The numbers are staggering. The Ebola epidemic that began in West Africa in early 2014 has so far claimed more than 11,000 lives out of 27,000 reported cases. Battling this scourge: more than 1,200 experts in various disciplines, dispatched to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and surrounding countries by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its partners.
Although a worker in Yorkshire, England still suffers physically and mentally from a severe chemical burn at an oil refinery, co-workers were able to get him quickly to an emergency shower, and after that, to a hospital for treatment.
More than 200,000 users have downloaded the OSHA Heat Safety Tool since its launch in 2011. This spring, OSHA released a new version of the app for Apple devices, with full-screen color alerts, improved navigation and accessibility options.
Restaurants, movie theatres and big box stores that serve food like Costco and Target will get an extra year to add calorie information to their menus. In announcing the extension – to December, 2016, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the extra time is necessary “for the agency to provide further clarifying guidance to help facilitate efficient compliance across all covered businesses and for covered establishments to come into compliance with the final rule.”
Eight people have died in construction-related accidents in 2015 thus far, according to the city’s Buildings Department, as many as in all of 2014; the year before, three died. Not since 2008, during the height of the last building boom, has the number of construction accidents been so high, when a rash of episodes, including two falling cranes, claimed 19 lives, according to an article in The New York Times.
Although hardhats are a fixture in construction work and are intended to keep construction workers safe, they do not always prevent accidents that lead to traumatic brain injury (TBI) on construction sites, according to the Brain Injury Society.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the most common construction site injuries suffered by workers include: Burns and scarring – Burns are one of the most common construction site injuries around, mainly because of the likelihood of fires and explosions on build sites. Exposed wiring, dangerous chemicals, leaking pipes, and other items all pose a potential risk for fires, which if not handled properly, could endanger nearby workers.
A 32-mile stretch of interstate where construction began in June, 2014 to repair the interstate and widen it from two lanes to three lanes in each direction (a $261 million project) has gone hand in hand with a significant increase in crashes during the last year, according to local police, according to an article in the Toledo Blade.
A John Deere & Co. pipefitter who was fired after reporting several safety violations to OSHA would be reinstated with back pay, under the terms of a lawsuit filed by the agency. On three separate occasions, the worker filed complaints about the company’s Moline, Illinois facility with OSHA, each time resulting in violations against the company.
Pipeline safety, toxic toys, teaching occupational safety to schoolkids and a tale of workplace violence were among the top stories posted on ISHN.com this week.
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