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A group of 15 non-partisan patient and consumer organizations say the Senate Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed this week “takes yet another step towards undermining the stability of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) insurance markets." The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network; American Heart Association and others said; "The repeal of the individual insurance mandate destabilizes an essential pillar of the ACA by removing incentives for young and healthy people to purchase insurance."

Reinforced plastic tarps, commonly called “Blue Roofs,” provide temporary protection for the roofs of homes and other buildings damaged during severe weather such as a hurricane or tornado. However, when employees access roofs to install these tarps, they are at risk of falls, electrocutions, and other hazards. OSHA has issued a new fact sheet containing steps that employers can follow to help keep workers safe.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals last week dismissed an appeal by CONSOL Energy that sought to overturn a federal judge’s decision requiring CONSOL to continue paying for health care benefits to some 3,400 retired miners, their dependents and widows. Judge David A. Faber of the Federal Court for Southern West Virginia in Bluefield found CONSOL was attempting to violate a collective bargaining agreement requirement to pay for lifetime health care benefits for retirees.

Tree harvesters and processor attachments equipped with hydraulic bar saws cut with great power and speed. When a chain breaks, if a resulting whipping action projects a chain shot link, the link often has a mass, velocity and resultant energy, in some cases enough to reach an operator in a cab, which has potential to cause damage, harm or severe injury. This may be complicated by the remote nature of forestry operations.

For many, feasting with friends and family is the best part of the holiday season. Whether you are hosting or attending celebrations, food is often prepared in one location and taken to another. Use the following tips to curtail the diverse opportunities which allow bacterial growth and contamination. Stop Foodborne Illness, a national nonprofit, public health organization dedicated to preventing illness and death from foodborne pathogens wants to ensure that safe food handling becomes a normal part of everyone’s holiday plans. Many standard food safety practices such as hand washing, and avoiding cross contamination apply no matter what you’re celebrating. These tips are offered with the goal of making your festivities memorable. (In a good way!)

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published new data today showing a record-high 221.7 million licensed drivers in the U.S. in 2016, including 41.7 million – or almost one in five – who are 65 years or older. This age group is growing faster than any other, and is far outpacing their teenage counterparts. The largest single-year percentage increase in licensed drivers that year was among those who are between 75-79 years old, increasing by 4.98 percent over the previous year. Except for five states – Michigan, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming – the nation saw increases among licensed drivers in 2016 compared to the previous year.

A Pennsylvania company willfully exposed its workers to confined space and fall hazards, according to OSHA, which has assessed US Environmental Inc. proposed penalties of $333,756 for a dozen safety violations. The Downingtown company is an integrated industrial energy services firm that serves the energy, petroleum, natural gas, petro-chemical, power, chemical, manufacturing and engineering sectors. Investigators inspected the facility on May 31, 2017, and found that the company failed to implement rescue procedures for employees in confined spaces; provide protective equipment when working in confined spaces; and provide employees with fall protection training and equipment.

A research team from the Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE) today released a report that concludes that drones that collide with large manned aircraft can cause more structural damage than birds of the same weight for a given impact speed. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will use the research results to help develop operational and collision risk mitigation requirements for drones. ASSURE conducted its research with two different types of drones on two types of aircraft through computer modeling and physical validation testing.