A group of health organizations says Philip Morris International - one of the world’s largest cigarette manufacturers – is engaging in a “campaign of deception” by saying one thing and doing another. The company recently introduced a new cigarette brand in Indonesia just weeks before announcing “The Year of Unsmoke,” a follow-up to claims that it wants a smoke-free future.

More than 80 percent of popular brand e-cigarettes sold in the U.S. that were examined in a new study were contaminated with bacterial and fungal toxins. Researchers from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health found glucan in 81 percent of the products– single use cartridges and refillable e-liquids. Endotoxin was found in 27 percent of them.

Are insurers required to reimburse for medical marijuana in workers compensation? That is one of the topics covered by Laura Kersey in an online article for the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI). Kersey writes that insurers are increasingly receiving requests to reimburse for medical marijuana use for workers compensation treatment, and explains how that issue is complicated by the federal-state schism in the status of cannabis.

The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is calling on the EPA to review its existing Hydrofluoric Acid (HF) study to determine the effectiveness of existing regulations as well as the viability of utilizing inherently safer alkylation technologies in petroleum refineries. In a letter sent to the EPA, the CSB notes that in the last four years, the agency has investigated two refinery incidents where an explosion elevated the threat of a release of HF.

The world’s largest online seller of goods tops the “Dirty Dozen” list of unsafe employers released by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health’s (National COSH) today. The annual reveal is timed to coincide with Workers Memorial Week (April 22 – 29), which honors those who have been injured, suffered illnesses or lost their lives at work. Amazon as had six worker fatalities at its facilities since 2018;.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined that the Aug. 10, 2016, natural gas fueled explosion and fire in a Maryland apartment building that killed seven people was caused by the failure of an indoor mercury service regulator with an unconnected vent line. The unconnected vent line and failed service regulator resulted in a leak of natural gas that accumulated in the apartment building’s meter room until it reached explosive levels and ignited.

Strains, cuts and slip and falls are the top causes of injuries in Colorado’s cannabis industry, according to Pinnacol Assurance, the state’s largest workers’ compensation insurer. Pinnacol recently released an analysis of the cannabis industry’s most common occupational injury trends in Colorado.

New York City has passed a measure that caps emissions for large buildings – part of a handful of bills called the Climate Mobilization Act that are intended to combat climate change on a municipal level. The measure will likely create thousands of blue collar jobs – and likely cost the city’s landlords billions of dollars.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) are hoping that a $5.6 million public safety awareness campaign will make Americans take railroad crossing safety more seriously. The numbers suggest that that is not currently the case. Every four hours in America, a person or vehicle is struck by a train at a rail crossing.