OSHA has released fiscal year (FY) 2019 final statistics showing a significant increase in the number of inspections and a record amount of compliance assistance to further the mission of ensuring that employers provide workplaces free of hazards.
Federal OSHA conducted 33,401 inspections—more inspections than the previous three years.
It was a nightmare scenario by any reckoning: workers installing piping at a school accidentally set off a release of gas and ran to warn everyone to evacuate. Some people made it out of the building before a thunderous explosion destroyed it. Others didn’t. That’s what occurred on the morning of August 2, 2017, at Minnehaha Academy, a private school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The blast killed two employees, custodian John Carlson and receptionist Ruth Berg, and seriously injured nine others.
An incident that occurred Friday on the set of a Hollywood movie being filmed in British Columbia left a crew member with injuries, according to TMZ.
EMTs were summoned to the set of “The Last Victim,” a movie starring Ron Perlman. TMZ is reporting that the driver of the truck involved accidentally accelerated, missing its stop and “sending the crew scrambling to safety.”
With suicide rates rising in the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is proposing the establishment of 988 as a national 3-digit number to help people access suicide prevention and mental health services. While a National Suicide Prevention Lifeline already exists – and can reached at (1-800-273-TALK) – FCC Chairman Ajit Pai says an easy-to-reach number would result in more people getting the assistance they need.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) yesterday announced the publication of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to improve safety at public highway-rail grade crossings nationwide. The proposed rule would require all states and the District of Columbia to develop and implement a new or updated highway-rail grade crossing action plan no later than one year after the effective date of the final rule.
The European Roadmap on Carcinogens – an initiative first launched in May 2016 in Amsterdam under the Dutch EU Presidency – was extended last week in Helsinki by organizations that included the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). The roadmap is a voluntary effort to raise awareness among workers and employers about the risks of exposure to carcinogens in the workplace.
From 2006 through 2016, injury and illness rates declined overall for private industry, including the wholesale and retail trade sectors. For its size, the WRT workforce experienced a disproportionately 5% higher burden or share of serious work-related injuries and illnesses. WRT is one of the largest economic sectors in the United States – even a small increase in the burden affects large numbers of workers, their families, employers, and communities.
A bill to address workplace violence in the health care and social service sectors was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last month. The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1309), sponsored by Rep. Courtney, Joe [D-CT-2] passed the House Nov. 21 and would need to be approved by the Senate before taking effect.
Whether you shop in a brick-and-mortar store or online, the goods you purchase spent some time in one of 7,000 warehouses in the U.S. before making their way into your home. More than 145,000 people work in those warehouses – some in a seasonal capacity. There, they are subject to an injury rate that is higher than the national average for all industries.
“The NETT council was established to provide a common portal to the Department’s decentralized modes to better engage with new technologies which are cross-modal; the Department is seeking input on how to make the NETT council work more effectively to prepare for the transportation system of the future,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.
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