Another depressing installment of the Weekly Toll.
Note that there are 39 fatalities listed here, going back, more or less, for about a week. There are an average of 13 workers killed every day on the job in the United States, which means the list below only covers about one-quarter of the workers actually killed on the job over the last week.
Drugs in food supply lead to drug-resistant infection epidemic in humans
April 19, 2017
Efforts to manage a national health crisis will be getting a little help from an unlikely source – a fast food restaurant chain. Kentucky Fried Chicken—the largest chicken-on-the-bone quick service restaurant in the U.S.—has committed to phasing out chicken raised with antibiotics important to human medicine in its U.S. stores by the end of 2018.
Citing how important weather reports by pilots are to flight safety, the National Transportation Safety Board, (NTSB) in a special investigation report, called for changes in training and procedures for pilots, air traffic controllers and others within the aviation community to enhance the effectiveness of the entire pilot weather reporting system with the intent to reduce pilots’ inadvertent encounters with hazardous weather and to prevent weather-related accidents.
The personal and economic toll of eye injuries at work is alarming. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 20,000 workplace eye injuries happen each year. Injuries on the job often require one or more missed work days for recovery. In fact, OSHA reports that workplace eye injuries cost an estimated $300 million a year in lost productivity, medical treatment and worker compensation.
Although homes have been rebuilt and a new high school is up and running, the town of West, Texas hasn’t been able to close the terrible chapter of its history that began on April 17, 2013 – the day that an explosion at the West Fertilizer company killed 15 people and leveled dozens of buildings.
Fastest increase seen among racial/ethnic minority groups
April 18, 2017
Rates of new diagnosed cases of type 1 and type 2 diabetes are increasing among youth in the United States, according to a report, Incidence Trends of Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes among Youths, 2002-2012, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The American Cancer Society's CEOs Against Cancer® program will host Fit2BeCancerFree®, a virtual step-tracking fitness challenge to be held on April 19 during National Cancer Control Month.
The accident that killed four workers at two different companies in St. Louis, Missouri last week occurred when a 3,000 lb. storage tank launched 425 feet into the air at a speed of 120 mph before crashing down – with devastating results – according to U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) investigators.
Companies are increasingly experimenting with smartglasses in the warehouse. Powered by their own processor and battery, these wearable high-tech eyeglasses collect data from a building's wireless network, then project text and numbers onto a tiny screen incorporated into the glasses.
Survey highlights need for clear policies on 'vaping' vs smoking
April 17, 2017
As e-cigarettes continue to increase in popularity, employees are unclear on whether their employers have any company policy on "vaping" — or whether that policy is different for vaping versus tobacco smoking, reports a survey study in the April Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.