As the wildfires that have claimed at least 56 lives continue to rage across California, the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) is reaching out to the relevant government entities in the state, offering resources on wildfire response, assistance and recommendations for protecting the health and safety of residents and recovery workers.

Robots are becoming increasingly popular in workplaces around the globe, especially cobots, the machines designed to work next to humans. But when considering implementing any technology, it's essential to keep safety at the forefront. What possibilities exist for robots malfunctioning and hurting people or otherwise compromising worker well-being?

A natural gas leak recently prompted evacuations of workers and road closures at 9th and Locust in downtown St. Louis. A hissing sound could be heard as gas escaped the line. Those who were evacuated could smell the gas.

• Close windows, vents, doors, venetian blinds and heavy drapes. Remove lightweight curtains.
• Shut off gas at the meter. Turn off pilot lights.
• Open the fireplace damper. Close fireplace screens.

A federal jury last week ruled that the company who hired workers to clean up a coal ash spill in Tennessee failed to protect them from the hazards involved. The ruling clears the way for workers affected by the highly toxic substance to seek damages from Jacobs Engineering, the company tasked with cleaning up a massive coal ash spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Kingston Fossil Plant.

Without saying why, federal traffic safety officials have quietly altered crash data, revealing that more than three times as many people die in wrecks linked to tire failures than previously acknowledged. For several years, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stated that the annual death toll from tire-related crashes was 200. Then last year NHTSA abruptly ramped up the estimate, stating on its website that 719 people had died in 2015 in such crashes.

A panel on fan blades. Witnesses who’ll describe a “failure sequence.” Those are just two of the elements that will be featured in the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigative hearing today into an engine failure on a Southwest Airlines plane that killed a passenger. On a flight from New York to Dallas, a fan blade broke, causing a catastrophic engine failure and causing shrapnel to strike the plane, breaking a window. Despite the efforts of her fellow passengers, Jennifer Riordan died after being partially ejected from the plane through the broken window.

Heat stress illness among United States Postal Service employees in Las Vegas has resulted in a $129,336 fine against the USPS. An OSHA investigation revealed that at least four USPS employees at the Silverado Station branch in Las Vegas received treatment for heat-related illness this year, including one hospitalization.

Holland Township, MN — A man tiling a field in central Minnesota died on Friday morning in a workplace accident. The construction company employee was installing drainage tile in the field near 60th Street SW and 150th Avenue SW in Holland Township when the accident was reported just before noon.

In a psychologically safe workplace, every employee feels comfortable, accepted, and respected. Although it may seem to be a simple and understandable thing, many companies fail to create a safe environment for their employees. For example, on some teams, junior members are not taken seriously during meetings and their opinions may be criticized more than others’ because of their lack of seniority.