered fatal injuries in a fall has filed a lawsuit against 3M, alleging that the manufacturer’s fall prevention product failed to perform according to representations made by the company. According to news sources, construction worker Walter Burrows died after falling 35 feet in May of 2018 while working on a light-rail project in the Seattle area.