Stronger safety measures may have saved the lives of two workers who died at a Pearl Harbor naval maintenance facility in December 2014 after being struck by a 7-ton buoy, which has led OSHA to order safety upgrades.

State-by-state unintentional injury death rates, boating safety tips and reports from Safety 2015 were among the top stories featured this week on ISHN.com.

The death of a 52-year-old contractor who was crushed to death at a Missouri automotive assembly plant was preventable, according to OSHA inspectors. The incident occurred in December 2014 when a weld failure caused a temporary support safety pin to disengage on an assembly line conveyor carriage at KCI, Inc.’s Ford Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo.

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels and National Weather Service Deputy Director Laura Furgione have renewed their agencies’ joint effort to help workers avoid excessive heat – and the health dangers that come with it.

A new international standard for occupational health and safety got a big vote of confidence this week, taking it another step closer to publication. The latest draft of ISO 45001 got more than 75 percent approval by those involved in its development.

The National Safety Council released its annual list of states with the lowest and highest rates of unintentional injury-related deaths[i], which include poisonings – largely from drug overdoses – car crashes and falls. For the second straight year, Maryland has the lowest rate of unintentional injury death, with 26.9 deaths per every 100,000 people – far below the national rate of 40.6. West Virginia has the highest rate for the third time in four years.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to find under the Clean Air Act that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from commercial aircraft contribute to the pollution that causes climate change, endangering the health and welfare of Americans.

After years of inaction, federal regulators are trying to crack down on the use of cheap novelty helmets linked to thousands of motorcycle crash deaths and injuries in recent years. The novelty helmets do not comply with federal safety standards, and provide little or no protection against head injuries in a crash.

As part of its ongoing investigation into the May 12, 2015, derailment of Amtrak Train 188 in Philadelphia, the National Transportation Safety Board said an analysis of the engineer’s cell phone records showed that no calls, texts, or data usage occurred during the time the engineer was operating the train.

Boating season is underway, with thousands of people taking to the water for fun and fishing. When it comes to boating-related hazards, sunburns and drowning come to mind, but Electrical Safety Foundation International says boaters should also be mindful of electrical dangers.